By Vicky Hamilton
(Rated PG for small drugs and a couple curse words)
They headed back to the beach house where they wound down for the night. They started watching Yellow Submarine on VH1.
"This movie is cool." Tom said mouth full of popcorn. "At least the animation is."
"The Beatles." Joe whispered and took a sip of his Coke. "The four lads who shook the world."
Steven shushed them. "I'm trying to watch the movie."
Joe sat in his chair and said, "No suprises. They get the instruments back. "All you need is love" and everyone lives happily ever after."
"Joe..." Steven turned around. "Shut the hell up."
Joey started a discussion. "Wouldn't it have been awesome to have met the Beatles right when all of this was out?"
Tom laughed, "Wouldn't it be awesome to just meet the Beatles, period?"
"Hell yeah." Steven said. "I wish I could've met The Beatles back in the day. You know 1967, "All You Need is Love"?"
Joe didn't take his eyes off the TV. "Yeah. I wish-"
Joey jumped. "There you go!"
"Sit down Joey." Brad mumbled.
"No." Joey said. "Remember that lady on the beach?"
"The witch?" Joe finally turned away from the TV. "The one who said she'd grant us a wish?"
Joey nodded. "Yeah. Let's wish to meet the Beatles."
"Joey," Steven said. "You're insane."
Joey simply replied with, "Thank you." He paused. "Come on. Why not?"
The room grew dark and misty, Eliana appeared out of nowhere. "I take it you are ready to make your wish?"
Steven looked at the others and then at Eliana. "Yeah. I think we are."
Eliana raised her hands up in the air. "What is your wish?"
"We wish to go back to 1967 and meet the Beatles." Steven said.
The room grew even darker and mistier. "Your wish is granted." With that all five members fell asleep.
They all awoke the next morning in sleeping bags in an unfamiliar apartment filled with boxes. Joey was the first to wake up. "Where are we?" He went to wake Steven up and got a shocker, he looked like he was a teenager again. "Steven!"
Steven's eye snapped open. "What?" He looked up at Joey. "Oh my god!" He jumped up from his sleeping bag. "You look-"
"So do you!" Joey pointed. Everyone else was up by this point.
"What's goin' on?" Tom yawned in a British accent. There was more discussion and confusion on why everyone looked the way they did.
"Well I guess since we said we wanted to meet them in 1967. We sorta went back to the age we were 1967." Joe said.
The Joey said, "Well wait a minute if we're they age we were in 1967. Then we're acutally ourselves in 1967. And the real versions of ourselves that have no idea of the future don't exist and- I'm lost."
"No it couldn't be." Tom said. "Why do I 'ave the accent?"
Joe pondered this for a second. "I don't know. Why couldn't I get a British accent?"
Tom laughed. "'Cause your not special mate." A phone rang in the kitchen and Tom went to answer it. "Hello?"
"Is this Tom?" A British gentleman asked.
"Yeah it is." Tom replied
Then the man on the other end of the line began to yell. "Do you have any clue what the time is? It's nine thirty Tom! You and your friends were supposed to be here at the studio a half hour ago!" Then his voice got calmer. "I know you all are new and this is going to be your first day so I'll give you a break. If you're here by ten thirty I won't fire you." The phone on the other end of the line was slammed down.
Tom hung up the phone. "Hurry up and get dressed we 'ave to go to work." Everyone hurried to get ready to go.
Joey was putting on bright green shirt. "Um Tom- where do we work?"
Tom had a sly smile. "At a studio."
"What studio?" Steven asked.
Tom leaned on a counter. "We're in London. What's the most famous studio around?"
The other four answered. "Abbey Road!"
Steven laughed. "Yes!" The headed down to the street and caught a double decker bus to the studio.
"It's almost ten thirty." Brad said looking at his watch.
Joe was staring down at the floor. "Why couldn't I get a british accent?"
Joey shrugged. "I don't know. Why couldn't we sit up top?"
"Because we want to get into the studio as soon as possible." Tom said. "And stop sulking Joe." The bus pulled up in front of the studio and all five boys ran into the building as fast as they could.
A short man met them as soon as they made it in the front door. "You made it with three minutes to spare. Good job." He walked into an office and the boys followed him. "Now you'll be doing all sorts of work from running errands, getting food and tea for the artists, and doing basic cleaning."
"We're up to it sir." Joey said.
The man turned around. "Please call me Eric from now on. I don't like to be called sir. It makes me feel old and I haven't hit fifty yet." He looked around his office. "Okay Tom you'll be sweeping and mopping around the halls. The janitors closet is out that hallway turn left fourth door on your right. Joey I have some filing for you to do. Joe I need you to go to the post office and mail the letters in that box over their. Brad Studio Six needs to be cleaned just follow Tom. And Steven I'll be letting you have the honor to take care of studio two."
"Really?" Steven felt a sudden rush of excitement. "Who's in studio two?"
Eric shuffled some papers around. "The Beatles. Just don't go insane on us because of that."
