Rock and Roll High School: Growing Up in Hollywood During the Decade of Decadence

by Marisa Tellez

  While I felt our first semi date at Disneyland was a success, I was tired of meeting Sebastian at clubs and always hanging out in a group setting. We’d yet to have an official date where we could have it be just the two of us. I nonchalantly brought this up to him, and he said I should come over to his place the following weekend to watch movies, so I did just that.

  It was late Sunday evening and I got to Sebastian’s around 11:00pm. I had just parked my moms pickle wagon and was walking towards his building when I saw Angela walking toward a car that was idling in the street. We said hello and she seemed to be coughing.

  “Are you okay? Are you getting sick?” I asked.

  “Just a tiny bit, but I’m fine,” she said sniffling.

  “How come you’re going out? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

  “Yeah, but this afternoon Sebastian said he wanted the apartment to himself tonight and to go find something to do for a few hours,” she said sweetly.

  Only Sebastian could kick someone out of their own apartment.

  I apologized to her because it was obvious he had done that for me. She said it was cool, hugged me goodbye and hopped into the waiting car. I continued walking up to the building and buzzed Angela’s apartment. I stood there for a few moments and remembered the intercom in her apartment still wasn’t working. I was about to walk away and call Sebastian from a payphone next door when I saw the elevator doors open in the lobby and out came Bam, Mandie, Sunny, Jack, and Susie. What perfect timing for them to let me in, I thought. Then I saw Sebastian trailing and stumbling behind them as they all headed towards the front door of the apartment building. As they walked out one by one, each said hi and greeted me with hugs. Sebastian, being totally wasted, walked right past me.

  “Sebastian? Where are you going?” I asked.

  “Hey! Oh yeah, we’re watching movies tonight right? Heh heh heh...I almost forgot. Come on let’s go,” he said grabbing my hand and leading me back into the apartment building.

  Slightly annoyed, I bit my tongue and followed him into the building. When we walked into his apartment, he apologized for being forgetful. He made each of us a drink and asked if I wanted to watch a movie.

  “Yeah, I guess,” I said still mildly annoyed.

  A few minutes into the movie, the house phone started ringing and wouldn’t stop. Any calls that were for him, he’d spend a few minutes on. Any that were for Angela, he’d just tell them to call back later and hang up on them without getting their name.

  We made out a little bit during the movie. When it finished, Sebastian said he wanted to watch 120 Minutes. Just a few minutes into watching the show, Mandie burst into the apartment with a guy named Spider who was wasted off his ass. I knew that would be the end of my quiet time with Sebastian.

  Spider fell face first on the carpet in the living room. With his eyes closed, he began yelling out random things to Mandie, most of which we couldn’t understand. After a few more outbursts, we were able to start deciphering Spider’s babble. So Mandie decided to mess with him.

  “Mandie, leave my drink alone!” Spider yelled.

  Meanwhile, Mandie was sitting on the couch at least a good eight feet away from Spider.

  “Sorry man, I made you a fresh drink. Here ya go,” Mandie said.

  “Thanks man,” Spider said.

  The three of us started laughing.

  “Yo how’s that drink?” Mandie asked.

  “Issss gooood…” Spider mumbled.

  “I’m making burgers too. You want one?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Here, how does it taste?”

  “It’s raw,” Spider said.

  We all started laughing again.

  “Sorry, I thought you wanted it medium rare man. Take this one it’s cooked.”

  “Oh that izzz goooood…”

  Theoretically speaking, Spider ended up eating a full meal with three cocktails, all while laying face first on the floor of the living room.

  About an hour or so later, Mandie walked out and left Spider behind on the floor. By this time, he had been quiet for a good half hour, so we figured he was passed out. It was the closest we were going to get in terms of having the place to ourselves that night.

  Sebastian and I were about five minutes into our make out session when he said he had to pee. When he stood up, he fell over. I asked him if he needed help. He said he was fine as he stumbled into the hallway towards the bathroom.

