‘WHAT’S WRONG WITH the one you’re wearing?’
‘It’s not long enough.’
‘Looks pretty long to me.’
‘No. It’s got to be longer. It’s more goth for it to be longer. You should see Raf’s – it’s really long, like, soooo goth. A bit like the one Brandon Lee wears in The Crow.’
‘Oh. The Crow. I remember that. Bit rubbish – all that brooding and silliness.’
‘I love it.’
‘It’s a long time since I saw it.’
‘He’s just so awesome. And it’s just so weird that he got killed while they were filming it.’
‘Yeah – you wonder why on earth there would be real bullets in the gun, if it was just a movie set. Do you think that makes you like it more?’
‘Mmmm. Dunno. Haven’t really thought about it. Maybe.’
‘I like Angel from Buffy The Vampire Slayer – he’s got a big billowy dark coat. I’m onto series five of that now, where Spike decides he loves Buffy. Dead good.’
‘Uh.’
‘So what else makes up the goth look, apart from the coat?’
‘Well, big boots. And straight hair.’
‘Yours is a bit curly, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah. It’s really irritating. I try brushing it, but it just gets a sort of straw mushroom effect. It kind of looks better when it’s wet.’
‘I know what you mean. I had straight hair until I was fourteen, then I woke up one morning and it was like wire wool. Nothing I could do with it, and when I tried to grow it, it just went out, not down. It’s kind of okay and straightish again now, but it only seemed to get okay when I stopped thinking about it.’
‘I’m seriously thinking about getting mine straightened.’
‘I’m not sure if I’d advise it. My cousin tried that and it started falling out, and the effect lasted virtually no time at all. She was well pissed off.’
‘Really?’
‘We sound a bit like girls, don’t we?’
‘A little bit.’
‘I’m glad nobody can hear this conversation.’
‘At least we don’t run like girls.’
‘Good point. Do you want to put some music on? This classical shit’s alright in traffic jams but it’s bugging the crap out of me now.’
‘Okay. What?’
‘What about that – the one on the floor, by your left foot. Yeah, there, just under that Frazzles packet . . . No, those are Wotsits.’
‘Cheap Trick. Who are they?’
‘People called them the metal Beatles. They’re probably not heavy metal as you know it, but they do rock. Don’t worry – they don’t use lutes. The guitarist has a twelve-neck guitar or something . . . This song’s ace; it’s what they used to start their concerts with. There’s another really good song a couple of tracks on that you might know because Shakin’ Stevens covered it.’
‘Who’s Shakin’ Stevens?’
‘Don’t worry. Forget I said it.’