"If he can't 'andle it I can." Tom looked at Steven with a evil smile.
"I can handle it." Steven marched out of the office and down to studio two. "Not..." He put his hand on the door handle. "Please don't let me make an idiot of myself." Steven quietly opened the door. Inside was The Beatles and their producer George Martin.
John Lennon was listening closely to a playback of "All You Need is Love". "You know George, we could use another take on that. A little more practice for the broadcast wouldn't hurt."
George Martin nodded. "Right. Back to the grindstone boys."
"Hey look at the new guy." Ringo pointed at Steven.
Paul looked over. "Are you one of the new guys?" Steven silently nodded.
John got up from the chair he was sitting in. "So what's your name son?"
Steven calmed down long enough to say, "Steven Tallarico."
John stuck his hand out and Steven shook it. "Nice to meet ya' Steven Tallarico. I'm John Lennon. That's George Martin, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison."
Paul gave a friendly smile. "We won't try to run you down to much at first."
"We'll go easy on you for a few weeks then we'll run you into the ground." George laughed.
"Are you sure you're not Mick's brother?" Ringo asked.
Steven shook his head. "No. I wish."
"It's insane!" Paul said. "You could easily pass for twins. How old are you Steven?"
Steven had to think to himself. "I'm 19."
John looked at Paul. "He had to think about that for a second."
George Martin broke up the conversation. "Come on lads, you've got a live satellite broadcast that's going to be televised all over the world. You want to get it right don't you?"
George and Ringo head out the door to go into the studio. Paul mumbled something and followed them. John was the last to go, he opened the door dramaticly and sang loudly, "All you need is love, love! Love is all you need!"
Steven watched them cut the track in the studio. "This is so cool!" He thought. "I'm watching the Beatles record!" When they were done they came back up into the control room.
"How'd it sound George?" Paul asked. "Playback!" As the songs played back Steven sang quietly along to the song.
"You learn lyrics quick." John laughed. "You knew all the words!"
Steven shrugged. "I'm a singer, it pays to learn lyrics quickly."
"A singer huh?" George sat down in the chair. "Looks like we'll be having some competition."
"Well I don't know about that." Steven said.
"You got a band?" Ringo asked.
Steven nodded. "Yeah. My whole band is working here."
John laughed again. "They all got jobs here so they could get a contract. Well maybe we'll sign you, son. What's the bands name?"
"We don't want a record contract." Steven said. "Everyone except for me is still in school." Then he added under his breath, "I think..."
Paul opened the door to the hallway. "I want to meet the rest of your band." John and Ringo followed.
George stay put in his chair. "You go on! I'll stay here and keep the producer company."
The first one they ran into was Brad who had just come out of studio six. He gave a little gasp. "Uh- hi!"
"Who are you?" Paul asked. "What do you play?"
Brad stood in shock for a second. "I'm Brad. I play guitar."
Paul stomped his foot. "Nice to meet you Brad." Paul took on down the hallway where they ran into Joe. "Hey and you are..."
Joe kept his cool. "I'm Joe."
"What do you play?" Paul asked.
"I'm the lead guitarist." Joe said. He pointed down the hallway behind him. "The other two are down that way." The little parade marched on as they ran into Joey.
Paul took one look at him and said, "You're the drummer."
Joey nodded. "Yeah." He couldn't help but stand still in shock.
"That's Joey." Steven said. "Tom's down there somewhere I'm sure."
Paul spotted Tom and yelled, "Hey Tom!"
Tom turned around in his spot. "Oh my god..." He looked at Steven then Paul.
"Nice to meet you Tom." Paul stuck out his hand.
"Nice to meet you too Paul." Tom shook his hand.
Paul ran his hand through his hair. "So you're the bass player... I'll have to hear you play."
Tom managed to keep from loosing his cool. "Really? Steven tellin' you about me?"
Paul nodded. "Yeah. Hey I noticed your accent. You're not from America?"
"Oh yeah." Tom said. "I'm originally from Liverpool. My family moved to the states a few years back."
"Really?" Paul smiled and put his arm around Tom's shoulder. "Another boy from the old home town."
Steven shot Tom a look that screamed, "You are so lying!"
John finally managed to get a few words in. "Hey what's your bands name?"
"Aerosmith." Tom said. "Joey came up with the name."
Paul laughed. "Not the book-"
"No, no, no. A-E-R-O-S-M-I-T-H." Tom corrected.
"Hey I like it." Ringo said. "I'm going to go back to the studio now."
Paul barely acknowledge him. "Ok Richie..." He turned his attention back to Tom. "So how long you been playing?"
John whispered to Steven. "Come on let's go. He finds a bass player, the conversation goes on." Steven followed John. "So do you write your own songs or do you do mostly covers?"
"I write some stuff and then some stuff is covers." Steven said. "I've written one called, "Dream on", one called, "Mama Kin"."
