Girl Online: On Tour (14 page)

I can feel my heart beating in my throat as the darkness of the audience surrounds us. It’s also quiet, even though there are thousands of people all around us—I can feel the anticipation of the crowd growing, as they anxiously wait for The Sketch’s arrival. I cling on to Noah so tightly I wonder if I’m going to cut off the circulation in his hand. He doesn’t seem to mind, though. He takes me a few people deep into the crowd, and he was right: no one expects to see him, so no one takes any notice of us, except to gripe about us pushing through.

He comes to a stop in front of the stage, but several rows of people back. The way everyone around us is jostling our arms and stepping on our toes reminds me of the Brighton concert, but this time I have Noah’s hands reassuringly on my shoulders.

Then the lights snap on, and The Sketch bound onto the stage. The screaming starts immediately and, caught up in the excitement of the crowd, I scream just as loudly. Even Noah lets out a loud whoop.

They play with frenetic energy, pounding through hit after hit. It’s not just that their songs are catchy—and there’s no doubt that they are—but they are also such great musicians, playing riffs on their guitars that you never hear on their radio tracks and hitting every note.

When Leah Brown appears, the screaming gets even louder—if that was possible. She enters in one of the most dramatic ways possible—from a harness suspended from the ceiling—and sings a feature chorus in one of The Sketch’s most energetic songs. Her transformation from when I saw her earlier today is amazing: she’s wearing a sparkling silver minidress, and her hair is blown out behind her like it travels with its own fan. On anyone else, her ensemble would look ridiculous, but on Leah it just
works
. As the song progresses, she’s slowly lowered down onto the stage, and I even manage to snap pictures the whole time.

When she reaches the stage, the whole tempo of the performance changes. The bright lights go out completely, plunging us all into darkness. It feels like everyone in the arena is holding their breath. Slowly, tiny points of light appear in the ceiling, until it feels like we’re standing beneath a canopy of stars. It’s breathtakingly beautiful, and instinctively Noah draws me close, wrapping his arms round me. I lean into him.

Two beams of light appear on the stage, illuminating Leah and Hayden—the lead singer of The Sketch—who are now sitting on stools. Leah has changed into a black dress, sequinned to catch the light, and her hair lies flat, framing her face like a curtain.

“Hi, Berlin,” says Hayden. “We have something a bit
different for you guys now. Something no one has heard before. We hope you like it.”

He starts to sing a cappella, and without any backing music his voice is strong and clear. Leah picks up her lines, and together they sing a beautiful, haunting duet about lovers who are kept apart.

I feel tears prick my eyes and, even though no one here has heard this before, I know I’m not the only one. Emotion floods the crowd. It’s like we’re all connected through the music. This is a taste of the passion I know Noah feels when he writes his songs. This is what he wants to create: a chain of notes and words that can make a crowd of thousands move and feel as one.

“I love you, Penny,” Noah whispers in my ear.

I squeeze his arms round me.

There’s a roar from the audience when the song ends—it looks like Leah and The Sketch have another hit on their hands. The spell is broken—or, rather, the spell has been cast. The audience is completely with The Sketch now, and would clearly follow them to the ends of the earth. The lights come back on, bright and blazing in our eyes, and the beat picks up into a fast tempo.

Noah and I are no different from everyone else around us. We dance like wild people and sing at the tops of our voices, getting sweaty and silly and not caring for even a moment. By the time the band plays their final encore, I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy.

Chapter Twenty

Still reeling from such an amazing night, Noah and I skip along the hotel corridor and back up to my room (I’m not even worrying if my deodorant has stood up to the task of all that dancing). We continue singing The Sketch’s songs right up until we get to the door.

“I’ll leave you here, Pen, as a proper gentleman would.” Noah opens the door and gestures with his arm into the room like a bellboy, almost bowing as he does so. His hair is a lot messier and curlier than usual when he releases it from underneath the beanie, which he unceremoniously dumps on the floor. He looks at me with a twinkle in his eye and a cheeky smirk on his face, his dimples appearing as if by magic. I completely melt on the spot. I don’t think I have ever been more in love with Noah Flynn than I am right now.

“Don’t you have time to come in for a bit? Tonight was amazing, but we’ve not had much of a chance to chill out, just the two of us, yet.” I try out what I hope is an endearing smile.

