Bhangra Babes (11 page)

The silver Mercedes drew up at the curb, and Rocky climbed gracefully out. Automatically the hands of every girl within a three-meter radius moved up to tidy her hair, including mine. There was a swish of collective eyelash fluttering as he strolled into the playground, swinging his rucksack casually by the strap.

I can pinpoint this as the exact moment when I had my utterly fabulous idea.

I jumped to my feet. There was the answer to our problem, strolling across the playground, looking drop-dead gorgeous. I briefly debated running it past Geena and Jazz first, then decided against it. They were always a touch rude about my ideas. They could thank me later.

“Rocky!” I waved at him and he came over to me.

“What's up, Amber?” he said lazily. “How you doin'?”

“Fine.” I beamed and did a bit of eyelash fluttering of my own. “I've got a favor to ask you.”

“Yeah?” Rocky grinned. “Shoot.”

“You know that girl who was in Shanti's on Saturday?” I began.

Rocky's face darkened. “You mean Kirandeep whatever-her-name-is? Yeah, I haven't forgotten
her.”

This wasn't a promising start, but I pressed on. “Well, I can't go into details, but she's having a few problems settling in. And Mr. Arora—my auntie's fiance—asked if we'd keep an eye on her.”

Rocky's beautiful, long-lashed eyes were glazing over with boredom. “What has this got to do with me?” he yawned.

I decided to go for it. “I thought it might help if you made friends with her.”

Rocky yawned again. It seemed to take a while for my words to penetrate his brain. But when they did, he let out an angry yelp. “You
what?”

“Well, it makes perfect sense,” I rushed on. “Everyone likes you and you're already very popular—”

“True,” Rocky agreed.

“Kiran would feel really good if you were her friend,” I said. It
did
make perfect sense.

Rocky looked thoughtful. “I see that,” he mused. Then he frowned. “But I couldn't possibly fancy someone whose hands are bigger than mine.”

“I'm not asking you to date her,” I said quickly. “Just be her friend.”

Rocky put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the canteen wall. “No,” he said casually. “I don't think so.”

I felt a rush of disappointment. I was hoping to appeal to Rocky's generous, compassionate side, but that didn't seem to be working.

“What would we talk about?” Rocky went on. “We've got nothing in common.”

“You both like bhangra,” I pointed out. However, that was a mistake. Rocky scowled as he remembered the events of Saturday afternoon.

“Forget it,” he muttered. “Unless …” He stared thoughtfully at me.

“What?” I asked.

“I'll do a deal with you,” Rocky said slowly. “Your auntie's marrying that teacher guy, isn't she?”

I blinked at the rapid change of subject. “Mr. Arora, yes.” I couldn't see what in the wide world this had to do with Kiran.

“All right, here's the deal.” Rocky grinned at me. “You know I'm looking for my first gig. If I can play at your aunt's wedding reception, then I'll sort Kiran out.”

“But—how am I supposed to arrange that?” I spluttered. Visions of Auntie and Auntie-ji swam into my head. I could just imagine what they'd
both
say if I tried to muscle in on arrangements that were already bristling with tensions.

Rocky shrugged. “That's your problem. Oh, and I want to DJ as well as perform my own songs.”

I was silent for a moment.

“Oh, all right, then,” I said recklessly.

I
was still reeling from the shock of what I'd just agreed to when Rocky walked off. Of course, Geena and Jazz came rushing straight over. They'd finally noticed that I was alone with Rocky, and naturally they couldn't wait to find out what we'd been talking about.

“That was very sneaky, Amber,” Geena said disapprovingly. “What's going on?”

“You're not going to believe it,” I muttered.

“Oh, tell,” demanded Jazz.

Kim came up to us at that moment, red in the face and panting heavily. “I've had to run all the way,” she complained. “I've been waiting for you for ages.”

“Sorry,” I said. “We came a different way this morning.”

“Well, thanks for letting me know,” Kim snapped. “I was nearly late, and all because—”

“Oh, do be quiet, Kim,” said Jazz. “Amber was about to tell us something important.”

