Loving the Band (14 page)

‘Sorry, what were you saying, Tegan?’

‘I said, what do you think I should wear tomorrow? It’s such a big event!’

I watched Tegan putting the juice back into the fridge. I tried to remember what we were talking about, or what she had been talking about, should I say.

‘Er, for what?’

‘Tomorrow night! The premiere! Probably the most exciting night of our lives – EVER!’

‘Oh!’ I exclaimed. ‘I’m really sorry, Tegan. My mind’s somewhere else today.’ I sighed.

‘Oh’, she muttered, ‘It’s OK.’

I sighed. ‘No, it’s not, Tegan. I have been a crappy best friend lately. I’ve been too busy getting caught up in my own problems that I haven’t had time to listen to you. Tell me what you want to do today,’ I said, walking over to the chair and putting my elbows up on the island and propping my head up with my hands. ‘Anything you feel like at all – I’m there.’

She looked at me excitedly. ‘Let’s go shopping!’ she
trilled gaily.

Tegan’s enthusiasm was infectious. We scoffed down breakfast, showered quickly and hit the shops.

When we finally got in, I threw myself down on to my bed, feeling absolutely exhausted. We had spent hours trawling the shops! Every single dress I took a fancy to Tegan rubbished it, saying that it was the wrong colour or that it didn’t sit right on my body.

Of course we found the perfect dress for her and it was also in budget, which was a plus. It was cobalt blue and complemented her complexion perfectly – I knew she’d look like a million bucks. Like a gentleman, Callum had offered to buy whatever dress Tegan fancied, but she’d politely refused – like the independent woman she is! I was shocked at how many dresses she said she hated, telling me there was no reason to even try them on, which was highly strange for her as normally she would pressure me into trying things on even when we knew we couldn’t afford them! She said that we’d look somewhere else tomorrow. I couldn’t complain – another day of shopping and pampering would be bliss in my current state of mind.

The week’s events had finally caught up with me, making me feel like I hadn’t had a wink of sleep for days. I was still unable to make head or tail of my emotions, so I decided to push them to the back of my mind. If only I could lock them up and throw away the key. A soft knock on my bedroom door caused me to jump slightly. I slowly lifted my weary body and saw Tegan standing in the
doorway.

‘Come in,’ I smiled, gesturing towards my bed. She sent me a smile back before skipping over and plonking herself down next to me. ‘You all right?’ I asked.

‘Yeah, tired, but so excited for tomorrow I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight. Think of how many famous people will be there – and we’ll be on the arms of two of the hottest of them! How are you feeling about it?’

I let out a soft yawn by way of response. ‘Excited too, I guess. I’m just so tired!’

‘Oh, I can talk to you tomorrow, if you like?’ Tegan mumbled, gesturing towards the door.

I shook my head. ‘No, it’s fine. How about you sleep in my room tonight?’ I offered.

‘Yeah!’ she said excitedly, jumping up. ‘I’ll just go get changed!’ She beamed at me before skipping out of my room.

I chuckled to myself as I stood up, grabbing my pyjamas and swiftly slipping into them. I threw my clothes carelessly into the pile of dirty laundry that had gathered in the corner of my room. I shuffled my feet along the floor and into the bathroom, washing my face and brushing my teeth. When I had finished, I walked back into my bedroom, finding Tegan already wrapped up in the quilt – on my side, might I add. I was too tired to even argue so I just silently walked over to the other side of the bed, switching the bedside lamp on and flicking the main light off before crawling into bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, it felt as if someone had just buried me under
a pile of bricks; the exhaustion swept through my entire body.

‘Today’s been hectic,’ Tegan said, rolling on to her side.

I moved so that Tegan and I were facing each other. ‘Yeah,’ I replied with a sigh. I saw her eyes flicker over my face, searching for any sign of how I was feeling.

‘How do you feel about Shaq going to the premiere with Gaby?’ she asked, moving her hand so it was placed under the pillow.

I shrugged my shoulders tiredly.

‘Ha,’ Tegan scoffed, rolling her chocolate-brown eyes. ‘This is me you’re talking to,’ she reminded me.

‘I’m happy that I’m Riley’s date,’ I stated simply.

‘OK,’ Tegan responded sceptically.

‘Anyway, what about you and Callum?’ I prompted, trying to change the subject rapidly. Even though the room was very poorly lit, I could still see Tegan’s cheeks turn a rich crimson colour.

