Strings (13 page)

*****

The five bands lined up ready for the results to be announced. Melissa worried about the trouble kicking off again, but luckily they all seemed to have brought their attention back to the competition, and stood at opposite ends of the stage, ignoring each other. She noticed that Aiden had a black eye forming, and he kept dabbing it with his sleeve. The Echo girls stood with the boys, and it seemed as though they were quickly becoming friends. Cassie was watching them both, seemingly trying to make sure that Luke didn't go for Aiden again. It was to protect Luke more than Aiden. Dale kept whispering in his ear, keeping him calm. His best friend knew how to handle him. Tom was ignoring all of it, instead checking out Jo-Jo, who was returning the glances. Allie was on Toby’s back, giggling nervously.

             
Astler Brooks took to the stage to begin the announcement, and was greeted by a rapturous cheer from the crowd.

             
‘OK, the votes have been counted … [long pause] … and the first band to be voted out, and clearly not the favourites today are … [another long pause] … Death Wishes!’

             
Luke threw his head back, laughing, as Death Wishes stomped off the stage, throwing profanities in every direction. It was like winning just seeing them voted out first. Astler Brooks took even longer to announce the names of the next two bands to be kicked out, Demon Boys and Rocking Dolls, leaving only Echo and The Black Eagles.

             
‘Oh shit,’ Beth said, because they were going up against their new friends. The remaining band members stepped forward, with one band standing on each side of Astler Brooks. They were all shocked to have got this far, but were bursting with nerves and excitement to be in the final two, and to have the chance of winning.

             
‘Good luck,’ Jo-Jo whispered to Tom, and he smiled back at her as she turned away. Her cherry brown hair hung around her shoulders, and she had the ultimate sexy rock chick look. Tom definitely liked her, but now was not the time to worry about that.

             
‘I will now read out the winner of Amplified 2013.’

             
There was a roar from the crowd, then silence during the eternal wait for the name to be read out.

             
‘The winners are … Echo!!’

             
It took a few seconds for the name to register, because it wasn’t the one they were expecting to hear. Echo jumped for joy, screaming and hugging each other, while the crowd cheered and chanted their name.

             
‘Shit!’ Beth and Melissa said together. Cassie threw her arms round Luke, who was congratulating them, and whispered something in his ear. Luke smiled. Tom hugged Jo-Jo, and Toby and Dale hugged everyone. Echo made a short, chaotic speech, managing to thank everyone who had voted for them, and played a victory set to mark the end of the event.

             
‘Hey, no hard feelings, Black?’ Cassie asked afterwards.

             
Luke shook his head. ‘Of course not, well done.’

             
‘Thanks. We gotta get going. I’ve to be back in Manchester tonight, but can we keep in touch? You guys are wicked.’

             
They all swapped numbers before saying their goodbyes and heading home.

*****

‘Are you OK?’ Melissa was worried that Luke was upset, but trying to hide it.

             
His smile told her the opposite. ‘I’m absolutely fine, babe, honestly. I wanted to win and yes there is a part of me that’s a little gutted. But we lost to a really good band, and we did way better than I ever thought we would.’

             
‘Are you sure?’

             
Luke pointed out that six thousand people heard and liked their music, and a rock legend said they were ‘awesome’. They had made some new friends, drunk way too much, won a fight and had sex in a van. ‘And most importantly, we did our best and gave two really good performances. We definitely did ourselves justice. On the whole I would say it was one shit-hot weekend.’ He put his arm around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder, happy that he was happy. She would need to sleep for a week to get over this weekend, but Luke was right, it had been well worth it.

             
‘Thanks, Liss.’

             
‘You’re welcome,’ she told him he could pay her back in kind – with designer shoes when he was playing to a sell-out crowd at Wembley.

             
Luke laughed, but thought briefly about not winning, and that maybe it wasn’t their destiny to become global rock gods. ‘It looks like it wasn’t meant to be. But we gave it our best shot, so we can have no regrets.’

*****

Jay-Den Lake was on his way home from the competition. His driver was chatting away in his usual annoying way, but Jay-Den wasn't listening. He was still thinking about Amplified. He had been fully prepared for a complete waste of a weekend, but there were three bands that had caught his attention and one in particular. He was excited, and could see an opportunity for his label. He pulled his phone out, and called his boss. ‘Russ, I’m coming to see you. You have to check these guys out.’

Hospital (2)

October 2014

‘Melissa needs a break. This is distressing her.’ Jean was concerned that Melissa was in pain, and she could see in her eyes that talking about Luke was getting too much. She decided to ignore the fact that her daughter had just admitted to taking drugs. It wasn’t really a secret, especially after one of Luke’s episodes, but they were not addicts or anything like that. Lots of people experimented a bit when they were young and carefree, but they were good kids and Jean knew they wouldn’t overstep the mark. Right now, there were more important things to worry about, like making sure she got better. And finding Luke.

