Alex winced. His dad, the university professor. The embodiment of academic respectability. “Yeah, yeah, Mum,” he mumbled, already tuning his guitar. “Just doing my best. I need to go out now.”
“Out where? With who? Don't tell me you're seeing those guys from your school. They are bad boys, you know.”
Alex rolled his eyes. He didn't reply, just strummed a chord, letting the sound drown out her questions.
He plucked at the strings, checking the tuning. E…A…D…G…B…E. He needed to nail it. He needed to be perfect. This wasn't just about the gig, it wasn't just about escaping the bullies. This was about…everything.
He thought about Jessica again. He imagined her, somewhere out there, maybe listening to music, maybe feeling completely alone. He would dedicate a song to her. It would be a surprise for her.
His mum sighed dramatically. “Honestly, Alex, sometimes I think you live in a different world. Your father works hard to provide for you, and all you care about is strumming that blasted guitar.”
He ignored her. He had to focus. Tonight was about changing things. Changing his own life, and maybe, just maybe, changing Jessica's too. He imagined her face, a small smile playing on her lips as she listened to his song. He pictured himself being interviewed, being famous, helping so many teens. Alex closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and prepared to head out to the café, ready to face the music, in every sense of the word. It was definitely going to be a mad night, one way or the other. He just hoped it would be mad in a good way.
Chapter 10: The gig
Alex was bricking it. Proper bricking it. His hands were shaking like a leaf, and his voice felt all squeaky and weird, not like his own at all. Getting up on stage, even in this tiny little café, felt like climbing Mount Everest. What if he totally blanked the lyrics? What if he went completely out of tune? Or even worse, what if everyone started cracking up laughing at him, at his songs, even at his ginger hair? Proper panic was setting in. He wanted to bail, just run for it and pretend this whole thing never happened.