was a graphic genius. Everything he'd done for the band had been so fantastic. I couldn't even imagine how he came up with the ideas he had.
“ Are they super cool and amazing?”
Eric scrunched up his face. “You'll have to decide that for yourself. Come see.”
I nearly died when I saw Eric's workspace.
“ This is some sweet equipment. And I mean that in the nicest possible sense. Wow, I'd love to have a setup like this.”
Eric blushed and bought up the graphics to show me. From the room next door, I could hear Jack playing guitar – a woeful, dirge-like song. The kind of song you listen to when you find out your dog has just died.
“ Fantastic. Cute yet cool. Chicks will love this. We'll sell a heap of stuff, especially during the tour.” I could just imagine the design on t-shirts.
“ I know. I really wanted to go for sparkles and glitter but toned back.”
“ Totally works. Maybe we should think about some sparkly outfits for the band. Rainbow sparkles for Jack.” I giggled. I'd like to see that.
“ I don't think…”
“ I was kidding,” I replied.
Eric frowned at me. He had something on his mind.
“ Jack’s not good, you know. He keeps making mistakes at rehearsal. Sometimes playing the same riff over and over and never getting it right. Jack never makes mistakes. He’s the one always on our backs for not being able to keep up with him. Any normal person, you could ask them what was wrong and they'd tell you and you could talk it out. But not Jack. He'll walk around with this all messed up inside him, never saying a thing and getting all snarly if you mentioned anything.”
“ Hannah?” I asked.
Eric nodded.
“ And now there’s all this tension with Spud as well. Spud says stupid things and the look in Jack’s eyes sometimes, would terrify anyone with a normal amount of nous. Spud, however, is oblivious. He hasn't noticed the way that Jack doesn’t contact him or answer his calls. He hasn’t even noticed the strained atmosphere in the rehearsal studio. I’m trying to keep it all sane but it’s not easy.”
“ Sheesh, that sounds shit but you aren’t their mother. Maybe they just need to figure stuff out for themselves.”
Eric smiled at me, our eyes meeting for the first time in this confined space. Suddenly, it seemed that we were too close. I was sure he could hear my heart pounding.
I sat up straight and looked at the artwork on the display board behind his computer.
“ You are a super talented guy, you know.”
“ Not really.”
“ Come on, look at this stuff. And you play bass. Plus you have fantastic hair. That's a lot going on.”
Eric blushed.
Before he could answer, the doorbell rang.
I followed Eric downstairs and grabbed my bag. It was time I got to school anyway. I had hours of editing to do. Hours of editing and frantically checking my phone for a reply to my message. Hopefully, Hannah wasn't drugged and sold into slavery. That would be such a bummer.
A tiny woman walked into the room and stared at me, a stare that took in everything ― the bright purple hair, the tattoos, the piercings.
“ I hope she's not your girlfriend, Eric. She has too much metal on her face.”
With that, I was dismissed.
Chapter 5. Hannah
I hadn't planned to have that last drink. Or the one before that either. But the champagne kept flowing and it'd be rude not to drink it.
“ Sing again, Hannah. I love your singing.”
“ You don't really want to hear me sing…” I giggled. I loved singing but after Jack and Eric had told me that my voice was awful, I'd been a bit self-conscious about going to karaoke with Tamaki. I didn't want anyone else saying mean things. But instead of telling me to stop, he encouraged me to sing more, clapping and cheering then pouring more champagne. All you had to do was ring the phone on the wall and they bought you more champagne. This place was amazing.
“ I've sung enough,” I said, flopping back on the plush