Kim sighed deeply. “About Rocky, I suppose. That's all you three ever talk about these days—”

“Shut up, Kim!” we chorused.

“Well?” Geena asked.

I cleared my throat. “You see, I had this brilliant idea—”

Loud groans, which I ignored.

“I thought that if Rocky made friends with Kiran, it might help her feel a bit better about herself,” I went on. “It'd cheer her up to have the best-looking boy in the school as a mate.”

“How shallow,” said Kim sternly. “I thought you had more sense than that, Amber.”

“It's not shallow at all,” said Geena. “It's good psychology.”

“Absolutely,” Jazz agreed. “So you asked Rocky, and he said yes?”

“That shows just how truly gorgeous he is,” sighed Geena. “Not many guys would be happy to do such a thing. Especially when it's someone like Kiran.”

“Er—it wasn't exactly like that,” I muttered uncomfortably. “We made a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” asked Kim.

“Well…” I shuffled my feet a little. “That he would make friends with Kiran, and in return, he gets to play at Auntie's wedding reception.”

Geena's and Jazz's mouths fell open in one perfect, synchronized movement. They stared at me, goggle-eyed, and then both began to laugh hysterically.

“What's so funny?” said Kim.

“I was about to ask the same thing myself,” I snapped.

“Where have you been for the last couple of weeks, Amber?” Geena chortled. “Haven't you noticed just how tense this whole wedding thing has got? Auntie's ready to kill somebody, and Auntie-ji's probably already organized the London Symphony Orchestra to turn up and perform classical versions of Bollywood hits.”

“Oh, my sides ache.” Jazz hugged her ribs. “I can't
wait
for you to tell Auntie
and
Auntie-ji.
Please
don't do it unless Geena and I are there.”

“I think you're making too much of this,” I said in a dignified manner. “They'll probably be pleased that at least something's been sorted out. They won't have to worry about music or finding a DJ.”

“Rocky's DJ-ing as well?” Jazz shrieked with delight. “Oh, this just gets better. Good luck, Amber. You're going to need it.”

“I don't know why you're doing this anyway,” Kim said, raising her voice over the peal of the morning bell. “Kiran's much too intelligent to want to hang around with Rocky.”

I shot her a poisonous glare. “Thanks.”

“Well, you three are just doing it for a bet,” Kim said sagely, lifting her bag onto her shoulder. “If you

weren't, you'd be able to see that he isn't quite as wonderful as you think he is—”

“Kim, how about we agree on some sort of sign?” I said cuttingly. “Then when you annoy me, I could just do this”—I flicked her lightly on the nose—“or this”— I slapped her on the back—“and then you'd know you were annoying me, and you could stop.”

“I'll never stop trying to get you to see sense,” Kim replied, marching into school ahead of me.

“That reminds me,” said Geena, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. “What about our bet?”

“Oh, that's still on,” I said. “This won't make any difference. Kiran is definitely not Rocky's type.”

We followed Kim into school. There was no point in worrying about what Auntie and Auntie-ji would say when I presented them with my musical fait accompli, I decided. My main problem would be checking to see if Rocky kept his word to get to know Kiran.

So, to this end, I made sure I cornered Rocky in the corridor after the first lesson. It meant I had to sprint down two corridors and up two flights of stairs, risking instant detention, but I caught him just as he was about to go into the science lab. He was lounging around outside, chatting a bit too flirtatiously for my liking with Sadia Khan.

“Well?” I asked.

Rocky looked at me blankly. “Well what?”

“Have you made a start?”

Rocky stared at me in utter bewilderment.

“Kiran!” I said through my teeth.

“Give me a break,” Rocky snapped. “She's not in my class. She's not even in my year. How am I supposed to get to know her?”

“You can smile at her in assembly,” I said urgently. “You can make sure you pass her in the corridors between lessons. I'll give you a copy of her timetable. And then there's break times and lunchtimes and after school—”

Rocky threw me a sullen look. “OK, OK. Willya stop hassling me?”

“Just think about that gig at my aunt's wedding reception,” I said. “It could be the start of something big.”

