Sugar Secrets…& Confessions

by Mel Sparke

“What’s up?” asked Vikki, dancing over to them.

  “I’m after tampons,” Sonja said.

  “Sorry, can’t help you,” Vikki replied. “Hey!” she called to the others in a booming voice. “Son wants some tampons. You guys got any?”

  As Cat, Meg and Maya began rifling through their bags, Kerry and Sonja cracked up and hid behind their hands.

  “You can get tofu burgers and chips over there,” they heard a cackling lad call from behind. “Dunno about tampons though.”

  “Oh, no, I’m going to die of embarrassment,” wailed Kerry.

  “Here you go,” Cat beamed, shoving something into Sonja’s hand. “It was rolling around in the bottom of my bag. It’s the only one though.”

  “Cheers, Cat. I guess I could ask Matt to get me some when he goes to pick Anna up.”

  “He’ll love you for that,” Kerry laughed.

  “It’ll do him good,” chuckled Sonja. “It’ll help him get in touch with his feminine side… Hey, Cat, can I borrow your mobile for a minute?”

  “Sure.” Cat took her phone from her bag and tossed it to Sonja who disappeared off to find a quiet spot to make that call to Owen.

  Her hands shook as she punched in his number.

  “Hello…?”

  “Owen, it’s me!” Sonja shouted above the noise of the track being played up on-stage, the excitement in her voice still obvious. “I had to call you. I’ve got the most brilliant news…”

  “Go on,” Owen replied, hardly daring to think what she might say.

  “I’m not pregnant!” Sonja shouted. “It was a false alarm. Isn’t that brilliant?”

  “Oh, Son, that’s great!” he said. “God, what a relief.”

  “I know. I can hardly believe it myself. I only just found out.”

  “You’re at Dansby, right?”

  “Yeah and me and Kerry were in the loo and…” Sonja broke off, aware that the music had stopped and that her shouting could probably be heard by anyone within a five-kilometre radius. She burst out laughing.

  “Actually, Owen,” she said more quietly, “you don’t need to hear all this now. Look, The Loud are about to go on. I’ll call you when I get home, OK?”

  “Sure. Son. You’re OK, are you?”

  “Never felt better. Catch you later.”

  “Sure. I love you.”

  “Me too. Bye.”

  Sonja hurried back to the others, a massive grin plastered all over her face. When she got near, she noticed Kerry standing at the front of the crowd looking like she was about to be sick, while the rest of her group hollered and whooped for all they were worth. Looking up, Sonja could see Ollie, Joe, Billy and Andy just about to begin their set. Sonja joined in, rushing to the front and shouting like her life depended on it.

  Up on the stage Ollie was in his own world - everything other than the music he and his three friends were making was shut out. He was vaguely aware that he was standing two metres up on a big stage, looking out on to a sunlit afternoon. Several hundred expectant faces were staring up at him from the middle of a vast field of greenish-brown grass.

  But it was the weirdest sensation - he almost felt like he was having an out-of-body experience and looking down on someone else singing his songs. He was concentrating so hard, he wouldn’t have noticed if a UFO had landed in front of him.

  But they were good.

  “No, they’re not just good, they’re bloody brilliant,” Cat yelled to a guy nearby who was commentating to some mates while the boys played their set.

  “Ollie’s just a complete love god up there, isn’t he?” Kerry swooned.

  “Come on, they all are,” giggled Sonja. She was on a high now and nothing could dampen her spirits.

  As they finished the song, Ollie bowed to the enthusiastic cheers from the crowd and spoke into the mike.

  “This is a new song, written by our drummer and my best mate, Joe Gladwin,” he announced, turning to Joe and grinning.

  Joe was taken aback; he hadn’t expected this. But he was dead chuffed too and gave his friend the thumbs up as they began the intro to Moving On.

  In the audience Meg turned to the others, her face alight with happiness. “This is the one he wrote for me,” she called to the girls, her excitement obvious. “Ooh, I must shut up and listen to the words…”

  “I didn’t know Joe wrote songs,” Sonja observed.

  “Me neither,” said Kerry, “but will you listen to it? It’s absolutely beautiful. Meg must be made up that he’s written it specially for her.”