Noah chuckles. “Sorry, Autumn Girl—I’ve got to go back to the venue and make sure everything’s set up for tomorrow. Dean loves a good debrief.” I must not be doing a very good job of hiding the disappointment on my face, because he’s right up close to me, his face soft with a smile. “We’ve got Magical Mystery Day tomorrow, Penny—a whole day, just you and me. I promise it will be amazing and completely cake-fuelled.” He kisses me on the lips before I can reply.

“How could I forget?” I say, when I’m able to take a breath. How can any human being be
this
charming and desirable? It’s going to end up killing me.

Then, against my wishes, my mouth opens into a yawn so big I could almost swallow Noah’s head, messy hair and all. I’m embarrassed, but Noah just pulls me tight into his chest—which is shaking with laughter.

“You look as tired as I feel,” he says. “You have no idea how much I want to just stay here with you, but you should get some rest . . . you’re going to need it for tomorrow.”

I feel my heart flutter at a million miles an hour as he turns to head back down the corridor.

“Goodnight, gorgeous!” he yells as he skips off and disappears round the corner.

I collapse in a giggly heap on my bed. The biggest smile creeps across my face and I feel myself almost well up with happiness. I let out a huge sigh and roll over onto my stomach and kick off my Converses. I grab my laptop from the bedside table and open up my emails. I start typing an email to Elliot.

From: Penny Porter

To: Elliot Wentworth

Subject: RE: Re: Re: Re: THE ELLIOT REPORT

Wiki, Wiki, Wa-Wa-West,

I think I’m on cloud nine and I can never imagine myself ever coming down. I’ve just had the best night with Noah. I watched him perform, he was amazing (as always), and then he dragged me out into the crowd to watch The Sketch perform with Leah Brown. She was actually pretty amazing. Noah and I danced and held hands and sang as loud as we could right up until the end, and I DID NOT PANIC! Amazing, right?

I’ve had one of those pinch-me moments about how perfect Noah is and how lucky I am to be here with him, supporting him and watching his success grow before my eyes, and that I’m the one he chooses to share this with. I can imagine you retching at the screen as you read this, but I really am SO happy right now. You’ll also be pleased to know that I’m exploring Berlin tomorrow with Noah for MMD!

Will of course fill you in once I’m back.

Missing you a lot, but also having the best time!

Pen xxx

So, I know you’re all dying to know the details, and guess what? I’ve survived my first day of life on tour! Not only that . . . I actually enjoyed it. After he’d finished his set, Brooklyn Boy took me out into the crowd to watch the headline act, and we danced all night until we were sweaty and gross. But it was wonderful.

I feel like I’ve learned so much already, even though I’ve only been on tour for a day! Here are my top tips so far.

1. Snacks are your best friend.

There’s almost no time to have a proper meal when you’re jetting from bus to hotel to venue and back again. I’m going to line my pockets with muesli bars in case I get peckish.

2. There are people EVERYWHERE backstage.

Who knew so many people were needed to run a tour? There’s not just Brooklyn Boy’s manager and band, but also his security guard, publicist, photographers, makeup artists, hair stylists, stage manager, his manager’s assistant, his manager’s assistant’s assistant, and about a million roadies who all seem to know
exactly
what to do.

3. Sleep when and wherever you can.

Everyone seems to. Today I saw somebody fall asleep on top of a speaker that was blaring music from the stage! I feel like it’s a warning of the lack of sleep that is to come . . .

4. Don’t expect to fit in much sightseeing.

Even though tomorrow Brooklyn Boy and I are going to see as much as we can of Berlin, his schedule is so jam-packed that I can’t even imagine how he’s been able to carve out any time for me!

It’s all so exciting and scary! But I’ll try to remember to keep the blog up to date.

Girl Offline . . . never going online xxx

Chapter Twenty-One

The next morning my alarm goes off at 8 a.m. and I scramble around for an outfit that is comfortable yet cool and chic. I settle on a loose white T-shirt tucked into a pleated black skirt, and I make sure to wear my delicate gold-chain necklace with the words
AUTUMN GIRL
written in cursive on the pendant. It was my Valentine’s Day present from Noah this year, and it’s my favourite thing to wear. Noah texted me soon after he left last night and told me to meet him downstairs for breakfast at nine this morning to start Magical Mystery Day off properly.

I grab my camera and head down in the lift to reception. The lobby is what Elliot would describe as uber-modern—all glossy black countertops and white walls, with a bright, bold graffiti print hanging behind the reception desk. It’s packed, and I walk past the long queue of people checking in, most of whom are trailing big suitcases. I start wondering what kind of adventures these people are on, or what adventures they’ve had.
Are they here alone? Have they been on a romantic European city break?