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| Chapter 3 |
| CHAPTER THREE: "What�s up? You look a million miles away" commented Jo as the 3 girls sat in the crowded cafeteria, enjoying lunch, but Sarah not participating in the conversation at all. This struck Jo as being particularly bizzare. "Huh?" "Sarah? Yoo hoo?" teased Marie, a wicked grin contorting her petite features. "Yeah? What?" replied Sarah, annoyed that she�d been jolted out of her thoughtful mode. Half heartedly she played with the food in front of her, totally uninterested in it. "Are you ok?" asked Jo, eyeing her carefully, making Sarah feel as though she was going under a doctors examination. "I�m fine" said Sarah, pulling a wide smile. "Good" said Marie, apparently satisfired with Sarah�s theatrics. "Did you know that Dunc was a really good singer?" Sarah suddenly announced, looking at her two friends, eagerly awaiting their answers. "Is this what your mood is about? You missing Dunc now?" spoke Marie inquisitively, her eyes carefully watching Sarah for any possible sign of emotion. "It�s weird not having those lads around, we�re uni students now! Oooh, Sar misses Dunc!" "No" snapped Sarah, before looking guilty. "She does! Haha!" "Yeah, I heard that he could sing" responded Jo, before grinning to herself. Sarah saw the smirk instantly. "Spit it out, Jo, now!" she demanded. "What? I�ve nothing to share!" defended Jo, and despite her best attempts, that same grin returned as before. "See, there�s that grin again!" pointed Sarah loudly. "Everyone grins!" laughed Marie mysteriously. "But Jo�s keeping a secret" complained Sarah, pulling the contents out of her chicken burger as though it held great amusement for her. "�Fess up, girlie" smiled Marie, settling her blue eyes on Jo�s. "You wouldn�t believe me" retorted Jo cryptically, that grin still in place. "Well, at least one of us wouldn�t". "Try me" argued Sarah, joining back in. "Alright, you�ll say it�s not true, but Lee happens to be a brilliant singer" grinned Jo devilishly, biting into her apple. "You�re right, I don�t believe it for a minute!" scoffed Sarah, leaning back in her chair, chuckling to herself. "Lee... yeah right... Lee Ryan! Oh god, don�t make me laugh so hard, I just ate!" "I know!" agreed Marie. "Remember that time we heard Dunc and Lee singing together?" "Where was I?" interjected Sarah. "Ant was with them too!" Jo pointed out, remembering the event clearly. "They were amazing!" "Yeah, they were unreal" agreed Marie again, drifiting off into her own private world to reminise. "And how can you prove Lee can really sing?" challenged Sarah, her eyes sparkling cheekily, as she was well reknowned for. "He sang to me once..." replied Jo dreamily. "Jo, we all had to sing hymns in assembly, that doesn�t count" laughed Sarah, snatching Jo�s apple to take a hearty bite before giving it back. "Even if he sang right next to you, it�s not the same!" "Ha ha, Sar. No, he sang to me on our formal night, in Year 12, after I asked and begged him to" Jo corrected Sarah, shooting her a dirty look as she reclaimed her apple. "What happened with you two?" Marie asked kindly, in case the question upset Jo. "Eeuuuw, can�t believe you could ever have fancied him! Why, he�s all tall and skinny..." started Sarah, but Jo silenced her before she got the chance to start her usual case against Lee. "He�s moved up to London now, with some new flat mate" said Jo, the tone of her voice wistful. "That didn�t answer my question!" giggled Marie, elbowing Jo lightly, as Jo started blushing furiously. "Nothing..." she sighed. "Thank god, who knows what you�d catch off him" bellowed Sarah with laughter. "Sar..." chorused Jo and Marie simultaneously. "Some kind of infection I�m sure!" "Not now, Sar" begged Jo, noticing that Sarah had come out of her dark mood in the past few minutes. "Just glance at that face, and cor blimey, even the fittest young person finds themselves withering away..." "Sarah!" shouted Marie sharply, scaring Sarah into silence and making Jo jump in surprise. Marie barely even raised her voice, let alone shouted. "That�s enough!" "Geeez..." grumbled Sarah, turning her back to the two of them and pretending to sulk. "Anyway" said Marie, turning to Jo once more. "You and Lee?" "I wish" sighed Jo. "He was always really sweet and flirty but he never said the words I wanted to hear" "What do you expect? He�s a block head!" "You�ve got his number though?" asked Marie, ignoring Sarah�s previous comment. "Yeah" grinned Jo. "I�ll never get the courage to call him