Loving the Band (2 page)

I sighed, rolling my eyes. ‘Really? We come all the way to London where we could eat anything and go anywhere
and you still want to eat that? I don’t see how you can be so obsessed.’

Tegan looked at me pleadingly.

‘OK, fine. But I get to pick tomorrow,’ I said determinedly.

‘Yay!’ Tegan grabbed my arm and practically skipped out of the house.

I decided we should take Dad’s old car to the local Italian. And since I was feeling in a generous mood I let Tegan drive. I sat back, looking out of the window, and breathed a happy sigh of relief at being somewhere different. Somewhere where we could leave all the stresses of home and old relationships behind.

Tegan had the radio on her favourite pop station and suddenly the lively beats of The Only Truth filled the car. Pop wasn’t really my thing – I much preferred rock music – so I groaned and went to switch stations, but Tegan beat me to it and smacked my hand away.

‘I know you don’t like them, but I love this song, and since I’m driving I get to choose the music.’

‘Er, in my dad’s car, I might add. Cheeky!’ I laughed, but let her keep it on. ‘Anyway, I’ve told you before, I don’t dislike them – I don’t know them. I’m just not a big fan of their music.’

But soon one of our favourite bands that we both loved ever since we were little came on and we both screamed out the lyrics to the cheesy tune before squealing with fits of the giggles. Tegan had to concentrate really
hard on getting us there in one piece she was laughing so hard. This was why we’d come down to London – as well as seeing my dad it was for moments just like this.

We arrived at the restaurant in a great mood. It wasn’t very busy, which suited me perfectly. It meant we could have a proper gossip and make plans for this week
and
get served really quickly. I was starving by this point. We sat down at a table near the window and got ready to order. Suddenly the sound of a group of boys laughing loudly and exchanging colourful banter a few tables behind us drifted over.

‘Argh, do you want to go, Tegan? Having rowdy boys in our ear wasn’t really part of the plan for today,’ I complained.

‘Oh, lighten up, they’re only having a bit of fun,’ Tegan said while shaking her head. ‘They’re not Jacob or Josh, and that’s all that matters!’

‘I guess so,’ I said, feeling like a bit of a party pooper. ‘Sorry.’

But Tegan wasn’t listening. She was searching wildly through her handbag, pulling things out on to the table one by one.

‘Tegan? What’s up?’

She looked up at me. ‘I forgot my purse. I must have left it back at your dad’s,’ she said, biting her bottom lip.

‘Oh no!’ I said. ‘Really?’ Tegan nodded. ‘Well, you can borrow money off me and pay me back later.’

‘I left my phone too. And I haven’t even texted my parents to let them know we’re here safe yet. Sorry!’ Tegan
blushed.

‘Tegan!’ I moaned.

‘Well, we haven’t ordered yet, so can you wait till I get back? I won’t be long.’

I sighed. ‘OK. Drive safe and don’t rush.’

‘Thank you, thank you! I’ll be back soon!’ With that she left the table and ran out of the door.

I ordered a drink from the waitress so I wouldn’t be made to leave and started checking through my messages and emails for something to do while waiting for Tegan. The sound of the boys’ voices had got louder in the meantime; I kept hearing them telling silly jokes before bursting into laughter, and at one point they even sounded like they were singing at each other. They must have been drunk already – at this time of day! I turned round to see if I could spot them, but they were at a table round the corner, hidden from the view of the other diners. I wondered if the waiters had done this deliberately as they had guessed how noisy and annoying they’d be. I silently willed Tegan to get back soon.

The phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. It was my mum. ‘Hey, Mum, how are you? Mum? Mum …’

The line went dead as I lost reception. I sighed and got up to find somewhere with a better connection. Looking down and redialling her number quickly, I wandered roughly in the direction of the door – and walked straight into somebody. As I landed hard on my backside, a plate of food came tumbling down, all over my lovely blue dress.

I let out a big gasp as the impact took my breath away. Food was smeared all down me.

‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry!’ said a boy’s beautiful deep voice. He sounded familiar somehow, but I couldn’t look at him – I was still staring in shock at my ruined dress.

‘Are you OK?’ A different voice. Not quite as intense, but this person sounded friendly.

I looked up and held out my hand for some assistance. A tall boy on the right extended his hand and pulled me off the floor with almost no effort at all. I couldn’t look away from his emerald-green eyes. They were the sort of eyes you could just fall into. He had flawless dark skin and dishevelled short black hair. Then he broke the spell. ‘You’re a mess.’

