New Year, Rock

By Elizabeth Bezerra

Annabelle Harrison is in a very difficult situation. Weeks before the Christmas and New Year, she was dumped from the apartment she shared with her college classmate. She found herself lost and alone in Los Angeles, where she had gone to study fashion.

It's when her best friend, Noah Bell, and his boyfriend, Tom, who are about to go on a romantic trip, offer the flat to Annabelle can stay until they return and find her a new place to live. Everything seemed perfect, until...

Ethan Bell considers himself a little “ lonely wolf ”, the music and the band in which he sings are his biggest company.  He travels the country playing, singing and showing the world his art. On a business trip to Los Angeles, he decides to visit his younger brother, whom he had not seen for more than a year, and his companion. Aside from being able to stay on Noah's flat for a while, that would help him save a little on hosting, since his band, The Demons still hasn't been that successful. What Ethan didn't know was that Los Angeles at this time of year is even more intriguing, giving him an incredible surprise. 

Light, music, action and a Happy New Year!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BadPress
• Release date: May 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9781547583904

Book preview

Thanks

This tale would not be possible without two important people. Ana Rascado, who was my musical consultant. Girl, you're Rock. And Lucilene Vieira, for answering my most impossible requests. I love you!

And without forgetting you, my reader, who is always with me.

Playlist

Follow the Playlist of New Year, Rock Tale on Spotify or on Youtube

Livin' on a Prayer – Jon Bovi

Back in Black - AC/DC

Never Tear Us Apart – INXS

Eye of the Tiger – Survivor

Always – Bon Jovi

Jingle Bells– Gwen Stefani

Everything I Do – Bryan Adams

Rock You Like A Hurricane – Scorpions

Sweet Child O' Mine – Guns N’ Roses

Índice

Thanks

Synopsis

Playlist

Livin' on a Prayer

Don't Stop Believin'

Back in Black

Never Tear Us Apart

Eye Of The Tiger

Always

Jingle Bells

Everything I Do

Rock You Like A Hurricane

Sweet Child O' Mine

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Note

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Livin' on a Prayer

Annabelle

Damn luck!

Luck can mean destiny, fate, or a casual happening that can be good or bad. The word luck can have different meanings, used in different contexts. I could always count on Damn Luck, which is when a person goes through an unpleasant experience. In my case, lots of them.

Well, I was the fruit of a crazy New Year's Eve, that's why I have no idea who or where my father is. And when I was four years old, Alice Harrison had the brilliant idea that the best place in the world to live was Alaska, where she spent the last 15 years working as a manager of a snack bar.

I was happy in Alaska, until the age of 14, which was when we discovered that my mother had an incurable disease and we would only have her for two more years, which ended up extending for three. Alice Harrison was not a woman who was easily controlled, she used to say. And she would leave when she felt ready, or feel she was ready.

Mom sold our little house in Alaska to help pay for her treatment and we went to live with her sister, Aunt Simone, in Atlanta. After Mama's death, I collected every penny left from the sale of our house and left for Los Angeles to study Fashion.

Make something great of your life, Belle, it was my mother's favorite phrase to me, until her last day of life. So, a few months after her death, I found myself alone in Los Angeles with the intention of doing something great in my life.

The problem is that she, The Damn Luck, decided that she should accompany me, no matter which corner of the world I was. Beginning with the loss of the college campus vacancy, because the vacancies were limited and I sent my form too late, instead of sending the email in some way that I cannot explain, it had stopped in the draft folder, something I never remembered to look at.

Finding an apartment within my resources was not easy at all, in the end, I ended up sharing an apartment with a student in my class named Sidney. The girl is mystical and I think she does black magic. It's by far the short-tempered person I've ever met in my life. I admit, without any embarrassment, that her dark brown eyes, always flashing fires wherever she passes, frightens me to hell, so I always try to avoid her.

But Luck, well, Damn Luck, stay alive and kicking on my back, like that spirit in the Thai movie. Shutter. Syd, as she likes to be called, has a boyfriend, Shaw, he is captain of the American football team at USC. He's the most convinced guy, sure of himself and promiscuous that I've had the displeasure of putting my eyes. Shaw always comes to the apartment to see Syd and to have sex her, and in the vague moments, her favorite pastime is to flirt with me. I don’t need to say that for me, arousing Shaw's interest was not good at all, so I tried to avoid him. Whenever I heard his voice down the hallway, I would lock myself in the bedroom.

The tactic lasted a full semester, but it seems that my strategic escapes in avoiding him just ignited the hunter's instinct within. And it was not always easy to avoid bumping into Shaw, especially when Syd said he would not come to the apartment and I would bump into him in the kitchen or in the living room when he got up at dawn to fetch cold water or go to the bathroom.

Then Shaw's invested on me began to move from the apartment I shared with his girlfriend to wherever we were. In college, outings to bars or parties, and even when we bumped into town.

I could even blame The Damn Luck for what happened this afternoon, but this time I'm going to save my old friend and assign my great misfortune of the moment to Shaw's asshole. Their relationship was not going through a good phase due to his recurring betrayals. That Syd always forgave, because Shaw somehow managed to convince her that it was all the girls' fault, the football-obsessed fans that hound him.

I was neither one thing nor another. But that didn’t stop Shaw from putting his eagle eyes on me. And it was that afternoon when I returned from Christmas shopping, after finally choosing the gift I would send to my Aunt Simone, that I was cornered by Shaw as I entered the house.

My hands were occupied with the key of the apartment and the shopping bags, but that wasn’t what stopped me from blocking Shaw's attack on me, it was the surprise. So with the kiss I never wanted, Damn Luck was weighing on my shoulders again.

Annabelle!

Syd's angry cry, when she caught me kissing her boyfriend, still echoed in my head whenever I closed my eyes. Shaw used the same excuse that it was the girl's fault, in this case, me and that I had always given up on him, which he always tried to avoid me until today when I attacked him.

Besides Shaw, I was a victim of Sidney's furious hands in my hair and her sharp nails. And if that was not enough, I was kicked out of the apartment, having my things thrown out the third-floor window.  

— I still can’t believe the bitch Sidney threw you out of the apartment three days before Christmas! — said Noah, exasperated, reaching for my hand on the coffee table where he came to meet me, shortly after calling him.

Noah Bell and his boyfriend, Tom Reed, were the first friends I made in the city. They also studied fashion and our friendship was almost instantaneous. I had a bit of luck, this time good because I still have them in town. At this time of year, most of the students are traveling on vacation or have been revisiting families. All I had left was Noah and Tom to call for help. I had spent a great deal of the money I had left to pay the next six months’ rent to Sydney, and the plan was to get a part-time job the following year to continue studying and living in Los Angeles. Finding a place by then would take all the rest of my savings.

— I don’t know what to do, Noah — my eyes started to feel watery — After leaving, Aunt Simone decided to sell her apartment and is living in a nursing home, she said she only saw what it was like to be alone after my mother and I left her house.

— Poor girl — from the look Tom gave me, he meant me, not Aunt Simone.

— And she's not even there now. — I swallowed the tears as I spoke and dried my tear with the paper towel — Went to a senior citizen cruise.

Anyway, having to go to Atlanta and then having to return to the beginning of classes would generate unnecessary expense.

— I know you guys are very busy with your romantic trip — I looked at each of them looking like a lost kitten — But don’t