Starstruck (8 page)

I
smile and sip my coffee. So I haven’t scared him off after all. There’s nothing
like a bit of jealousy to keep them keen.

Back
at the bus, I wait patiently as Luke searches around in the luggage compartment
for something warm for me to wear. The dress I am currently wearing was perfect
for keeping cool at the venue last night, but in the harsh light of day the
alcohol stain stands out a mile and my pretty little dress does not go with the
big, clumsy Uggs I am stuck wearing - but hey, at least my feet are warm.

‘No
clean clothes,’ Luke calls out, still waist deep in the luggage compartment.
‘Unless you want something butch-looking that stinks of sweat.’

I
laugh, although to be honest I’m a bit distracted staring at his bum.

‘Don’t
worry, I’ll be fine,’ I eventually call back.

‘There
is this though,’ he says, standing up and holding up the biggest Two For The
Road t-shirt I have ever seen.

‘We’ve
sold a lot of merchandise this tour, which is lucky for us. Sucks for you
though, only extra large t-shirts left – but it’s got to be warmer than what
you’re wearing now, right? It will certainly cover more skin... unfortunately,’
he adds with a wink.

Taking
the huge t-shirt from him I hold it up against my body, you could fit at least
two of me in this, but I think I can make it work. Sadly I don’t think I can do
anything about the fact that it is bright orange, though.

‘This
will be perfect, don’t worry.’

I
head into the living area. No one is around so I can get changed here if I’m
fast. Mark and Eddie have gone to get something to eat and as far as I know Ben
is still sleeping. I check that I am totally alone one last time before
slipping off my beautiful dress and slipping on my huge, bright orange replacement.
I can’t imagine anyone wanting to wear one of these t-shirts, even if they are
a fan of the band, and surely if a person needed a shirt this big, they wouldn’t
want it to be bright orange? As I predicted, I look like I am wearing a tent,
but I’m not finished yet. If there’s one thing I learned during my short stint
at Brownies (I was way too edgy to cook, sew and collect crap that I found on
the floor in the park) it’s that you should always carry safety pins in your
bag. Pulling all the extra fabric from both sides, I pin them together in line
with the small of my back. My huge orange t-shirt now looks a bit more like a
dress. A bright orange, TFTR branded dress that doesn’t really clash too much
with my boots. To be honest, my gold accessories set it off quite nicely. I
don’t look too shocking and I’m definitely warmer.

Stepping
off the bus I see Mark, Luke and Eddie smoking, and they look very amused by my
outfit - probably because it’s free advertising for them.

‘Wilde,
what did you do to it?’ Luke asks, astonished. ‘It actually suits you!’

‘That’s
the thing with our Nicole, she can make anything look amazing, can’t you babe?’
Eddie says, taking a final drag on his cigarette and flicking it across the car
park.

‘You’re
too kind, boys,’ I say, embarrassed but flattered to hear Eddie refer to me as
theirs.

I
look over at Mark who is leaning on the bus. He hasn’t spoken to me today and I
don’t think he’s going to either.

‘We’d
better get a move on,’ Eddie says, jumping on aboard way too energetically for
someone who drank so much last night. ‘Luke, get that lazy bastard Ben up, will
you.’

‘I’m
on it!’ he replies, giving Eddie a playful smack on the bum as he follows him
up the stairs.

It’s
just me and Mark now. Awkward. If he’s not going to say anything then I guess
I’d better try.

‘How
are you today?’ I ask with a smile.

‘Fine,
cheers,’ he replies without even looking up.

‘Good,’
I say undefeated. ‘Not many dates left now, I bet you’ll miss it when it’s
over.’

‘Yep,
probably.’

This
is impossible. I was hoping that last night he was either too drunk to
remember, or at least too drunk to care, but I’m guessing he isn’t my biggest
fan right now.

‘I’ll
see you on the bus, yeah?’ I ask, but I don’t expect him to reply, and he
doesn’t. Then, the second my foot touches the first step, he calls after me.

