Rebecca Rocks (16 page)

A thought struck me.

‘So does this mean that you can’t see people properly, in the corridors and stuff?’ I said.

‘Yeah,’ said Lucy. ‘Oh God, have I been ignoring you?’

‘Well, kind of,’ I admitted.

‘Oh no,’ said Lucy. ‘I’m so sorry. Sam said this would happen. But I was sure I wasn’t quite that blind. I mean, I can recognise people when they’re right next to me. It’s just hard to focus on their faces.’

‘You did sometimes look as if you were staring over my shoulder,’ I admitted.

‘Oh God,’ said Lucy. She buried her face in her hands. ‘I’m a total fool.’

‘No, of course you’re not,’ I said. ‘I do understand. But how have you managed to do all the drawing in the art course if you can’t see?’

‘I just lean right over the page,’ said Lucy. ‘Things almost look better that way, so I don’t mind.’ She sighed. ‘It all sounds so silly when I say it out loud.’

So there you go. Lucy isn’t rude. She was just trying to
reinvent
herself. And yes, she did it in a rather silly way, but I can understand where she was coming from. Just as I dreamed of starting the camp as a person with a glossy new fringe, she dreamed of starting it as a person without specs. Anyway, we had a really good chat on the bus. She is definitely not into Sam. She says they are like brother and sister because they have been friends since they were tiny. I did not bring this up, by the way. She did because she was talking about some of the boys on the course and said the only downside of her
friendship
with Sam is that people tend to think they are a couple. Which has been annoying when either of them actually likes someone else. Not that I think she really does like anyone else on the course. At least there are two of us.

Anyway, this all meant that what I thought would be a very awkward bus journey stuck talking to someone I didn’t think
liked me was actually pretty fun. I might even have made another new friend. I told her about having to buy Rachel a birthday present, and she suggested this really nice, cool nail varnish you can only get in one shop in the Jervis Centre so I decided to get Rachel that and a book. Which I think is a good balance of presents. AND she’s getting my song as well. I truly am a much more noble sister than Rachel. I can’t even remember what she got me last year.

Just remembered that Rachel actually got me a really nice top for my birthday last year. Hmmm. Perhaps she isn’t so bad after all.

Also, it is my birthday in a few weeks so hopefully when I give her the nice present it will inspire her to get me something even better.

Lucy wore her glasses in the camp today. She said she felt a bit stupid going around without them now I knew she couldn’t see properly. I think she thought other people were going to stare or make a fuss but, actually, people hardly noticed, apart from a few ‘Oh, cool glasses’ or, of course, ‘I didn’t know you wore glasses.’ If we knew each other better, I would have been tempted to point out that really she should have done this two and a half weeks ago, but I knew it wouldn’t make her feel any better so I didn’t say anything.

In other news, we got the line-ups for our shows next week. Richard’s band are one of the first to play, on Wednesday − the same day as the Crack Parrots (ugh). We’re playing with both the Paulas (Tall and Small) on Friday, the very last day. Which is kind of cool, because I think if we were doing it on, say, Thursday, the last day would feel a bit anticlimactic. And this also gives us even more time to perfect our songs, including all the new ones we’ve written over the course of the camp.

Oh, and Rachel loved her birthday present (I thanked Lucy for the polish recommendation today). After I presented her with the physical part of it this morning, I wasn’t sure I was
going to sing her the song. After all, I had really only come up with it because I wasn’t going to spend money on a present. We are not usually a family who declare our affection for each other seriously. But then I thought of how much time I’d spent on it and it seemed like a bit of a waste not to actually sing it.

‘I have an extra present too,’ I said. ‘It’s a special song,
written
just for you. Just don’t take it too seriously,’ I added, lest all my praise go to her head. And I sang it to her. I tried my best not to sound sarcastic, but it was quite difficult as I don’t praise her very often. But it was her birthday and I had gone to the trouble of writing it. She had a strange look on her face, and I had a funny feeling she was going to start laughing, but, at the end, she seemed quite pleased and gave me a hug.

‘I could even record it for you if you like,’ I said. ‘We’ve still got a fair bit of studio time at the camp.’

‘Oh, that’s all right,’ said Rachel. ‘Your beautiful live
singing
is enough.’ She was joking, but I didn’t mind. I suppose she is okay really.

And, speaking of my songs, I’ve written some lyrics for that song we were working on on Tuesday. It’s called ‘Living in a Bubble’, and it’s my first song with a political theme. I think it is quite powerful.

Note that there is a middle eight (the bit about ‘We’ve got to take it seriously’). Our songwriting is definitely evolving. And I am quite proud of the honey-bee bit. It was inspired by a thing I read in my parents’ paper at the weekend about how bees are dying because of some mysterious bee plague, and while this might not seem like a huge environmental disaster (although of course it is very sad for the poor bees), it actually is terrible for all of us because bees pollinate loads of flowers and plants and so basically we are dependent on them for
everything
from apples to, of course, honey. Anyway, I am glad that I’ve been able to highlight their tragic plight in song. I will try it out on the others tomorrow.

Brilliant day. First of all, we got loads of work done in the practice space today. The others like my song lyrics. In fact, Alice said she thought Miss Kelly would be proud of my green message, and I think she is right. Maybe if we play it to her when we go back to school in September, it would prove that our creative projects aren’t a total waste of time?

And second of all, we had our second Crack Parrots-free day in a row, because we were all in our own studios in the morning and in the afternoon they were in another workshop (for once). So we were able to enjoy our sound-engineering workshop with Dave Crewe without Charlie and his gang making not-so-smart remarks all the time. It was great.

Also, a bunch of us went into town after the camp today, which was really good fun – us Hey Dollfacers and the Wicked Ways and Jane and her drama friend Gemma, and Ellie and Sam and Lucy. We ended up taking over half a coffee shop, and we stayed until it closed and they kicked us out. The staff looked pleased to get rid of us. I think it was because we’d been there for, like, two hours and only ordered one drink each. But it’s not our fault they charge so much for a boring beverage. Anyway, we all had a very good chat about our
creative
ambitions. Jane and Gemma have decided to write a play together.

‘I always thought I wanted to be on stage,’ said Jane. ‘But actually I think I might want to work behind the scenes.’

‘I can make your sets,’ said Cass. ‘When I’m not being a famous rock star, of course.’

‘Or a sweet-maker,’ I said, and we told the others about our
fudge-making plans. They were very impressed and asked if we’d bring in samples, but we said they’d have to wait until the giveaway at our gig next week. We need to build up the hype. About both the band and the sweets.

Oh, and I had a really good chat with Sam about books and comics. I gave him back
Good Omens
(which I loved, it was so funny and exciting and scary), and he lent me one of the
Sandman
graphic novels (which is basically a comic). I’ve finished it already, because you can read a graphic really quickly what with most of it being pictures. I have been reading it since I got home and it is very good but a bit freaky. I hope it doesn’t give me weird dreams. Especially as I have to get up early tomorrow because I am going into town with Cass and Liz. I haven’t seen Liz since she and Cass started going out, so I hope it won’t be awkward and I won’t be some weird gooseberry. I can’t imagine it will be, but you never know.