Page 4 of One Wild Night
I thought the story was weird when he said Twitter but I didn’t imagine it getting this much stranger.
‘Yeah,’ he says proudly, either not picking up on my tone or choosing to ignore it. ‘And she’s fit too.’
Dylan holds his phone up for the boys to see her profile picture. She’s young, blonde, and wearing a lot of make-up. It’s not a great quality picture, and she’s hiding her face underneath a thick fringe, but I guess she ticks all of Dylan’s usual boxes: willing and alive.
‘So, what, we can all stay with her?’ Mikey replies. ‘She must have a big place?’
‘Fit and rich,’ Jamie says excitedly.
I roll my eyes. Everyone on this bus knows that, if she’s interested in anyone, it will be Dylan, then Mikey, and then probably Taz, if we’re being honest. I’ve spent a lot of time with The Burnouts and Jamie is definitely the least popular. I’m sure it’s a looks thing, for some people, but bassists are also usually band members at the bottom of the list. It doesn’t help that Jamie’s personality isn’t great either. He has this entitlement, that many band members have, to female attention. Sometimes I wonder if that’s the only reason he’s doing this.
‘What if she’s an axe murderer?’ I chime in.
‘How often do people turn out to be axe murderers?’ Dylan says with a scoff. ‘You watch too many movies.’
Yes, I’m the one who is being crazy.
‘I don’t like the sound of this,’ I say. ‘I’m not sleeping in some random girl’s house – especially not one you found by tweeting. Dylan, even by your standards, this is a terrible idea. You guys must agree with me?’
I look between Mikey, Taz and Jamie, to see if any of them agree with me, but it seems like they’re coming around to the idea – or, to be honest, like most of them were on board to begin with.
‘Nic, it's this or freeze our butts off on this dark, cold bus,’ Dylan tells me, his tone more serious now. ‘And to top it off, our phones are gasping their last breaths because we've been using them as torches. We’re not going to have light for much longer. Best we get to safety now, before we run out completely.’
I sigh because I suppose he’s right about that, and I know we do probably need to go somewhere, but a random girl’s house? Really?
I cross my arms, contemplating the absurdity of the situation.
‘So, what, we're just going to blindly trust some fan we've never met?’ I confirm. ‘That’s the best we can do?’
‘I don’t see you finding us anywhere to go,’ he says with a smile. ‘And have you ever known me not land on my feet and come up smelling of roses?’
Well, that’s certainly true. That might be the smartest thing he’s said all night.
‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ he pushes me.
‘We could all get murdered in our sleep,’ I offer up. ‘That’s the worst thing that could happen.’
‘Nicole, we’re freezing,’ Mikey says, his voice soft. ‘I think we might need to take our chances. Mitch said he would send someone for us, as soon as he could. So, for now, I think we just need to do what we need to survive the night.’
As I look to Dylan I can just about notice that wild glimmer in his eyes, the one he often gets right before he does something ridiculous.
‘Come on, Nic, just think of all the adventures you would have missed out on, if you didn’t listen to me,’ he says to me – practically goading me into agreeing.
Dylan’s argument isn’t exactly compelling but Mikey’s certainly is. I don’t fancy a night on the bus, in the cold, the dark – in the middle of nowhere. I can’t believe I’m saying this but, the axe murder risk seems pretty balanced, whether we’re here or there, so may as well be warm while we’re getting chopped up, right?
I glance at Taz and Jamie, who seem oddly unfazed by this questionable plan.
‘Fine,’ I relent. ‘But if I do wind up getting murdered, and somehow you don’t, Dylan King, then I swear to God I will haunt you forever.’
Dylan just laughs.
‘Fair enough,’ he replies. ‘I’d miss you anyway.’
‘Right,’ Mikey says, clapping his hands together. ‘Let’s dress up warm and grab our essentials.’
Dylan jumps to his feet with an excited spring in his step.
‘We’re going on an adventure,’ he tells me, his wide eyes catching the light from my torch.
