OK, so a bit of advice here. Never go dancing in a strapless top. Especially if youâre at the gig of your absolute favourite band, Bubbly, whose songs make you want to go mental on the dance floor.
âYou OK, Coleen?â my mate Mel yelled over the thumping music. She looked fab in a Bubbly T-shirt and a new pair of skinny jeans, with her huge cloud of hair catching the lights.
âIâm great!â I yelled back, dancing like crazy while hanging on to my top with both hands. I had a feeling I looked a bit weird.
All the old beardy-bloke portraits started wobbling on the Town Hall walls as Bubbly â the best band ever, by the way â revved up for the chorus of their massive hit, Wave Like You Mean It. The kids packing out the Town Hall floor started going even crazier, waving their arms madly in the air. I clutched my top with one hand and waved desperately with the other, wishing for the millionth time that Iâd worn something a teensy bit more sensible.
âGet your arms up, Coleen!â my other mate Lucy laughed, her long hair flying all around her like a huge blond halo. As usual, she was plainly dressed in a neat little blouse and ironed jeans. âCâmon, go for it!â
âWave, wave, wave like you mean it,â sang the band, along with the whole of the audience. âIf thereâs abetter way, I ainât seen it; wave, wave, wave like you mean it, whoo!â
The lead singer of Bubbly is called Deena. She looked totally wicked in her hot-pink skinny jeans, and I completely adored the cropped cardie she was wearing over a black top. Her hair was streaked all these different colours, and she was jumping around in high-heeled gold shoes like she was wearing trainers. Youâve got to admire that. The two girl guitar players, Lori and Jammie, were doing these leaps from side to side like a pair of funky kangaroos â Lori flicking her long, jet-black hair from side to side and Jammieâs bleach-blond quiff gelled straight up into the air.
âIf thereâs a better way, better way, we ainât seen it, whoo!â Deena sang, pumping the air with her hands.
The song thundered on through Loriâs final guitar solo and a crash-crash-crash from the drummer, Belle, with her snaky blond plaits. This really was my last chance. Heaving my top up, I clenched the middle bit between my teeth and threw both my hands into the air, just asâ¦
âThank you!â Deena yelled as the song died away and the audience went bananas.
Typical.
âHartley,â Deena went on, âyouâre the best home town ever!â
I forgot about my top troubles at that and screamed, âYay!â along with the rest of the hall. The whole of Hartley was dead proud of Bubbly. They had even gone to school at Hartley High â though that had been a bit before my time.
After two more encores, we all streamed out of the Town Hall, blinking a bit in the low-lying sunshine of the late afternoon. The music had been so loud that my ears were still ringing â plus my head was full of how I was going to recreate Bubblyâs look as soon as I got home. They were so cool, they were practically frozen!
âWow,â Lucy giggled, pushing back her hair. âThat rocked.â
âWicked,â Mel agreed as she wiped her forehead.
âWhat?â I said to Mel, sticking a finger in one of my ringing ears.
âWICKED!â Mel roared at me.
âTrust Mel âthe Mouthâ Palmer to be showing off on the Town Hall steps,â said a snidey voice behind us.
We turned round to see Summer Collins, Hartley Highâs worst specimen, coming out of the gig. Her two best mates, Hannah Davies and Shona Mackinnon, were standing next to her. To say that Summer and her mates werenât my favourite people in the world would be like saying chocolate-flavoured lip gloss was just OK: in other words, a massive understatement! Unfortunately they were all in our class so we had to live with them â like you have to live with a crop of zits when they pop up on the end of your nose.
Today, Summer and her pals were all wearing exactly the same pink hoodies and sparkle-encrusted trainers. They are so sad!
âUh-oh,â I said, not missing a beat. âItâs the Three Clones.â I whipped my head around, pretending to look scared. âHow many more of you are there? Are you taking over the world?â
Summer tossed her hair. âCome on, you two,â she said to Hannah and Shona. âWeâve got better things to do on a Saturday afternoon than talk to a bunch of losers.â
âSo have we!â Mel called cheerily after Summer as she stalked away with her friends in tow. âLike finding the scientist who cloned you all and asking him really nicely to stop before he makes any more!â
âAnyone fancy coming with me for a drink?â Lucy said when Iâd finally stopped laughing. âIâm meeting Frankie.â
The Frankie in question was Frankie Wilson. He had a brother in our class â Jimmy â and Lucy had just started seeing Frankie after a massive mix-upâ¦but thatâs another story!