"A title like "Dream on" makes it sound like a classic." John said. "I like the title "Mama Kin". It sounds like that one's a rocker."
Steven was about to show John the tatoo but then he remember that it was 1967 and he hadn't gotten it yet. "Yeah. "Dream On" is a ballad. I wrote it on the piano."
John opened the door to a small studio. "There's one in here play it for me."
Steven sat down at the piano and started playing "Dream on" for John. When it was over Steven said, "That's it."
There was applause coming from the top of the steps. Paul and Tom were up there listening. "Good job Steven!" Paul yelled. "Are you sure you don't want a record contract?"
John looked amazed. "How do you get those high notes like that?"
Steven messed around on the piano a bit. "I don't know I just do. What's this live broadcast Mr. Martin was talking about."
"You mean you don't know?" Tom leaned on the railing. "It the Our World broadcast. Satelite from everywhere in the world. Clog dancers, bag pipes..."
Paul chimed in, "And the Beatles and company! We invited a bunch of people to come over. Even your twin's going to be 'ere."
"My twin?" Steven didn't get it at first. "Oh! Mick right!" Then it sunk in. "Mick Jagger is gonna be here?"
"Yeah." John nodded. "I think the rest of the Stones are coming too."
"Don't 'ave a panic attack on us Steven." Tom said. "The guy can get really star struck sometimes."
They were all at the studio until ten o'clock at night. Steven, Joey, Brad and Joe were waiting for Tom. "How long is he gonna be?" Joey was getting impatient.
Tom came down the hallway with his arm around Paul's shoulder singing "Train Kept a Rollin'" Tom smiled and yelled. "Hey guys me and Paul are goin' to this club called The Bag o' Nails. Wanna come?"
Steven shook his head. "No you go on."
"I'm game." Joe said.
"Count me out." Brad said. "I'm tired."
Joey yawned. "Me too."
Paul put his arm around Joe. "Sorry to hear that come on boys. You'll love this club. I met a girl there a while back. Her name was Linda." They walked out the door leaving the other three standing there.
"Linda." Steven stood silent for a second. "The man met his future wife."
"Paul married?" This came from George Harrison. "I honestly can't really see him getting married. He's the ultimate bachelor."
Joey put his hands in his pockets. "I wouldn't say that." They stood outside waiting for the bus to come.
John Lennon came outside the building. "You're still waiting for the bus?" He looked at his watch. "It should have been here twenty minutes ago."
"I didn't notice." Steven said. The bus then pulled up at that moment. "Well here it is. See ya' tomorrow John."
John waved to them. "See ya' mates!"
"We're up top!" Joey made a run for the second floor steps. "No one's up here!"
Brad sat in a seat next to the stairs. "I hope Joe and Tom are having a good time."
Joey shook his head and took a seat across from them. "Where'd he come up with that one at?"
"From me." A voice said. It was Eliana. "I told him what he should say. I decided that it would be good to have someone in your band to sound like the natives. I chose Tom."
"So you decided to make us all teenagers again and have us live here in London and work at Abbey Road studios?" Joey leaned forward.
Eliana crossed her arms. "I know who the Beatles are I thought this would be a good way for you to meet them. You don't like how I granted your wish?"
"No! We love it!" Steven said. "We were just a little suprised when we woke up this morning."
"That's good. I'm not telling you how long this is going to last. But I will tell you that it won't be long." Eliana dissapeared into thin air.
"It won't be long." Steven sang.
Joey laid down in his seat and covered his ears. "Not now Steven."
Steven decided to let all the excitement that was boiling up inside him come out. "This is so cool! I had a good conversation with John Lennon. I played "Dream on" for him and he liked it! And they're gonna be on a live satelite broadcast! This is awesome!"
Brad laughed at Steven. "Settle down. Hey do you think Paul's gonna get Tom and Joe drunk?"
Joey looked over at him. "Maybe. Check Tom's breath when he gets home."
"Tom's only 15 and Joe's 16." Steven said. "I don't think he'll get a couple of kids drunk."
"Oh shoot." Brad said. "I'm only 15. Wow." Brad giggled a little bit.
"You were hanging around George Harrison this afternoon weren't you?" Steven pointed a finger at Brad. "I knew a man didn't need to use the bathroom THAT MUCH."
Brad stopped giggling. "I only talked to him for about ten minutes and that was around four or five."
Joey sat up and said in his best Liverpullian accent. "Don't lie to us. We know you were smokin' pot with George 'Arrison."
Brad tried to keep from laughing. "I was not."
"You were too." Joey teased. "Getting high with George. Smokin' some of that-"
"You sound like you were too." Steven said. "Sharing more than drumming tips with Ringo?"
"I never got to talk to Ringo." Joey said. "I got to talk to Paul for a while. He's a nice guy."
Brad finally managed to suppress his laughter. "Him and Tom really bonded. Did anyone else notice that?"
Joey nodded. "I saw Tom trying to show off. He was playing "Sweet Emotion" on an upside down bass. Or at least trying to." The bus stopped outside their apartment. "We're home."