  About ten minutes had passed, and Sebastian still wasn’t back. I got up to check the bathroom, but he wasn’t in there. The door was wide open and the light was off. I walked towards Angela’s bedroom and there he was, sprawled out face first on her bed passed out.

  I slapped him on the butt, which woke him up and told him I was leaving. He said not to leave, then got up and walked with me back to the living room. We cuddled up on the couch, and he passed out again as Angela walked in the front door and headed to her bedroom.

  At that point, I really just wanted to go home. I got up, slowly peeled Sebastian’s arms off me, and told him to go back to sleep. He kissed me goodbye, then stumbled behind the tarp and plopped himself onto his bed as I walked myself out.

  It was about 5:00 am when I hopped into my moms pickle wagon. I wanted to get home before sunrise. But when I went to start the car, the damn thing was dead as a doornail. Just great I thought. Stranded, cold, and nowhere to go.

  As I tried to think of what to do, I saw Spazz get out of a car and head to Sebastian’s apartment building. I got out of the pickle wagon and ran to catch up with him. I figured he was going to see Angela, who he was hooking up with at the time. I knew he was my best bet at getting back into the apartment since I knew Sebastian was passed out cold.

  I told Spazz the buzzer wasn’t working in Angela’s apartment. As he told me about the wild night he just had at a Skid Row after party, he began buzzing every apartment in the building repeatedly, figuring someone would let him in. Sure enough, someone did.

  When we walked up to Angela’s apartment, he immediately started kicking on the front door. A minute or two later, she opened the door and let us in. I went behind Sebastian’s tarp and tried to tell him what happened, but he didn’t really care because he was still half asleep. He mumbled for me to spend the night and pulled me down to his chest. We curled up together and fell asleep.

  One thing I have to say about Sebastian, even though the music and image of The Kids was dark and angry; he was the biggest snuggle bunny I had ever dated. Throughout the night, some part of his body was always touching mine. When we weren’t snuggled up in each other’s arms, he’d be holding my hand or have a leg or arm across some part of my body, which I found endearing.

  We woke up the next morning shortly before noon. Sebastian immediately got up, put on the Dodger game, and called Mandie to come over, which he did a few minutes later. Sebastian was hungry and asked him if he had any breakfast yet. Mandie said he had eaten a piece of bread with a few toppings, which he described like it was a five star breakfast.

  A half hour later, Chuck walked in the door looking a bit disheveled. Fizzy Bangers had a show the night before in Bakersfield at a club called Mars. He said he spent the night at a random hotel with two fat girls he called “animales” and swore up and down that he didn’t sleep with them.

  When the game finished, I figured I’d try and start my mom’s car one more time before calling Lucy to come pick me up. I said my goodbyes to everyone and went down to try the temperamental pickle wagon. To my surprise, it started right up, so I made my way home.

  Weeks passed with no word from Charlie. I couldn’t have been happier. Especially after the lackluster commentary he gave me in his little black book. As for Sheldon, well not so much. He’d been calling ever since our Valentines Day hookup, and I’d been avoiding him like the plague. Sebastian and I were dating on a regular basis at that point, so hearing Sheldon’s voice on my answering machine every few days was a constant reminder on what a big mistake I’d m
ade. I knew I’d have to call and resolve the situation with Sheldon sooner rather than later. So on a random Saturday afternoon, I called him and decided to have it out once and for all.

  I didn’t get more than a few words out before he went into interrogation mode about Sebastian. Apparently he heard we were dating and was not happy about it.

  “What do you have against Sebastian anyway?” I asked.

  “He’s a slut. He sleeps around all the time, and you deserve better than that,” Sheldon said.

  “Ha! The guy who laid more pipe in Hollywood than the local plumber is calling someone else a slut? Now THAT’s funny,” I snorted.

  Sheldon admitted to screwing up a good thing between us. He said he still loved me and wanted to get back together. I told him he was out of his damn mind and promptly hung up on him.

