Ash: ‘Girl From Mars’
The music was loud, the bass thumping through the sticky floor as Erin, Rose and Sam pushed their way through the crowds towards the bar. The pub was packed and Erin felt a ripple of pride at the thought that all of these people were here to watch her boyfriend playing tonight.
‘I’ll get the beers, you find us a good spot to watch from,’ Sam yelled, turning towards the bar to battle his way to the front. Erin and Rose elbowed their way to the back of the room and squeezed themselves next to a table where they could at least rest their drinks.
‘What time are they on?’ Rose yelled.
‘Not sure.’ Erin pulled a leaflet from the back pocket of her jeans and squinted at it. This was the first time Adam’s band The Night Crawlers had headlined at this pub – they were usually second on the bill – and Adam had been really excited about it.
‘This is a big deal Erin,’ he’d said the previous night, pacing up and down in his parents’ outbuilding where the band rehearsed.
‘It’s brilliant,’ she’d said, reaching to hug him, but he’d pushed her away, agitated.
‘Not now.’ His body fizzed with anticipation and she took a step away, trying not to show she was hurt. He ran his fingers through his wild curls and crouched down, elbows on his knees. ‘What if we fuck it up?’
‘Why would you?’ She squatted down beside him. ‘You’ve played there loads of times. You’ll smash it.’
He’d leapt up and picked up his guitar. ‘You’d better go; we’ve got to get some more practice in.’
She’d left then, dismissed. Now she felt nervous about seeing him again.
‘It doesn’t say,’ she said, folding the flyer up carefully and shoving it back in her pocket. ‘They’re usually on by nine though, aren’t they?’
Rose glanced at her watch. ‘Half an hour then?’
They turned to face the small makeshift stage the current band were playing on, and settled in to listen. But Erin wasn’t really paying attention. Instead, she surveyed the room. It hadn’t gone unnoticed that, dotted among the usual crowd were huddles of young, leggy girls, hovering around in their tiny cropped tops, tight jeans, high heels and back-combed hair. They were The Night Crawlers fans, and although she knew they existed, this was the first time she’d seen them in the flesh, these young women who followed Adam and his band round the country like lemmings.
She knew, too, that they were really only here for the charismatic front man, that Adam’s dark good looks and deep, throaty voice were the main draw.
‘Stop it E.’ Rose nudged her in the side and she snapped her head round.
‘Stop what?’
‘Stressing.’ She nodded towards the crowd. ‘They’re just groupies; you don’t have anything to worry about.’
Erin nodded. ‘I know.’ She wasn’t going to relax that easily though. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Adam. She did, of course she did. He loved her, even if he didn’t say it very often. But it was these girls who weren’t to be trusted. She knew they’d throw themselves into bed with her boyfriend without a backwards glance if they got the chance.
She was here to make sure they didn’t get that chance.
‘Here you go.’ Sam slammed three pints down, sloshing beer over the sides onto the already sticky table. He removed the crisps that were clamped between his teeth and threw them down too. Erin tipped half a pint down her neck and wiped the back of her hand across her mouth.
‘Blimey, thirsty?’ Sam smirked.
‘Just needed a drink.’
‘She’s upset about the groupies,’ Rose said.
Sam snaked his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. ‘E, you know you’ve got nothing to worry about, don’t you? Even if they throw themselves at Adam, we’re here to drag them off him.’ He grinned and she gave a weak smile back.
They sipped their beer and munched the crisps. The first band’s set came to an end and they bought more beer. Erin could feel herself pulsing, both excited and nervous about seeing Adam on the stage. She wondered if he would spot her here, right at the back.
‘I’m just nipping to the loo,’ she said, disappearing before anyone could object.
In the harsh light of the toilet she studied herself in the speckled mirror. Her face looked pale and the eye liner she’d so carefully applied earlier that evening had smudged under her eyes. Her lipstick had faded and her lacy trim vest top and bootcut jeans looked immature and boring compared to the outfits her rivals – as she thought of them – were wearing. She dug in her bag and re-applied her lipstick, pinching her cheeks to give her some colour. She sighed. She’d have to do. She wished she wasn’t so anxious.
Everything would be fine.
She went back to the pub, the noise hitting her the moment she pushed the door open. And as she arrived back at the table, a hush fell over the pub and the lights dimmed.
‘Just in time,’ Rose whispered.
There was a beat of almost-silence – then Adam strode onto the stage, followed by the guitarist, the bassist and the drummer. The place erupted, the screams from the girls who had pushed themselves to the front right by the stage the loudest. Erin’s hand gripped her pint tightly.
She watched Adam as he began to sing. He had such undeniable presence and seemed to command the room. He took total control of the audience and she began to wonder whether he even knew she was there as he bent down to sing to the girls crowded round his feet.
‘I’m going forward,’ she yelled, but as she stepped away Sam pressed his hand against her arm and gave a little shake of his head. ‘Stay here E.’
She looked at the stage and back at Sam, and knew he was right. She’d only make a fool of herself.
It was about halfway through the set when the band launched into ‘Girl From Mars’ by Ash. As the opening guitar began, Adam looked out across the pub. Was he seeking her out? She stood a little taller, and willed him to see her. And then, as his eyes landed on her and he gave a little wink and started singing about loving his girl from Mars, she felt herself puff out, try to fill the space.
