Rebecca Rocks (18 page)

‘But you’ve played in front of him lots of times!’ I said. ‘Like, every day for the past three weeks!’

‘You know that’s not the same, Bex,’ said Richard. ‘There’s a big difference between playing in a poky little rehearsal room full of chairs and amps and actually, like, rocking out on stage in front of an audience.’

Which is true, I suppose.

‘It’ll be good showing Kitty what we can do on Friday,’ said Alice.

‘As long as I don’t fall off something,’ I said gloomily.

‘I don’t think there’ll be anything to fall off,’ said Cass. ‘The drums aren’t on a platform this time. And you’re hardly going to fall off the drum stool. Are you?’

‘No!’ I said. ‘Of course not!’

‘And even if you do fall off your stool,’ said Ellie, ‘you can just get back up and keep playing like you did last time! As long as you don’t have, like, a concussion or something. Then you’d have to get to hospital straight away.’

‘Oh thanks very much, that’s very comforting,’ I said.

That was when the Crack Parrots walked up.

‘You on today too, Murray?’ said Charlie.

‘Yeah,’ said Richard.

‘Well, I hope your boyfriend Ian Cliff is impressed!’
chortled
Charlie. Richard just rolled his eyes and looked bored. Evan looked embarrassed, as well he might.

‘That’s really hilarious, Charlie,’ said Cass drily.

‘Oh, right, I might have known you’d stick up for that
gaylord
,’ said Charlie.

Cass went a bit red, but she said, ‘Seriously, Charlie, no one wants to listen to you. Go away.’

‘Oh, what’ll you do if I don’t?’ said Charlie. ‘Get your
girlfriend
to beat me up?’ Cass, Alice, Richard and I all stared at him, and he smirked horribly, like he’d just won some sort of battle. He looked … triumphant.

‘Yeah, I saw the pair of you in town on Saturday,’ he said. ‘You and your little lezzer friend holding hands and snogging in public! I might have known you were a dyke.’

When he said that horrible word I felt like I’d been slapped in the face, so I can only imagine how Cass felt. She went very white and started blinking in a way that means she was trying not to cry. I was so stunned and so angry I couldn’t say anything for a second, but just as I was taking a breath to yell at Charlie, a very surprising voice roared, ‘How DARE you say that to her!’

It was, of all people in the world, Karen Rodgers. I hadn’t even noticed she was there, but she was pushing her way through the people sitting on the edge of the sofas, and she looked really, really angry. Cass and I looked at each other in amazement. For a moment, I think we were both more
surprised
than anything else.

‘There’s nothing wrong with being gay!’ yelled Karen. ‘And you should never call anyone that word!’

‘Karen’s right,’ I said, and even now I can’t believe those words actually came out of my mouth. ‘You take that back right now and apologise to Cass.’

‘Yeah,’ said Cass. I could tell from her face that she was still really, really upset, but her voice didn’t even wobble. ‘
Apologise
now. You don’t get to call me and my girlfriend that word.’

‘Yeah, you don’t,’ said Alice.

Charlie literally sneered at us. I didn’t think anyone did that outside of films.

‘Oh right,’ he laughed. ‘Are you all lezzers, then? Should’ve guessed.’

God, he is so, so horrible.

‘I’d rather be gay than a horrible bigot like you,’ I said.

‘Yeah,’ said Richard, glaring at Charlie. ‘So would I.’

‘And so would I,’ said Alice.

‘And me,’ said Sam.

‘And me,’ said Bernard the Fairy-tale Prince, who really is okay, I suppose.

‘And me,’ said Ellie and Lucy together.

‘Me too,’ said some girl from the art class who I don’t know at all.

‘And me,’ said Tall Paula.

‘Me too,’ said Small Paula. Which is particularly impressive, as she hardly ever says anything.

And lots of other people joined in too. Not everyone, but enough to make it clear that most people were on Cass’s side.

And THEN, as if Karen’s outburst wasn’t surprising enough, Evan said, ‘And me. Seriously, dude, you’re acting like a total arsehole. I don’t want to be in a band with you anymore.’

Charlie looked genuinely taken aback. Then his usual cocky expression returned.

‘Fine,’ he said. ‘Like I’d want to be in a band with another queer anyway.’

‘Oh my God, Charlie, just SHUT UP,’ said Evan. He was practically yelling. ‘Why are you so obsessed with other people being gay? And why are you such a creepy dick to all the girls?
What’s your problem? Just grow up!’ And he grabbed his bass and stomped out of the room. The other members of Crack Parrots looked at each other.

‘What’s his problem, more like,’ said Charlie, with a sort of snigger. ‘It was just a bit of banter.’