‘I
hear you’re sharing a room with Luke tonight. There’s a shocker,’ he says with
an extra helping of sarcasm, just in case I wasn’t picking up the vibes.

It’s
my turn to do the ignoring. I could kick off, but where would that get me? He’s
“the talent” and I’d be off this bus in a flash if got in his face. Anyway, I’m
not going to let him ruin tonight for me. So what if I’m sharing a room with
Luke? It’s nothing to do with him.

Back
on the bus, I make my way to the living area. The guys already have a film on
so I take a seat next to Eddie. Mark isn’t far behind, and sits down opposite
me. I’m so not looking forward to the drive to Birmingham, all squashed up
together in this small space.

‘So
Nicole, this feature you’re writing on our tour, anything interesting to report
yet?’ Eddie asks me and I wonder if Mark told him anything when they were alone
together this morning.

‘Plenty,’
I tease. ‘You’re going to wish you hadn’t invited me.’

‘Don’t
pull any punches,’ he replies. ‘What you looking so worried about, Boy Wonder?’
he adds, looking over at Ben. Ben is so quiet and, surprise surprise, he’s back
to texting away on his phone.

‘Oi,
I’m talking to you. Had fun last night, didn’t you?’ Eddie shouts at Ben, who
looks embarrassed as hell right now, in a borderline aggressive manner.

That
reminds me, I’m here to write a feature and not to groupie my way through the
whole band.

Apart
from the noise coming from the TV, and the odd text alert from Ben’s phone, the
bus is so quiet. Mick, the band’s tour manager, is also their driver so it’s
just me and the boys and everyone is too tired or too hungover to chat.

Eddie
yawns, stretching out his arms and wrapping one around me. As he does this Mark
sniggers and shoots me a filthy look. I’m finding it hard not to look at him
because he’s sitting opposite me. I take my phone from my bag and I only get to
tap a few buttons before it turns off. Bloody smart phones and their rubbish
battery life. I’ll just close my eyes for a bit, anything that means I don’t
have to look at Mark.

Awkwardness
aside, I’m really looking forward to tonight. Sleeping in a nice hotel is
always better than sleeping on the bus and it will be much easier to avoid Mark
too. Why does drama follow me around where ever I go? I still can’t get my head
around what happened last night. We’ve never really been that close, not like I
am with Ed and Luke, but he was hell-bent on getting close last night. One
thing I do know for sure though, this won’t be mentioned in the magazine.

I
wish I could text Emily. I’ll bet she’s sitting at my desk with her feet up. I
left her in charge under strict instruction to call me if anything eventful
happened. Obviously she can’t do that now that my battery has died, but I’m
sure she’ll be fine. I hope Vicky isn’t taking the piss – I still can’t believe
she’s staying at Em’s house. Not only is she taking advantage of her good
nature, but she’s making it impossible for us to chat like we usually do, she
is always around. I’ll find a payphone later and check in, make sure they’re
all ok.

How
long does it take to get to Birmingham, seriously? This is the longest journey
of my life. My head rested on Eddie’s chest, I realise I must have dozed off
for a bit. I have no idea for how long but we’re still not there yet. Mark and
Luke are playing a videogame, Ben is still texting and Eddie is asleep. It
looks like someone has tidied up a bit, which means someone must have been
really bored.

Mess
aside, I adore tour buses. Try to imagine a really glamorous caravan. This
isn’t the biggest one I’ve been on, but it has bunks for eight people so it’s
still pretty massive. The living area is amazing, you can’t really tell that
you’re on a bus. There’s a big table surrounded by sofas and blacked out
windows and a massive flat screen TV on the wall with a DVD player and a PS3.
The kitchen has everything you could need – I imagine, you know I’m not a very
kitchen-y person. There’s a kettle, fridge, microwave and even an ice maker.
Just down the aisle is where the bunks are, four on each side. They’re not the
comfiest beds in the world but they’re certainly not the worst. I could so
easily live on one of these buses – as long as I had more clothes with me, of
course.

I’m
still feeling tired and Eddie is so comfy to cuddle up to – despite the rock
hard muscles in his chest - maybe I’ll just fall back asleep until we get
there.