  They listened in silence to the haunting ballad. At the end, the reaction from the crowd was ecstatic and, behind his drums, Joe felt himself grow a little taller as pride surged through his body.

  “I wonder if anything will come of this weekend?” Kerry sighed to Sonja as the band began their next song.

  “Bound to,” her friend replied. “You mark my words, Kez, if they carry on being as good as this, they’re on their way.”

  “Sorry I’m a bit late. It’s been an amazing afternoon. I got here as fast as I could.”

  Anna smiled and gave Matt a kiss on the cheek. “How did it go?” she asked, climbing into the car and grateful to take the weight off her feet.

  “Brilliant. The Loud went down a storm. But what’s even better - and I’m so gutted that you missed this - was that I played on-stage before them.”

  “What?” Anna was taken aback. “How d’you mean?”

  “Well, remember my mate, Deke? He was let down by a DJ so I took his place. It was the most awesome experience, Anna. I’ll never forget it.”

  “Matt, that’s great,” she said, running her hand through his hair as they pulled away from the station. “I wish I hadn’t had to work. I can’t believe I wasn’t there.”

  “I know. But don’t worry - you can come next time.”

  “What, you mean they’ve booked you for something else?”

  “Er, no, not exactly. But two other promoters came up to me afterwards, gave me their cards and took my number. Which was even more fab. Honestly, I’ve got a great vibe about this, Anna. I reckon things could start to happen from now on.”

  “Wow, that’s brilliant!” enthused Anna. “I’m so mad I missed it. Still, I’ll make sure I’m there when one of these promoter guys books you for thousands of pounds and a free limo for the evening thrown in.”

  “Well, there’s nothing like getting too carried away, is there?” Matt laughed. “Oh, God - I nearly forgot!”

  Matt put on the brakes, swerved across the road and screeched into the lay-by in front of a row of shops.

  Anna grabbed hold of the sides of her seat and shouted, “Crikey, Matt, you nearly gave me a heart attack. What are you doing?”

  “I’ve just remembered,” came the cool reply, “I need to get something for Sonja…”

  CHAPTER 21

  CARRY ON CAMPING

  “Look, there they are!” Cat cried, pointing and jumping up and down with excitement. With Vikki at her side, she ran full tilt at Ollie, Joe, Andy and Billy as they returned from nosing around back stage for the third time since they’d finished their set earlier in the afternoon. The boys couldn’t resist hanging out back there, soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying being a part of it all. And, of course, they loved flashing their passes whenever anyone tried to bar their way into a no-go area.

  The crowd had thickened considerably by now and the boys had to weave their way through to the meeting point the gang had agreed on earlier in the day. When they were within a few metres, and were spotted by their friends, they were stopped in their tracks by the sight of Cat and Vikki launching themselves at them like cruise missiles.

  “Oh, Ollie!” screamed Cat, waving a piece of paper. “Can I have your autograph, please?”

  “And can I have a kiss too, please, Andy!” Vikki hollered.

  “OK, OK, don’t take the mick,” Ollie laughingly shouted above the shrieking and yelling.

  “But you’re so fab and we love yo
u sooo much. Especially you, Joe,” howled Cat, throwing herself on her friend and pretending to rip off his black, long-sleeved T-shirt. “Can’t you write a song about me too, pleeeease?”

  The others in the gang were creased up at Vikki and Cat’s over-the-top antics, even more so because the lads looked increasingly embarrassed by it. This, of course, made the pair even worse.

  As the warm afternoon turned into a muggy evening, the gang partied like it was the last night of their lives. The whole atmosphere was of one big rave. Everyone was friendly. The gang danced manically, rushing between the two stages so they could catch their specific acts, sometimes splitting up into two groups, always returning to their chosen meeting point so they didn’t lose each other.

  Fascinated by what was going on at the fringes, Cat, Maya, Andy and Vikki spent some time wandering around the makeshift stalls people had set up, selling everything from Jewish latka potato cakes to dodgy-looking pipes to organic underwear.

  “I quite fancy getting my head shaved,” Vikki observed at one point as they watched a body artist painting an intricate picture on a bald man’s head. “What do you think?”