Then, to my huge surprise, Finn got up.

‘Sorry, Charlie,’ said Finn. ‘But Evan’s right.’ And he grabbed his drumsticks and walked after Evan. Robbie and Ryan, the other Crack Parrots’ band member, stayed where they were, but they both looked pretty uncomfortable.

‘Come on,’ said Alice, looking coldly at Charlie and his two allies. ‘They’ve opened the doors to the theatre now. Let’s leave Charlie with all his many friends.’ Which is quite bitchy for Alice, but totally justified in this case. And she grabbed me and Cass and marched into the theatre, Richard by our side. Pretty much everyone followed.

‘You okay?’ I said to Cass, who still looked a bit shaky and like she might start crying.

‘Yeah, I think so,’ said Cass in quite a wobbly voice. ‘No, I am. Thanks for, well, you know. Standing up for me.’

‘Oh, come on, Cass,’ said Alice. ‘As if we wouldn’t!’

‘But what about Karen?’ I said. ‘That was pretty surprising.
And, I have to admit, impressive.’

‘Do I have to like Karen now?’ said Cass, sounding worried. ‘I think I might.’

‘I think we all might,’ I said. ‘For a while, anyway. Or at least, like, accept that she’s not totally evil really.’

‘Oh well,’ said Cass. ‘I suppose I can live with that. Though I dunno if I can live with everyone staring at me. Is everyone staring at me?’

‘Not really,’ said Alice. ‘I mean, I don’t think anyone thinks it’s a big deal. You’re not the only gay person on the camp, after all.’ Which was true. And there were a few funny looks, but they looked more curious than anything else. No one was really laughing or sniggering or whispering.

‘And after what just happened, it really does look like
everyone
’s on your side,’ I said. ‘Even Karen.’

‘Oh, look, there she is,’ said Cass. ‘I suppose I’d better thank her now and get it over with. I’ll feel bad if I don’t. Hey, Karen!’

Karen came over, looking a bit embarrassed.

‘Thanks,’ said Cass. ‘For, you know. What you said out there.’

Karen sort of shrugged. ‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘Um, my aunt’s gay, so I’ve always been kind of, I dunno, sensitive
about that sort of thing.’

‘Well, it was really nice of you,’ said Cass.

‘Thanks,’ said Karen. ‘I’ll, um, see you later.’ And she went off.

‘Oof, that was awkward,’ said Cass, with a big sigh.

‘I’m sure things will get back to normal soon and she’ll be doing our heads in again,’ I said comfortingly. And I meant it. But I won’t forget what Karen did today. She didn’t have to stand up for Cass – she’s not even her friend – but she did. I suppose she can’t be all bad, even if she did spend all year tormenting me about my mum’s book and then showing off about her great acting skills. The next time she does any of those things I’ll just have to remind myself what she did today and tell myself she is a decent human being really. I have a feeling this will be very difficult, though. I mean, she really is quite annoying a lot of the time.

‘Well, we can show our appreciation when they put on their play tomorrow,’ said Alice.

‘Oh yeah,’ said Cass. ‘I can’t wait to see that. Wow. I’m looking forward to something involving Vanessa and Karen. This summer really has been full of surprises.’

Then – speak of the Devil – Vanessa came up to us.

‘Is it true?’ she demanded, without bothering to say hello, or anything vaguely polite. ‘Are you, like, an actual lesbian?’

‘Um, yes,’ said Cass, looking taken aback. ‘I suppose.’

‘Oh right,’ said Vanessa. ‘That’s cool.’ And she walked off.

We all just stared at each other.

‘Well, I don’t think today could get any weirder,’ said Cass.

‘Come on, let’s sit down before anything else peculiar can happen,’ said Alice. Ellie, Sam and Lucy had saved us some seats, so we sat down just as the lights in the auditorium went down and Veronica walked on to the spotlit stage.

‘Hey everybody,’ she said. ‘We’ve had a bit of a change to today’s show − Crack Parrots won’t be performing after all.’ There were some cheers and a few boos and various yelling noises. Cass squirmed a bit in her seat between me and Alice. ‘So we’d like you to give a big round of applause to our first act – Richard Murray and the Wicked Ways!’

Of course we all applauded and cheered like mad as
Richard
and the boys strode out. I had to admit that Richard did make the right decision to steal that suit. It looks really good on him. Not that I fancy him, I might add. Much as I like and, indeed, respect Richard, he just doesn’t do anything for me. Which is a good thing, obviously, for many reasons.

Anyway, Richard grabbed the mike and said, in a voice that was about ten times lower than his usual voice, ‘Hello, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Richard Murray, and these are the Wicked Ways. And our first song is called “The Fool”.’

