Baby Blue Eyes

Chapter Eleven

The next few days steal past quickly. What with work and with all these band practices, my times seems to be slipping through my fingers like sand, and while it’s the most fun I’ve had in ten months, I’m seriously tired.

Matt’s been working us hard in band practices, probably because Levi managed to get a gig for us at a coffeeshop on Sunday. He’s been drumming into us how important this is, and how we need to ensure that we’re putting in maximum effort, as this could well lead to other gigs if we get it right.

There’s something very exciting about getting ready for a gig. Matt’s been making timetables and countless other organised things to make sure that we all know what we’re doing and when; he’s even gone as far as to try and advise us what to wear. That didn’t go down too well, it has to be said, because his idea of us all wearing shirts (or a blouse, for me) and smart trousers didn’t really go with the whole image of our band. Instead, we settled for whatever we wanted, as no one could agree.

I tap my fingers against the wall as Willow and I wait for Tasha to get out of Kieran’s car. Last time I risked a look, he was pretty much crushing her against the window as their tongues played tonsil tennis together. Ew.

‘How’s band going, then?’ Willow asks me.

‘Great, thanks,’ I reply. ‘We’ve got our last rehearsal before the gig today.’

‘That’s good,’ she answers. ‘Levi’s alright?’

‘Mm.’ I pause. ‘He’s a bit… well, awkward with us, especially me, probably because he knows that I hate him.’

‘Hate him? Do you still?’ Willow asks.

‘Uh.’ When I stop to think about it, I suppose I don’t hate him. That word’s a little too strong for my liking. ‘Well, no. I just strongly dislike him.’

‘You haven’t argued again at work, have you?’

‘Oh no. Thank goodness. We’ve only had the Monday after school shift, but that wasn’t too bad at all, we just got all the jobs done and that was that.’ It wasn’t too awkward at all, actually. I managed to stay upright for the entire time, and getting all the jobs done was something I’ve never managed before. So Levi does have his uses. Sometimes.

‘Well, an improvement, isn’t it?’ Willow laughs.

I nod. ‘Yeah. Though it didn’t take much to improve on that arguing we did on Saturday. That was terrible.’

Willow glances back at the car. ‘They’re still at it,’ she tells me, looking rather grossed out by it all. ‘I swear you and Levi never did this, Zo!’

I look up at the car. Pressing her body to his, Kieran appears to be eating Tasha alive.

‘I don’t think we were quite that… er, well, disgusting,’ I say. ‘And definitely not in public, either!’

‘What about behind closed doors?!’ Willow enquires, raising an eyebrow. ‘I remember that time we found you in that tiny practice room, you know, the one with the piano?!’

Oh I remember that all too well. I don’t really know how it happened, but after the most innocent of kisses, Levi got the strangest look in his eyes, and yanked me into a practice room, where he proceeded to kiss me with a great deal of passion. And of course I responded. It was just a shame that Eddie happened to be walking past, and laughed so much that Jamie saw it too. Jamie found it so hilarious, that when he saw Willow walking past, he brought her to see. When Levi and I realised we had spectators, my face grew bright red, and even Levi flushed, though he moved quickly, blocking the little practice room door’s window with his body so we could carry on without being viewed.