‘See?’ Rose shouted in her ear. ‘Nothing to worry about.’
Erin felt herself begin to relax, and by the time they had played their last song, she was glad she’d come. But as the band left the stage Erin found herself glancing round every couple of minutes, waiting for Adam to come over and find her.
‘Erin, are you even listening to me?’ Sam demanded, waving his hand in front of her face.
‘Sorry. Miles away.’ Her vision was a bit blurry, and she realised she was more than a little drunk.
‘Miles away in lover boy’s changing room you mean,’ Sam slurred and Rose giggled.
‘When is he going to introduce me to the sexy guitarist?’ Rose said, her speech just as slurred as Sam’s.
‘Dan?’ Erin said, incredulous. He was the quiet one, and usually the last one the girls fancied. Erin cast her gaze distractedly over to the side of the bar where she knew the band would emerge, and where there was an increasingly large group of girls hanging around.
‘Yes, Dan.’ Rose slapped her arm. ‘Come on Erin, you two have been seeing each other for three months now and I’m still single.’
‘I’ll ask Adam,’ she promised half-heartedly, her voice trailing off, the conversation fading into the background as she stared fixedly at the gaggle of girls waiting to throw themselves at her boyfriend. Her teeth were clenched and her whole body thrummed with tension. Where was he?
Suddenly there was a stirring over by the bar and Erin held her breath, waiting for Adam to spot her. She could see the top of his head now, his dark curls slicked back with sweat, as he pushed his way through the crowd. Then he stopped and she watched as one of the cropped-top girls slid her arms round his neck like a snake. Erin waited for Adam to shake her off, to move away and put some distance between them, but as the seconds ticked by she realised he wasn’t going to do that. In fact, he didn’t seem to mind at all that this girl was draping herself all over him.
Her world seemed to still as she watched the scene unfold before her. A leg hitched round her boyfriend’s waist, his hand moving up it, along the smooth brown skin, under the skirt… lips nuzzling his neck, a look of pleasure on his face… and then the girl peeled off, and someone else grabbed his hand, pressing themselves against him.
Erin felt frozen to the spot, unable to tear her eyes away as her boyfriend enjoyed the advances of several girls, all desperate for his attention.
She jumped at a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Sam watching her with concern. ‘Do you want to go home E?’
She gave a tight nod and tried to ignore the rising wave of nausea in her throat.
Sam took hold of her elbow and steered her towards the door. They were almost there when Erin heard her name being called above the buzz of the pub and she turned to see Adam weaving his way towards her.
‘Are you leaving already?’
She nodded.
‘Can’t you stay? The guys are all hanging out for a bit.’ Anger coursed through her. How dare he pretend nothing had happened? Did he really think she hadn’t seen him lapping up the attention just now?
‘You’ve got your groupies here,’ I said, my voice in danger of breaking.
He glanced behind me and rolled his eyes. ‘Them? Don’t worry about them. You’re my girl.’ He held his arms out. She stood rooted to the spot. Every part of her body was screaming at her to believe him, to go to him. Yet it was battling with the rational part of her mind that told her she’d be a fool to trust him now.
‘I think Erin wants to go home,’ Sam said, no trace of drunkenness left in his voice. Adam looked at him with a frown, then back at Erin.
‘Erin? Do you?’
‘I—’ She stopped, swallowed. ‘Who was that girl?’
Adam glanced behind him. ‘Which girl?’
‘The one who was all over you like a rash just now,’ Sam said, his voice icy.
Adam sighed heavily. ‘No-one was all over me. I was just trying to walk past and get to you and she threw herself at me.’ He took Erin’s elbow. ‘Erin, I promise. I don’t even know who she is.’
‘Okay.’ She nodded, and forced a smile.
‘So are you coming with me? Or are you going to go home and leave me here all on my own?’ He stuck his bottom lip out and Erin couldn’t help it: she melted. Of course Adam wasn’t flirting with someone else in front of her; why would he do that? She must have misunderstood. She stepped towards him into his arms and he kissed her lightly on the nose.
‘I’ll stay.’
‘Good choice.’ His hands ran down her back and onto her bottom, making her entire body fizz.
She turned to find Rose standing next to Sam, her arms folded across her chest.
‘Are you staying too?’ she said.
‘No, I think we’ll head home.’ Sam looked angry but Erin knew he’d forgive her. He always did.
‘Rose?’ she pleaded. ‘You can come and meet the band.’
Rose hesitated a minute, torn between her loyalty for Sam and her desperation to meet Dan. But in the end, loyalty won. ‘I’ll go with Sam,’ she said, pulling on her coat and hooking her arm through his. As the pair of them disappeared out of the door, Erin turned back to Adam, and as his eyes fixed on her, the guilt she felt at letting her friends down flew out of her mind. She was here, with Adam, and he wanted her. She kissed him, molten with desire, and felt a spark of triumph as he took her hand and led her backstage, away from the groups of girls still hanging around, who were watching them go with obvious envy. She’d won, for now. She could only hope things stayed that way.