up though!" "Hey, I know that girl over there, she had the hots for Duncan!" interrupted Sarah again. "Go talk to her then" snapped Marie impatiently. "Has he got your number, Jo?" she asked, trying to return to the fractured conversation that was quickly fading. "I really do know that girl..." "I think so" said Jo, smiling. "What if he calls? Imagine that!" giggled Jo, as Sarah got up and walked off, eventually realising that her friends were going to continue on with their conversation and ignore her. "Keep your fingers crossed then, babe" Marie smiled warmly. "Hey," said Jo, realising Sarah was out of earshot. "What ever went on with Sar and Dunc?" "How do you mean?" asked Marie, playing dumb. "What else could I mean?" derided Jo, rolling her eyes. "Did they ever hook up properly??" "I dunno..." frowned Marie, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Please, you gotta know, you�re closer to her than I am" whinged Jo. "I honestly don�t know, she never said" came the distant reply. "But..." "Sar never tells anyone anything half romantic or anything about herself, you know that. Why the interest?" "I dunno, I just thought that she was totally crazy for Dunc" argued Jo. "We always said that she was, the only thing she ever said about him was that he was hot" remembered Marie, glancing over to where Sar was seated, chatting loudly with an auburn haired girl. "True..." scrutinized Jo. "I wonder if they stayed in contact, being we�re here at Uni now, and he�s gone off to London to study". "Ask her!" dared Marie, laughing loudly at the thought, whilst brushing her hair out of her eyes. "No way, I dare you!" proposed Jo. "Fine, I will then!" agreed Marie, accepting the dare unanimously, before getting up to push her rubbish in the bin, doing the same for Jo. " �Spose we�d better go to this lecture then". "Yeah" moaned Jo unenthusiastically. "On the way, tell me �bout you and Ant" she smiled wickedly. "Now there�s a boring story if ever there was one..." began Marie as the two left the cafeteria, knowing Sarah would realise soon enough that they�d left, and be hot on their tails with the latest news. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* The tall, strongly built black man stood at the bottom of the narrow stairs, his large hands resting on his hips, his right foot tapping the cold concrete floor repeatedly in a rhythm. "Lee!" he shouted impatiently, shifting his weight onto his right foot, and began tapping the same beat with his left foot. "I said hold on!" came the annoyed yell from above him, followed by loud scuffling and muffled thumps. "I don�t have time for you to get all arty farty right now, and attempt to re-arrange the entire apartment, get your ass down here now!" "Found it!" exclaimed Lee, bumbling down the small stairs animatedly, taking them two at a time. "I�m gonna buy you some insecticide, Simon" he added cheekily, grinning widely at his flat mate. "What? Yeah, you do that, Lee... why exactly would you bother?" "To kill the ants in ya pants!" Lee shouted, his face immediately wrinkling up in mirth as he laughed at his own joke. "Oh, we�re on the ball this morning" replied Simon, using one hand to push Lee outside the apartment block, the other pulling the door closed behind them. "It�s ever rolling!" chuckled Lee, again amusing himself immensely. "Just get in the car" sighed Simon, already feeling a pounding in his temples as he started the engine, and the dusty little car roared to life. "Imagine, Sy, we�re gonna be driving Ferrari�s in a few years... no, in a few months we�ll be getting driven around everywhere in posh cars" grinned Lee, his eyes shining at the thought of his dream. "Mmmm" came the thoughtful musing by Sy as he concentrated on the early morning traffic. "And girls will love us, we�ll be famous and ultimately we�ll be the best singers the UK has ever known... number one singles, the lot!" "Did you see that witch of a... errmm... I mean, your girlfriend last night?" Sy asked, worried slightly by Lee�s constant rambling, knowing something was up. "Oh, we argued like we always do, fought some more for good measure, she yelled at me as usual coz I�m a lousy boyfriend and then I stormed out, telling her were were history" chirped Lee brightly, surprising Sy with his apparent lack of regret or sadness. "Well, you offence mate, but she was a right witch, you know" smirked Sy with a devious laugh. "I know, she just happened to be kinda hot, which doesn�t really help" said Lee, messing with the radio reception in the small car. "And the