Girl Online (14 page)

“Hey, guys,” he says to the crowd, after forty-five minutes of energetic performance. “This is my last song.” He's forced to pause for a moment while the crowd boos and complains, but he just chuckles into the microphone. “Some of you might not know this, but this is my favourite song on the whole album. This song makes me the luckiest guy in the world. Because the girl who inspired it is sitting just over there.”

He turns and looks at me. He's sweaty, red-faced, and his hair is wet and dishevelled, but he's still incredibly gorgeous—and everyone else melts away as he locks eyes with me. It's only when I hear chants of “Autumn Girl! Autumn Girl!” that I realize the crowd out there knows me too. It's so bizarre.

“Now, she's a little bit shy, so she's going to stay out of sight for now, but, Penny, baby, this one is for you.”

He strums the first few chords of “Autumn Girl” and I'm taken straight back to the time I first heard it, on my bed, listening to the recording that he made me. I want to tell Sadie Lee how amazing this is, when I realize that in all the emotion I've let the phone drift down; Sadie Lee and Bella are now facing the black box I'm sitting on. Not a good view at all! I whip the phone back up so it's pointing at Noah and whisper an apology to them both.

Noah finishes the song to thunderous applause, then he jogs offstage and straight into my arms. We head back to the dressing room arm in arm, the noise from the crowd following us like a wave of love and support.

“You were incredible!” I say. “The best. I'm so proud of you.”

“That was excellent!” He can't wipe the grin off his face, and I know my expression mirrors his.

If only TheRealTruth could see us now, they'd know their threats were pointless. Maybe there is something to this rock-star life after all.

“G-ma, Bella, what did you think?”

On the screen, Sadie Lee is wiping tears from her cheeks. “Noah, I have no words. You light up that stage.”

“Thanks, G-ma. You're the best.”

“You kids go have fun now. It's going to take me at least another hour to get this one to calm down after that.” Bella is running around on the screen, singing Noah's songs at the top of her lungs.

“Goodnight!” Noah and I both say in sync, waving to the phone. I go to turn it off, and the battery flashes red.

“Oh no, I need a charger . . .”

I scan the room, desperate for a glimpse of my lost cable. But, instead, the rest of Noah's band literally bounces into the room, and even Blake has a huge smile on his face. He smiles at me and I smile back. Maybe I did misjudge him.

“That was
awesome
,” Blake says to me as he passes. “Are you coming back to the hotel with us, Penny?”

“No, man. I have something planned for us,” says Noah, interrupting. He drops off his guitar with one of the technicians and sheds his leather jacket, then begins rooting through his duffel bag.

“Oh, cool.” With a couple of bounding leaps, Blake jumps on Ryan's back, one fist pumping in the air. I laugh, watching them.

“Where are we going?” I raise one eyebrow at Noah.

He tosses a red beanie my way, then pulls a grey beanie down over his own hair. “I thought it would go well with your hair.”

“If you insist,” I say, putting on the hat.

“Now these.” He passes me a pair of glasses. They're just frames, really—they don't even have any glass in them. Noah puts on a pair too, but they go a bit crooked.

I reach up and straighten them on his face. I smile. If this is meant to be some sort of disguise, it's not going to work. “You still look gorgeous—you can't hide that!” I say to him.

“We don't need a total disguise, just something to throw people off a little. Besides, where we're going, no one will expect it to be me, so I need to play to that.” He pulls at my hand, and I follow him.

“But where
are
we going?”

“Why, we're going to watch the world's hottest boy band, of course.”

My face drains of colour, and I stop moving. He turns round as my hand slips out of his. “Penny? What's wrong?”

I swallow and close my eyes. I can't believe he's asking me this. “Do you mean out there?” I say, really hoping that's not what he means.

“Well, sure. You didn't get to see their show last time—you left before you could. They're amazing. Plus”—he takes a step forward and gathers my hand up in his—“I'll be there with you this time. The whole time.”

He must be able to read the dubious look on my face, because all of a sudden he gets down on one knee and says, “I swear to you, Penny Porter, I won't leave your side for a single moment!”

“Stop that!” I shriek, convinced that someone is going to take a photo of him and think that he's proposing—now that
would
be another scandal. “OK, I'll go with you,” I say, and I can feel a blush rising up my neck, prickling the skin on my cheeks.

He grins and stands up. “Good. And, if you don't enjoy it at any time, just tell me.”

