The Rock Rollercoaster

15. I Need You...To Shut Up

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I could sing! I could sing for the first time in two months, and I wasn't passing up any opportunity. I sang whenever it was appropriate and whenever it probably wasn't. In the shower, in bed, making dinner, in the taxi...If there was a moment, I seized it and didn't let it go.

This annoyed a lot of people. Chris, for example, hit me round the head with one of the cushions from the sofa in Number 4 when I insisted on singing along to the jingles on the radio we had playing at the time. Freddie slapped a hand around my mouth in the middle of a shopping centre trip we did because apparently its not OK to belt out a random chorus of Oh Happy Day whilst eating a chicken sub at the same time.

One person who didn't seem to be that hacked off by my singing was Nate. This surprised me - lately, everything I did around him earned a scowl or a roll of the eyes. But not singing. I don't know why. Maybe he liked me singing. And maybe pigs can fly.

Something that was annoying me was the constant presence of Robyn. She attended every rehearsal, insisted on sitting in my spot on the sofa and if there was a moment where she wasn't kissing Nate loudly and obviously in a small corner of the room, she considered it wasted. Don't get me wrong, she was still one of the nicest people I'd ever met, but honestly, she was really only OK in moderation. Like chocolate or Evanescence.

I was singing in the apartment a few weeks after the whole photo shoot, first date with David shebang, when a knock on the door interrupted my intense warbling.

I yanked it open to find David grinning. We had, for lack of a better term, been going out. As in, there had been a few more dates and I had enjoyed them all a lot. I smiled and pulled him into the room.

"Hey," I greeted him. "Dance with me?"

He rolled his eyes but didn't resist as we kind of danced about in front of the sofa to the Keane CD in the CD player. I sang along of course, and he nearly joined in. Suddenly, I remembered another man dancing moodily with me in this very spot, and it was Nate's hands I felt on my waist and Nate's chin I felt brushing the top of my head, and I heard You Really Got Me rather than Nothing In My Way.

I stopped, refusing to think those things, but David didn't notice my sudden discomfort. He dropped onto the sofa, pulling me down with him. Sat on his lap, I said, "What are you doing here?" Mostly to distract myself.

He kissed my cheek. "Can I not come and see my girlfriend just because I want to?"

I laughed. "Depends. Did you bring me food?"

"Aye, that I did," He said, lifting a bag from the floor.

I kissed him quickly. "Then yes, you can visit your girlfriend just because you want to."

Hopping up, I headed into the kitchen and slotted the waffles he'd brought me into the toaster. Waiting for them to pop, I sang along to Keane, fetching the honey from the cupboard. David followed me in and rested his hands on my waist.

"What are you up to today?" He asked, leaning his head on my shoulder.

I leaned back into him. "Rehearsal. You want to come?" I asked. This was the first time I'd ever asked him to go to Springbreak with me, and I surprised myself.

He sounded surprised as well. "Am I allowed to come?"

I spun around. "Why wouldn't you be?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. But rehearsals are always just you and the guys. I don't want to butt in."

I scowled. "Robyn's always there. You'll definitely be allowed."

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At Springbreak, David seemed nervous.