There were four groups performing in the SkoolDaze final. Vertigo Pony was on second, which was just as well since everyone was a huge bundle of nerves. I was worried that Maz might hurl before she even made it onstage. She’d been so nervous all day that I hadn’t told her about running into Josh after rehearsal, or what I’d overheard my parents talking about.
She peeked through the curtains after we’d hung the banner, ready to be lowered at the start of Vertigo Pony’s set. “Have you seen how many people are out there? It’s at least twice as many as the stage rehearsal.”
“Calm down, Maz. It’s going to be fine.” I tried to sound reassuring, but to be honest the heaving throng of teenagers braying for entertainment was making even me nervous, and I didn’t have to get up and play for them.
We found a quiet corner in the green room and I made Maz close her eyes while I recited what I could remember of the relaxation track Patchouli had sent me.
“ … You walk to the stream and you see a small, golden fish, flickering in the water …”
“I thought I might find you here,” said Josh, coming up behind me and wrapping his arm round my shoulders. “I have to go and help my mates get ready for their set, but I’ll catch you later.”
He kissed my cheek before heading for the stage. If we’d been in a 1950s musical, this would have been the point where cartoon bluebirds flew around my head and I fainted with pleasure.
Maz had opened her eyes when I stopped talking. She watched Josh walk away, momentarily distracted from her performance anxiety. “I’ll never understand what you see in that guy. He thinks he’s such a player.”
Before I could say anything in Josh’s defence, Simon arrived carrying the last of his drum kit. He’d given in to being styled by Maz and was wearing a slim-fitting cowboy shirt that she’d ripped the sleeves off. She certainly had a talent for drawing attention to a person’s best feature.
“Nicko’s on his way,” he told Maz.
He’d barely spoken to me at school all day, even when I’d admired the finch family tree that had fallen out of his folder in Science. I prayed he’d snap out of it before Monday – once Maz didn’t have the battle of the bands to distract her, she’d be onto the tension between us in a nanosecond. In the meantime, I figured the best thing I could do was make myself scarce. “I’d better go and find a good spot out there. Good luck!”
“Fine,” Maz called after me. “Ditch us to hang out with lover boy, but if I catch you two dancing cheek to cheek to a power ballad you’re officially un-friended!”
I found Josh at the back of the hall with the same guys who were at the stage rehearsal. No one said hi, but a couple of them nodded in my direction and whispered to each other, so I figured they’d noticed me. I waited for Josh to draw me into the conversation, but he was giving a play-by-play account of the amazing goal he’d scored at training that afternoon.
When he still hadn’t noticed me five minutes later, I interrupted him. “We should get closer to the stage. I promised Maz I’d stand where she could see me.”
Something about the way he glanced at his mates before answering made me nervous. “I think I’ll hang here with the guys. But you go up the front.”
“Or I could stay here with you …” I tried not to think about how many hours I’d have to spend grovelling to Maz if I did.
“Nah, you go support your friends. We’ll catch up afterwards.”
Was it my imagination or did Josh not want to be seen with me? I was too afraid of the answer to ask him, so I headed into the crowd.
“Al, over here!” Tracy beckoned me to where she and Lily were standing near the stage, and I squeezed in next to them just as Mr Masch finished introducing the guest judges and announced the opening band.
Josh’s mates called themselves KT and the Slick Glitch. They were heavily influenced by 80s hair metal and bands that use a lot of guitar feedback. They were rubbish. I checked to see whether Josh felt as embarrassed for them as I did, but he and his friends were headbanging like they were really getting into it. Remembering the cartoon bluebirds from backstage, I told myself I could forgive Josh’s poor taste in music.
The Slick Glitch’s set felt like it went for a lot longer than five songs, possibly because of the extended guitar and drum solos, which seemed to be a competition to try to one-up each other. When they finished, I had a feeling a lot of us were clapping because it was finally over.
Ten minutes later the curtains opened to reveal Vertigo Pony. The banner sparkled behind Maz, who was resplendent in her cat-ear tiara, tutu and combat boots. As soon as Prad played the first chord people around me began to dance, as if the beat was infectious. The hall came alive to the music.
Even if I hadn’t been president of their fan club, I’d have had to say that Vertigo Pony was a million times better than the first group. For starters, no one in the band was trying to be heard above everyone else, and their songs were more than noisenoisenoise and aggression. Plus, their performance was really professional; no one would have guessed that it was their first real gig. From the way the crowd responded I could tell I wasn’t the only one who was impressed.
When the intro to ‘You Don’t Know’ started I looked around for Josh but he wasn’t at the back of the hall any more. For a moment I thought he must be close by, getting ready to put his arms round me again for what I’d come to think of as our song. Then I spotted him on the other side of the crowd, chatting to a Year Eleven girl. He saw me and waved. I waved back, embarrassed to have been caught out playing the jealous girlfriend. Not that I was sure I was his girlfriend.
At the end of Vertigo Pony’s set the hall erupted in applause. Lily, Tracy and I whistled and cheered at the tops of our voices. Maz shaded her eyes against the stage lights and, spotting me, gave the thumbs up and a grin the size of a monster truck.
Prad clutched the SkoolDaze trophy to his chest. “I don’t believe it,” he repeated for the tenth time.
“You’d better believe it. We won. We bloody won!” Nicko threw his arm around Prad’s shoulder.
“Did you hear everyone cheering for us?” asked Simon. “It was incredible.”
“We’ve got a lot of work to do before we go to the regionals though,” said Maz, already working on a mental to-do list. “The competition’s going to be much stiffer there.”
A taxi pulled up in the car park.
“You can worry about that tomorrow,” said Prad. “Tonight we celebrate – everyone’s invited back to my place!”
“Are you coming?” asked Maz
I scanned the crowd again for a glimpse of Josh’s blond hair. “You go – the band should get there first. I’ll hop in the next cab with Tracy and Lily.”
Maz looked like she was going to protest, but the boys piled into the car.
“There’s room for one more,” said Nicko, patting the seat next to him. “And it’s got your name on it, Maz.”
“Go,” I told her. “I’ll see you there.”
“Okay,” said Maz. “But promise me that if he doesn’t turn up in the next five minutes, you’ll come without him.”
I put my hand on my heart. “I’ll be there – no one needs a party more than I do right now.”
Al Miller needs to cut loose.