Never a Perfect Moment (9 page)

SEVENTEEN

The rest of the week was difficult. Ollie was avoiding her. Polly was sure of it.

There had been plenty of chances for conversation. She and Ollie took most of the same classes. But every time she'd looked for him, he had been among his friends, talking or laughing or looking at his phone. He hadn't glanced up at her once. He hadn't even texted her.

And that's fine by me
, Polly thought through gritted teeth. She never wanted to feel that level of humiliation again.

“Penny for them?” said Rhi as the bell went for the end of school on Friday and they gathered at the lockers.

“They're not worth that much,” Polly muttered.

“She's mooning over Ollie,” said Eve, flipping her hair briskly over her shoulders. “You have to snap out of it, Polly. Boys find mooners
such
a bore.”

I've definitely blown it
, Polly thought sadly.

Why hadn't she just gone out with Ollie the first time he asked? OK, so Eve had turned up unannounced that night. But that wasn't Polly's problem, was it? Then there'd been the fiasco at Saturday's wedding, and the girls making eyes at Ollie during football practice. The final nail in the coffin had definitely been the art gallery.

This was all her own fault.

Polly wondered if she'd subconsciously sabotaged her own chances with Ollie. She'd been in love with him for so long, maybe on some level she couldn't bear the thought of it not working out between them, and had done everything in her power to stop it from happening at all. The knowledge did nothing to make her feel better about the clothes and make-up disaster.

Eve paled and gripped her locker door as a wave of year eleven boys swept past. One of them looked over his shoulder with a knowing gleam in his eye.

“I'll cure you, babe,” he said.

“You might cure rabies,” said Eve, looking at the boy like he was dirt on her shoe. “But you won't cure me.”

The year eleven boy reddened. “Dumb lesbian,” he snarled.

Rhi patted Eve tentatively on the shoulder as his friends dragged him away and out of sight down the corridor. “Are you OK?”

“What do you think?” Eve snapped.

Rhi raised her hands. “I don't want a fight,” she said.

Eve's shoulders slumped. She passed a hand over her eyes. “Sorry, Rhi, I didn't mean to bite your head off. It's just – I've had it with all the comments this week. It's very strange for me, you know?”

Her lip wobbled as she turned back to her locker, pulling out her weekend bag with a little more force than necessary.

Being an outcast instead of a queen
, Polly thought. Eve would never have experienced anything like this before. It was all very character-building, her mother would have said. But no fun at all.

She pulled herself out of her Ollie gloom. “What an idiot,” she said aloud. “Forget him, Eve.”

Eve straightened her shoulders. “You're right. I'm not letting some little rat spoil this weekend.”

“Funky Fox, here we come!” Lila hooted, and banged hard on the lockers with her fists. Rhi jumped about a mile in the air at the noise.

“Lila,” Polly warned, as a teacher put his head out of the classroom door and frowned at them.

“Don't make that face at me, Polly.” Lila pulled a mascara wand from her blazer pocket and added a long lick of shiny black mascara to her already heavily mascaraed eyes. “You're not my dad.”

Polly sighed. Lila still hadn't explained about the bartender, or her recent string of footballer conquests. She was in her “girls just want to have fun” mode, and there was no reasoning with her. Polly really hoped Lila wouldn't get into any trouble this weekend. Anything could happen at a festival. She was starting to wonder what she'd got herself into.

“Right,” said Eve, shouldering her large, brand-new rucksack with some difficulty. “How do we call the bus?”

Rhi giggled. “You can't just call it like a taxi, Eve. We have to get to the bus station and wait.”

“What kind of arrangement is that?” Eve demanded. “I wish you'd let me call Paulo. He could get us there in less than an hour.”

“That's cheating,” said Lila, shouldering her own infinitely scruffier bag. “You won't get into the festie vibe, Eve. Besides, we might meet some cute guys on the bus.”

Rhi clapped her hands with excitement. “This is going to be such an awesome weekend. I can't believe we're going to see Polarize live!” She started humming a Polarize track, one that had been playing on the radio for weeks.

“Harry Lawson is
hot
,” Lila giggled, humming along as they walked out of school and into the bright afternoon light. “I might hang around backstage and see if I can get his number.”

 

The sun was setting as the four girls struggled through the farm gate. Polly's rucksack straps were biting into her shoulders and her feet were wet. She hadn't banked on trudging two miles from the bus stop to get to this point. She thought longingly of her cosy bed. She wouldn't be seeing it for two whole nights. Already, that was feeling like a lifetime.