‘Oh, thanks! That would actually be your fault, by the way.’

The other boy laughed and I turned to look at him for the first time with a frown on my face.
Who did these boys think they were?
This boy was shorter but just as good-
looking in a different way. He had dark-blond curly hair, surrounding a friendly young face with a wide grin.

‘Nice one, Shaq. Way to speak to someone you just food-sprayed.’

Shaq? Nice name. But he was obviously a jerk. Who threw food on a girl and then insulted them?

‘I … I didn’t mean
you
looked a mess … I meant that … Oh, never mind.’ I stared at Shaq. Was this his attempt at an apology? He stared back and I felt myself shiver. I really did feel like I knew this boy. But then he just strode off back to the table where more boys were sitting. They must have been that rowdy group Tegan and I heard earlier.

‘I’m Riley,’ the other boy grinned. ‘Come with me over to our table. We have napkins and I can help you clean up.’

‘Oh no, honestly, it’s fine …’ I began, but then stopped as a great blob of sauce dripped off the bottom of my dress and landed on my beautiful tan boot. I sighed. ‘OK. Thank you. That would be really helpful.’

Riley nodded gallantly and took me gently by the elbow to the boys’ table. ‘It’s the least we can do.’

I caught Shaq’s eye as I approached the table, but forced myself to look away. Three other boys sat there, all actually very good looking. A tall brown-haired boy who sat at the end of the table raised his eyebrows as he saw Riley approach.

‘Oh hey. I wondered what was taking you and Shaq so long.’ He glanced at me. ‘Now I see why.’

A cheeky-looking boy with red hair, who was sitting in the middle, chuckled. Glad he found it amusing.

Shaq looked awkward. ‘Actually, it was my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going.’

A sandy-haired and friendly looking boy grinned broadly. ‘Goof.’

‘Whatever, Logan,’ Shaq replied gruffly. He looked at my dress and I found myself blushing. ‘Riley, napkins?’

Riley, caught up laughing with the other boys, looked surprised. ‘What?’

Shaq sighed. He leaned over with a pile of clean napkins from the table in his hand. As I took it from him, our fingers brushed and I felt his emerald-green eyes staring at me in shock.

‘Here, let me help!’ Riley took the napkins and went to clean off some of the food. He stopped as he saw my horrified face. Was this boy actually going to wipe the napkins over my body? ‘Oh, of course!’ he grinned, blushing. ‘You do it. And, I’m sorry, we haven’t even asked you your name yet.’

‘I’m Jess,’ I smiled.

He beamed back, obviously relieved I wasn’t about to slap him. ‘Well, Jess, I’m Riley. This is Shaq, Tyler, Callum and Logan.’ He pointed at each of the boys.

‘Hey.’ I gave them a small wave. I stood awkwardly, not sure whether to leave with the napkins or not. I wished Tegan would get back soon.

Shaq seemed to notice. ‘You can sit here with us if you want. Are you by yourself?’

‘No, no. I’m waiting for my friend to come back.’ I gestured helplessly towards the door.

‘Stay!’ declared Riley, pulling me down to sit next to them.

I hesitated, but then decided that since their table was quite hidden from the restaurant at least people wouldn’t be able to stare and point at my food-splattered outfit. ‘OK.’

The red-haired boy in the middle, who Riley had called Callum, looked at Shaq and Riley hopefully. ‘So did you guys actually get my food?’ He sounded very eager considering that he already had an empty plate before him.

I laughed. ‘I think there is some left on me if you want more?’

Everyone laughed too except for Callum who looked vaguely interested at this possibility. Shaq leaned close, his lips centimetres from my ear. ‘I’d be careful – he eats everything and might take you up on that offer.’ I could feel his warm breath on my neck, which sent chills down my back. I spun round to see an unexpected twinkle in his otherwise serious eyes.

Suddenly music filled the restaurant, breaking the moment. The boys all looked at each other and grinned. I wasn’t quite sure why. I suspected there was an undiscovered piece of chicken sticking out of my collar or something. I huffed as I tried to clean myself down as well as possible.

‘Not enjoying the tunes, Jess?’ Riley sat up close next to me. Shaq raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

‘Um. It’s all right,’ I said, distracted by Riley’s proximity. He did smell good. Mind you, I suspect everyone smelled
better than me just then. It was the song by The Only Truth that Tegan had had on in the car. It was being played everywhere these days.