The drums and the bass kicked in, sounding impressively gloomy, then the guitar started playing a dramatic riff, and then Richard began to sing.

‘I am …’ he sang, in a deep and rumbling voice, ‘little more … than a fooool.’

He has always been a bit … melodramatic on stage, and somehow it always worked. But now he was taking it a bit
further
. Actually, make that a lot further. He was now hunched over so his chin nearly touched his knees.

‘A fool … for loooove … a fool … in life …’ he declaimed, still in the booming voice. Then he sprang upright again. ‘Am I a fool to you?’ he cried, flinging his arms wide. As the song went on, he stalked around the stage in a very dramatic
fashion
. At one stage, he shook his fist at the heavens. And then he lay down on the ground in order to roar the final chorus.

‘I think he might have taken his love of Ian Cliff a bit too far,’ I whispered to Cass.

‘I think you’re right,’ said Cass. ‘What’s he doing now?
Is he … writhing?’

‘Life!’ roared Richard, still thrashing around on his back, ‘has made a fooooool of meeeeeeee!’

‘I’m afraid he is,’ I whispered back. ‘Oh dear. We’d better shut up in case Alice hears us.’

Alice didn’t seem to mind Richard’s antics. In fact, she was staring at the stage in what looked like admiration. Love really must be blind. Eventually the song ended, with Richard still kicking about on the floor as he played the final bass notes, and there was a slightly stunned silence as he got to his feet. Then suddenly we heard loud clapping from up the front and a loud and even boomier voice than Richard had managed to achieve cried ‘Bravo! Bravo!’ It was, of course, Ian Cliff. It was like we’d been in a stunned trance until he started clapping, but then everyone else started joining in.

‘Thank you, thank you,’ said Richard. ‘This next song is called “Odysseus”, and I’d like to dedicate it to my friend Cass.’

‘Oh God,’ said Cass, but she tried to look pleased, because she knew Richard was being nice.

‘Odysseus,’ boomed Richard. ‘You’re a hero of the seven seas!’

Well, you can imagine the rest. The thing is, as the band went on, I started to get into it. I actually think Richard can
pull this stuff off. Very few people could, without looking totally ridiculous. And of course he did look totally ridiculous. But he was somehow brilliant at the same time. The first time we saw the Wicked Ways, back at the Battle of the Bands, I said I thought he had star quality, and I was right. Cass felt the same way.

‘Actually,’ she said, halfway through ‘Odysseus’, ‘am I going mad, or is this kind of cool?’

‘You’re not going mad,’ I whispered back. When the band finished, we clapped and cheered with all our might. And by the end of their set, everyone was cheering and whooping. Ian Cliff even stood up.

‘The Wicked Ways, everybody!’ he shouted, and everyone cheered. Shane O’Driscoll cheered very loudly, which isn’t
surprising
. His own music is very different to the Wicked Ways, but he obviously approved of Richard’s dramatic gesturing. Even though Richard didn’t do any actual prowling.

But when they had left the stage, something surprising
happened
. The stage lights were down, as they always are between acts, but after a while we could see something happening on stage. Shane O’Driscoll and some of the other mentors were pushing out two big packing cases onto the stage.

‘Who’s on now?’ I asked.

‘I think it’s Puce,’ said Alice. And it was. We could see the drummer, whose name I can never remember, getting into position, and then Niall walked onto the stage clutching his guitar. As the lights went on, he marched to the central mike at the front of the stage.

‘Whoah,’ said Cass. ‘What is he wearing?’

‘I think it’s a jumpsuit,’ said Alice. ‘Or maybe a boiler suit. It kind of suits him!’

I’m not sure it did, but it certainly was eye-catching.

Then Niall grabbed the mike.

‘We’re Puce,’ he cried. ‘And we’re here to rock your world!’

‘Just him and the drummer?’ whispered Cass in confusion. ‘Where are the other two?’

But then Niall played his first chord, and two more
spotlights
hit the stage, shining straight onto the big packing cases. And, right on cue, the bass player and the other
guitarist
leaped up from behind the packing cases, where they must have been hiding all the time. They too had abandoned their cardigans. One of them was wearing a neon shiny tracksuit top and skinny jeans, and the other was wearing an oversized mohair jumper and leather trousers. (Which I think was a
mistake, and not just because it was so hot. I mean, it’s hot on stage even in the middle of winter because of all those lights shining on you. It’s even worse at the beginning of July. The poor thing must have been boiling.) The audience cheered as the two boys leaped up on top of the packing cases, struck a pose and started to play.