A blissful smile spread across Rocky's face. “Yeah, it'll be the business,” he agreed.

I was learning quickly. A bit of flattery went a long way with Rocky Gill.

And I was more than ever convinced that my plan was the right one. During morning lessons Kiran was very quiet and subdued. Although we weren't fighting anymore, I couldn't say we were getting along any better. Kiran seemed to have folded right in on herself and was quietly drowning in misery. We could help her a bit with coming to terms with her dad's death, I was sure. Rocky would be the key to her settling in at school and making friends.

“Come and hang out with me and Kim,” I offered when the bell for break time rang at the end of history class. I admit that I had an ulterior motive. If I kept

Kiran close beside me, then I would be able to monitor Rocky's progress.

Kiran looked dubious. “I like being on my own,” she muttered.

“It's bad for you,” I argued robustly, very aware of Kim looking disapproving at my side. “Come on. Humor me. I'm going to get into serious trouble with Mr. Arora if I don't keep an eye on you.”

That got a bit of a smile. “Is that supposed to persuade me?” Kiran shot back. “Well—OK.”

“So you're going to put this ridiculous idea of yours into practice then,” Kim said as Kiran went to return her textbook to Mr. Lucas. “If you ask me—”

“Did I ask you?” I cut in. “I don't recall those words ever passing my lips.”

“I think you
mean
well,” Kim replied. “But there's obviously something upsetting Kiran, and Rocky's not at all sensitive. It could be the biggest mistake you've ever made.”

“Oh, zip it,” I retorted sulkily, following Kiran out of the classroom. Whoever would have thought the day would come when
Kim
would be lecturing
me?
Oh, for the good old days when I was in charge …

Once outside, I steered Kiran and Kim over to the wall by the canteen. It was a see-and-be-seen kind of place, so there was no chance that Rocky would miss us. And no chance that I would miss him. I had a secret suspicion that he wouldn't be at all keen to put his side of the deal into practice, and I was determined to make sure that he did.

At first there was no sign of him. Kim and I chatted idly about homework, while Kiran sat there in silence. After a few moments, Jazz joined us.

“Oh, so you're still here, Amber,” she giggled. “I thought you might have left the country.”

“Ha ha,” I said curtly. “Leave Auntie and Auntie-ji to me.”

“Are you in trouble or something?” Kiran asked.

“Not at all,” I replied as Jazz sniggered some more.

Just then Rocky came out of school. He was chatting to Geena, and both of them happened to glance in our direction. Rocky's face fell down to his knees. It was extremely difficult to glare at someone so beautiful, but I just about managed it.

Sulkily Rocky made his way over to us, his feet (in, naturally, very expensive trainers) dragging on the ground. Geena didn't look too pleased, either, to have their cozy little chat interrupted.

“Hello, Rocky,” I said, indicating Kiran with the tiniest nod of my head.

“Hi.” Rocky cleared his throat. “Hello, Kiran.”

Kiran was so surprised, she almost fell off the wall. “Oh—h-hello,” she stuttered.

I stared hard at Rocky, willing him on.

“Look, I'm sorry about Saturday,” he muttered, sounding as if every word was being pulled from him by force. “It's just that I've been looking for that CD for ages.”

“So have I,” said Kiran. She smiled a little. She looked so much better when she smiled. “I've got everything JC's ever done.”

“Me too.” Rocky frowned. “Well, almost.”

There was a short pause, and then they both laughed. I beamed. So did Geena and Jazz. Even Kim was smiling. Who was the idiot who said my ideas never work?

Rocky and Kiran were chatting about their favorite bhangra bands.

“I'm into the Punjabi Punks in a big way,” Rocky was saying. “And have you heard that new guy, Harbinder? 'Bhangra Nights' is a brilliant track.”

“That's not Harbinder,” Kiran said with a frown. “'Bhangra Nights' is by Desi MC.”

Rocky shook his head. “No, it isn't.”

“Yes, it is,” Kiran contradicted him coolly.

Rocky stared at her. I shifted uneasily. I was beginning to sense trouble in what might have been paradise.