best thing is now that I can focus on being a singer, and not keeping her happy" "We gotta lay these vocals down brilliantly first up"warned Simon as he manouvered the car into a parking space outside some ordinary looking grey buildings. "Pah!" scoffed Lee. "We�re set, Sy" "Wish I had your supreme optimism" "I just know it, man, we�re gonna be stars". *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Dunc sighed with frustration for the upteenth time that morning, before cursing and pulling off the earphones pressing tightly into the sides of his head, leaving angry red welts where the unrepenting plastic had rested. "Just once more, thanks Duncan" came a curt voice from the speaker system in the small room, and Dunc turned away from the window pane directly in front of him, as to roll his eyes at his friend, Ant, standing patiently to the side. "I think I�ve done enough ad libs for today" pleaded Duncan wearily. "I think we should move on or something" "Not until it�s right" the curly haired man said, gesturing for Dunc to replace the earphones. "What�s the matter?" mouthed Ant, catching Dunc�s eyes. "Something�s just not right about this" sighed Dunc, and it was true. He honestly felt that something was missing, causing him to repeat the same silly mistakes. Just as the same monotonous beat began infiltrating his senses once more, there was a knock on the studio door, and a familiar, exhuberant young man came bounding through. "Lee?!" yelled Dunc in surprise, pulling the earphones off and exiting the small sound proof room immediately. "What are you doing here?" "What are you doing here?" mimicked Lee, grinning wildly. "Dunc! Ant! What are you geezers up to?" "Trying down to lay down vocals on a track I hate" moaned Dunc, rolling his eyes once more, as the curly haired man known as Morgan gave him a severely pissed off look. "Well, I�m here to do the same, but with some tracks I�ve written. Guys, this is Simon, Sy, this is Antony and Duncan" "Pleased to meet you" replied Dunc, extending his tanned arm out to the friendly, smiling black man in front of him. "As to you" replied Simon, returning the gesture, before repeating it again with Ant. "I have something to show you, actually" Lee smirked evilly, reaching into his back pocket. Dunc looked confused, his eyebrows furrowing. "You do?" "Yep" came the giggled response, as Lee fished out his wallet. "I don�t suppose you remember this day at all?" "Give it here" said Dunc, snatching the small photo out of Lee�s hands, before his face visibly brightened. "Oh god, what are you doing with that picture?" he laughed, passing the photo to Ant. "Is that what took you all morning to find?" asked Sy, pretending to be annoyed with Lee again. "No" said Lee, smiling innocently. "I was actually looking for my demo tape this morning". "Remember those girls?" smiled Ant, pointing to the three girls smiling in the photo with himself, Dunc and Lee. "Ah, my best friend in the whole world, Sarah" sighed Lee melodramatically, throwing his hand to his chest as though to bestill his heart. Duncan chuckled loudly, shaking his head. "For gods sake, you two were pathetic. I swear to god, Ryan, you were the instigator of all the trouble" "I was not!" shouted Lee indignantly. "I couldn�t help it if she left her champagne unattended whilst she went to the bathroom, so I spiked it with sugar and salt, she should�ve known! Ant put me up to it!" "What?" burst out Ant. "Oh cummon, as if" "Remember Marie, eh eh?" ribbed Dunc, poking Ant repeatedly. "Nah, who was she again?" laughed Ant, feigning amnesia. "I hate to interrupt our little get together here, lads, but I seriously wanna get these tracks down" said Simon apologetically, nudging Lee in the back, towards the door. "Let us know how you go!" said Dunc enthusiastically. "Yeah, perhaps we could try a track together, for old times sake" suggested Ant hopefully. "Quick, give us ya contact numbers" said Lee, grabbing an old sheet of music off the bench, and rummaging around for a pen. Dunc wrote down the mobile numbers quickly, and suddenly feeling a surge of inspiration, a big smile came to his face. "Sing ya hearts out, alright lads?" "Will do" promised Sy and Dunc together. "For Sarah" teased Dunc, winking at Lee suggestively. "Oh for god�s sake, not a chance in hell!" yelled Lee, as again, Sy pushed him out the door, and into the recording studio intended to have been entered a good 10 minutes ago. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* |
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