The Lighter That Shone Like A Star (Story of The South)

by Dan Cash

  Max

  Max had expected to wake up on his sixteenth birthday feeling instantly more mature and like a proper adult. Instead, he awoke to his mother’s voice shouting for him to come downstairs for breakfast and realised that nothing had changed.

  As he rose from his bed and opened his bedroom door, the smell of fried bacon wafted in and carried him downstairs to the kitchen. His mother prompted him to take a seat at the head of the table where his father usually sat, and presented him with a big fried breakfast and a large steaming mug of sugary tea, wishing him a happy birthday.

  Harvey Myers joined his son and handed him a gift. Although Max already knew what it was after his mother accidentally let it slip over a month ago, he feigned surprise for his father’s benefit when he unwrapped his new ScribblePad.

  “Thanks dad! Thanks mum!” Max exclaimed happily.

  “Kerry, when did you tell him?” his dad asked, chuckling.

  “What? I didn’t tell him! It’s a surprise!” Kerry replied, far too quickly and shrill. “Oh, you know I can’t keep secrets.” Max stood up to give his parents a hug and turned on his ScribblePad.

  “This is it… we’ve lost him for ever now!” Harvey joked, watching his son’s expression fix on the screen in front of him.

  Max quickly set up his Scribbler account and scribbled, ‘Finally have a ScribblePad! No idea how it works though! Help!’ He glanced over the top of the screen.

  “So what are the plans for today then?”

  Max’s birthday plans were to spend a relaxed morning at home, go for lunch at The Rusty Kettle, the most expensive restaurant in Pipton, and then they would have a small party at his house before heading off for the Light on the Landing concert.

  It sounded like the perfect birthday to Max. Without question the best thing about it was that he didn’t have to go to school. (In Hurburt, it was tradition that on a person’s birthday, they were not required to attend school or work.) It did mean, however, that he would not see his friends or Sofia until after they had finished, and now that ScribblePads were banned in their school, they would not be able to scribble to him either.

  Max finished his breakfast, which had gone slightly cold while he played around with his new gadget. After subscribing to Sofia, his friends, and Light on the Landing, he quickly began to understand why people found it so addicting.

  He was extremely excited when he saw that the boy band he would be seeing that evening had scribbled to announce their arrival in Pipton.

  In reply to Jimmie’s Scribble, not naïve enough to believe that he would see it let alone reply, he gushed that he was looking forward to seeing them on his sixteenth birthday, before putting it down again and going to get ready for the rest of the day.

  Max knew that his coming of age really was a big deal when he learned that his parents had booked a private booth in the restaurant – a very costly privilege. As they were shown to their table, furnished with a bottle of expensive champagne chilling in a silver bucket, Max noted with a pang of annoyance that they were not the only people to have booked a secluded booth.

  In fact, a rather large party of people had just popped open one of their many bottles of champagne with a celebratory cheer and were chatting loudly while the waitress filled their glasses. The family of three took their seats and watched the waiter pour champagne into their crystal flutes, Kerry Myers remarking on ‘how nice’ and ‘how wonderful’ everything was. Harvey raised his glass and, with a clink, they toasted Max and his coming of age.

  Max took his first gulp of champagne at the same time as a man from the next table stood up to make a toast. Almost comically, he accidentally spat some out when a booming voice shouted “To Light on the Landing!”

  For the first time since arriving, Max took a proper look over at the large party. His eyes confirmed what his ears had heard; there sat the five members of his favourite band sipping champagne on the table across from him. He looked back to his parents whose gaze had also turned to the other table.

  “Oh look, there’s Henrietta and Jozeph, I didn’t see them there,” Kerry said.

  Who cares about them, does she not realise who they’re with?!

  Henrietta and Jozeph were the Myers’ next door neighbours or, as Max like to call them, Jimmie-from-Light-on-the-Landing’s-mum-and-dad.

  “Oh, let’s go and say hello. We haven’t seen them in a while,” Harvey suggested, rising to his feet.

