Maeve - April 19th 1989

 April 19th, 1989 

Dear Jessica, 

Okay, I’m back. And guess what? I’m still in my bed, in my PJ’s, after getting up to make sure Dad got his breakfast and that he actually ate it. I have no idea where Mom is. It’s a rainy Saturday morning, and I have to go to work at 3. But I’m still on this post-boardwalk high from last night, and it may have little to do with the bumper cars and the cotton candy. 

Remember I told you I left the mall last night feeling like a complete dork, missing out on a chance to hang out with a scrumptious bassist and his equally appealing bandmates? Well, before I could find my keys at the bottom of my trusty, purple Jansport, I heard a voice yell my name from the other side of the parking lot. 

By the way, I have at least two dozen flash charms attached to my keys, so I don’t know why it takes me so long to dig them out. Though I lost my boombox and Snoopy charms and I am pissed. 

Anyway, I’m not used to hearing a random guy yell my name as if desperate to see me, so for a moment I thought about dumping everything out of my bag, finding my keys, and getting the hell out of there. But then I realized who was jogging towards me - Cayden Donnelly - the aforementioned bassist with the slight Disney prince aura. In the distance, their tour bus sat under a yellow parking lot light and there was nobody else around. If I was going to make a run for it, I had to do it right then and there. If he asked me again to go to Seaside with him and his friends, I wasn’t going to resist - didn’t matter how hard I tried to be smart.  

His pals hopped off the bus and sauntered over like big shots to greet me. It took some coaxing. I even waited until most of them were back on the bus before I ran to catch up. But I agreed to join them and made it clear I had sharp fountain pens in my bag that I wouldn’t hesitate to use as testicle skewers if needed.   

I realized that those magazines we all love like Teen Beat, Big Bopper, 16, and all the other teen rags, don’t really represent these guys in their true form. When meeting them in person, one might expect picture perfect gods dressed in club attire, wearing sunglasses at night (great song), and perfectly styled hair. But they looked and acted like regular guys, dressed in B.U.M Equipment or Bugle Boy, with bed head tucked under baseball caps. The youngest one, Rian, even had a little bit of acne which was oddly reassuring. Cayden had the sleekest look with his leather jacket and greaser-esque hairstyle. 

Then there was Quinn - the charming and charismatic lead guitarist with the blond ponytail, his signature black trenchcoat, and obvious leadership role in the group. He was definitely the most boisterous out of the five, and he quickly came across as one of those types who often doesn’t think before he speaks. But you got to love him for that. He reminds me of Sebastian that way.

Kyler is Cayden’s younger brother, but only by less than two years. The resemblance is there, somewhat, but Kyler has much smaller and darker eyes than Cayden. My apologies ahead of time, Jess, but I am probably going to bring up Cayden Donnelly’s gorgeous hazel eyes frequently in this book. Kyler is pretty damn cute too, and as the lead singer, he gets a lot of the girls’ attention. If my grandmother was still alive, I have a feeling she would describe him as a very young Frankie Valli. Kyler may be a little bit edgier but both have their own signature falsetto. He’s big on movie trivia and knows all the great one-liners. 

“Say hello to my little friend!” 

“I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.” 

You get the picture. I probably heard at least ten more by the end of the night.  

Donovan is the drummer, and well, it’s really hard to get a sense of who he is since he barely acknowledged me the whole evening. But he’s short and has Schwarzenegger muscles. I think I saw him crack one half smile the whole time, and he has one of those jawlines that screams, “You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” Despite the cold shoulder, he did win  a cute lock and key diary for me at a boardwalk game - the one where you throw dull-pointed darts at minimally inflated balloons. Apparently he cleared a whole wall before being cut off by the game operator. 

I guess he thought I’d turn into one of their psychotic fans who literally climb hotel balconies or swing from the ladder on the back of their moving bus. These guys already have to dodge crazy mobs of girls, and their reach doesn’t go that far, at least not yet. Something tells me it’s a lifestyle that Quinn and Kyler don’t mind at all. Even Donovan doesn’t seem to dislike the attention that much. But Cayden is definitely the more subdued and shy one, for the most part. I already sense that he craves normalcy and meaningful conversation over Barbie dolls throwing their panties at him. 

And finally we have Rian, the keyboardist and the baby of the bunch. I don’t think he’s 17 yet but he fits into the group in a big brother/little brother sort of way. He’s got baby blue eyes, curly blonde hair that’s fun to rustle around, and he thinks he could have been part of The Rat Pack. He’s an odd but sweet little guy who tries desperately to be a commanding presence like his brothers. 

That’s the great part about them. Only two of them are related by blood. But they all have such a strong bond, they make blood seem meaningless. So much for blood being thicker than water. I don’t really agree with that proverb. At least not anymore. Rhiannon and I are another example of how this is a fallacy. Not only are we not related but we’re also polar opposites. I’m the Andy and she’s the Iona in Pretty in Pink. I think everyone needs a relationship like that. 