             
Inspector Fox agreed that a break was for the best, and they would return in a few hours once Melissa had rested. He could clearly see she wasn’t focusing now in the way he needed her to.

             
Jean went downstairs for food and coffee, because everyone needed refuelling after the session with the police. Melissa insisted she was fine, but she clearly wasn’t. It had been days since she’d eaten a proper meal, and Liz went to get her something from the hospital kitchen. ‘I can't do this, I can't. I just want him here.’

             
It broke Beth’s heart to watch her friend look like she was slowly giving up. The fight seemed to be seeping out her, and it was painful to witness. Something needed to be done. Melissa had been through so much, even before all this, but she always bounced back, never letting the world bring her down. But how much can one young girl take before throwing her hands in the air and surrendering?

             
‘Don't give up, not now. Don’t let her win,’ Beth said, trying to reignite her fire. Melissa needed to fight now more than she ever had – Luke needed her. And if Beth was honest she needed her too. Her family needed her, and so did Dale, Tom and Toby.

             
‘She’s already won,’ Melissa sobbed, her hands covering her face. ‘He won't want me now anyway,’ it was her face that was worrying her – she feared that he wouldn’t want her if she was scarred. The combination of emotion, painkillers and tiredness were conjuring up some irrational thoughts, but that was understandable, Beth thought.

             
‘Of course he will. He loves you,’ Beth assured her, pulling her friend’s hands away from her face so she could look her in the eyes before telling her yet again that it wouldn’t change anything. Beth meant every word and had no doubt in her mind that Luke would stand by her; he would never leave her just because of a few scars. ‘I promise you that won’t happen.’

             
‘Yeah, have a little more faith in him, Liss,’ Dale said, looking a little frustrated. How much more proof did she need to believe he loved her? But then he realised that she wasn’t really herself at the moment and it was natural to worry. 

             
Melissa’s head was scrambled and she couldn’t think straight. Her whole body ached with pain from the bruises and her heart ached for Luke. She reached over to grab her phone from the bedside table and switched it on – it had been left charging at home since that horrible day. There were messages from friends and family wishing her well, and one from Toby that made her smile. It read, ‘Chin up, baby girl, I’m here if you need someone’s ass kicked! See you very soon, miss you xxx’

             
The messages were all so helpful, reassuring her that people cared, and were thinking of them both. Cassie and Jo-Jo, Tom and Megan all sent their love, and told her that they missed her. They were all hurting too, and she knew she had also to remember their pain, because they cared for Luke. Ray had left a message saying he was there if she needed anything. All she had to do was call, no matter what time.

             
Melissa stayed well away from the mad world of social networks – that was a shark pool she didn’t need. She knew it would be going mental with gossip, and wouldn’t make her feel any better, so best that she ignored it all.

             
Jean suggested she get some rest while she had some time. Melissa didn’t even answer, but turned over, closed her eyes and let sleep take over her. She rested peacefully until Fox came back a few hours later, insisting that he needed to continue with the interview because it was crucial to their ongoing investigation. Time was running out. He asked if she felt well enough to continue.

             
‘OK, I guess so.’ She was still groggy as she sat up and took a cup of coffee from her mum.

Pink Ribbons

November 2013

             
‘Wow!’ Luke was looking at their Facebook page. They’d set it up a long time ago, but hadn’t bothered to keep it up to date. The girls had told them in no uncertain terms that it wasn’t acceptable, and insisted on taking on the job of managing it. They’d worked hard to spread the word about the band, and had built up a significant online following. Beth had uploaded her pictures from Amplified, plus some from previous gigs. Twenty-four hours after the girls took charge, their ninety-seven members had jumped to three hundred, and a week later they were nearing two thousand. Their Twitter following was growing at an impressive rate too. Even their personal Twitter accounts were attracting plenty of interest.

             
              Beth had been chatting all afternoon to people who wanted to know more about them. She was in her element, over the moon that she had what she considered an important role in the band now – she was their self-appointed publicist. There were so many YouTube videos from Amplified being uploaded, and the event’s own footage was helping to spread the word about them. They laughed when they realised their most recent follower was Tess, the girl with the blue streak from Amplified. She was ‘very enthusiastic’, as Tom put it, but it was a nice feeling to know that people were interested in them and liked their music.

             
‘This is great – you have actual fans!’ Melissa was excited.

