“Bounce Baaack!” went the announcer. The audience cheered. We were on.
Ben marched over to the drums and started attacking them almost before we’d all got in position. Jasmine turned her back on him and started into her guitar line with a new and scary energy.
“The sea, the sea, the sea and me,” we began. Mel and me kept glancing back nervously at Ben, and then at Jasmine, and then back again like we were at some nightmare tennis match. If it hadn’t been for Lucy, we’d have lost our way before the end of the first verse. Ben was belting his drums like a maniac. It was like the qualifiers all over again, but on a much bigger scale. And we were right in the middle of it!
“The sea, the sea, the sea and you,” we sang on into the second verse, praying that we could make it to the end before meltdown.
Ben started joining in. “The sea can see that you’re untrue,” he belted out, pointing one drumstick at Jasmine’s back.
Mel, Lucy and me ploughed on helplessly. “You left the sand just like you planned…”
“Who’s sorry now?” Ben roared at Jasmine. “WHO’S SORRY NOW, YOU SILLY—”
We tried to drown Ben out with even louder words. But as loud as we went, he sang even louder. Jasmine was hunched over her guitar with tears pouring down her face, but was still just about holding on to the tune. I realised we were seriously overdoing it and sounding like a whole lot of wailing cats, but there was nothing else we could do.
“Dance…dance routine,” I nudged at Mel and Lucy, hoping that the dance steps we’d put together for the qualifier would distract everyone from Ben. We hadn’t planned to use the routine now that we were more of a rock band, so none of us had practised. We ended up banging and bumping into each other like nobody’s business. The whole thing was a total mess.
We didn’t win. But you know what? I was just so relieved to get off that stage in one piece that I didn’t care. Being twelve sucks a lot of the time, but if being fourteen means dealing with the kind of mega love disasters we’d seen with Ben and Jasmine since starting our band, I’ll take twelve any day. And at least Ben Hanratty was single again and available for his old starring role in my daydreams…
Besides, I told myself as I got ready for bed that night. Look on the bright side. OK, so I still had to walk Rascal for weeks, spend all my future pocket money on a T-shirt for Dad, and generally keep my head down round ours for a bit. But we’d had some amazing feedback from Deena after our performance. She loved the song – both the music and my lyrics! Mind you, she also said the guitarist could do with cheering up and that we should get rid of the angry drummer. But the big thing was: my total heroine Deena had told us we were cool. And what could be better than that?
Em’s wrong about winning being everything.
Rockin Pocket Purse
Don’t throw away old denim jeans or shorts. Recycle them instead to make a super-cute bag!
You will need:
An old pair of jeans/shorts
Sharp scissors
A needle and thread
Press stud (popper)
Badges/brooches/buttons/sequins/beads (optional)
Step 1
Cut off the back pockets from an old pair of jeans.
Step 2
Hold the pockets together right side out and carefully sew around the edge, leaving the top section open. You could use a brightly coloured thread so the stitching stands out.
Step 3
Sew the popper sections to either side of the inside opening.
Step 4
Sew the ends of a length of strong ribbon to the inside edges of the bag to make a strap.
Step 5
Attach badges, brooches, buttons – any decorations you like.
VOILÀ!
YOUR ROCKIN POCKET PURSE!
You could also try…
Cutting a long strip of denim to make a matching strap.
Plaiting coloured ribbons for a multicoloured effect.
Using a pretty scarf instead.
Copyright
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2008.
HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,
77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 8JB.
FIRST EDITION
Text copyright © Coleen McLoughlin 2008
Illustrations by Nellie Ryan/EyeCandy and
Nicola Taylor NB Illustration 2008
EPub Edition © JANUARY 2010 ISBN: 978-0-007-36376-6
The author and illustrator assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work.
About the Publisher
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http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au
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United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
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London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk
United States
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Rock That Frock! Page 7
