Love-Struck (12 page)

Mum shook her head. “Next door won't take her from when she tried to strangle their cat, and Rosie Roberts is away in Cornwall.” She pouted. “Please, Hols? I'll pay you. You said that you needed a bit of extra cash!”

“Mum, you know I've had this planned for
ages
. It's been booked for
months
!”

“So had this!” she cried, sitting on the edge of my bed.

“But The Faeries are playing!
Everyone
is going to be there!”

“I thought these fairy people were playing tomorrow, and that everyone is going to be there then? Hols, this is the only time I get to see your father. I don't get to see him much as it is! We never go out! We never get to do anything fun! We never have anywhere to go to, except PTA meetings or to the pub quiz every once in a blue moon…”

She'd gone off into a little world of her own, thinking about stuff. The look on her face was pitiful. I thought she was going to cry.

I took a deep breath.

“Twenty quid,” I muttered.

“
What?
” she exclaimed. “You've got to be—”

“Twenty quid,” I stated solemnly. “Or no deal.”

Mum sat there for a second, then answered.

“Fine, twenty quid, you extortionate little minx. I'll leave it on the counter… Thank you.”

She kissed my forehead and ran out of the room to get on her make-up like an excited school girl, and I set about texting people.

 

Recipient: The Fittest One

Mum jst said that I've

got to babysit, no way

I can get out of it. Argh! I'm

so sorry! Wel just have 2 have

our dance tmz :P Oh yeh, do

u want to stay in our tent? :)

Sorry again! X

Send?

 

MESSAGE SENT.

 

Recipient: The Best Friend

Mum jst said that I've

got to look after demon sis,

no way I can get out of it!

Argh! I'm so annoyed! >:|

Send?

 

MESSAGE SENT.

 

A few minutes later:

 

MESSAGE RECEIVED!

 

Time Sent: 6.29pm

SENDER: The Fittest One

Bbe tht sux! ): Bt we cn

dance 2mz, nw. Yh share

tent! Ta gorjuss. C u then XX

 

But nothing back from Wes. Mum and Dad left, both gushing with thanks. I dried my hair and put on my pyjamas sadly, trying not to think about all the fun that everyone would be having, and all the music, and Matt with his guitar, and Vikki with her bass, and—

The doorbell.

I opened the door and there stood Wes. Smiling. With ice cream.

I thought I was going to cry!

“Wes!” I exclaimed, hugging him. “Oh my God, that's so sweet, I can't believe you're blowing off the gig to keep me company! You're just the
best
—”

Wes prised me away gently.

“Actually,” he said, “I've just come to give you this.” He gestured to the ice cream and then awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “Emily's waiting round the corner for me…”

I took the ice cream, punched him in the arm and shut the door in his face.

Men, huh?

Who'd have 'em!

I woke up after having an awesome dream, where the sun was shining and the music was raving and everyone was having a really awesome time, so I jumped out of bed, threw open my curtains and saw—

Rain?

I couldn't believe it! I'd been so focused on everything else that I just presumed our gorgeous weather would be continuing, but no! Rain! OK, so it wasn't full on chucking-it-down rain, but it was still a drizzle, and even though I could see the bright blue sky underneath the cloud, my spirits were dampened. Of course, they had already been dampened by the fact that The Faeries had played last night at The Venue and I had missed it. I sighed as I heaved myself out of bed. I bet they'd had an awesome time, and I'd missed it all.

I'd packed my bag at the end of my non-eventful evening (after the
Friends
reruns were finished) and Wes was bringing the tent, so I didn't really have anything to worry about. I jogged out of my room and hit the showers, wishing that the rain would stop by the time I'd got out. When I got into the bathroom I couldn't stop myself from breaking into a huge grin: it was Saturday, the Saturday I had been waiting for for weeks – I was going to see The Faeries at midnight tonight! And it was nine a.m. – I would be watching my most favourite band in the world perform live in less than twenty-four hours! The thought made me light up inside, though I still wished I'd been there last night. Wes had rung me during some of our songs, but all I could really hear was the band in the background and Wes's voice going hoarse as he sang along with the rest of the heaving crowd. I wanted more than anything to be there and all I could think about was how they would be having a fantastic time without me and I bet they didn't even miss me, but the thought that had kept me going was MSR and how amazing it was going to be, and now the day was here! The day we'd been talking about for months, the huge gig that we had been preparing for – all those hours learning the new album, and listening to the old album, and repairing our T-shirts…

When I got out of the shower, I pulled my H'y Girl T-shirt out of the wardrobe. It's my favourite item of clothing by far – Wes and I made them ages ago just before our first Faeries gig, and we've tried to wear them to every gig since. They were blue, like the Superman T-shirts, but instead of the big “S” in the middle, mine had “H'y Girl” and his had “Lameboy” squished into the triangle. They're pretty cool! And then on the back is all of the gigs we've been to: date, place and tour. It smelt like summer – freshly cut grass and sunshine. I'm not quite sure how it could smell like sunshine, but it just did! I put it on with some white shorts and instantly felt good, and when I looked outside, the sky had started to clear up! Result!

