Part 22 (2/2)

Is he looking at me?

Don't be stupid, Kaz.

But he drew a cross on the ground...

And then he smiles and I know he's looking at me. Ruby's so immersed in the music that she's closed her eyes, whereas mine can barely keep away from the singer for more than a second.

”He's cute,” Lauren whispers and I a.s.sume she must mean Sebastian, until she adds, ”I never usually like the drummers.”

Unlike Ruby, who loves a drummer.

I like a singer.

Or rather, I like this singer. When I look back, Sebastian's still looking at me and I can't help but smile. He ducks his head and rubs the back of his neck as the song draws to a close.

”So, how are we doing, guys? G.o.d, I'm s.h.i.+t at this frontman business,” he says and everyone laughs. ”I wrote a script and everything.”

”He did,” says the tall boy at the keyboard, surprising me because it seems as if Sebastian is the only person who should be onstage. ”It was awful.”

Everyone laughs again.

Sebastian takes control once more. ”Maybe we should play another song?”

From next to me emerges a piercingly loud shout. ”Yeah, you should!”

Sebastian glances this way, but this time it's not at me, but Ruby, who's smiling up at him, with her flirty, cheeky smile that has hooked every boy she's ever tried it on.

”Small person, big voice.” He grins. ”I guess I can identify with that.”

And the band erupts into sound. Ruby turns to me, eyes sparkling with excitement.

”I can't believe he actually spoke to me!”

I want to tell her that I've spoken to him too, that the reason we came here was ... what? So I could fail to flirt with him? Or successfully flirt then fail to follow through?

Because I tried. I really did try to think about kissing Sebastian and all I ended up with was Tom. As if thinking about Sebastian is cheating on Tom, even though he's the one with the new girlfriend and I'm the free agent.

RUBY.

When the set draws to a close, Kaz suggests we stay right where we are. Since I'm already prepped to try and sneak backstage to tell the band how amazing they are, staying put seems like a ma.s.sive anti-climax. Although Lauren points out my chances of successfully clambering over the barrier aren't all that great and for once I can't disagree with her. The crowd s.h.i.+fts and thins as we look for signs of activity beyond the front of the stage. Most of it's panelled off, but you can see a few people moving around, setting up and sorting things out.

”So they were-” I start to say, but Lauren finishes for me: ”Special.”

Again, I find it hard to disagree. I don't like it.

”Yes,” Kaz says, quietly. ”That last track was...”

But there are no words to describe the enormity and the intimacy of their closing song. After today, I can't imagine how SkyFires won't become mega-huge famous rock stars. I'm so in love with their sound that I'm ready to tattoo their name across my heart.

”Hey.” We turn to see the singer leaning on the barrier, looking in our direction. I glance over my shoulder, but it seems he really is talking to us. ”So, what did you make of the show?”

”Amazing.” The word leaps out of my mouth before I can stop it, but he's looking at Kaz, who's just nodding, slowly.

”Out of ten?” he asks, which seems very bold.

”Nine,” Kaz says, smiling at a point somewhere below his left nipple. ”I'm marking it down a point for being too short.”

Which is an excellent line. I'm proud of her. Although I wish she'd look up. She'll give the boy a complex.

”Sebastian,” he says and reaches out a hand only for Lauren to be the first to s.n.a.t.c.h it.

”Lauren,” she says. ”And this is Kaz.” There is a delightfully rude pause before she adds, ”And Ruby.”

At least she got my name right.

Sebastian isn't at all what I expected him to be. He's sweaty, for a start, which is hardly surprising, and he's changed out of the tight trousers and checked s.h.i.+rt he wore so well onstage, replacing them with tracksuit bottoms and a threadbare long-sleeved top that makes him look more like a prospector than a singer in a band. Those ugly-but-cool gla.s.ses he's wearing are performing a function, not a vanity, and close-to his face is lively, full of character, but it hasn't got the beauty it had from a distance. Until he smiles at something Kaz says, and it transforms him once more.

For the last year, Tom's beefy outdoorsy-ness cast a shadow over Kaz's thing for boys who look like they prefer reading to rugby, but there was a time when she admitted to crus.h.i.+ng on Callum gross. This beautiful-on-the-inside boy has more than a whiff of the sensitive intellectual about him and I wonder if he's exactly what the G.o.ds of Wounded Egos have ordered for my best friend...

”What are you three doing now?” he asks.

Kaz glances her question at Lauren, then me and I try to think of something witty.

”Er...” Brain fail.

Sebastian smiles at all three of us, although it's Kaz he directs the question to. ”Do you fancy hanging out backstage with us?”

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