Page 3 of A Secret Cornish Wish
He turns to me and smiles, and I almost pass out on the spot.
‘Right . . . ’ he says when I don’t speak. ‘I guess I’d better let you get on.’
‘No!’ I cry suddenly. ‘I mean . . . I’ve finished now . . . a . . . a bit like you have. With your rehearsal.’ I wave my hand in the direction the musicians were a few minutes ago. ‘You sounded good.’ I’m desperate for him not to leave now he’s actually here talking to me. ‘Are you entering the talent show?’
‘Couldn’t you tell by the songs we were practising? They were all sea-based.’
‘Oh . . . oh, yes, of course they were. I wasn’t really thinking about it to be honest. I was just enjoying the tunes while I painted.’
‘Great, then we can’t have been too bad.’ He grins, and I hurriedly smile back at him.
‘I didn’t know you played the guitar,’ I say, keen to keep this conversation going. I’ve dreamed about the day this might happen. I didn’t quite envision standing here in my dungarees, covered in acrylic paint when it did, but I don’t care about that now, only that itisactually happening.
‘Yeah, I took lessons at my last school. I haven’t bothered with them since I came here, but when Jenny and the others found out I played, they asked me to join their group for the show.
I bet they did!Jenny has had her eye on Robert since he arrived.
‘Are you doing anything? Anything apart from painting brilliant backdrops, that is?’
‘Thanks,’ I reply shyly. ‘Er, I’ve sort of been roped into singing with my friend, Eddie, and some other girls.’
‘You sing?’ Robert looks surprised.
‘No, but someone dropped out, so I said I’d help. I’m sure it will be a disaster though.’
‘You can’t be good at everything.’ Robert glances at the seascape next to us again. ‘I guess I’ll see you at rehearsals and stuff this week, then?’
‘Yes, yes, you will. I’ll be there!’ I triumphantly punch the air in front of me, and then immediately regret it.
Robert stares at my fist still hanging in mid-air. Hurriedly I pull it back down to my side.
‘See ya then, Frankie,’ he says, grinning, probably at my ridiculous behaviour.
‘Yes, see ya, Robert,’ I murmur, knowing my cheeks are likely giving my embarrassment away for me.
‘Rob,’ he says. ‘My mates call me Rob.’
‘Rob it is, then,’ I say, trying desperately to be cool, but failing miserably as usual.
Rob simply nods and makes his way quickly down the steps and through the school hall, while I stand on the stage, covered in paint, quietly dying inside.
And that Monday was the first time I ever spoke to Rob.
Two
‘Two, three, four and . . . Frankie, why haven’t you moved?’
‘Sorry,’ I say for what feels like the hundredth time tonight. ‘I told you I wasn’t good at this kind of thing.’
Eddie looks at me with a mixture of frustration and pity. ‘Why don’t you sit this one out and watch the others?’ he suggests. ‘Maybe it will help if you see what you’re supposed to be doing.’
‘Sure.’ I shrug, happy for any excuse to stop this torture.
We’ve been rehearsing down on Morvoren Cove, one of the quieter beaches in St Felix. We’ve tucked ourselves in among some large rocks for a little privacy, and we’ve been going over and over Eddie’s planned routine for our spot in the Enchantment Under the Sea talent show.
It’s all right for Eddie and Mandy; they are natural performers – neither of them ever one to shy away from the spotlight when it’s on them. My other friend, Claire, is naturally quiet and shy, so I was surprised to hear she was going to be a part of the performance. But Eddie can be very persuasive, and I have no doubt he’s sweet-talked her into this somehow.
Sitting cross-legged on the sand, I watch them move around in front of me to a track I’m already sick of hearing played over and over again on Mandy’s portable cassette player, and I can’t help but smile at their very different ways of performing.