Steven found a key in his pocket. Eliana had put it there. He opened the door and turned on the lights. All the stuff that was in the boxes that morning had been put away. Everything was out and in it's right place. "How'd-"
Eliana appeared sitting in a red chair in the living room. "I unpacked everything. There's two bedrooms. One is for Joey and Steven and the other is for Joe, Brad and Tom." She got up from the chair. "I helped out a little bit more. I hope you enjoy your wish." She dissapeared.
"She's starting to freak me out." Brad said. "It's like she's threatening us."
Joey went into one of the bedrooms. "Hey Steven check this out!"
Steven walked into the room. It was pretty good sized with a pair of bunk beds on the opposite side. He smiled. "I get top."
"Like hell." Joey made a mad dash for the bed.
Steven jumped onto his back and up onto the top bed bunk. He raised his hands up in the hair. "I'm the king!" He pumped his arms and hit them on the ceiling. "Owww...."
Joey burst our laughing. "King huh?" Steven took his shoes off and threw them at Joey. "Mature Steven." He caught one of the shoes.
Steven laid back on the bed. "Maybe this is the end of the wish."
Joey took off his shirt. "Maybe it is. I'm starting to regret not going to the club with the others."
"Me too." Steven leaned over the side of the bed. "It was awesome just to be able to talk with John today. It's hard to believe that he's going to- be gone in thirteen years. I wish I could do something to warn him."
Joey sighed and laid down on his bed. "Yeah I know. We shouldn't try to change the future."
With that both boys fell asleep only to be awaken two hours later by a slamming door.
"What was that?" Joey got up to find Joe passed out on the couch. He nudged him. "Joe..."
Joe managed to get his head up. "Hey Joey... I had a great time tonight. I met this girl named Betty and she does this little thing with her tongue..."
"Where's Tom at?" Joey asked.
"He went with Paul to his house. He's spending the night." Joe rolled over onto his back.
Joey smelled alcohol on his breath. "Have you been drinking?"
Joe nodded. "Paul bought about six rounds of drinks."
Joey grabbed Joe's arms and picked him up off the couch. "Come on Joe. Let's put you to bed."
"I'm comfortable on the couch, Joe moaned. He leaned on Joey. "Don't make me get up." They went into the other bedroom. There was a bunk bed and then another single bed.
Brad who had been asleep on the bottom of the bunk bed woke up. "What's wrong with Joe?"
"He partied a little too hard." Joey let go of Joe and he fell back on the bed. "Go back to sleep."
Joey went back to his own room and laid back down.
"Joe's drunk huh?" Steven asked. "What about Tom?"
Joey snuggled into his pillow. "He's at Paul's. They're having a sleepover."
The phone rang about eight o'clock the next morning. Steven answered it. "Hello?"
"Steven!" It was Tom. "Hey mate! How's Joe? He was really pissed last night." Joe came into the kitchen and laid his head down on the table.
"Oh he's great." Steven said. "How'd things go at Paul's?"
"Martha attacked me as soon as I got in the door." Tom laughed.
"Who's Martha?" Steven asked. "Is she hot?"
Tom laughed again. "It's his dog! You know "Martha My Dear"?"
"Oh...."
"I haven't been to bed yet." Tom said. "Me and Paul stayed up all night writing."
"Songs?" Steven wasn't believing this. "You were writing songs all night with Paul McCartney?"
Joe picked his head up from the table. "No."
"Yeah!" Tom said on the other end of the phone. "We wrote three songs! Want to hear?" Tom brought a tape recorder up to the phone and Steven heard two of the three songs. One an upbeat tune Tom said was called, "One Night" and another slower song called "Whirlwind".
Steven was impressed. "Those are awesome Tom!"
"Yeah it is." Tom sounded pleased with Steven's reaction. "I'm gonna let you go now. You 'ave to be down 'ere at the studio in an hour."
Steven hung up the phone. "Joe you have to get in the shower."
"Can I have some aspirin first?" Joe whined. "My head hurts."
Steven smiled. "We don't have any aspirin Joe. Get in the shower." Joe picked himself up and got into the shower.
"There they are!" Paul was sitting on the front steps of the studio. "How you feeling Joe?"
"Sick." Joe grabbed the side of his head.
Paul looked at him. "I'm surprised you're in this shape. You didn't see Betty slip that stuff into your drink?"
"What stuff?" Joe asked.
"She was gonna 'ave her way with you." Paul laughed. "I got you outta there before she had the chance. She was driving you nuts with that tongue thing wasn't she?"
"What tongue thing?" Steven looked at Joe.
Joe moaned. "I don't remember." They all went inside and into the studio where the rest of The Beatles were.
John looked up from some papers he was reading. "Tomorrow's the big day lads!"
Paul let out a cheer. "Live on the telly!"
"You look great Joe." Tom said sarcastically. "You get Betty's number?"