The bands were starting at midday and gates opened at ten, and considering the site is only ten minutes away, Wes said he'd come and get me at about quarter past ten so that we could put up the tent. Jonah was getting a lift with some kids he knew who were setting up and working at the rave for the weekend, and I had no idea how Emily was getting there. She'd probably sprout wings and fly, the perfect little—

“Are you off, Berry?” a croaky voice asked from my parents' bedroom.

They'd got in late last night, but it had been worth it because they were both so happy and giggling like kids that they had forgotten that they had already paid me, so paid me again! I took one ten just in case I desperately needed it, and left the other ten on the counter. I'd tell them later. Just … not right then.

I knocked first and then pushed their door open slowly. They both looked shattered. I smiled.

“Yes,” I whispered. “My phone's charged, I've got a spare pair of pants, and I've got my rape alarm, blah blah blah. I'll be fine, so don't worry about me. Have a great weekend, guys, I'll see you tomorrow!”

“Have a great time, beautiful girl,” Dad smiled. Mum grumbled something.

“What was that?” I whispered.

“Your mother says that she loves you, to be careful, and that she hopes you and Wes have a great time. Speaking of Wes, I haven't seen much of him lately. Are you two OK?”

“Yeah, he's fine,” I said, slightly annoyed. “But why does everyone say that, ‘Are you two OK?', like we're a couple? Y'know, we don't go around joined at the hip! He's gone off and got his girl now, so we're just not all that chummy. So what? I can do stuff without him,” I stammered thinking about last night and how I was really alone. “I don't need him.” I thought about how he brought me ice cream and how happy I had been to see him. “I'm just fine without him…” I trailed off. I wasn't fine without him, I missed him being close and at my beck and call.

Damn.

“Holly?”

I snapped out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, Dad?”

“Shut up and go. We love you. Call us when you want picking up.”

I shut the door, smiling, just in time for the doorbell to ring! I grabbed my bag and ran out the door, and straight into Wes's chauffeured car.

“Morning, sailor!” I cried as I jumped into the back. “How are we – oh, erm, feeling?”

I turned around to see that I had just plonked myself down next to Margo. Who was dressed to kill. Big shades, cute black spangly top, chinos, designer sandals – this girl had it all. I'd forgotten the minor detail that Wes was her twin so they would more than likely be coming in the same car. Damn.

She didn't smile, but I didn't expect her to.

“Hello Margo, Finn.”

“Yah, safe, mate.”

Ooh, a new word!

“Good morning, Holly dearest. Such a shame you didn't make it last night, it was quite the set. We all had a fab time – mostly Jonah, I daresay! He had to prise the girls off himself, it was quite the spectacle—”

“How are you, Hols?” Wes said loudly and pointedly from the front seat with a huge grin on his face. He was also wearing his superhero T-shirt.

I grinned back. I couldn't help myself! The overwhelming sense of joy even overtook the urge to biff Margo over the head with my sleeping bag and break her stupid designer glasses in half!

“I'm great, ta, babe. Ready to get that tent up and start raving!”

When we pulled up outside the field, you couldn't see much because it was obscured by bush, fence and a ticket port-a-cabin. Margo suddenly lowered her glasses.

“And this is
it
, is it?” she asked, her voice wavering slightly.

“Yarh, darrhling!” I mimicked as I stepped out of the car and swung my back pack on to my back. “Welcome to your room! It's not quite five star, but you get what you pay for!”

Margo and Finn decided that they would share a different tent to us, which was fair enough. I was sharing a compartment with Emily (oh, what fun times! Not) and Wes was sharing with Jonah. Not the best matched in the world, but it meant I was close to Jonah and Wes was close to Emily. However, I was looking forward to seeing Margo try to put up her tent, and took great delight in her stepping out of the car and straightening herself up, and then looking around with distaste.

There was a queue to get into the site; the whole thing was barred off with makeshift metal fences, and to get in you had to go through the gates. Excitement bubbled all around me in the many faces I didn't know – some kids who had obviously come for the heavier tunes (all dressed in black with big fringes); the kids who had come for the Disco Shed (rave tunes all night in the biggest shed you've ever seen – the rave kids come in neon, so you always know which are which); and all the folk in between. I saw a few faces I knew from previous shows, and a few acquaintances that I waved to, but I couldn't stop to talk because I was too anxious to get inside. However, we did see the Mortimer brothers at the front of the queue with the Lady-Killer Squad; Matt saw us and hit James, who hit Chris, who was inhaling a hot dog. When they had all seen us, they waved and shouted madly for us to come and join them, but we had to pass and head on to the back because the glares from the die-hard fans were a bit too much.