  “I think you’d regret it in the morning, hon,” Cat whispered, giggling at the thought. She suddenly raised her head and sniffed the air. “Mmm, something smells good. Shall we get something to eat, I’m starving?”

  Cat dragged her friends to where the smell was coming from, then pulled a face as she looked into the cauldron of steaming food.

  “Eurrgh, I can’t stomach that - it looks like mushy peas,” she said with some distaste and hurried away.

  By the time the last act finished and the gang trooped exhausted back to their bagged area, the girls were sorely regretting not having put the tents up. Now the vast field was crammed with tents, camper vans and caravans of all shapes and sizes.

  “It’s like being in a commune,” Cat remarked as she picked her way between them, Ollie’s powerful torch showing the way.

  “And, of course, we’ve got the only spot on the site which doesn’t have any sleeping quarters - yet,” announced Matt with some amusement. They looked at their bare little patch of ground which seemed to have shrunk from earlier in the day.

  “Don’t worry,” Joe said, fishing out his car keys and opening the boot. “It won’t take long to put these two tents up.”

  He began hauling their camping equipment out of the car, passing it to Matt and Ollie, who started trying to sort out which bits belonged where.

  “I’ll put some coffee on,” said Cat, desperate not to get involved. She grabbed the portable gas ring instead and wondered how on earth it was supposed to work.

  “Hey, yours seems heaps bigger than mine,” Matt said as he pulled his tent from the bag and began unrolling it.

  “Well, it’s supposed to sleep six,” said Ollie.

  “Yeah, so’s mine - but it seems a lot smaller. Maybe it’s shrunk in the rain over the years. Shall we get yours up first?”

  Everyone mucked in and set to work on Ollie’s tent - everyone, that is, except Cat who had given up on the gas ring and was now rifling through various bags looking for plastic cups.

  “Wow, that looks great,” she said when the tent was finally up. “It’s much roomier than I was expecting. But where are the rest of you going to sleep?”

  “Very funny. Actually,” said Matt, “didn’t we tell you, Cat? You’re in the back of Joe’s Fiat for the night.”

  “Marvellous. Who with?” she shot back.

  “Uh, OK,” Ollie commanded. “Can we make a start on Matt’s now, please?”

  He grabbed one end and passed the other to Andy.

  “Pooh, it’s a bit stinky, Matt,” commented Andy, wrinkling his nose distastefully. “How old is it?”

  “Oh, ancient. I should think we only used it once or twice.”

  “Matt, it’s as rotten as a pear,” Ollie said as he slipped a pole in the side and watched it come out along the seam at the top. “And. for goodness’ sake, it’s tiny.”

  “I thought it was…”

  Matt suddenly clapped his hand to his face and went horribly quiet.

  “OK, Matt, what is it you’re not telling us here?” asked Maya.

  “I’ve brought the wrong one,” he wailed. “That’s the small one - the really old one we meant to throw out years ago…”

  “I can see why. It’s blinking useless.” Ollie slipped another pole into a seam, pulled it taut by setting his weight against Billy at the other end and waited.

  Rrrrriiiiiiiiip!

  Seconds later, Ollie tumbled on to the grass as the tent practically tore in half.

  “Ah, yes,” said Matt sagely. “I remember now. The other tent’s in the attic - so it wouldn’t go rotten. Sorry, guys.”

  “Are you sure you didn’t do this on purpose?” Sonja asked. “I wouldn’t put it past you to pull a trick like this just for the hell of it.”

  “I swear… I mean, do you honestly think I’d want to spend the night sharing a tent with seven stunning girlies… and four smelly, hairy guys?” Matt’s face broke out into a grin.

  “Well, you know what’s going to happen now, don’t you?” Sonja carried on. “We’re going to have to fight over who’s sleeping in the cars.”

  “Bagsy the Fiat,” screeched Billy before anyone else could even draw breath.

  “And I’ll have Matt’s old banger,” Andy yelled.

  “So that leaves me. Ol and Joe squeezing in the tent with the girls. Which by my reckoning…” Matt stopped for a moment to count on his fingers “…means you get two girls each. And I get three - sorry, Anna! What do you say, lads? Are you up for it?”

  “No, are you up for it, baby?” Vikki roared, striding up to Matt and engulfing him in an enormous bear hug.

