‘Hey, Jasper,’ I say as I restack some card boxes. ‘How goes? You guys on soon?’
He ruffles a hand through his hair. ‘Yeah. Fecking nightmare. I swear, if I get one more request for Taylor Swift I might actually go ape-shit and pitch an amp into the crowd.’
His bass guitarist, the aforementioned yellow-haired Ethan, shrugs. ‘But we can buy food this month. And toilet paper. I’m choosing to view toilet paper as a good thing.’
‘Can’t believe I let you talk me into selling out,’ Jasper growls.
‘Yeah. A regular, paying gig, versus spending another winter turning my undies inside out to save on washing powder –’
‘You are a fecking musician!’ Jasper yells. ‘Go home to mummy if you’re so hung up on clean knickers –’
‘Jesus, will you take it somewhere else!’ Amy bellows. ‘I can’t think with you bleating in my ear!’
Jasper looks like he’s about to say a whole lot of something elses, but he catches Amy’s eye and the two of them suddenly seem to find the ground and the sky equally mesmerising.
‘Whatever,’ Jasper mumbles. ‘We’re on next.’ He shoots a glance at Amy. ‘Come check us out. If you feel like it. Whatever.’
‘Maybe. Whatever,’ Amy says.
Ethan gives me a sneaky eye roll as he and Jasper walk away. I keep my face averted to hide the smirk that’s making its way across it.
‘Shut up, Joshua,’ Amy snaps.
I stretch my hands over my head with a yawn, catching a glimpse of another familiar person skipping towards me.
‘You still need me, Ames? Can I clear out?’
Amy grabs some juggling batons and tosses them deftly into the air. ‘Nah. Get out of here,’ she says distractedly.
I wave at the girl bounding towards me, who gives me an enthusiastic wave back. Her long hair bounces under a purple beanie, and with her red jacket, green cords and happy smile, she kinda reminds me of a Dr Seuss character. Totally crush-worthy, if I was remotely that way inclined.
‘Joshua the Magician!’ she calls out in her lilting British accent. ‘We missed you last Sunday!’
I stuff the cape into my bag. ‘Camilla the Chanteuse – nice to see you too. And yeah, had to bail last week. Turns out I had an assignment due Monday that I kinda forgot about. How are you? Is everyone here?’
‘Nah, not today. Too many family events and other minor crises. Speaking of crises – did you see Jasper? He really needs to get off this family-event circuit soon. Cos I’m not sure that “frustrated rock star throws jumping castle into river” is the sort of headline he’s looking for.’
She gives Amy a salute that passes for hello. ‘What I can’t work out is, why is he still showing up here? I’ve known Jasper for ages, and I’ve never seen him this committed.’ She smiles sweetly at Amy. Amy’s rhythm splutters, and her batons crash to the ground.
Camilla winks at me as I choke back a laugh. ‘So. You done?’ she says.
‘Almost. Although I can’t stick around for long.’ I feel the edges of my good mood curl. ‘Dad dragged me to MU open day this morning. Pretty sure I’m expected home for discussion and analysis.’
‘Yeah? I have a couple more months before Conservatory auditions. A couple of months to get my head into a not-going-to-give-myself-a-stroke state.’ She shudders.
I’ve seen Camilla perform a couple of times now, and she’s really great, but she also tends to twist herself into a bit of a stressed-out mess before going on stage.
I swing my satchel over my shoulder. ‘Hey, you’re talking to a guy who once upon a time would have chosen death by a thousand toothpick stabs over having to talk to another human. But, you know, I got over it. Eventually.’
‘I know, I know,’ she says, sighing. ‘Hey, I’m a billion times better than I used to be. You didn’t know me back when even the idea of being in front of an audience would make me puke. Good times,’ she says. ‘Anyway, I’m doing a cupcake run. The guys are in the usual spot.’
She skips away as I amble towards the bandstand. I see two guys I recognise sprawled on the grass, and they wave as I walk towards them.
Adrian fist-bumps me as I drop onto the lawn, and waggles his fingers through mine in a gesture that’s either a Star Trek sign or a signal to his mothership. He’s kinda short, and a bit odd, but also one of the most good-humoured guys I know. Just looking at his guileless face is enough to make me laugh.
‘Joshua! Dude, you should have been here last week – Jasper got so pissed with these guys he tried to hit one of them with his mic and almost fell off the stage. It was awesome!’
The guy beside him sweeps his blond hair out of his eyes and leans over to shake my hand. ‘Yeah. I think the Annabel Lees are shaping up to be the first band in history whose fans might need bodyguard protection from them.’
Sam isn’t as big a history nerd as me, but we’re both taking the same Revolutions course, and he’s mega-smart and doesn’t find talking history as dorky as most people. We chat idly about our essays, which I will be starting sometime soon, and the dozen Creative Writing courses he’s applying for next year, a conversation that I manage to side-step through some nimble verbal misdirection. And then Sam leans back on his hands and raises an eyebrow.
‘Dude, you’ve gone almost five minutes without mentioning the girl. I think this might be some kind of record.’
I laugh. ‘I’m not that bad.’
He snorts. ‘Ah ha. And Adrian is not a candidate for the remake of Willow.’
‘Hey!’ Adrian yelps. ‘I like that movie.’
Sam grins. ‘Well?’
‘Well, so, I guess – progress? I think. Maybe?’
Sam turns around. He’s trying to hide his astonishment, but doing a piss poor job of it. ‘Seriously?’
I fail miserably at masking a smile. ‘Yeah, it wasn’t exactly part of my plan –’
‘The plan, the plan,’ he mutters. ‘Dude, have you thought about just, I dunno – being direct? Or even vaguely normal?’ ‘Sam, Sophia isn’t that kind of girl! She is not normal. I can’t just tell her that I’m … that she …’ The words tumble out in a rush. ‘That she’s the only person I’ve ever wanted, the only person I’ve thought about since I was thirteen –’
Sam grimaces. ‘Jesus. You’re right, you can’t tell her that. You might actually want to keep that completely to yourself. Cos Josh, objectively, it makes you sound a bit … irrational.’
I shrug. ‘It’s how I feel. And Sophia deserves something better, something bigger than some rando guy asking her out for coffee or whatever.’
Adrian nods. ‘One does not simply walk in to Mordor,’ he says gravely.
‘Exactly! That is – well, sort of – exactly it.’
Sam shakes his head. ‘If you’re taking tips on girls from Adrian via Lord of the Rings, you’re in more trouble than I can help with.’