Joe took his hands down from his face. "No I didn't get Betty's number."
George Martin walked into the studio. "Well come on you need to rehearse some more. You're going to perform live in front of millions of people tomorrow night. You want to get it right don't you?"
"Yes sir Mr. Martin sir!" John did a little salute. After rehearsing for a few hours there was a knock on the door in the control room.
A young blonde girl came in. "Excuse me but I'm from the costume store and the bands outfits for the show are ready and waiting."
Ringo got a big smile on his face. "Alright! I want to see them!" The Bealtes and George Martin went to try on their outfits for the broadcast leaving Aerosmith in the studio.
"They left us alone..." Brad whispered. He ran over and picked up John's guitar and started strumming it.
Joey sat down at Ringo's drums. "This is awesome."
"Mick Jagger's gonna be at the broadcast." Tom smiled. "And so are we..."
"So are we?" Joe sat down. "You mean they're-"
"Yep." Tom nodded. "We're going to be on TV."
Brad put down John's guitar. "I'll have to make me a "Hi Mom" sign. Hey will we see ourselves on TV?"
"Let's not start with the whole two of us existing in the same time thing." Joe moaned. "My head isn't up for it."
Ringo came back in. "The bloody sleeves weigh a ton with all of those beads on them."
Paul followed him. "Well it's too late to take it back now. We'll just get someone to help you on the drums."
"You'll have to." Ringo said. "I can barely raise me arms."
"That's what he said in the Anthology." Brad whispered.
"Hey Joey!" Paul yelled. "You want to help Ring out with the drums?"
Joey stood speachless. "Me? Oh- oh- I- uh-"
Steven nudged him in the ribs. "No." he whispered. "You can't do that."
Joey shook his head. "Sorry. I'm much more comfortable in the background."
"Okay we can get someone else." Paul said. He invited Tom back to his house again that night.
As soon as they walked in the door Martha, Paul's English Sheep Dog attacked him. "No! No! Bad Martha!"
Tom laid on the ground with the dog on top of him. "Yes. Bad Martha! Get off!" He shoved the dog off of him
.
Paul led Martha into the living room. "Sorry Tom. You come by a couple more times and she'll stop doing it." He grabbed Tom's arm and helped him up. "If she doesn't kill you first."
"Damn dog." Tom mumbled.
"Oh come on. She's just trying to protect me." Paul said.
"Bitch."
"Tom." Paul shook his head. "Stop that." Martha growled at him. "You stop that Martha. Behave yourself girl."
"You're dog doesn't like me." Tom backed up a bit.
Paul walked into his living room and started digging through a closet. "Here it is!" He came back in with a movie camera. "I think I'll do some filming tomorrow."
"Hey let me see that." Tom took the camera from Paul. "Can I film some? You're gonna be busy anyway." He started playing with the camera.
"As long as you don't break it." Paul said.
Steven woke up bright and early the next morning to get ready for the broadcast. He sang Beatles songs in the shower. When he got out Brad, Joey and Joe were all drinking coffee trying to get fully awake. "You guys ready to be on TV?"
Joe tried to smile. "Yeah. I'm tired..."
Brad looked at the clothes Steven was wearing. "Groovy duds man."
Steven did a catwalk turn. "Thanks. I borrowed the shirt from John."
"Hey!" Joe didn't like that.
"You!" Brad yelled.
"Get off of my cloud. Don't hang around 'cause two is a crowd!" Joey sang.
Steven shook his head. "You guys are something else."
"Like I was going to say..." Joe mumbled. "Why did you get to borrow clothes from one of the Beatles?"
Steven adjusted the collar on his shirt. "I guess becuase John likes me."
"I hung around Ringo all day yesterday and he never mentioned lettin' me borrow any clothes."
Brad pouted. "Did George ask you about what you were going to wear?"
Joe shook his head. "No."
Joey snapped his fingers. "I remember something! Paul mentioned that he was getting us some clothes for the broadcast!"
Steven remembered it to. "Oh yeah. John mentioned something about it too."
"Why weren't we informed?" Brad asked.
"I don't know." Steven shrugged. "I wonder if I'll remember seeing myself on TV."
"Don't start up with that again." Joe said. "I'm not going to attempt to think that maybe I exist and be the same age and I'll see myself and remember it and wonder about it but then I'll know it..."
Everyone else just looked at him and said, "What?"
Joe sighed, "Forget it."
George and Ringo were waiting outside for them. "Hello boys." George said with a smile. "Paul and John bought you some clothes. There in the office.
Ringo took a puff off of his cigarette. "They look really gear. You should check them out." They all rushed inside.
Tom came out of the office wearing an entirely blue outfit that had beads all over the pants. "Wait till you see the rest of the clothes." Everyone had their clothes in a plastic bag with there name on it. Steven had a green outfit that had a jacket with an Indian God on the back of it. Joey had a psychedelic looking military outfit. Joe had a pair of brown courdaroy pants with a matching fringed vest and a long sleeve silk red shirt that flared out at the wrists. Brad had a pair of beaded jeans a blue and red striped top. The spent about ten minutes telling each other that they looked, "Groovy", "Fab", "Gear" and "Far out".