             
Luke was still serious about getting somewhere, and Amplified had given him a taste of the big time. Once he’d had a chance to reflect on the weekend, he’d realised that coming second was definitely not a failure, and it didn’t mean their chances of making it were gone. Perhaps it had felt a bit like that at the time, but they’d been caught up in the competition and the ‘win or bust’ atmosphere whipped up by the organisers. But the number of online followers they now had was a good indication that they were starting to get somewhere. Besides, he couldn't keep working in that petrol station much longer.

             
It was Tuesday, and they were waiting for a pizza to arrive, having just finished a session at Toby’s.

             
‘What can I tweet? Give me something interesting,’ Beth asked Melissa. It was getting addictive. Melissa shrugged and lit a cigarette.

             
‘Oh
I
know, the group photo that guy took for us at Amplified.’ Melissa found it on her phone, uploaded it to both sites and titled it, 'Us and the boys @ Amplified 2013'.

             
The picture was a typical group photo of a bunch of friends. Tom was on Toby's back, arms in the air, and Dale was hugging Beth, both laughing about something. Melissa was standing in front of Luke who had his arms round her waist. She had both arms up and around his neck. It looked like he was whispering something in her ear, and she was giggling. It was a lovely, natural picture, capturing their friendships perfectly. Melissa remembered exactly what he was saying – it was only ten minutes before their adventure in the back of the van, and she blushed a little at the memory.

             
‘Love that photo. It’s brilliant,’ Beth said, smiling. It hadn't been more than a minute before people were commenting and ‘liking’ the photo on Facebook, and retweeting it.

             
‘Boys, come here a minute. I want another photo for the page, of you four, in a behind the scenes setting.’ Beth fluttered her lashes to make sure they did as she asked. They dutifully shuffled into line, next to their instruments. The picture was taken and quickly uploaded, and seconds later people were responding to it.

             
It was a strange feeling, having complete strangers so interested in what you were doing, but that was what they were trying to achieve to make the band successful, and was something they would have to get used to. Luke decided to post his own picture, and took a snap of Melissa, who was deep in conversation with Dale. He posted it, creating a buzz about how pretty the blonde was, and who was she?

             
‘What the fuck is
she
doing here?’ Melissa yelled as Amber, out of nowhere, casually walked through Toby’s patio doors, and confidently made her way towards Luke.

             
‘Hey, baby,’ she purred, placing her hand on his chest. Luke immediately recoiled and swept her hand away. Her expression turned from a smile to a frown. She was wearing a tight pink dress, and her hair was a little windswept.

             
‘What are you doing here?’ Luke yelled.

             
‘Is she mental?’ Beth looked genuinely shocked, but ready to drag the girl out. Dale took her hand, and held her back.

             
‘You didn't call like you promised. Last night was amazing,’ Amber purred, looking up at Luke and leaving him open-mouthed in amazement.

             
‘You have actually lost the plot,’ Luke said, looking anxiously at Melissa, who was on her feet and obviously seething.

             
‘What is she talking about?’ A feeling of dread rose in Melissa’s stomach as she checked his expression – she was encouraged that he seemed to be as confused as everyone else.

             
‘I’ve no idea. Don’t listen to her, Liss. You know she’s nuts!’

             
‘Amber, get out of my house. I mean it, leave now!’ Toby intervened and attempted to take control of the situation, grabbing her by the arm and pushing her back out of the patio doors. But she yanked her arm from his grasp and turned to Melissa. Her grin was almost evil.

             
‘Ask him where he was last night after band practice? He wasn't with you, was he?’ She pointed at herself and mouthed the words, ‘he was with me’.

             
It was Melissa’s turn to see red. Toby sensed it, and picking Amber up he carried her outside, while she screamed at him to put her down.

             
Melissa thought back to last night. She’d tried calling him because he hadn't phoned her like he normally did when they weren’t together. He hadn't picked up, which was also unusual (for her calls anyway), but despite this, deep down she knew Amber was lying. Of course she was. It was just a horrible feeling to think that someone wanted him so much that they were prepared to do this sort of thing, even though she was obviously unhinged.

             
Because she didn’t actually know where he had been last night, the tiniest doubt remained, no matter how irrational it was. Luke needed to give her an explanation to put her mind at ease, and it needed to be a good one. Emotion had taken over, and she didn’t exactly ask the question in a calm manner. The room emptied as she yelled at him to explain what the hell was going on. She was shaking with anger, although it was Amber she wanted to swing at, not Luke.

             
‘I was at home, you know I was! I fell asleep, like I told you.’ He reached out for her hand, but she yanked it back and turned away. She immediately felt bad because Amber was clearly lying. She was just so shocked by the very suggestion that Luke could have cheated on her, no matter how ludicrous it was.

             
Luke turned and followed the others out of the door, running after Amber who was now arguing with his friends in the street.

