In memory of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Richie Valens on the 49th anniversary of their death in Clear Lake, Iowa February 3, 1959, the day the music died. I'm sorry to all of those out there who like Lubbock Texas, no offense meant!
I quite obviously don't own Lubbock, Holly Estates, The Crickets, Peggy Sue, That'll be the Day, Sonic, or anything else you recognize (and possibly don't recognize). On the other hand, I do own a copy of Peggy Sue's book and a Buddy Holly Cd.
That'll Be The Day – Buddy Holly and The Crickets
"Hello Ms. Montez!" Troy said as the love of his life's mother opened her front door.
"Hello Troy, would you like to come in? Gabriella will be down in a minute." Ms. Montez responded smiling at the young man and gesturing towards the couch. Troy walked in and sat down on the couch. He smiled as he realized that Ms. Montez was listening to her favorite musician and his band. Even though they were a little bit before her time, Buddy Holly and the Crickets were her favorite.
"Have you ever been to Lubbock, Texas Troy?" Ms. Montez asked as she continued her cleaning that she had started before Troy arrived.
"Once. My cousins lived there for about a year. They moved back to Kansas, they didn't like it." He responded.
"Good choice, I hate Lubbock. The only thing I like about it was going to visit Buddy Holly's grave every time I went." She responded smiling.
"Mom, I'm sure that Troy doesn't want to hear anymore about Buddy Holly. You talk about him every time you see Troy!" Gabriella said, coming down the stairs to meet Troy. He smiled and stood up once he noticed her.
"Oh, it's fine. I love music and it's history. I find it fascinating. I'm a rebel, I like the evil Rock 'n Roll music." He responded, before Ms. Montez could respond, and then kissed his girlfriend on the cheek.
"See Gabi, Troy doesn't mind." She said laughing slightly at the disgruntled look on her daughters face and at how Troy had worded his response.
"Yeah, you're a real wild child, Troy." Gabriella responded sticking her tongue out at the both of them.
"So you ready for your surprise date?" Troy asked smiling widely.
"No! Tell me where we're going! Please?" Gabriella begged. He had been talking about this date for the last three weeks and still hadn't told her where they were going.
"Ok, I'll tell you where we're going for the first part of the date." He replied as he opened the front door for her.
"Bye Mom!" Gabriella called as she walked out of it.
"Yes, bye Mom!" Troy also called, earning slap on the arm from Gabriella.
"Bye you two, have fun!" Ms. Montez replied smiling brightly. She couldn't wait for Gabriella to get home from this date after what Troy had talked to her about.
"Ok so I asked Taylor's opinion on where to go to eat. I said Sonic since it's your favorite, but she insisted that I take you to Old Town to go to an old Mexican food restaurant instead of a drive-in." He said as they walked to the car and he once again opened her door for her.
"You went to Taylor for help?" She asked as she got in.
"Only for the restaurant part, I wanted tonight to be perfect. Plus it's a tad bit more romantic." He said smiling and closing her door once she was in. He walked over to his side of the car and got in too.
An hour and a half later, they had finished eating a romantic dinner and Gabriella was now incessantly quizzing Troy, trying to guess where they were going next as he drove.
"The Mall?"
"No."
"The Aquarium?"
"No."
"To get ice cream?"
"No."
"The park?"
"No."
"Zoo?"
"No."
"To get coffee?"
"No."
"Santa Fe?"
"No."
"Home?"
"No."
"Texas?"
"No."
"Mexico?"
"No."
"Arizona?"
"No."
"Graceland?"
"Uh, no. Definitely not."
"Disneyland?"
"Nope."
"Boogie Wonderland?"
"You're not going to guess." Troy replied laughing at her last guess.
"Well you never know, Boogie Wonderland might just be in New Mexico." She said frowning and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Trust me, you'll love it. It's educational and romantic. Now is that a good combo for you or what?" Troy said as they turned into a huge parking lot.