But the queue didn't take long. It moved pretty fast, and before we could even get through an entire song on my iPod we were at the front of the queue getting our tickets checked and being given wristbands. Wes and I got purple ones, because we had the pit passes – bless Ozzie, the best honorary uncle in the world! We put them on and then were ushered inside the gates, and the whole scene suddenly came into view.

The huge stall in the next field; the hundreds of tents in the field on the other side, making the whole place look like a multicoloured, huge, bumpy carpet that spread on for ever. The huge food trucks, emitting crazy smells – Chinese, Indian, pizza, burgers, hot dogs … I began to drool. I could taste the hot dogs then and there, along with freshly mown grass and the smell of hundreds of people in the same confined space, an attractive taste that stung my tongue, that frightened yet elated me. The Disco Shed (literally a shed in which there are mini disco raves) and a whole mess of other stalls and makeshift bars were set up in the field we walked into. Massive speakers loomed over every end of the huge space, blaring out radio tunes non-stop. It was so loud that the ground vibrated beneath my feet! It was phenomenal. The air sizzled, practically alive, but it wasn't just that – it was also the sheer amount of people that were there already, hordes and hordes of people, all talking and screaming and singing and shouting. A riot of colour and noise, smells and tastes; my head was spinning and excitement was oozing through every fibre of my being.

“The bloke at the door just said that they had to open at quarter to because there were so many people here early that they were blocking the road!” Wes exclaimed. “Crazy, right!”

It was crazy. The whole atmosphere was crazy. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. The buzz was so intoxicating that it didn't even feel like I was still in this world, let alone England, let alone Cathen! It was like Christmas joined with all of my birthdays, joined with prom and with every gig I'd ever been to. Nothing seemed to matter any more. I felt light, weightless. It was wild!

“This is so weird,” I explained to Wes as we just stood for a moment and watched the world go by. “This atmosphere, it just makes me feel like …” I looked at Wes. He had a stray curl on his forehead. It looked so soft that I had the sudden urge to play with it. I reached out, feeling dreamy. “… anything could happen, y'know…?”

“Hockers!”

Jonah appeared at my side and scooped me into a tight hug. I almost couldn't breathe. I looked over his shoulder at Wes, who cleared his throat and looked away, uncomfortable.

“Jonah, hi!” I managed through my breaking ribcage. “How's it going?”

“Great! All right, Wes, mate?” he said, smiling lazily. Wes grunted in reply. I didn't know if I was just feeling strange from the sudden heat that had appeared after the rain, or if I was imagining things, but Jonah didn't look as gorgeous as I remembered. His green eyes weren't as sparkly, his hair looked over-styled, and his smile looked like he had been practising it in the mirror for hours so that it looked “cool”, which somehow made it really, really uncool.

“Y'want me to carry your bag?” he offered, not waiting for a reply but just picking it up. “I bagsed us a place right over here, a real good spot…”

He wandered off, expecting Wes and me to follow him, so we did. I caught him up, just as he was saying:

“…so when she said that she couldn't get a lift, I said that she could come in the car with me and Adam—”

“Who's this?” I asked brightly.

Jonah pointed to a spot about twenty metres away. “Oh, sorry, did you not hear? Emily.”

She waved coyly, stood next to her large pink duffle. It was pretty big, considering it was just for the night. I briefly wondered if it had a hairdryer in it. Before I knew it, I was being attacked by a mane of long, blonde hair: Emily was hugging me! What was she playing at? She never hugged me!

“Hey, Hols, so nice to see you! Gosh, I always forget how short you are! Sorry you couldn't come last night, bummer, right?”

She didn't look bummed at all, the lying fake-baked giant. Everyone knows that short girls are prettier, anyway.

I forced myself to nod. “Yeah, bummer! Good job I'm here now, though. Let's do the tent!”

Wes grinned, rubbing his hands together. He'd been eager to do it for real, since we'd put it up in his back garden ages ago. “Yeah, let's do it!”

Emily's face fell a little as hard work loomed. “Well, I've just got to go to the bathroom! But I'll be back ASAP, right?”

She bounced off, but then flicked her long, shiny, shampoo-advert hair back to face us.

“Err, where am I going?” she giggled.

Jonah dropped my bag heavily at my feet.

“Women!” he declared to Wes. “It's all right, I'll show her. We'll be back in a bit!”