Brad opened the door. "Hey come on let's see if any celebrities are here." The hallway in front of the studio was packed with people.
Steven accidently bumped into somebody. "Sorry man. Coming through."
"It's okay. Kinda crowded in here isn't it?" Steven looked over and realized he had bumped into Brian Jones.
Steven stared at him. "Uh- uh- yeah." He nudged Brad in the side.
"What is it?" Brad looked over at him.
"Shit man!" Steven whispered. "Brian Jones is standing right next to me. Is this a trip or what?"
Joe tapped Steven on the shoulder. "Clapton's over there talking to George."
"Brian!" A voice yelled. "Where are you?"
"Over here Mick!" Brian yelled.
Steven, though he had met Mick a few times immediately froze in place. "Mick?" He watched as Mick came over and started talking to Brian. Steven got all excited and started poking Brad whispering, "Mick Jagger is standing next to me. Right next to me talking to Brian Jones!" Brad managed to settle him down.
John was looking around in the crowd and spotted Steven and the others. "There you are!" He squeezed through the crowd the get to them. "Man this place is crowded. Come on and follow me into the studio." He led them in the studio where the rest of The Beatles were dressed up in their outfits for the show. Paul was over at the piano with Tom standing next to it. Paul was playing some music while Tom sang some lyrics he had written.
"I think Tom's on a roll." Joey said. "How many songs did he say he wrote with Paul the other night?"
"Three." Steven answered. "I wonder how many he wrote last night." He went over and leaned on the piano. "What's going on fella's?"
"Take flight but don't break your wings." Tom scribbled something down. "Sorry. I had an idea."
"Okay..."
Paul started playing a few bars of what sounded like "Lady Madonna." He stopped and yelled, "Alright! Four hours to air!" Everyone else in the room gave a holler. "Yeah! Did you see Mick in the hall way Stevie?"
Steven nodded. "Oh yeah."
Tom laughed. "Did he notice you staring at him with your jaw on your chest?"
"Shut up!" Steven reached across the piano to smack him.
Paul grabbed his hand. "Now, now boys. Remember the vibe of the show. All you need is love."
Tom smiled at Steven. "Yeah don't give us bad vibes."
"You know I wouldn't do that," Steven laughed.
Paul started fiddling around on the piano. "Hey come everyone! Let's do some singing!" He started playing "All You Need is Love" on the piano and the very few who new the words sang along. When it was done Paul yelled, "Any requests?"
"I wanna hear "Yellow Submarine"!" It sounded like Brad.
"I don't do that one!" Paul shouted. He played a little bit of "Yesterday" and went into "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On". When he was done everyone in the room applauded. Paul stood up and bowed and said in his best Elvis voice, "Thank you very much!"
Joe came up. "Hey Tom can I talk to you for a second?"
"Yeah sure." Tom followed him out into the hallway. "What do you want?"
"You've got a camera and you're not filming any of this?" Joe shook his head. "Man record all you can and pocket the film so we can watch it when we get back."
"Get back?" Tom smiled. "To where we-"
"That's a few years away Tom." Joe shoved him back over by Paul. "Now go get the damn camera."
Fine." Tom walked up to the control room to get the camera. He bumped heads with someone.
"Sorry..." He looked up and saw a beautiful red head wearing a long pink dress.
"It's okay." She rubbed a spot on her forhead. "Umm... I'm Michelle."
"I'm uh- uh- Tom." Tom reached out and shook her hand. "So uh- who are you here with?"
"Eric Clapton." Michelle looked behind her. "He dragged me along, I'm his date tonight." She laughed. "Nice meeting you Tom."
"Same here." Tom waved and started walking down the steps filming as walked.
"You like that one don't you?" George said.
Tom turned around and pointed the camera at him. "Who her? No I'm taken."
Joey came over and mugged Tom. "Film ME!"
"Damn Joey!" Tom managed to keep the camera from falling. "Paul told me not to break this."
There was a sound of the intercom going on. "Okay now I want to do a full run through with the orchestra if you don't mind. Everyone find a spot to sit. Paul, George, John, Ringo get over to your instruments."
Paul grabbed Tom's arm. "Come on. You can sit next to Michelle and film." He laughed.
"Gee news travels fast doesn't it?" Tom sat down next to Michelle and put the camera on her.
Joe plopped down next to him with Steven. "Film the band not the girl." Steven laughed.
The guy in front of him turned around and looked at him. "Paul was telling me about you." It was Mick!
"Uh- re- really?" Steven stuttered.
"I'm Mick." Mick stuck his hand out for Steven to shake.
Steven shook his hand, "I'm Steven." A moment of silence and then he blurted out, "You're my hero man." Tom and Joe started giggling.