  “Dad!’ Max hissed, “You can’t just go and interrupt their meal! They are famous you know!”

  “Oh don’t be so ridiculous, they’re our next door neighbours. We’re just going to say hello.” Harvey scorned, now making his way over to the other table. Harvey looked back over at his son. “You can stay here if you’d rather.”

  Max was already on his feet, trying to remain cool, but all he could hear was his pounding heartbeat and his hands had suddenly become very clammy.

  “Oh, hello you three! Fancy seeing you here!” Henrietta shouted over the loud chatter.

  “Just thought we’d come and say hello! We’re here for Max’s sixteenth birthday – our little boy all grown up!” Kerry shouted back, just as the rest of the table had quietened to overhear the conversation. Max felt his face turn red.

  “Oh, how very exciting! Happy birthday, Maxance!”

  Max smiled nervously, barely even noticing the use of his full name, as he quietly mumbled his thanks. He glanced around the table, searching for his five idols, and was confused to see that they were all staring at him with intrigue. His eyes found Jimmie.

  You can do this. You grew up in the house next door to his. He is just another human being.

  “Hi, Jimmie,” he muttered.

  “Oh, hey Max,” Jimmie replied, smiling back at him. “Happy birthday, mate!” The other four echoed Jimmie’s birthday wishes, followed by the rest of the party, whom Max assumed were their parents, siblings, and grandparents.

  “Thanks, everyone,” he blushed.

  “Anyway, nice to see you all. We’ll let you get back to your big reunion,” said Harvey, putting his arms around his wife and son, leading them back to their own table.

  “Wait!”

  Max turned around, astonished to see that Zaak was on his feet looking directly at Max. Haze, Jimmie, Naithian and Jayke were all glaring at Zaak and, in Max’s opinion, looked worried, almost frightened.

  “Max, we… Look, there’s something…” He stopped and looked down at Jimmie, sighing heavily.

  “Here…” Jimmie reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a tangled bundle of string and some cards. “Some VIP passes for tonight’s show. There are seven there, so you can bring your friends.”

  Haze stood up too, “Yeah, Max, consider it a birthday present. Come to the school like an hour before the gig and you can come see us backstage. I’m sure you and Jimmie need a catch up anyway.”

  Max stood frozen in a stunned silence, befuddled and overwhelmed by what was happening.

  “Yeah,” Jimmie added. “It’s been a long time buddy. We can hang out before we go on and then afterwards… Well…” There was a long pause, during which all the boys looked as if they were trying to think of what to say.

  “We can go for a drink,” Naithian finished.

  “Happy birthday, Max.” Jayke took the tickets from Jimmie and reached over to pass them to Max.

  “I… Wow. This is crazy. Thank you so much. Thank you.” Max was beaming. “Thank you!”

  “Yeah, you said that,” Haze laughed. “See you later, Max.”

  Max nodded, his grin now eclipsing his face, and went back to join his parents.

  “Wow Max!” his mum exclaimed, thrilled for her son. “How cool is that! What a fab birthday treat, bless them. They’ve always been nice boys that lot. You must be so excited!”

  “Yeah,” Max replied. “It’s pretty cool.”

  This is the best birthday ever!

  After having devoured a four course meal, including a cream
y pea soup, the most succulent roast beef he had ever tasted, biscuits with more varieties of cheese than he thought existed, and a mountain of profiteroles, Max and his parents were back at home, Harvey and Kerry asleep on the sofa while Max played with his ScribblePad.

  After his encounter with Light on the Landing, Max had scribbled, ‘Adsdfghjklll best birthday ever! Can’t wait for tonight!!’

  Nobody was there to share his excitement, though, because all his friends were still in school.

  Half past three eventually rolled round and one minute later, all his friends had subscribed to him and scribbled lots of birthday wishes. He scribbled back to them all, telling them to be at his house an hour earlier than originally planned because he had a big surprise in store. He had not stopped smiling since lunch time.

  It all felt extremely surreal and he could not wait to share it with his five best friends and his beautiful girlfriend. The seven of them would be together, watching their favourite band play live.

