Rebecca is Always Right (25 page)

When we got back to our friends, everyone was very enthusiastic. Kitty ran over and hugged us all and told us she was proud of us, which was lovely.

‘I can’t wait to see what you do next!’ she said.

Small Paula, who is of course a girl of few words, just nodded at us and said, ‘Very nice work.’ Which is high praise from her.

And Sam was enthusiastic too.

‘That was amazing!’ he said. ‘You were all even better than when you played at the camp.’

I was on such a high I forgot to be self-conscious.

‘Really? Thanks!’ I said. ‘It was so much fun.’

‘How do you play the drums with your feet and hands at the same time?’ said Sam. ‘I’ve always wondered about that.
I’m pretty sure I’d get something confused.’

‘Ah, it’s not that hard,’ I said, and it isn’t now, even though when I first got my drum kit I was horrified to discover that I had to use a pedal as well as the drumsticks to play some of the drums and I got totally confused myself. ‘Hey, look, the Wicked Ways are on now.’

Richard and his friends were on stage and ready to go. A spotlight shone on one of the mikes, and Richard walked up to it.

‘Wow, his suit looks so cool!’ said Cass. ‘I think it might be even better than his brother’s one. I mean, it’s basically made to measure.’

‘Welcome, welcome,’ said Richard in the booming voice he adopts on stage, a voice that should be ridiculous but is somehow impressive. ‘We’re the Wicked Ways. I’m Richard Murray. And I’m a fool for love.’

They launched into their song ‘Fool For Love’, which involves him doing even more booming than usual. The first time I saw them perform it, I thought it was ridiculous, but it quickly grew on me.

The audience liked it too. In fact, by the time the band did their song ‘Pterodactyl’ and Richard was singing about ‘Flying over unforgiving lands / Wishing that I had human hands …’
he had the crowd eating out of his (human) hands. It was really good. Alice looked very proud. I wonder what their musical collaboration will sound like? She does a lot less bellowing than him (though she too is a very confident performer). Anyway, when they finished they got a huge cheer, and then Veronica came out and thanked everyone for coming.

‘And the biggest thanks of all go to our four bands, Bad Monkey, Puce, Hey Dollface and of course Richard Murray and the Wicked Ways. Give them a big round of applause!’

The crowd went wild, and then it was over. Except it wasn’t over, for us. Rachel, Jenny and Fionn went off (Jenny even gave me a hug. She really is quite noble) and then all four bands and some of our friends like Jane and Ellie and of course Sam, Lucy and Senan all went back to the art space, where Veronica had laid out some snacks and soft drinks as a special reward for us being the stars of the first all-ages band afternoon.

‘You’ve got this space for an hour and a half,’ she said. ‘And I’ll be checking in on you. So don’t mess it up.’

It was like a party. Well, basically it was a party. It was dark outside and the only lighting came from the lamps over the drawing boards, which helped create a party-ish mood. Liz had brought little speakers and plugged in her phone so we had some music. Someone produced some of the cans, the
contents of which were discreetly poured into mugs from the art space kitchen. But I didn’t have more than a sip because I don’t really like beer, and I was also totally paranoid about Veronica finding out and banning us all from the Knitting Factory forever. In fact, I was glad when the beer ran out (quite quickly as it happened, because they didn’t have many cans and there were loads of us).

I was talking to lots of people, but, like the last time we all hung out in the art space, I was always conscious of Sam, of where he was and who he was talking to, and of the fact that we weren’t talking to each other and that time was going by very quickly. And then, when I went over to the table to refill my glass (just Coke, I might add), he came over.

‘Hello, drumming sensation,’ he said. ‘Having fun?’

‘I’m still in a bit of a daze,’ I said.

‘Well, you were great,’ he said, smiling. He has a very nice smile. ‘I look forward to the next one. Next gig, I mean.’

And then there was a pause, and maybe it was because I’d spent so much time convincing myself that something was going to happen today, but suddenly everything felt sort of intense and strange. Like, well, like something might happen.