  I talked to Faye later that afternoon and told her what was going on with Sheldon. She said not to believe him because he was chirping the same monologue to his ex-girlfriend, Evie. According to Faye, Sheldon had been calling Evie for the past two months, telling her he still had feelings for her and wanted THEM to get back together. Naturally, that didn’t surprise me one bit.

  Sheldon clicked in on my other line as I was getting off the phone with Faye. He asked why I hung up on him and that he wanted to talk more about “us”.

  “There is no US.” I told him. “And speaking of girlfriends, I just got off the phone with Faye. She said you’re feeding the same line of bullshit to Evie about getting back together with her,” I said.

  Sheldon paused for a moment and said nothing. I knew I had him. I kicked my feet up on my bed and smiled like the Cheshire Cat.

  “Well? What have you got to say foh yohself goovnah?” I said in a snotty English accent as I wiggled my toes.

  “Faye is a fucking liar, and so is Evie. They’re jealous hussies. Evie is the one who’s been calling me and saying she wants to hang out.”

  “Bollocks!” I yelled.

  “Why are you talking in an English accent?” Sheldon asked.

  A crowning moment in a girl’s life is when a guy who has royally screwed her over, comes crawling back, and she has no remorse. The taste of that victory is sweeter than any dessert I’ve ever had. But not as good as finding an awesome pair of designer shoes at a sample sale in your size, at half the cost.

  As I listened to Sheldon drag Faye and Evie’s credibility through the mud, I wondered what I should do about the current situation. Maybe go into some big grand standing speech and yell at him for being such a douche bag? Be a manipulative bitch and string him along for a few weeks then screw him over? Considering I was only 18, it would’ve been perfectly justifiable to do either and blame it on a lack of maturity. But I’ve never been one to deal with such theatrics. Plotting revenge on someone takes up a lot of time and energy that can be used towards something more productive. I didn’t have the patience or simply give a big enough shit to do something calculated to Sheldon, even though he certainly deserved it.

  “Listen. We’re not getting back together, and if you have a problem with me dating Sebastian, then blow it out your ass,” I said bluntly and hung up on him again.

  I’d like my victory sundae with extra sprinkles please.

  With another fun filled weekend upon me, I was off to Sebastian’s for the night as usual. When I got to the apartment, Spider was there along with Elise, Spencer, Harley, and a stripper named Evelyn.

  I had first met Elise through Sheldon because I’d always see her at Dancer shows. I absolutely adored her because she was a full out tomboy, which was something I could totally relate to. She never wiggled around in skimpy clothes or tried to be the center of attention like most of the other girls in Hollywood, she didn’t have to. She was totally comfortable in her own skin and just a friendly, down to earth girl who liked sports. She had long auburn hair, big green eyes, and little freckles around her nose. I thought she was the cutest thing ever. Any time she was around, I wanted to jump on top of her and bite her face.

  I didn’t know much about Spencer except that we were the same age, and I’d always see her bouncing around The Strip. She had wavy blonde hair and hazel eyes. We’d never really spoken before until that night at Sebastian’s. As it turned out, she lived just ten minutes up the street from me in South Pasadena.

  And as for Evelyn, she was skinny with a perfectly cut red bob and a closet stripper. No one was supposed to know that though, but of course we all did. If anyone asked her what she did for a living, she’d always say she was a secretary for an insurance agency. We all knew that was bullshit because she had her own huge apartment in Hollywood. No 18-year-old secretary would’ve been able to afford a place like that unless they had rich parents, which Evelyn didn’t have. No one understood why she tried to hide being a stripper, but nonetheless we went along with her façade.

  After having a few drinks at Sebastian’s, the seven of us were trying to think of something to do when he suggested we go to the beach. I was fine with group activities at this point and had long given up on having any alone time with Sebastian, except for when we were sleeping behind his tarp. So with everyone in agreement, we sucked down our cocktails and drove out to Malibu.