The inside of their tour bus looked like a cross between a frat house and Pee Wee’s Playhouse, but it didn’t take me too long to feel more comfortable with them as we made the 30 minute trip to Seaside. They have a round potato-ish looking dog named Ezekiel who wouldn’t leave my side. 

He is so cute. I wish I could have taken him home with me. The dog too. hahaha 

Okay, moving along. The night on the boardwalk was everything I hoped it would be - fun, comical, exciting - but I wasn’t expecting “magical” to come to mind. 

Since these guys are from New England and are now traveling rock stars, they never had too many opportunities to visit boardwalks in Jersey. So you would think they wouldn’t be masters at typical boardwalk games like ring toss, shooting hoops, skeeball, throwing baseballs at bottles, and my personal favorite - the Frog Bog. But I can honestly say that these guys won the grand prize at every game they played. Kyler ended up with three big boxes of candy - Blow Pops, Pop Rocks, and Sugar Daddies - and he ended up stuffing a bunch of the treats in my backpack when I wasn’t looking. I am now chewing on caramel for breakfast. 

Quinn won me a Sharp boombox in pink, and Kyler won me a big stuffed Care Bear - the blue one, my favorite. Even though I was the one playing, I give my Frog Bog win to Cayden. 

We were going to split a bucket of 10 frogs but then he saw how rusty my aim was, so he let me finish off the rest. He did this weird thing with his hand every time I smacked the mallet onto the metal launcher. Out of nowhere, I ended up landing five frogs on the same lilypad. I teasingly asked him if he was willing the frogs to their home with some sort of Jedi mind trick. Of course, I know that would be impossible, but it was still really weird. And then wouldn’t you know it, he picked out the perfect prize for me - a huge stuffed bear wearing a Yankees jersey which I know my brother would have loved. So not only is Cayden Donnelly a Mark Hamill but he’s a mind reader too. Again, a stranger who has known me for years. How could this be happening?    

Donovan surprised me with the diary. He tried to play it cool, like it was no big deal, but I made sure he knew how much I appreciated the gesture. I really don’t want him to hate me, but Cayden said it takes him a while to warm up to people and to not take it personally. Fair enough. It’s not like I trust everybody I meet right away. 

It’s funny I say that after spending half the night by the beach with five strange men, but what can I say? It’s as if they cast a spell on me, especially the tall, leathery one, as corny as that sounds. He got me on a looping roller coaster, and I vowed a long time ago that I would never go on a ride with inversions. Nope, not for me. However, a Sleepless Knight can talk me into anything apparently. And please don’t take that the wrong way. He was a complete gentleman. 

Something happened on that coaster that blew my mind, but let’s just say I am very good at mentally escaping a scary situation. I wanted to hold on to the metal bars for dear life, but Cayden insisted I hold his hand once we started our almost 90 degree plummet. 

All he did was whisper to me to close my eyes, and I don’t know how I heard him through all the noise coming from the coaster, the boardwalk, and the wind. But when I shut them tightly, a yellowish orange light filled my mind and canceled out everything that was real and terrifying. Seconds later I was in another time and place. I wasn’t watching myself there. I was actually there - on top of a grassy cliff overlooking the ocean. My feet could feel the grass, and my whole body could feel the breeze. I smelled the saltwater and tasted a little bit of it on my lips. And then suddenly I wasn’t alone. Two strong arms came up from behind me and held me tightly, a pair of lips rested on the back of my neck. It was so real I know my body trembled violently, and it wasn’t from the coaster ride. I don’t think I was there. 

 Once I tried to look at the presence behind me, I woke up and the ride was over. Woke up? There is no way I was asleep. But I sure as hell wasn’t present either. Like I said, I am good at mentally transporting myself to other places, whether I want to or not, but this was unlike anything I ever experienced. I hope none of those boys slipped some drugs into my Orange Julius. 

If that wasn’t enough, let me tell you about the bioluminescence. Now, bioluminescence is an extreme rarity on the Jersey shore. Our waters are simply too cold, dark, and murky for it to be an expected thing. But when Cayden and I walked the beach while the rest of the guys were playing in the arcade, there it was. I really thought I was dreaming, and at that moment, I didn’t want the night to end. Or they put some really good LSD in my favorite frothy drink. Either way, that’s why I can add “magical” to my list of adjectives for the night, and I truly felt a lump in my throat when it came to an end. 

Cayden assures me he will see me again, but I kind of doubt it. We’re two completely different people living remarkably opposite lives. He has fame, fortune, girls, and a career. I have blue light specials, the mall, and community college, if I don’t get that fellowship at the New York Academy of Art. That’s a whole other saga I’ll get into later. Bottom line, I’m not getting my hopes up that I will see any of them again, but we’ll always have Paris - or in this case, the Jersey shore. Cie le vie. 

For now I must bid you adieu. I want to grab some pizza and check in with Rhiannon before it’s time for work. If I never write in you again, assume that Rhiannon has murdered me for not picking her up on the way to the beach with the boys. 

Your elated, possibly high, dumbfounded friend ~Maeve