The
sun is shining brightly in Birmingham today, what a shame it is so bloody cold.
As a result of waking up on the sofa yet again today, my back is killing me.

I
don’t know where everyone is. Eddie is asleep next to me, although with me
leaning on him I doubt he could move even if he wanted to, and Mark is still
sat in the same place, glaring at me again. I wonder if he’s moved at all.

Thank
God we are finally here. I don’t know my way around Birmingham (don’t act like
you’re surprised) but I’d really like to get to a decent clothes shop and get
something to wear. The novelty is starting to wear off my bright orange tent-dress.

‘Alright
Mark?’ I ask brightly, giving him another chance to put what happened behind
us.

‘Yeah,
fine. Worming your way in with Eddie now are you?’

‘She’s
been in with me for a long time, you grumpy fucker,’ Eddie says sounding half asleep,
his eyes still closed.

‘I’m
going for a shower,’ Mark informs us, storming off.

‘What’s
his problem?’ Eddie asks me as soon as Mark has gone. ‘You knock him back last
night or something?’

‘Not
exactly,’ I reply, hoping that will be the end of it.

‘No
way!’ he shouts, sitting up straight and suddenly wide awake. ‘You knocked him
back? Tell me everything!’

‘It’s
nothing really.’

‘I'm
going to get you so drunk tonight, you’re going to tell me everything,’ he
laughs.

‘Yeah
right,
you’re
going to out-drink me? Remind me, who had to be carried to
the taxi last night?’

‘Don’t
put that in your magazine!’ he warns me with a laugh. ‘The chicks won’t go for
that.’

‘It
was only today you told me that I could write about anything,’ I remind him.

‘Yeah,
anything but that. Write about how you knocked Mark back though.’

He’s
clearing finding this hilarious and I have to admit he’s cheering me up.

‘Oi,
stop saying that!’ I nudge him in the ribs. As funny as it is, I don’t want
anyone to hear – especially Luke.

‘Anyway,
I’m beginning to think it’s the other guys who can’t handle their drink,’ Eddie
tells me.

‘And
why is that?’ I ask. This should be good.

‘Because
when Luke and Ben carried me to the taxi last night, they dropped me twice,’ he
jokes. ‘And as for Mark, he had to be smashed if he thought he had a chance
with you.’

When
the tour bus pulled up outside the venue, the plan was for me to go and pick up
something to wear tonight. I’d hoped we’d be in the city centre but have been
told that we’re nowhere near a clothes shop of any description. I had a little
wander down the road but, not wanting to get lost, I had to admit defeat. Tonight
Matthew I’m going to be... an orange. I am just going to have to come to terms
with the fact that this is the outfit I will be wearing to the show tonight.
I’m either going to look like a crazy fan or a skanky groupie and I’m not sure which
is worse. This is also the outfit I am going to be wearing when I try to seduce
Luke – a hideous orange t-shirt, branded with the name of his band. If he’s
vain enough, that will probably do the trick. Eddie keeps making dirty comments
about how he’s always wanted to get it on with a girl wearing his band’s merchandise.
I think he’s joking but you never know with Eddie. Some poor cow will probably
be dressing up in the works for him tonight.

We
are ushered from the bus, into the venue and straight to backstage room, and
what a dump it is. The dressing room is small, with no windows, bare walls and
a bare floor. Walking over to the table where the food is laid out, I grab a
can of Coke and a bag of salt and vinegar crisps and plonk myself down on one
of the battered old sofas, trying to ignore the suspicious stains on the
cushions.

The
boys are fussing around and getting changed, apart from Eddie who is studying
the food carefully. He’s upset because apparently there are things that were on
the rider that are not on the table, and he’s shouting at Mick to do something
about it. It doesn’t matter that the table is covered with food and drink, what
Eddie wants Eddie gets. Some poor venue worker is sent out to get the missing
items. Maybe things would change if I were famous, but I can’t imagine kicking
off because someone forgot to buy me some ketchup.