  “Uh, well, actually,” Matt squeaked, his voice suddenly two octaves higher, “I’m not at all sure that I am.”

  “Didn’t think so,” she said, dropping him like a stone and watching him crumple in a heap on the grass.

  “Well, I’m too worn out to argue,” said Anna. “So it doesn’t matter to me who I sleep with because I won’t notice. I’ll be dead to the world as soon as I shut my eyes.”

  “Hmmm, me too,” Kerry yawned.

  “Wow, what a lot of party animals you all are,” Matt observed. He looked around him. “Talking of which, where’s the biggest party animal of them all?”

  “She was making coffee, I think,” said Maya and turned to peer into Ollie’s tent. “Oy, you lot,” she called. “Over here.”

  They gathered around the entrance to the tent. There, sprawled in the middle of it, was Cat, sound asleep and snoring loudly.

  Matt put his finger to his mouth to quieten everyone, then whispered, “On the count of three.”

  “One. Two. Three…!”

  “Arrrrrrgh!” they bellowed as, with one spring, they all leaped into the tent.

  “The sun…” Catrina Osgood murmured dreamily.

  She stared out of the big bay window of the End-of-the-Line caf…, where the hovering rain clouds made the so-called summer sky seem almost as grey as the pavement. Along with Maya Joshi and Sonja Harvey, she was whiling away a Friday morning, drooling with envy at the holiday their two friends were about to embark on that same day.

  “The sea…” Maya chipped in, equally dreamily.

  “Stuff the sea!” Cat suddenly brayed, staring across the window-seat table at her friend. “What’s the sea got to do with anything?”

  “You know - it’s the wet stuff that starts where the sand stops,” her cousin Sonja said sarcastically. “And when you’re on holiday, you go in it and swim and have what’s called fun.”

  “Total waste of time, if you ask me,” sniffed Cat. “Using up all those valuable sunbathing minutes…”

  “Hey, Cat, haven’t you heard about that thing with the hole in it?” Maya asked, leaning back on the red banquette and folding her arms.

  “What thing with the hole in it?” Cat frowned.r />
  “The ozone layer. That’s spelt O-Z-ON-E,” Maya teased her.

  “Yeah, yeah,” shrugged Cat, flopping her elbows on to the Formica table top. She knew when she was being made fun of.

  “Mmm and the hole in this Ôozone layer’,” Sonja joined in, making quote marks in the air with her fingers, “can cause a thing called ‘skin cancer’. That’s spelt S-K-l-N C-A-N—”

  “Enough with the lectures,” snorted Cat impatiently.

  “Well, there’s more to holidays than just lying on a beach frying like a chip!”

  “Oh, is that right, Sonja? Well, thank you for telling me. I suppose sunbathing’s too relaxed for you. I bet if it was you in Ibiza, instead of Kerry and Ollie, you’d spend your whole day playing volleyball or paragliding, or playing volleyball while you were paragliding…”

  “Para-ball! Volley-gliding! Whatever - it sounds good to me!” grinned Sonja.

  “And what about you?” said Cat, pointing an accusing finger at Maya. “If you were in Ibiza, I bet you’d want to be off photographing historical ruins and looking at ancient relics, wouldn’t you?”

  “No. That’s the sort of stuff I do with my parents. And, just for once, I’d like to be on a beach towel next to you, Cat, doing nothing more energetic than listening to my Walkman and lazing in the sun.”

  Sonja and Cat were both stumped. That wasn’t a very Maya-thing to say at all. Lazing wasn’t something that came very naturally to the hard-working, earnest Maya Joshi.

  “Covered in SPF 20, of course,” Maya added with a grin. Even in her fantasies, Maya still had to do the right thing.

  “So, Maya,” said Cat, narrowing her eyes, “when you’re lying on the beach, drowning in factor 20, do you think you’d have enough energy to check out some of the beautiful, bronzed boys strolling past?”

  “Excuse me!” said Maya, raising her eyebrows in mock outrage. “I am a happily er… dating girl! You’d never catch me ogling boys on the beach!”

  “Oooh, pardon me, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes!” said Cat wide-eyed. “Anyway, I only said look. You can have a boyfriend and still check out other blokes, you know. It’s not against the law. Is it, Son?”