"What is educational and romantic?" Gabriella responded, completely confused. He got out of the car, and once again opened the door for her. He led her to the huge building in the middle of the parking lot.
"This is what is educational and romantic." Troy said, pointing at the sign outside of the doors that read, 'The music of Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, Vivaldi, and Bach, tonight only.'
"Oh Troy!" Gabriella said excitedly, "I wanted to go to this so bad! Thank you so much!" She jumped up and down a few times before hugging and kissing him.
"I thought you'd like this, but you do realize that Buddy Holly was the first person to use a full orchestra in Rock 'n Roll history right?" He said smiling as he paid.
"Are you sure you don't want to date my mother instead? You two seem overly obsessed with Buddy Holly." She responded laughing.
" Well I love you gal, yes I love you Gabriella." Troy sang as they walked in and took their seats.
About half way through the concert, Gabriella suddenly whispered.
"Troy? Do you always think we'l l be together?"
"Yes. We know true love ways." He said, turning to look at her.
"Seriously though." She said, frustrated that he was quoting another song.
"Well I know that I'll never say goodbye, and the day you say goodbye, that'll be the day that I die." He replied looking down at her and kissing her on the forehead. She couldn't tell what the expression on his face was because it was so dark and it was really annoying her.
An hour later, the concert was over and they once again found themselves in the car.
"So are we going home now?" Gabriella asked, not wanting the night to be over. It was just too nice to end.
"Nope. In fact," Troy said, turning into a parking lot and parking, "We have one more stop, but I have to put a blindfold on you first." He pulled out a blindfold and smiled at her.
"Why? How many more surprises can there be?" Gabriella asked as he put the blindfold on. Once he finished, he kissed her, then once again they were on the road.
"Where are we?" Gabriella asked after what felt like two hours to her.
"New Mexico. Ever heard of it?" Troy responded, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the radio.
"Yes, are we even still in Albuquerque?" Gabriella asked, fiddling with the hem on her skirt.
"No." Troy said, waiting for her to yell at him.
"WHAT!?" She screeched back about to take off the blindfold.
"No! Don't take it off!" he said, panicked. She couldn't ruin this surprise. It had to be perfect.
"Fine, but you better not be taking me to the middle of nowhere to kill me."
"Sorry, no murders tonight."
A few minutes later, they finally came to a stop.
"Can I take it off yet?" Asked a very impatient Gabriella, she really wanted to know where they were.
"No, now I'm going to help you out of the car, then I promise I will take it off of you." Troy responded getting out of the car. He then went to the other side of the car and carefully helped her out. They walked about ten feet, then, like he promised took off her blindfold. She gasped in amazement. Troy had brought them to a hill overlooking the city. You could see all of Albuquerque from here, and it was an amazing sight at night with all the lights.
"Oh my goodness Troy! This is beautiful!" Gabriella responded and turned around and kissed him. The kiss didn't last that long though, she wanted to look some more at the incredible site .
"I thought you'd like it." Said Troy as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind her.
"Hey Gabriella, how did your dad propose to your mom?" He asked, letting go of her. She still faced Albuquerque, looking out at it.
"Well they spent the day together and they did a whole bunch of that she loved. He spent the whole day quoting Buddy Holly before he…" She trailed off, realizing that she had just described her night.
"Everyone says go on up and ask her. Where youre concerned, my heart has learned. Its so easy to fall in love. " Troy said from behind her. She was almost afraid to turn around.
Gabriella turned around after a few seconds of deep breathing and found what she hoped she would. Troy, lit up by the bright lights of Albuquerque, was on one knee with a ring in one hand. He had a huge smile on his face. She put her hands over her mouth.
"The whole world can see that you were meant for me." Troy quoted, still smiling, but getting nervous since she hadn't answered yet. Finally she decided what she was going to say.
"Well, Peggy Sue did get married. I suppose I can too." Gabriella said, starting to cry as he put the band of gold on her finger.
Thanks for reading! Long live rock 'n' roll!