Read Daizy Star and the Pink Guitar for Free Online Page B

and jelly after the operation too.
    Spike brought us some posters for the Battle of the Bands, and we have pinned them up at school. Beth has used her special calligraphy skills to write out invites for our parents and friends. There is an invite for Miss Moon and, unfortunately, one for Ethan Miller too.
    ‘Why?’ I huff. ‘Why ask him? He is just not a thrash-metal-punk kind of boy. He wouldn’t come, anyway.’
    ‘He might,’ Beth shrugs. ‘And besides, I am not really a thrash-metal-punk kind of girl. I think Ethan would come and see us. He’s really sensitive.’
    I choke on my strawberry smoothie. Trust me, Ethan Miller is about as sensitive as a herd of rhinos, only not quite as good looking.
    ‘He did give you that football for Malawi,’ Willow chips in. ‘He’s very caring.’
    ‘Very annoying, more like,’ I frown. ‘Still, I suppose it won’t hurt to give him an invite. It’s not like he’ll actually turn up.’
    ‘He might,’ Beth says dreamily. ‘To see me play the drums!’
    ‘To hear me sing,’ Willow corrects her. ‘To see me in the spotlight, lead singer of a thrash-metal-punk band!’
    I narrow my eyes. It occurs to me that Beth and Willow may not be taking The Honey Badgers as seriously as I’d like. For them, the band may not be a matter of life or death, more a matter of getting Ethan’s attention.
    Still, if it keeps my friends keen, I suppose it is OK.
    They give Ethan an invite, and he grins and says he will definitely be there. Miss Moon promises to come along, and Ted Tingley says he wouldn’t miss my debut for the world, and besides, as an internationally famous guitar guru, he is on the panel of judges.
    ‘You’re a judge?’ I ask him, wide-eyed.
    ‘Well … yes!’ he admits. ‘Like I just said!’
      
    It has to be a sign. My very own guitar guru will be helping to choose the winners. I already know how much Ted Tingley loves my music. He has taught me everything I know. The Honey Badgers may still be a little rough around the edges, but surely, with Ted on our side, we cannot fail?
    ‘You must be fair about it,’ I tell him. ‘Give the other bands a chance.’
    Ted Tingley gives me a funny look. ‘Er … right,’ he says, looking shifty. I expect he won’t be able to help himself.
    And now the costumes are almost done.
    I have fabric paint in my hair, fabric paint on my nose and chin, fabric paint on my shoes and all over my art shirt. Luckily, some of it actually made it on to the T-shirts too. They look seriously cool.
    Murphy decided that flicking the paint on instead of using a brush was the best idea to get a totally random and chaotic effect. It’s a good job we covered the kitchen table with newspaper first, and covered up our clothes with our school art shirts. You can get kind of carried away designing thrash-metal-punk T-shirts.

    Willow has been making black fur-fabric ears attached to headbands, to give us that edgy honey-badger look, and Becca has tested out a few weird Goth hairdos and make-up looks on us. We are cool, we are sussed, we are ready to win the Battle of the Bands.
      
    At least, I hope we are.
    We hang the finished T-shirts over the clothes rack to dry, clear up the newspaper and wash the brushes.
    ‘Feeling OK?’ Murphy checks.
    ‘Feeling great!’ I tell him. ‘One more practice at school tomorrow, then it’s really happening. At last! The Battle of the Bands! Fame and fortune are at our feet. And all our troubles will be over!’
    Murphy frowns. ‘I hope so,’ he says.
      
    ‘I know so,’ I grin. ‘Dad will be back from Malawi tomorrow. We still haven’t heard from him, but Mum rang the charity a few days ago, and they said everything is fine. He just can’t call from where he is now, that’s all. He will be on the plane home tomorrow morning, as planned … Mum’s taking the day off work to meet him at the airport. Boy, will he be surprised when he finds out about The Honey Badgers!’
    ‘Yeah …’