‘What about us?’ she mumbled so quietly that I struggled to hear what she’d said.

‘Well, what’s the latest? Has he asked you to be his girlfriend yet?’ I grinned, leaning over to nudge her with my shoulder.

She sighed. ‘No. Anyway, I would have told you if he had.’

The grin dropped from my face. ‘I’ve been so wrapped up in my life lately that even if you had told me I would have probably forgotten,’ I said apologetically, still feeling ashamed that I’d neglected my best friend lately.

‘Hey, stop that talk,’ Tegan soothed, reaching out to tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear. ‘I can’t blame you. I know how it feels, but for you it’s two times worse.’

I furrowed my eyebrows together. ‘How so?’ I asked.

‘Well, because of Riley
and
Shaq,’ she said bluntly, letting out a small yawn.

I matched her yawn, only mine was incredibly dramatic, causing Tegan to burst out laughing.

‘Shaq and I are just … friends,’ I replied after I’d finished yawning.

‘Yeah, and so are Callum and I!’ she laughed softly, snuggling her face further into the pillow.

I sighed, feeling my eyelids become incredibly heavy.

‘You’re going to look great on Callum’s arm tomorrow night,’ I said proudly, changing the subject yet again.

Tegan grinned widely, flashing me her set of pearly whites. ‘And you on Riley’s. Night, night, Jess,’ she whispered, rolling over so her back was facing me.

‘Night, Tegan,’ I replied.

‘Love you,’ she said after another yawn.

I smiled to myself, ‘Love you too.’

I reached for the lamp and switched it off, darkness soon filling the room. I rolled on to my back and stared at the ceiling, wishing that I could switch off my whirring mind and fall straight to sleep.

‘Jess?’ I heard Tegan whisper a few minutes later from my side.

‘Mhm?’ I replied, too tired to even form words.

‘It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, hasn’t it?’

I felt my eyes flutter closed as I quietly agreed: ‘It sure has.’

‘Jess … JESS!’ I heard a voice scream, followed by something being thrown at me.

‘Go away,’ I mumbled agitatedly, burying my head even further into the pillow.

I heard Tegan groan. ‘We’ve a big day ahead of us today, and your dad has made us breakfast, so I suggest you get your arse out of bed and downstairs ASAP,’ she said sternly, followed by the noise of the door slamming, indicating that she had left.

I sluggishly sat up in bed with a loud yawn, rubbing my eyes. I hadn’t got a good night’s sleep last night and now I remembered why I never let Tegan sleep in my bed. When she wasn’t snoring her face off, she was kicking me in the leg repeatedly. I stretched my arms over my head, feeling my shoulders crack as I did so.

When I stepped into the kitchen, I was greeted by the delicious smell of a fry-up. My dad was positioned over the cooker and I could hear the hiss from the frying pan when he flipped the eggs.

‘Morning, Dad,’ I said, walking over and sitting on the stool.

‘Morning!’ he called over his shoulder before going back to attend to the breakfast.

I grabbed a slice of toast from the middle of the island and buttered it generously before taking a bite. ‘Where’s Tegan?’ I asked after I’d finished my mouthful.

My dad shrugged his shoulders, causing the tea towel he’d slung on his shoulder to fall to the floor. He bent down to pick it up, nearly knocking the frying pan over as he did so.

‘Must be upstairs,’ he finally replied, turning off the cooker.

I sighed. Typical. She drags me out of bed then doesn’t even bother coming downstairs.

Suddenly the doorbell rang.

‘I’ll get it!’ I sang, jumping down from the stool and heading to the door, toast in hand.

I popped the toast in my mouth so I could open the door. I looked up, my eyes coming across a rather attractive man dressed in a red polo top and a pair of black trousers. He had a largish box in his hands with a clipboard and a pen placed on top of it.

‘Jessica Wright?’ he asked, hopeful.

I ripped the toast out of my mouth, swallowing before I answered: ‘That’s me.’ I smiled at him warmly.

He let out a loud sigh of relief. ‘Thank God. I have been to endless houses this morning trying to deliver this to you.’ He extended his arms and nodded towards the
box in his hands.

I frowned, knowing for sure that I hadn’t ordered anything lately. ‘All right,’ I said, popping the toast back into my mouth and taking the neatly wrapped box from him. Surprisingly, it wasn’t heavy. The delivery man indicated to his clipboard and I signed along the dotted line.