“Whew!” Eve wiped her forehead. “This festival had better be as good as everyone says. I haven't walked that far since our ski lift broke down in Chamonix.”

Polly found herself looking down at a great field full of people. Tents were already crammed in, forming brightly coloured lines down the hillside. Pennants fluttered from the bigger marquees, and there was a smell of barbecue in the air. Way down at the bottom of the field stood the main stage with its distinctive, point-eared Funky Fox canopy. The more she stared at the scene, the harder she was finding it to breathe. It was
massive
. She had no idea the festival would be this big, or this crowded.

“I can't believe we're here,” said Rhi in excitement, surveying the scene.

Lila whooped.

Polly concentrated on not being sick. The anxiety was creeping up on her in familiar, nagging waves. There was no running water or proper toilets. The crowd was getting bigger by the minute, multiplying like some horrible kind of virus. She gritted her teeth.

I'm stuck here for forty-eight hours,
she thought in horror.
And there's nothing I can do about it.

“Our pitch is over there,” said Eve, pointing towards the sunnier side of the field. “Not too close to the stage, so we can get some sleep.”

“I'm not sleeping,” Lila announced. “Not with all the fun I plan to have.”

Rhi had brought the tent.

“That is
awesome
!” Polly gasped as Rhi unfurled it proudly. “Where did you get it?”

“I saved up for it, and asked for the rest for Christmas,” Rhi said proudly. “I've been dying to use it ever since I got it. Isn't it the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen?”

People started to gather, looking and pointing. The tent looked exactly like an old-style camper van, complete with yellow and white walls and split-screen-style plastic windows. When it was pegged into place, it looked even more realistic.

“I love it,” Polly gasped as they went inside with their rucksacks. She'd almost forgotten her nerves in the wonder of putting up such a brilliant tent.

“It's very cosy, Rhi,” said Eve in approval. She laid out her bedroll and sleeping bag and checked her watch. “Now, there's no time to waste. We have an appointment.”

“Too right,” Lila said, slinging her rucksack down. “We have an appointment with
fun
. And I don't want to be late. Who's with me?”

Eve raised a finger. “We'll have the fun
after
the appointment.”

“What are you talking about, Eve?” asked Polly in confusion.

Eve's eyes gleamed. “I have a surprise for Rhi,” she said. “An audition in one of the tents.”

Lila shrieked, putting her hands to her mouth. Polly watched as Rhi turned a delicate shade of green.

“What?” Rhi squeaked.

“It's an
X Factor
-style competition they're holding near the main stage,” Eve explained happily. “I called them and booked you in. Come on, we've only got fifteen minutes to get there.”

EIGHTEEN

“I don't
want
to audition,” Rhi bleated.

They stood outside the tent in a pool of sunshine beside the main stage, alongside a group of other singers all trilling and practising their moves. AUDITIONS was written in thick, slanting chalk pen on a blackboard outside the tent flaps. YOU THINK YOU CAN SING? PROVE IT AND WIN THE CHANCE TO SING LIVE TO THE CROWDS ON THE FUNKY FOX MAIN STAGE SATURDAY 4 P.M.

Rhi was holding so tightly to Polly's hand, Polly was losing all circulation in her fingers. “Don't make me do this,” Rhi moaned. “I can't believe you set this up without telling me!”

“Maybe it's not such a good idea, Eve,” said Lila. She caught the eye of a tall boy with long blond dreads behind them in the queue, and gave him a flirty little wave. “Remember what happened last time you tried to steer Rhi's music career.”

“Exactly!” said Rhi.

“That was different,” Eve said. “I was a different person then. And anyway, Rhi, you said you appreciated the experience. These people want original songs. Not covers, or dance tracks that don't suit your voice. That means you can sing one of your own songs.”

The queue shuffled forward.

“Maybe you should give it a go,” Polly said, keen to encourage Rhi. She did have the most wonderful voice. “You said you'd been working on some new material with Brody?”

“They won't want to hear that,” said Rhi in a small voice. “Besides, I need Brody with me to sing it.”

“Rhi, I thought you were serious about your music career,” Eve said impatiently. “You have to take opportunities like this whenever they come along.”

They were inside the tent now. The girl on the stage was singing badly, Polly realized – flat and hopelessly out of time. The three judges at the back of the tent were conferring and shaking their heads.

“If that's the competition,” she coaxed, “you could really ace this.”