Then he asked me if we’d thought any more about recording stuff, and I told him maybe at Christmas, and he said he’d
do some artwork for us if we liked, but I was barely listening to what he was saying because I was so conscious of the two of us, together, and somehow we ended up on the side of the room where fewer people were and he said something about feeling really at home in the studio, and I was sure, absolutely sure, that something would happen, because everything seemed so, I dunno, intimate. We got talking about the future and about Sam’s comics and how he was going to enter the one he showed me last week in a big competition.

‘I know the chances of winning anything are small,’ he said. ‘But I want to give it a try.’

‘You should definitely go for it,’ I said.

‘Well, if I win, I’ll thank you in my acceptance speech,’ he said. ‘You can do the same for me whenever you win a, well, whatever the big awards for cool indie bands are.’

‘It’s a deal,’ I said. And we kept talking about nonsense, and it was fun. But as it got later and later my hope that SOMETHING was going to happen between us gradually trickled away. I knew we were all going to have to go home eventually, and the time was getting closer and closer. But even though we’d talked on our own and it had felt so weird and intense for a while, he hadn’t made any sort of move. And I hadn’t done anything either. And just as I was thinking about this Veronica
came in and said, ‘Right, ladies and gentlemen, time to go!’

I was wondering if we’d go on somewhere else, though I’m not sure where I thought we could go at half six on a Saturday. It’s not like we could go to a pub. Also, I needed to get home for dinner. Then Lucy said she’d better go home, and then someone else said they needed to as well, so that was that. We all headed outside.

‘If I spend any longer at the Knitting Factory on Saturdays, my parents are going to stop me going at all,’ said Niall. ‘Exams, and all that.’

‘Is anyone free tomorrow?’ said Tall Paula. ‘Why don’t we have one last afternoon meet-up before we have to really knuckle down?’

‘I have to go to my aunt’s house,’ said Sophie regretfully.

‘I should be able to wangle it,’ said Cass. ‘What about you, Bex?’

‘Oh yeah, probably,’ I said.

‘I’ll try and make it,’ said Sam. ‘But I’ll have to check with my folks. I think there’s something on tomorrow.’

Most of the others said they could make it too, so we’re going to meet tomorrow. I hope Sam comes, though knowing my luck he won’t. And even if he did, if nothing is going to happen when we’re all at a party (well, sort of party), then I
doubt anything will happen in the Flapper Café in the middle of the afternoon.

So yeah. I walked to the bus stop with Cass and Lucy, and Daire and Sam went off to their bus stop, and that was that. I feel kind of silly about having got my hopes up. I mean, really there was no reason to assume something was going to happen. Or, I suppose, that something will ever happen. And I also just feel sad about it. Because I really like him, and I want to be with him, and even though being friends with him is great, it’s not quite enough for me.

I suppose I’ll just have to wait until it wears off. Which I know it will. Eventually. Everything does, as I found out with Paperboy (and as Rachel is sort of finding out about Tom). I’ll just hope that he doesn’t start going out with someone else before then. I don’t think I could bear that. I don’t think I could be friends with him anymore if that happened.

But, at the same time, I’m not totally miserable, because when I think about us playing up on that stage, I just feel really happy. It’s such a brilliant feeling to do something you love and do it well. It’s especially good when other people like it, of course, but even when we’re just practising, I love it when a song comes together. It’s not like any other feeling in the world. And it’s even better when you feel it in front
of your friends (and your sister and the person you unfairly accused of being a traitor a few hours ago). So apart from that very embarrassing moment this morning, it should have been a very cool day. And it was.

But at the same time I feel so disappointed about Sam, and then I feel stupid for being disappointed. It’s very weird. I wonder if feeling loads of things at the same time is normal? I suppose it must be. I mean, so much of life is a sort of mixture. Anyway, I’m not going to get my hopes up about tomorrow. I’ll just feel miserable if nothing happens AGAIN. He probably won’t even turn up.