Logan, the sandy-haired boy, leaned back in his chair with a wicked smile on his face. ‘I think these guys are super talented.’

Tyler, at the end of the table, laughed. ‘Yeah, me too. And reeeeally good looking.’

‘Well, I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen what they look like.’

Suddenly the whole table roared with laughter. What on earth was up with these boys? I looked at my watch. I could really do with Tegan turning up now.

‘That explains it,’ Shaq said gently.

What did he mean by that? By now I was very confused.

The door of the restaurant opened and I sighed with relief thinking it was Tegan, but it wasn’t. Four younger teenage girls walked in and looked across the room at our table where the boys were still making a great din. I saw one of the girls’ eyes light up with excitement as she whispered hurriedly to the others. They came running over and one screamed right in the boys’ faces.

‘Oh my God! You’re The Only Truth!’

After lots of signing and group photos, the girls finally left with ecstatic smiles. I sat there in shock at the surreal scene around me.

Logan looked at me and laughed. ‘You OK, Jess?’

‘So you’re … you’re … The Only Truth?’ I stuttered.

Riley put his arm round my shoulders and nodded sympathetically. ‘Sorry we didn’t tell you before, Jess.’

My jaw dropped and formed a perfect ‘O’.

‘Oh great, I think she’s going to scream,’ Callum said, covering his ears in preparation.

‘Shut up, I am not going to scream,’ I said indignantly. ‘Do I look like a crazy fan?’

‘To be fair, she did say earlier that she didn’t like our music, boys!’ Callum chuckled.

I felt myself blush. ‘That’s not actually what I said …’ I mumbled. ‘I said you were … OK …’ I trailed off.

‘Well, that’s OK, then,’ Shaq said in his deep voice. I looked at him, confused. Was he teasing?

To my relief, just at that point my iPhone vibrated. It was a text from Tegan:

Hey Jess, found my phone! But we have a situation. Got lost on way & ran out of petrol by the time I got to your dad’s. U got enough money for taxi home? Text me asap! xox

This is just what I needed.

‘Everything OK?’ Shaq asked.

I sighed. ‘Oh, it’s nothing, but I was waiting for my friend Tegan …’ Riley nodded. ‘Well, she just texted me saying she’s at mine and she’s ran out of petrol, so I have to get a taxi.’

‘No you don’t,’ Shaq declared.

‘Excuse me?’ I was surprised by what sounded a bit like a command. ‘I don’t what?’

He looked embarrassed. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant since it was my fault that your dress got covered –’

‘My favourite dress,’ I added.

‘– your favourite dress,’ he continued, with what looked suspiciously like a smile on his lips, ‘so me, Riley and Logan can take you home, and the others can take the other car.’

‘Aw, you sure you don’t want to stay here and play with us?’ asked Riley cheekily.

I blushed and laughed out loud despite myself. This boy was definitely a charmer. ‘Thanks, but I think I’d
better go back home to Tegan now.’ My tummy rumbled loudly and embarrassingly. ‘Plus, I’m starving.’

Riley pouted.

Logan took a massive bite out of a piece of cold chicken. ‘You might want to take her home soon,’ he mumbled, spraying food everywhere. ‘I can smell her from here.’

We pulled up to my dad’s house and Tyler’s car, that had been following us all the way, pulled up too.

I turned to Shaq. ‘Thanks for the ride.’ I smiled at him. ‘I really appreciate it.’

Shaq looked at me with his emerald-green eyes. ‘Of course, I just wanted to make sure you got home OK.’

‘Bye, boys,’ I said, turning round to Riley and Logan.

Riley leaned forward and draped his hands over the back of my seat, resting them on my shoulders. ‘Are you sure you have to go now?’

I grinned. He was such a flirt and I actually found myself enjoying Riley’s attention – it made me wish Jacob was here to see what was happening. And Lucy too. That would get them back for what had happened.

‘I’m afraid so,’ I laughed. I had actually declared this a girly break and Tegan was alone waiting for me. I reluctantly went to unclip my seatbelt, but it seemed to be jammed. Shaq, who hadn’t said anything throughout Riley’s flirtation, leaned his long body close to me to help with the seatbelt lock. As his hand brushed mine, I felt my breath quicken. Dammit. I needed to get out of this car. Now.