             
‘Why?’ he yelled, his eyes furious. Melissa followed closely behind him, and Dale pulled him back.

             
‘Luke, calm down, mate. Don’t let the nutter get to you.’ But Luke wanted to have it out with her.

             
Amber carried on with her little show, claiming he was always calling her and turning up at her house, and how it was her he really wanted. They’d been sleeping together for weeks, apparently. Tom was laughing so hard he was almost crying, but she ignored him.

             
‘You’re lying. It's all bullshit and you know it!’ Luke yelled at her, but she wasn’t listening. He told her again that he didn't want her, and warned her to back off. Finally, he told her he never wanted to see her again. He couldn’t be any clearer than that, he thought.

             
Amber looked like he had killed her puppy. ‘Don't say that Luke, please. We’re meant for each other.’ Her demeanour and tone had gone from a confident swagger to looking decidedly desperate. This outright rejection was not what she had been expecting.

             
Luke turned, knowing that he now had to walk away, before he did something he would regret. Melissa took his hand. She’d had a few seconds to process the situation, enough to realise that there was no way he would have had anything to do with her.

             
‘Leave us alone. You got it?’ Melissa hissed at her.

             
Amber stood for a few seconds, her eyes locked on Melissa. The desperation had disappeared as quickly as it had taken over a few seconds before, and her claws were out again. Her body shook with rage as she glared at the object of her hatred. Without warning, she charged, grabbing Melissa’s hair and dragging her to the floor.

             
‘I hate you! I hate you!’ Amber screamed as she pinned Melissa down. They struggled for a few seconds and Melissa cried out in pain as Amber slapped her hard across the face.

             
‘Get off her,’ she heard Luke shout as he grabbed Amber and dragged her off. Amber screamed and kicked out, yelling obscenities until he put her down. She turned and grabbed hold of him, tears pouring down her face.

             
‘Please don't leave me,’ she cried, her desperate side back again.

             
Luke peeled the pitiful girl off himself, and put her down. ‘Don't you ever touch her again,’ was all he calmly said, as he turned and led Melissa inside.

             
Left standing alone outside, Amber glared at the door as it closed behind them. Despite her skimpy dress, she didn’t feel the cold in her emotional state. ‘I will destroy you, Melissa Webb,’ she whispered into the wind.

*****

‘Luke, I want to go home please,’ Melissa said quietly, once they were back inside. The evening was ruined anyway so he didn't argue with her. He couldn't tell if she was mad with him or just with the situation, but she almost threw his jumper at him and stormed to the car without saying goodbye to anyone.

             
‘Are you mad with me?’ he asked once they were in her car.

             
She shook her head and blasted her horn at a car that had pulled out in front of her, making her brake. ‘Idiot!’ she yelled, banging her hand back down on the steering wheel.

             
Luke put his hand on her leg, and she put hers on top of his. He pulled it to his mouth and kissed it. ‘I'm sorry about Amber,’ he said.

             
‘It’s fine. You had a one-night stand with a complete head case, and now she won’t leave us alone. It’s just brilliant,’ she snapped. Luke dropped her hand. ‘Sorry, that’s not fair. She’s just really pissed me off. And I’m scared of her. She really is nuts.’ Melissa had noticed a darkness in Amber’s eyes, and you could tell that she really did believe what she said.

             
‘Don't be. She’ll move on eventually,’ he tried to reassure her, although he wasn’t entirely convinced about that himself.

             
‘What happened with her, really?’ she asked him.

             
He let out a frustrated sigh. ‘Not much. She was at a club we played at and we just got talking.’ He explained that Amber didn’t seem so intense back then; she was just normal and quite funny. It had been Amber who had said it was just a bit of fun, no strings attached. One-night stands weren’t his thing, but she’d convinced him somehow that there was a first time for everything. They all headed back to Toby’s place for a party, he drank way too much and before he knew it he was in bed with her – something he’d regretted ever since.

             
‘Did you enjoy it?’ Melissa knew it was a stupid thing to ask, and she didn’t really want to know the answer. But it bothered her that he had slept with this girl.

             
‘You really want me to answer that?’ he asked, sounding a little annoyed. She shook her head and took a deep breath.

‘Not really, sorry.’

              Luke reached over and touched her cheek. ‘You make me happier than any girl ever has. That’s all you need to know. I just wish I’d met you sooner.’

             
Melissa reached out for his hand, feeling a bit guilty. He couldn’t help it if the girl was insane.

‘You can't change the past. Let's not waste any more of the evening on her. It's not that late and I’ve a bottle of wine at home with our name on it.’ She was feeling much calmer now.

              ‘Do you have any beers?’