I’m relieved I’m allowed to go out at all, though. When I mentioned it to Mum and Dad this evening, they started grumbling about how I was never home, but then I reminded them that they’d said ‘Back to work on Monday!’ and I promised to do all my homework before I went out tomorrow so they grudgingly agreed.

I don’t know what to wear tomorrow. I was thinking of wearing the dress that I wore for our first Knitting Factory gig. It might be a lucky dress because I was wearing it when Paperboy first kissed me, but then it was also what I was wearing when I fell backwards off the drum platform. Hmmm.

Maybe I should wear my dress with the stripy navy and
white top bit and a flared navy skirt bit. It makes me look like I have slightly more bosom than I actually do (not that that’s saying very much) AND it’s really comfy so it’s perfect. And Sam has never seen it before so maybe he’ll be dazzled by it. But like I said, I don’t want to get my hopes up. I really don’t want to be disappointed again.

Wow. Today did not go exactly as I thought it would. To say the least. I’m still in a bit of a daze, to be honest. But a good sort of daze. Definitely a good sort of daze.

It started out very boringly. As promised, I did my homework nice and early and even showed it to my parents so they could see I was working nice and hard.

‘Look!’ I said dramatically, waving an English essay at them. ‘Now do you believe that I’m on top of my schoolwork?’

‘We do trust you, Bex,’ said Dad. ‘We just want to make sure you take your studying seriously this year. Learning how to knuckle down to hard work is very important.’

I could have said something about people who seem to spend more time on their Henry Higgins dances than their
actual job, but I didn’t want to push my luck. So I borrowed a fiver off him and went in to meet the others.

I was running a bit late and when I got to the Flapper Café Cass, Liz, Richard, Alice, Lucy, Tall Paula and Sophie were there already. But no Sam. I didn’t even feel surprised. I’d had a feeling he wouldn’t come. Obviously, it was cool to see all the others, but I was still really disappointed. I tried not to show it, of course.

‘No Sam today?’ I asked Lucy, but only after we’d been talking for a few minutes. I didn’t want it to be the first thing out of my mouth.

‘No, he had to go and visit his new baby cousin this morning,’ said Lucy.

I might have known. Stupid babies! Still ruining my social life. I hoped this one hadn’t headbutted him. Babies can be very violent.

Anyway, I tried not to think about him and just enjoy the afternoon. And it really was fun. Cass was planning to go back to Liz’s house afterwards for their first musical collaboration attempt.

‘I’ll have to use Liz’s sister’s old keyboard,’ she said. ‘But it’ll do for now.’

Alice was going to Richard’s for dinner, but she said they
wouldn’t have time to do any music stuff because her dad was coming to pick her up at half seven.

‘As soon as I’m old enough to legally drive, I’m going to beg my parents for lessons,’ she said. ‘Living out in the wilds wouldn’t be half as bad if I didn’t have to rely on them for lifts all the time.’

‘Small Paula can drive,’ said Tall Paula. We all stared at her. ‘Seriously! I know it’s illegal, but she can. She told me her aunt taught her. She can drive a tractor too.’

‘Is there anything Small Paula can’t do?’ said Richard admiringly.

It was almost starting to get dark when we all left and said our goodbyes. I was walking down the road with Liz and Cass when I realised I’d forgotten something.

‘My scarf!’ I said. ‘It must be on my chair. I’d better go back.’

‘We’ll wait here for you,’ said Cass.

‘Ah, don’t bother,’ I said. ‘We’re not going the same way, anyway. Go and write some amazing electro-pop songs!’

‘We’ll do our best,’ said Liz.

‘See you on Monday!’ said Cass.

I went back to the café, feeling a bit sorry for myself. Everyone seemed to be all happily coupled up apart from me. Well,
me and Lucy. And Paula and Sophie. But still.

My scarf was hanging on the back of the chair where I’d left it, so I grabbed it and headed back out. It was chilly and I felt even more sorry for myself as I turned in the direction of the bus stop. And then I saw something that made me freeze in my tracks. Running up the road towards me, his portfolio bag hanging from one shoulder, was Sam.