Rhi was weakening. “I don't have my guitar!” she said in a last-minute bid to avoid the inevitable.

“That's OK,” said Lila. She flashed a sideways look at the guy with dreads. “This little hottie behind us is going to lend us his. Aren't you?”

Dreads looked a little dazed by the full force of Lila's attention. “I am?”

Lila pressed a kiss on his cheek. “Of course you are,” she said, squeezing his arm and laughing up at him. “And maybe we could meet up later? As a thank-you.”

Polly yanked Lila away. “Eve organized this weekend especially for us to have some proper girl time,” she said in a low voice. “Can you please stop thinking about boys for just two days?”

“You're such a spoilsport, Polly,” Lila grumbled.

Dreads lent Rhi his guitar.

Rhi looked more composed now she had a guitar in her hands, and climbed on the stage without too much prodding from the others. She played hesitantly at first, unfamiliar with the instrument around her neck. Polly leaned her head on Lila's shoulder and listened as Rhi built her way into one of Polly's favourite songs: “Way Down Low”.

“Way down low, deep in our canyon of gold,” Rhi sang. “Way to go, let all your stories unfold… ”

Polly eyed the judges. She wasn't even sure they were listening. It was such a great song. Rhi had true talent.

“Way to go,” Rhi sang, strumming the guitar one last time. “Way … down … low.”

Polly, Eve and Lila clapped hard. Behind them, Dreads and a few others were clapping too.

“Thanks,” said the head judge in a bored voice.

“Yeah, cheers,” said the second judge, picking his fingernails.

“Thanks for coming,” said the third judge. “Next!”

Rhi climbed off the stage and handed Dreads his guitar. Polly felt gutted for her. It looked like the judges hated her music.

“Is that all you can say?” Eve said indignantly to the judges. “Don't you even have an opinion? Clearly you weren't even listening. My friend has the best voice I've ever heard.”

“We don't give feedback,” said the head judge. “If we gave feedback to everyone we heard, we'd be here until Wednesday.”

“Can we go?” Rhi muttered.

“Come on, Eve,” said Polly, taking Eve's arm. “They aren't interested.”

Eve shook Polly off. “Seriously,” she said to the judges, “you all need your hearing tested. You wouldn't know talent if it kicked you up the—”

“We're going now,” Lila interrupted loudly. “Rhi wants to get out of here and I don't blame her. Polarize are on the main stage at any minute.”

Grumbling, Eve let the others pull her out of the auditions tent to take up decent positions near the main stage. “What a bunch of amateurs,” she complained. “I'm sorry we even bothered.”

“I'm not,” said Rhi unexpectedly. “It was good for me to get up there and sing. I enjoyed it.”

“Never mind,” Polly said, giving Rhi an encouraging cuddle. “There'll be other chances.”

There was a wail of feedback. Lila let out a massive scream that almost ruptured Polly's eardrums as Harry Lawson moved across the stage like a lazy panther, followed by his bandmates: three skinny guys in even skinnier jeans. Polarize, live and in the flesh, for the first of two sets they were doing over the Funky Fox weekend. Right under their noses.

The band kicked off with their hit “Awake and Aware”
.
As the familiar opening riff kicked in, Polly forgot all her worries and anxieties. The press of the crowd, the flashing lights, the ringing in her head – none of it mattered. It was just her and her friends and the music, all mashed up together. Nothing else.

Three bands and four orders of chips later, they headed back to their campsite, happy and exhausted.

“Polarize smashed it,” said Lila. She was still pumped from the music and jumping from side to side. “Best set of the night, don't you think? We have to see them tomorrow too if we can.”

“Mental Element were good too,” said Eve. “I didn't rate that rapper guy though.”

“DJ Tux is a legend,” protested Lila. “But he wasn't on best form tonight, I have to agree. I think the amps were playing up.”

It was hard to see where they were going in the dark. A few campfires flickered, showing them the way towards the place where they'd last seen their tent.

“Are we sure this is the right campsite?” said Lila, looking around the sea of canvas and campfires.

“I can't see the tent anywhere,” Eve said. She sounded worried. “You'd think it was too distinctive to lose, wouldn't you?”

Polly's gaze settled on a strange, empty-looking pitch. She recognized the red tent on the left, and the pennants that fluttered from a tent a little further down the field. Her heart sank.

“It was there,” she said, pointing. “Wasn't it?”

The others gaped. Rhi let out a wail of misery.

The camper-van tent and all their belongings had apparently vanished off the face of the earth, without leaving a trace.