  He paused.

  How did they know to give me seven tickets?

  Freddie

  Even though they had only been friends for a short time, school was somehow different without Max around. It was quieter, and when the group of friends met up during their rest-time conversation felt slightly stilted.

  Freddie concluded that it was probably because Max was the one who brought the friends together in the first place. He was the glue that held the seven teenagers together. Without him, they were not quite complete.

  The Terexian had enjoyed the last couple of weeks. It was the first time in twelve years of being at school that he had a solid, stable group of friends. Before, he had always been somewhat of a drifter; speaking to different groups of people, playing sports at rest-times in whichever team needed an extra player, sometimes spending his free time alone by the big oak tree with a book.

  Then he met Lornea and so began to spend all of his time with her. When Lornea told him she would be moving away, he had a sudden realisation that without her, he would have nobody else.

  During the previous year, he had stopped joining in with sports and he had not spoken to people with whom he may have had any level of friendship before. His only friend was also his girlfriend and she was leaving tomorrow. But Freddie felt safer in the knowledge that he would not be completely alone.

  The Light on the Landing gig would be a night of mixed emotions for Freddie, he knew that much. He was just as excited as the rest of the school about seeing The South’s most popular band perform live, but at the same time he didn’t want it to arrive.

  It would be Lornea’s last night in Pipton and the last time Freddie would see her. She was moving to Salmont early the following morning and Freddie had been dreading that day since she had first told him she was moving away.

  The couple spent their rest-time with Sofia, Anne-Alicia, Matthew and Russell sitting in their usual spot at the edge of the school field, covered by the shade of a row of trees, but Freddie did not want to be there. If he could have had it his way, he would have been alone with Lornea, making the most of every last second they had together. Lornea wanted that too, he was certain of it, but she had insisted they join their friends.

  The group was quiet. Sofia was distracted because she wanted to be with Max on his birthday. Matthew and Russell were having their usual private conversations, possibly feeling slightly separated from the group due to Max’s absence. Anne-Alicia was on her ScribblePad, keeping it hidden from everyone’s view, clearly in a deep conversation with someone as her stylus was moving rapidly across the screen.

  Any conversation that included the whole group lasted for no longer than a few sentences. Freddie didn’t mind this at all, because he was sat with his arms around his wonderful girlfriend, trying not to think about how much he would miss her big green eyes, her soft smile, her goofy sense of humour…

  After a long day of classes the school bell finally signalled the end of the day and Freddie walked Lornea home. Before she entered her house, he grabbed her hand and peered deep into her glistening eyes.

  “Look,” he began. “I know I’ll see you again later, but we’ll be with everyone and it won’t be the same. I have something to give to you. To, you know… remember me by I guess.” He withdrew a small, gift-wrapped box from his trouser pocket. Before Lornea unwrapped it, Freddie continued, “It’s nothing big, it’s more a souvenir. I’m not even sure what it is to be honest. But…”

  “Freddie,” Lornea pressed a finger against her boyfriend’s lips. “You’re blabbing, just let me open it, yeah?” She giggled and removed the glossy red wrapping paper, revealing a small black box containing a plain black bracelet. Lornea removed it from its box and saw that it had we were made to soar engraved in red on the underside.

  “My grandparents sent me this for my sixteenth birthday. It’s one-of-a-kind and was made in Terexe.”

  “Just like you, then.”

  “Exactly. But I’m way more special,” Freddie bragged, smirking.

  “Oh, I won’t argue that,” she joked.

  “Look, I want you to have it. You know…” Freddie looked into Lornea’s eyes, “so you remember me.”

  She smiled, “Freddie, I will never forget you. I love you.”

  “I love you more.”

  “Love isn’t a competition.”

  “I know.” Freddie replied. But if it were, I’d win.

  ***

  Freddie was the last to arrive at Max’s house. He walked through the door, wished his friend a happy birthday, and headed straight for Lornea. She was wearing a baggy Light on the Landing tee-shirt, black skinny jeans, and her new bracelet – almost exactly the same outfit as the other two girls.