  We ended up parking on Pacific Coast Highway just past Sunset Blvd. We got out of our cars and looked over the rocks to the ocean waves crashing below. As some of the girls started to take off their shoes, Sebastian snatched one of Evelyn’s and threw it over the rocks, which landed safely on the sand below. She started yelling at Sebastian, saying her shoes were brand new and for him to go and get it. He started laughing and told Harley to go get it, which to my surprise she immediately did. Just like an obedient dog.

  I never liked having Harley around because something about her rubbed me the wrong way. Not that she was ever mean to me. She was always quite sweet actually. But I just didn’t like the way she was always lingering around Sebastian.

  Once Harley scaled the rocks and fetched Evelyn’s shoe, we noticed a stairwell a few yards away that led down to the beach. Spider and Spencer led the way down the steps, and I followed behind them. Spencer and I were chatting about how close we lived to each other when I realized Sebastian and the rest of the girls were gone.

  That didn’t surprise me though. Sebastian was always doing things like that. He would take off without saying anything and show up later like nothing was wrong. He felt if he was going somewhere for a short period of time, it wasn’t worth mentioning because (according to him) he would be back by the time I’d even notice he was gone.

  When Sebastian took off like that, it was always a crapshoot on how long he’d be gone for. It could be a few minutes, which didn’t bother me. Then there were times when he’d be gone for well over an hour, and those are the times that annoyed the shit out of me. But I didn’t want to come off like a parole officer, so I just chalked it up to being one of the many aspects of his personality that I had to accept.

  Knowing that Sebastian would surface at some point in the night, I told Spencer and Spider to continue down the steps to the beach. Sure enough, Sebastian popped up about fifteen minutes later. He was walking down the steps with a cocktail in one hand and a bag of food from Jack in the Box in the other. He said the girls had bought him food (I’m guessing Harley) and that Evelyn was still being a bitch about her shoe and wanted to leave. Since Spencer and Evelyn were the ones with the cars, Harley and Elise decided to take off with Evelyn.

  The four of us continued walking on the beach until we spotted a good stack of rocks we could sit on. We snacked on Sebastian’s bag of food and chatted amongst ourselves for a little bit. After we finished eating, Sebastian wanted to take a walk with me alone on the beach, so we left Spencer and Spider behind. We sat down in the sand and watched a few ducks frolic around in a small pool of water nearby. He talked about how much he loved The Cure and how cool it would be if he were a vampire. Naturally, this made me raise an eyebrow.

  His tastes in music were all over the place.
He liked everything from Cypress Hill and House of Pain, to alternative bands like Curve, Pighead, Lush, and The Wonderstuff. He asked me random things like if I had ever used a Ouija board before and whether I believed in ghosts.

  While I gave him my thoughts on the paranormal and professed my undying love for The Beatles, Sebastian picked up pieces of random garbage around us like broken shells and rocks, then started throwing them at the ducks. I told him he was an asshole and to leave the poor ducks alone. He laughed and threw one more bottlecap.

  We shared his drink and got on the subject of us dating. He told me he really liked me a lot but wasn’t ready for another girlfriend just yet. I was actually relieved to hear him say that because I wasn’t 100% sure what I wanted either. He still wanted us to hang out but was also worried about what I was getting myself into with him. I asked him what he meant by that. He said we would talk about it later and that we should probably get back to Spencer and Spider.

  The four of us left the beach a short time later, and Spencer dropped Sebastian and I off at his place. We made some drinks and lay down behind his tarp. He brought up the subject of us dating again as he fed me Reese’s pieces. He seemed to be really concerned about hurting me, so I took that as an opportunity to bring up my concerns about Harley. I told him that her habit of constantly looming around him was getting on my last nerve. He paused for a moment and then admitted to sleeping with her a while back.

  I was just about to spout off my obvious disapproval when I thought about my own Valentines Day. According mentioned, both encounters seemed to have happened around the same time, which was when we first started hanging out.