‘You have a nice day, miss.’ He smiled as he took the clipboard from my hands.

‘You too!’ I called after him as he walked down the drive.

I walked into the front room, turning my attention to the curious box and placing it upon the table. It was neatly wrapped in a shiny purple paper, topped off with a giant lavender bow. I was about to open it when I noticed a small white envelope peeking out from underneath the bow. I hesitantly picked up the envelope, wondering what on earth it could contain. I pulled out a small piece of white card, turning it over to reveal a handwritten message.

Even though you’ll be the most beautiful woman there already … See you tonight. Love Riley xx

I cocked my eyebrow as my eyes skimmed over the paper, re-reading the words. I placed the card safely back into the envelope and placed it on the table. I gently ran my fingertips across the top of the box until I reached the folded corner. Unable to contain my excitement any more I ripped the sticky tape off, unwrapping the paper hurriedly and carelessly throwing it on to the floor.
Revealed was a crisp white box with the word ‘Chanel’ embossed on the front.

My hands hovered over it for a few seconds. This had to be a joke, right? A practical joke waiting to frighten me when I opened the box? I ignored my suspicions and ripped off the lid, throwing it to the floor. Thankfully, nothing popped out and hit me in the face – rather, there was just swathes of white tissue paper covering something more bulky underneath.

As I delved into the tissue paper, I discovered something that made my jaw drop to the floor.

My eyes scanned the box, blinking multiple times just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Laid, neatly folded, before me, was – as clichéd as it sounds – the most beautiful dress I had ever seen in my life. I leaned over and carefully picked up the dress. As I pulled it out of its box, the bottom unfolded and floated down to reach the floor. I extended my arms so that I could get a full view of it.

It was a rich, red colour, almost exactly the colour of red roses in full bloom. It was one-shouldered with a few delicate pleats that fell gracefully to the floor. I turned the dress round. The back was cut out, with a thin strip that connected the small of the back with the top of the dress. The strip was beautifully encrusted with glistening crystals.

‘This must have cost a fortune,’ I whispered to myself, shaking my head slowly, still mesmerized. I couldn’t have picked a more beautiful dress; I was amazed that Riley knew my taste so well.

I carefully put the dress back in the box and replaced
the lid. There was no way I could accept this; it probably cost more than what I could make in a year.

‘It finally came!’ Tegan shrieked, causing my head to snap up to the doorway.

‘What?’ I asked, cocking my head quizzically as she came running towards me in excitement.

‘The dress!’ she replied, as if I was a crazy woman for not knowing exactly what she was talking about.

‘You knew about this?’ I asked, incredulous.

She laughed softly, keeping her eyes on the dress. ‘How do you think it’s the right size?’ she asked.

‘Oh,’ I mouthed, ‘I wondered how Riley had got it so right!’ I laughed, but I was slightly disappointed that he hadn’t bought the dress without any help.

Tegan snorted, moving over so she could examine the dress in more detail. I watched as her eyes shone brightly, in the same way that I expected mine did. So that’s why Tegan kept putting me off dresses all day yesterday – she’d had this planned with Riley all along.

‘Do you know why Riley did this?’ I asked casually, looking down at my nails and thinking about how much I needed a manicure.

‘Nope,’ she said innocently, popping the ‘p’. She thrust the dress in my direction. ‘Try it on!’ she commanded.

‘I don’t know …’

‘
Why?
’ she gasped. ‘Don’t you like it?’

I put my hands up in self-defence. ‘No! It’s absolutely beautiful.’

‘Then what’s the problem?’ she asked, lowering her
tone like she was losing patience with me.

‘I bet it cost a fortune. I could never accept something like this!’ I exclaimed, gesturing towards the dress Tegan was clutching in her arms.

‘Riley wouldn’t have bought it if he couldn’t afford it. I think he just wanted to do something nice for you. Besides, Callum bought me a D&G dress yesterday! It’s absolutely beautiful. And sexy!’

‘I don’t understand. You bought a dress yesterday?’

‘That was a decoy. Plus, I liked it anyway!’ She grinned, clearly pleased that she had pulled this little charade off so well.

I glanced at the dress again. It really was breathtaking. It would be criminal not to wear it. I smiled at Tegan and nodded my head conspiratorially.

She jumped up and down on the spot. ‘We’re gonna be the belles of the ball, the belles of the ball!’