Free The Sunset Strip Diaries by Amy Asbury Page A

ready that evening. Jamie had been almost mean to me when he asked me out. He didn’t smile at me or look me in the eye when he talked to me. He seemed almost bored even asking me out. I could have sworn I saw him roll his eyes when I was answering his questions! It didn’t feel right. But I had nothing to compare it to. It fit right along with my impression of men. They wanted you to be sexy and they wanted you for only one thing. I felt a red flag go up in my head, but I quickly pushed it away. I told myself I needed to do this. I needed to go. I didn’t want to be the only girl who hadn’t gone on a real date. The guy was a Hollywood guy in a band and he hung on Sunset. He reminded me of Tommy Lee. He wasn’t some little wimp like Jeff . I have to go on this date. This was my chance to get into the Hollywood crowd, the one I read about in L.A. Weekly and Music Connection . This guy had a car, he had the look, and he appeared to have had the connections to where I wanted to be . I had to go.
     
    It was freezing that fall and winter in California. I remember being very cold. I wore black tights, a black skirt, and a leather jacket over my top. I distinctly remember wearing a cross earring in one ear and a silver spider web or shark’s tooth in the other. Jamie called me to get directions to my house and I was very meek over the phone. He shouted at me a few times and sounded very bored, like he was going through the motions just to screw me. He didn’t even try to hide it. It was like he had done it hundreds of times and he was sure he was about to do it once again. He told me to wear something that was easy to take off, and that I had better not be on my period. Yes, you read correctly. Those were his exact words.
     
    I was scared shitless. If I flaked, what would happen at school? This was my chance to be cool and date someone older. Maybe I could get out of doing what he was implying…maybe I was hearing him wrong. Was this what the Hollywood crowd was like? How would I ever handle it, if I couldn’t even go on one date with a Hollywood guy? I have to toughen up and deal with it. I made myself go against my danger instinct, something I would do countless more times as a teenager. I told myself to bear whatever happened, to resist my urge to flee. That is how I dealt with my father and that is how I would soon deal with a lot more men. I would mentally shut down and bear it.
     
    Jamie pulled up in front of my house in a white Mustang and honked the horn with the motor still running. His license plate frames said, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.”  My mother told me I had to bring him in to meet her and my dad. She at least knew what to do there. I ran out to the car and said that my parents wanted to meet him. He ignored me and said that we were late or something, and to just get in the car. I blindly obeyed. We sped off. I think he even burned rubber! I weakly mentioned the curfew my parents gave me and he ignored me. I looked down on the dashboard and the first thing I saw was a picture of a blond girl. I asked him who it was and he sarcastically said, “My fucking pen pal. Who do you think ? It’s my girlfriend.” He had a picture of his GIRLFRIEND on his dashboard! While taking me on a DATE ! I am not making this shit up.
     
    I was stunned.  This guy was ten kinds of rude. In two years’ time, I would eat his kind for breakfast, but that night I was not there yet. I did not know my value.  I was terribly scared, but strangely excited. He asked me if I had a cigarette. I said I only had one left, and he said, “That’ll do.” I gave him my last Marlboro Red and he popped it in his mouth while turning up the radio. He had a dark five o’ clock shadow and very pale skin- I thought he was hot. He wore leather pants that I found to be a little much at the moment, but whatever. It was very L.A. Guns, a band who I liked very much.  He asked me where a liquor store was, and