Poor Little Fool! [Ricky Nelson]

April 1958 I was in my bedroom thumbing through records in my bedroom. Looking for my new record that my friends wanted to listen to. My friends were in the other room waiting for me. Mary Ellen Croft and Corey Torres. I had been Mary Ellen's roommate here in the apt complex for about a month now. I loved being on my own. I was not sure if my father was going to allow me to move in with my best friend. He would not allow me to go moving to another town. He preferred me to wait to move out until I was married. But that was so old fashioned. I was not going to let that happen. I did not want to just haul off and marry anyone. I wanted to marry for love. Love was going to be the only reason that would get me to settle down with anyone. The right one. If I ever found him here in California. I find the new record. I come back out to join my friends. I see Mary Ellen on the phone. We had the local radio station on the air. Because I had issues finding my new record with the new music we had been craving. ♡♪♬♪♡ "Oh my gosh! I won! Three tickets!" squeals a happy Mary Ellen once she gets off the phone line. "You won? You actually won something?" laughs Corey with joy. They hug. I smile. "What is going on you guys?" I ask them as I sit down on the couch. "I won tickets! To guess who's, show?" she asks me. "Who?" I ask with wonder. "Ricky Nelson's sold out show! I won tickets and backstage passes. I only won two tickets. But I begged for a third. I kind of cried on the phone. That I had to take my sister. And they gave me a third" she giggles. "You are so bad Mary Ellen" I laugh. "Didn't you know Ricky?" asks Corey. I nod. "Before he got on the Ozzie And Harriet Show. He had dated my older sister Avery. He and Avery are only a year older than us. Ricky was really nice back then. Handsome as ever. Then when he got on tv we saw less of him. And you know Avery. She was immature. She wanted a boyfriend who was doting on her all the time. And she broke things off with him" I sigh as I shake my head. "Willow had a crush on her sister's man" teases Mary Ellen. My face blooms a blush on my cheekbones. "Shut up Mary Ellen" I hiss a warning to her. "I kind of guessed so when I saw the Ricky scrapbook she hides under her bed" snickers Corey. I cross my arms. "So, what not like you don't have a thing for Elvis Presley" I remind Mary Ellen. She had Elvis posters covering her wall in her room. Along with Frankie Avalon to. Mary Ellen is blushing now. "Corey has not been in my room yet. He did not need the know the secrets of my bedroom" she warns me. I laugh as I shake my head. ♡♪♬♪♡ "Corey does not care who is on your wall" I tease. "As long as my photo is right beside both your ladies' nightstand. That is the most important place to be in a girls room" he teases. "Corey!" giggles Mary Ellen. They kind of had a thing going. They went out a few times. Cory liked both of us. I told him before I was not interested. And he and Mary Ellen had not yet gone steady. I had a feeling they would at some point. Mary Ellen was crazy about Corey. He was a great guy. Just not the kind of guy for me. I wondered what was going to happen when we went to Ricky's concert. Would he even remember me? I was just the lonely kid sister who was hanging around with nothing to do. And had an undying crush on him. Ricky used to go by his real name then. Eric Hillard Nelson. That was his real name. I like Ricky better. It fit him well. He used to play songs for us. And sing. Avery was not so impressed. I was though. Ricky had a fantastic voice. His blue eyes used to smile at me when he played guitar. His smile made me weak in the knees. I never found another man who made me feel butterflies in the pit of my stomach when I see him. Until then I would not date until I found a man who gave that to me again. ♡♪♬♪♡ "Did you know Ricky's real name is Eric?" I tell them both. "Really?" asks Mary Ellen. I nod. "His parents used to live down the road from mine. Until Ricky bought them a bigger home in Hollywood Hills" I mention. "Wow" Mary Ellen says. "He used to play music for us. He was fantastic then to. Avery was not so impressed. But she liked anyone who paid attention to her. Then she was off to the next big thing" I laugh. "I had been to young for Ricky to notice me then" I sigh wistfully. "You're not a kid anymore" teases Corey as he quotes a song that was now playing on the radio. "She wants to be Ricky's girl; she wants to be Ricky's girl" chimes in Mary Ellen. "That's the most important thing to be" sings Corey. "Stop it right now!" I warn them. ♡♪♬♪♡ I laugh. I swat Mary Ellen on the arm. Then I grab a pillow and hit her with it. We end up having a pillow fight. All three of us. I end up breaking one of the pillows. Feather's fly all over the place. Now we had a huge mess to clean up on our hands. Grand. I laugh as I fall from the couch to the floor. My ribs hurt from laughing to much. Corey gets out our vacuum cleaner to get rid of all the feathers in the place. Later on, that night after Corey had gone home, for the night I was looking through my change purse to see if I had enough money to get a new dress over at Woolworths before the concert. I wanted to look grown up for Ricky. Maybe I could have Mary Ellen help me do my hair. And my nails. I find an old photo in my purse. In the back of my wallet. A school photo of Ricky that I always kept. His faded photo smiles back at me. I read what he wrote to me on the back. "Hey kid stay sweet, love Eric" it read. Kid. Stay sweet. I wince. I had to show him I was a woman now. I was nineteen years old. Almost twenty. I was living on my own now. He had to see I was not sweet. I was sexy. Mysterious. And alluring. I glance down at my magazine. My Woman's Journal. I borrowed it from my mother's hair salon last time I visited her. ♡♪♬♪♡ "How to get your man" I read an article on first dates. I sit down on the bed. Reading the silly thing. Someone knocks on my door. Mary Ellen comes in. "Are you excited to see Ricky?" she asks me. I smile. "Yes, this will give him a chance to know me as something more than a silly kid sister who had a silly crush and followed him around hopelessly" I laugh. "You are a woman now. And he will notice" she jokes. "you stand a chance with Avery being gone now" "True. But don't you think a guy like Ricky has a girl?" I wonder. "I read he was single right now" she tells me. "You better not blow it this time" "I doubt he will want someone who's sister hurt him" I remind her. "But you are nothing like your sister" Mary Ellen declares. "You are loyal. True. And never tell a lie" "Thanks, you make me sound like George Washington" I laugh. "I bet you will knock Ricky's socks right off him when he sees you" she brags on me as she hugs me. "I doubt that. I will be lucky if he remembers my name" I snicker. ♡♪♬♪♡ I sigh. I was no Avery. Guys always begged her for dates. Avery had no issues getting a man. She had a boyfriend right now. And here I was single. And awkward. I was nothing like my big sister. Avery had won Ricky's heart not me. And she had broken it. I doubted that he wanted a girl to remind him of the other girl who broke his heart. "Mary Ellen?" I say. She glances at me. "Yes Willow?" "Want to go to Woolworths with me tomorrow after I get off work? I want to find a new dress for the concert" I question. "Sure, I would love to. I do need to get some new shoes" agrees Mary Ellen. "I can't wait for this concert" "Me to" I admit. I could not let my hopes get up. Ricky was not going to take notice to one fan girl with millions there at his feet begging for his attention. He had my attention. He had always been in my heart. How could I get in his? That was something I might never figure out. But I wanted to. I wanted to be in Ricky's heart. ♡♪♬♪♡♪♬♪♡♪♬♪♡♪♬♪♡