“Oh, what about my camera?” I ask.

“Take it—you might capture something cool from the audience.” He gives my hand a squeeze and pulls me out through a side door, down a few hallways, and out into the crowd.

Chapter Nineteen

I can feel my heart beating in my throat as the darkness of the audience surrounds us. It's also quiet, even though there are thousands of people all around us—I can feel the anticipation of the crowd growing, as they anxiously wait for The Sketch's arrival. I cling on to Noah so tightly I wonder if I'm going to cut off the circulation in his hand. He doesn't seem to mind, though. He takes me a few people deep into the crowd, and he was right: no one expects to see him, so no one takes any notice of us, except to gripe about us pushing through.

He comes to a stop in front of the stage, but several rows of people back. The way everyone around us is jostling our arms and stepping on our toes reminds me of the Brighton concert, but this time I have Noah's hands reassuringly on my shoulders.

Then the lights snap on, and The Sketch bound onto the stage. The screaming starts immediately and, caught up in the excitement of the crowd, I scream just as loudly. Even Noah lets out a loud whoop.

They play with frenetic energy, pounding through hit after hit. It's not just that their songs are catchy—and there's no doubt that they are—but they are also such great musicians, playing riffs on their guitars that you never hear on their radio tracks and hitting every note.

When Leah Brown appears, the screaming gets even louder—if that was possible. She enters in one of the most dramatic ways possible—from a harness suspended from the ceiling—and sings a feature chorus in one of The Sketch's most energetic songs. Her transformation from when I saw her earlier today is amazing: she's wearing a sparkling silver minidress, and her hair is blown out behind her like it travels with its own fan. On anyone else, her ensemble would look ridiculous, but on Leah it just
works
. As the song progresses, she's slowly lowered down onto the stage, and I even manage to snap pictures the whole time.

When she reaches the stage, the whole tempo of the performance changes. The bright lights go out completely, plunging us all into darkness. It feels like everyone in the arena is holding their breath. Slowly, tiny points of light appear in the ceiling, until it feels like we're standing beneath a canopy of stars. It's breathtakingly beautiful, and instinctively Noah draws me close, wrapping his arms round me. I lean into him.

Two beams of light appear on the stage, illuminating Leah and Hayden—the lead singer of The Sketch—who are now sitting on stools. Leah has changed into a black dress, sequinned to catch the light, and her hair lies flat, framing her face like a curtain.

“Hi, Berlin,” says Hayden. “We have something a bit
different for you guys now. Something no one has heard before. We hope you like it.”

He starts to sing a cappella, and without any backing music his voice is strong and clear. Leah picks up her lines, and together they sing a beautiful, haunting duet about lovers who are kept apart.

I feel tears prick my eyes and, even though no one here has heard this before, I know I'm not the only one. Emotion floods the crowd. It's like we're all connected through the music. This is a taste of the passion I know Noah feels when he writes his songs. This is what he wants to create: a chain of notes and words that can make a crowd of thousands move and feel as one.

“I love you, Penny,” Noah whispers in my ear.

I squeeze his arms round me.

There's a roar from the audience when the song ends—it looks like Leah and The Sketch have another hit on their hands. The spell is broken—or, rather, the spell has been cast. The audience is completely with The Sketch now, and would clearly follow them to the ends of the earth. The lights come back on, bright and blazing in our eyes, and the beat picks up into a fast tempo.

Noah and I are no different from everyone else around us. We dance like wild people and sing at the tops of our voices, getting sweaty and silly and not caring for even a moment. By the time the band plays their final encore, I don't think I've ever been so happy.

Chapter Twenty

Still reeling from such an amazing night, Noah and I skip along the hotel corridor and back up to my room (I'm not even worrying if my deodorant has stood up to the task of all that dancing). We continue singing The Sketch's songs right up until we get to the door.

“I'll leave you here, Pen, as a proper gentleman would.” Noah opens the door and gestures with his arm into the room like a bellboy, almost bowing as he does so. His hair is a lot messier and curlier than usual when he releases it from underneath the beanie, which he unceremoniously dumps on the floor. He looks at me with a twinkle in his eye and a cheeky smirk on his face, his dimples appearing as if by magic. I completely melt on the spot. I don't think I have ever been more in love with Noah Flynn than I am right now.

“Don't you have time to come in for a bit? Tonight was amazing, but we've not had much of a chance to chill out, just the two of us, yet.” I try out what I hope is an endearing smile.