Page 20 of The Suite Life
With a deep breath, I open the front door, making a quick escape into the cool night, but I celebrate my stealthy exit toosoon. At the bottom of the driveway, who do I run into but Nathan, because an ex-boyfriend would be the worst person to bump into dressed like this, so of course that’s what’s happening. And I thought trying to explain this to myparentsmight be the worst thing I could imagine right now.
‘Hello, Nathan, how’s it going?’ I say brightly, because if I don’t mention how I’m dressed right now, perhaps he won’t either.
‘Hey, it’s going good, I’m meeting Rick and Lucy to have dinner with your parents, Sunshine is away at the moment,’ he explains, and then, without taking a breath, ‘Where are you going dressed like that?’
‘To a metal gig,’ I say simply, as though it’s the most normal thing in the world for me to say.
Nathan’s jaw doesn’t get the memo.
‘What?’ he replies in disbelief. ‘Why?’
‘I like metal,’ I reply, again, casual as you like.
‘Since when?’ he says.
‘Since always,’ I tell him. ‘Perhaps you don’t know me as well as you think you do.’
Nathan laughs.
‘It’s nice that we can still get on,’ he says with a smile. ‘Do you have to get straight off? Can you join us for dinner first?’
‘Dinner?’ I scoff in disbelief. ‘That doesn’t sound very metal.’
‘Even Ozzy Osbourne has to eat,’ he replies, his smile optimistic.
‘Sorry, I’ve got to go,’ I say. ‘I’m in a bit of a hurry.’
And with that, I dash off, before anyone else can see me. I don’t even dare to look back at Nathan, but I can tell you almost certainly that he’s still laughing at me.
11
I can safely say that metal is so not my genre. It’s not that I have anything against it; it’s just that some people were made for listening to quirky pop queens and sad boys with acoustic guitars, and others were made for gigs where they fire ‘blood cannons’ and dance with the idea of devil worshipping. I’m sure that last part was a joke, but you can never be too careful. The thrashing guitars, the pounding drums, screaming men – it’s all a bit much for someone whose usual idea of heavy is turning the volume up on Lewis Capaldi. It’s just not for me.
The music’s been so loud that I haven’t had much chance to talk to Kane – which is probably for the best, because, come on, what am I going to say to him? But he has been getting close, placing his hands on my hips, dancing with me in whatever way you can plausibly dance to a band called ‘Kronk Red Meat’. Thankfully he didn’t say anything about my outfit, or my make-up, so I assume I’m blending in – but I suppose it’s impossible not to blend in, in a room where everyone stands out, if you get what I mean.
Now, the show’s over, the music has stopped, and the lights are on. I feel all sweaty, but, thankfully, if my make-up has run, I figure it’ll only help me to fit in more.
‘Did you enjoy that?’ Kane asks me, his own eyeliner smeared across his face, and he runs his hand through his hair to remove the last of the bright red ‘blood’ confetti.
‘Oh, I loved it,’ I say, and it could not be a bigger lie. ‘Loved it!’
It was like being inside a blender, in fact, it’s only now that the music has stopped that I can hear my ears quite literally screaming for help.
‘Favourite song?’ he asks.
Okay, so, I expected this to happen, and so I made a point of remembering one song title – to be honest, it was pretty much the only one I could understand the title of, even if I couldn’t make out any of the lyrics.
‘It was 4G,’ I say proudly. ‘Love it. It’s my favourite.’
‘Really?’ he replies, his eyebrows raised. ‘What do you love about it?’
‘I just love it,’ I say as confidently as I can – does anyone love 4G? ‘I really love what it’s about.’
Kane smiles and nods approvingly – I guess I picked his favourite song too. It’s about time I had a bit of luck.
‘Do you want to go backstage?’ he asks.
‘I would absolutely love that,’ I lie through my teeth, but you know, I’m here now, and I think it’s going well?