"Really? That's cool." Mick turned around.
Steven smacked Tom. "Shut up!"
Tom blocked him. "Hey man no bad vibes." He started giggling again.
The intercom came back on. "Okay everyone quiet! Okay boys let's try this once through." John counted in and they started playing the song.
When it was over John yelled, "All right! I'm ready to sing for the world!" Everyone cheered.
George Martin came back over the intercom. "Okay you've got an hour until the broadcast. Be back here in 45 minutes to get ready."
Joe got up and helped Tom up. "You're my hero man." Him and Tom started laughing.
"Well it's the truth." Steven said. "What's so funny about it?"
"You sound like that one guy out of the Bud Light commercial." Tom then did his best impression of the guy from the commercial. "I love you man!"
Brad came running up. "Hey I couldn't find you guys for the crowd. Me and Joey were sitting over by Clapton."
"So what?" Joe said. "We got to sit behind the Rolling Stones."
Brad shrugged. "So? We've met them before. Graham Nash is over there too."
Joe didn't care. "That's nice Brad." He put his arm around Brad's shoulder. "Wait till I tell you what Steven did." He walked away with Brad.
Steven walked around until he ran into John. "Hey John."
"You looked so dismal Steven. What's wrong?" John took the young Steven out behind the studio. He lit a cigarette.
"I think me and my friends'll have to be leaving soon." Steven kicked a piece of paper.
John seemed disappointed. "Really? You boys 'aven't been 'ere that long." He took a drag off of his cigarette. "I'm sorry to see you all go. How much longer you gonna be 'ere?"
Steven shrugged. "I don't know. I just know it's gonna be soon." Then he looked up a John with a slight smile. "Joe and Tom are making fun of me 'cause I acted like a moron in front of Mick."
John laughed. "You couldn't help it. It's nuts when you meet your heroes. You took it pretty well when you saw us in the studio."
"Yeah." Steven remembered. "But I as expecting you to say something when I was just standing there. This kinda took me by suprise." Steven and John continued talking out in the alley behind the studio.
Ringo came out with Joey right behind him. "Hey you! It's time to get back in here and get ready!"
John nodded. "Okay Richie, be there in a minute." He looked at Steven. "Let's go." He opened the door. "You first."
Steven laughed and shook his head. "No you first I insist. Age before beauty."
John laughed. "Okay. Sure." He went in with Steven right behind him.
George Martin was right outside the studio. "John get in there you've got ten minutes!" He shoved him and Steven in the door.
Steven found Joe and Brad. "Hey come on guys let's go find a place to sit!"
"Where's your hero at Steven?" Brad laughed.
Steven faked a laugh. "The joke's not funny no mo'." They took a seat over by the orchestra. They saw Tom and Joey on the other side sitting behind Mick Jagger. Tom was talking to him.
John put his headphones around his neck. "Okay now everyone listen up!"
"Yeah you heard Johnny! Listen up!" Paul yelled.
"We're going live on the air to maybe 400 million people all over the world! Now I want everyone to smile and sing and be happy!" John smiled. "Like this."
"Like that." Paul said. "Let us know when to go Mr. Martin!"
Tom was twitching with excitement. "Soon Joey soon!"
"I know!" Joey whispered. "The place is just buzzing."
Tom smiled. "Let me know if I go off key."
"Okay everyone ready?" George Martin announced, "We go on in five, four, three, two, one." The orchestra started playing intro to the song. The camera moved in on The Beatles as John started singing.
"Aww man." Joe whispered. "We're not going to be on TV."
Steven shushed him. "Who cares? Just watch." The first chorus came in and everyone in the studio started singing along with John. The song continued and the whole crowd started to sing along with the rest of the song. The final chorus came up and confetti and balloons started coming down from the ceiling. Everyone continued to sing along until they were told they were no longer on air.
John took his headphones off. "Oh yeah! We did it!" Everyone in the studio cheered. Tom had been filming the entire time. He took the film out of the camera and stuck it in his pants pocket.
Steven got up and cheered. "Yeah!" He went over to John and hugged him. "That was great!"
"Thanks." John said. "It's a shame you guys aren't going to stay any longer." The words echoed in the air as the crowd and the noise dissappeared.
"What happened?" Steven looked around and only saw him and the rest of his bandmates.
Tom stomped his foot. "It can't be over already! It's not fair."
"It's fair." Eliana appeared. "You're wish is over. I know you enjoyed yourselves but it's time for you to go back."
Steven almost wanted to say that he didn't want to go but he new he had to. He sighed. "Okay. I'm ready."
Brad not being older than fifteen wiped his eyes. "We didn't even get to tell anyone bye."
Eliana shook her head. "I'll let you all have until midnight to tell everyone goodbye." She started to fade away. "But no more!" The room appeared again.
Steven was standing next to John again. "John. I think we have to leave tonight. We have to catch a flight around midnight."