  Max stood in the centre of his living room, a big grin covering his face.

  “Guys,” he began, “Thanks for coming. I have something really exciting to tell you all…” And he told everyone about his birthday lunch, meeting Light on the Landing, and getting VIP tickets.

  Lornea, Sofia, and Anne-Alicia screamed in unison when they heard that they would be meeting the boy band, and began to cry. The boys laughed at the girls, struggling to contain their own excitement. They were about to meet the five most famous and inspirational musicians in Hurburt, arguably The South.

  Max’s parents offered to escort the group of young adults to the concert but Max rolled his eyes and ignored them. Instead, he gave his mum and dad a fleeting hug before ushering his friends out of the door hoping they didn’t hear his parents shout “I love you” to their son.

  The seven friends half-walked, half-jogged to the school, their VIP tickets clutched in their fists. A security guard checked their tickets and led them to where the boys were; the school’s music room. The girls remarked upon how this was where Light on the Landing had first met and formed as a group and screamed again, shaking uncontrollably with excitement.

  Max entered the room first, with a timid ‘Hi’ and Haze, Jayke, Jimmie, Naithian, and Zaak walked over in his direction to greet him and his friends.

  Freddie thought the boys seemed very relaxed and down to earth. Once the girls had calmed down after hugging each of the singers, they all sat around the music room talking in small groups. The girls were sitting with Naithian and Zaak, asking them question after question about the band, the tour, the music. Matthew, Russell, and Jayke had all picked up guitars and were jamming in a corner to some of Light on the Landing’s songs. Freddie and Max were speaking to Jimmie and Haze.

  “Do you ever get annoyed with ScribblePads and Scribbler?” Freddie enquired, “I’ve always wondered. Because, like, some fans seem pretty intense and scribble some crazy stuff.”

  The four boys laughed, all having seen what ‘crazy stuff’ Freddie was referring to.

  “Yes, actually,” Jimmie replied. “We love being able to talk to our fans…”

  “Your Lighters you mean?” Max said, jokingly. The boys laughed again.

  “Ha, yeah. Our Lighters,” continued Jimmie. “
We love talking to them but some fans can be pretty intense. Like, some of them scribble to us to say that they hate us because they love us so much. Which makes no sense whatsoever. We have to ignore the stuff like that, because there’s nothing we can say really. And then, some of the fans have it in their minds that we’re like, too close.” Haze looked at Jimmie, who rolled his eyes and scoffed.

  “Yeah. Especially us two, isn’t it Jimmie? It’s ridiculous because all five of us are really close friends and obviously spend so much time together, but Jimmie and I can have a photo taken together and it will be completely misread by so many fans. Then all of a sudden, we’re apparently in a relationship. It’s insane!”

  Freddie and Max laughed, both knowing exactly what the boys were talking about. Even Lornea, Sofia, and Anne-Alicia would speculate from time to time about Jimmie and Haze, or Jimaze, as fans often called this invented relationship.

  “But it’s alright most of the time,” Jimmie shrugged. “Without ScribblePads we would never have become as big as we are now. And if someone sends us weird Scribbles or anything, we just try to ignore them and focus on the good stuff!”

  “Ooh look at Mr. Positive! If only that was true, eh Jimmie?” Haze joked

  “Ha. Ha. Screw you Mr. I-Only-Go-On-Scribbler-To-Find-Hot-Girls.”

  The two best friends began to play-fight until Jayke shouted over, “Hey, you two! Stop before someone gets hurt and come over here, Haze. The girls want to see your tattoos.”

  “You’re such a spoil sport,” Jimmie muttered, scrambling to his feet and offering his hand to help Haze off the floor. “Hey, Max, can I speak to you for a sec?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Max replied, exchanging a confused look with Freddie before following the bassist into a separate rehearsal room.

  Matthew, Russell, and Jayke had stopped playing guitar and joined the rest of the group. They were discussing tattoos, as each of the five singers had at least one.