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My eyes focused on Drew when he played. Being mesmerised by his talent wasn’t new. The way he got caught up in the music always left me awestruck. Day to day, he was gentle and quiet; the second his drumsticks were in his hands, he transformed into a rock god, pounding the drums as if his world would stop turning if he didn’t smash out every beat.
Passion. Drew had passion. Music was his biggest love, and fans who didn’t bother to read the liner notes in their Razes Hell CDs had no idea he wrote most of the lyrics they loved. Drew never sought out the spotlight, but it irked me that he didn’t get the credit he deserved.
The guys finished their sound check within fifteen minutes, and just when I thought they were done, Mack leaned into the microphone. “We need Jason back for the vocals.”
“Nah,” Joey said. “Everything’s fine.”
“Fine isn’t good enough.”
“We haven’t got a vocalist to check how we all sound together. This will have to do.”
“Derek will lose his shit if everything isn’t perfect. Ellie.” Mack turned his attention to me. “Tell him we need to do this right.”
I glanced at Drew, who remained silent while the other two bickered, twirling his drumsticks between his fingers.
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
I didn’t have any inner desire to be a rock chick, but my gut had started to growl with hunger, and Mack and Joey could squabble for hours so I jogged across the room, perched my bum on the edge of the stage and swung my legs round then stepped up to the microphone. “Play that funky music white boys.”
The guys exchanged looks of amusement, probably because I’d never done anything like this before. I sang in the shower, and in my work room at home. Those were my limits.
The opening bars of Def Leppard’s Pour Some Sugar On me began. Razes Hell’s cover was one of my favourites in their set, and their only cover amongst incredible originals. While the shy girl in me demanded to know what the hell I was doing, a small buzz of excitement shot through my veins.
I soon got into my groove, belting out the lyrics and I hammed up my performance, wiggling my hips and shimmying my shoulders. Not normal Ellie behaviour, but we pretty much had the place to ourselves, aside from some bar staff who weren’t taking any notice of us.
Drew chuckled at my little show, and a moment of self-consciousness was followed by a moment of supreme, slightly bonkers confidence. I sidled towards to him and ran a hand softly down his cheek and along his jawline as I sang. My fingertips tingled from the sensation of his stubble and he laughed harder, one of his drumsticks dropping to the floor.
“You’re such a dork,” he said, shaking his head.
I gave his shoulder a playful shove, and he caught my wrist, his touch igniting a burning sensation on my skin.
Whoa.
Our eyes connected again, and he smiled. It had been so long since he’d smiled like that - genuine, and without a trace of worry or stress – my heart flipped.
When Mack and Joey realised Drew and I had given up, they stopped playing, and a loud round of applause erupted from across the room. Derek had managed to let in the fans from outside, and to my embarrassment, they’d witnessed my horrendous singing. I gave a rushed curtsy, cheeks flaming, and hid behind Mack while Drew came out from behind his drums.
“Oh God,” I whimpered. “Nobody was meant to hear!”
“Ah, you were great!” Mack said. “If we ever have to kick Jason out, we’ve got an instant replacement. You ready to get some food?”
In response, my stomach let out another rumble, and I nodded. “I think it’s time.”
I watched the gig with as much enthusiasm as ever. I’d heard the songs over and over, but no two performances were ever the same. The crowd made every show different, and the Glasgow kids were wild. Hands in the air, shouting out the lyrics, and girls trying to act cool in case Jason noticed them. That never changed. Without a doubt, he was always The One. Not Mack, with his shoulder-length blond hair and cute smile, or Joey with his deep blue eyes, or Drew with his intensity and sexy stubble. This amused me, because
none of the girls who fantasised about Jason had any idea who he was. Truth be told, they probably weren’t interested, they just wanted attention from a hot rock star. The soft features of his youth had been lost. His slightly rougher appearance seemed to make the fans want him more.
“Ellie! Ellie, where are you?”
My head snapped towards the stage. The audience looked around as if they could help find me, even though none of them knew me. I attempted to duck but Jason caught my eye.
“There you are!” He turned his attention back to the crowd. “Raise your hands if you were in here early for the sound check!”
The small group cheered and jumped up and down.
“I heard you got to see beautiful Ellie perform Pour Some Sugar On Me,” Jason went on. When the students cheered again, he said, “Well, I’d like to see it too!”
I vigorously shook my head. Messing about in front of a couple of kids was one thing, but it was quite another to perform in front of people who actually wanted to hear a good singer.