John frowned. "Okay." He hugged Steven. "Have to say it was great knowing you and havin' you round the past couple of days." He laughed. "Didn't get a lot of work in did you?"
"No I didn't." Steven sighed. "Well I guess this is Goodbye John."
"I guess it is." John stood silent for a second. "Hey if I hear that your band is playing anywhere I'll make sure I come and see you."
"Really?" Steven went from being totally depressed to being excited. "Thanks."
"Your welcome." John smiled. "I have to go do some press stuff. Bye Steven." John left to go talk to some reporters.
Tom was talking to Paul. "Yeah we have to leave soon."
Paul whined. "Man that's a drag. Midnight? Why then?"
Tom shrugged. "Don't know. Oh uh- here's your camera back." He thought about keeping the film but gave it to Paul. "Here's the film."
Paul took it and handed the film back. "No you keep it. For a keepsake."
"I will." Tom put the film back in his pocket. "See you when you come over on tour?"
"Tour?" Paul laughed. "I don't think the Beatles will be going on tour for a while."
Tom thought for a second. "Neither do I. But-" He stopped.
"But what?" Paul asked.
Tom shook his head. "Nothing. See ya Paul." He left Paul and walked outside where Steven was. "I always hate saying goodbye."
Steven wiped his eyes and turned around. "Yeah me too. It just- I don't know. I just wanted so bad to tell John about-"
"Yeah me too." Tom looked down at the ground.
Joe came out and sat on the steps. "The party is going on without us."
Brad followed. "Yep. It sucks that we have to leave."
"I know." Joey sat down next to Joe. "If we could've stayed just one more day."
"Well you heard Eliana." Steven said. "We have until midnight which is about another hour." A bus pulled up in front of the studio. They ran out of the gates and onto the bus. They went up to the top deck.
Tom smiled and sang, "Found my way upstairs and I had a smoke. Somebody spoke then I went into a dream."
"Are we going back to the apartment or are we going to ride the bus until it's time?" Joe asked.
"I think we'll just ride the bus." Steven looked out the window. Everyone was silent for a while.
Joe started singing. "There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can sing that can't be sung."
"Not now Joe." Steven moaned.
Tom took over for him. "Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game it's easy."
"Nothing you can make that can't be made. No one you save that can't be saved." Joey sang.
Brad joined in. "Nothin' you can do but you can learn how to be entire. It's easy." The rest joined in and started singing the chorus. Steven still wouldn't join in so they all stopped.
"What's wrong Steven?" Joe sat next to him.
"Nothing." Steven moved away a little bit from Joe.
"We're all bummed out about it being over Steven" Joe said. "We're just trying to have fun."
Steven continued staring out the window. "Hey that's Penny Lane!" Everyone rushed to the window. Then they passed a building. "And Strawberry Fields?"
"Where we at?" Tom looked around. The scenery seem to blur around them. "What's going on?"
Eliana appeared. "It's time for you to go." The bus disappeared. "It's over." Everyone blacked out.
Steven was the first to wake up. He was sleeping in the floor in front of the TV. The same place he had been before they left. He looked over and saw Joe looking like his old self. Steven walked over to Tom and nudged him. "Tom wake up."
Tom rolled over. "Yeah?" He took one look at Steven and sat up. "It's over?" He noticed something else. "Hey my accent's gone!" Brad stirred in his sleep.
"Yeah and it's four o'clock in the morning." Steven shushed him. "Come on let's go outside." Him and Tom went out on the back deck. They both stood there watching the waves on the beach. "You still got the film?"
"I don't know." Tom checked all of his pockets. "No. Eliana must have taken it and done something with it." A packaged dropped next to them. Tom looked up. "Where'd that come from?"
Joe walked out on the deck. "I take it that I didn't have a dream?" Joey came out next, followed by Brad.
Tom opened the package. "I don't think so." He handed everyone a bunch photographs.
"It really happened!" Brad said as he looked at a picture of him and Ringo talking. "Who took these pictures?"
"Hey this is when we were on the bus the first night." Joey showed Steven a picture.
Tom started digging through the box. "Hey she put the film in here."
"Really?" Joey laughed. "Can't wait to see that."
"Hey who's the girl in this picture?" Steven asked.
Tom took it. "Oh that's Betty." He laughed. "The girl that did the tongue thing."
"I still can't remember what that was." Joe scratched his head.
"Who's this one?" Steven pointed to a girl in a picture with Tom.
"Oh." Tom blushed. "That's Michelle."
"Michelle?" Steven laughed.
"That was Clapton's date!" Joey laughed. "You were flirting with her?"
"Oh we just bumped into each other." Tom added in a low voice, "Literally."
They all looked at the pictures remembering what had happen those three great days the had with The Beatles. Steven talked about playing "Dream On" for John. Tom talked about writing with Paul. Joe talked about going out to the club with Paul. Brad finally admitted that he did sneak into the bathroom with George and had a joint. Joey told them how he and Ringo pulled some prank on George Martin and ticked him off. They talked until the sun came up.