Chapter 10
EVIE
Then
Evie was so relieved that finally it was the Christmas holidays.
Ed and her were still going strong, spending every available spare moment together.
It was difficult though, as both Evie’s parents and her school were really ramping up the amount of study she had to do for her exams, which she was due to take the following summer.
Ed’s parents were much more chilled and relaxed about his revision schedule, but as his mum was a teacher, Ed almost had a ready-made tutor on hand if he needed it.
He was also one of those students who didn’t really have to try too much with their studies, unlike Evie.
If she didn’t study, she simply wouldn’t pass.
Ginny, Evie’s best friend, was having a birthday party just before Christmas.
She’d hired out the local church hall and invited nearly all the boys that they knew from St Augustine’s.
The plan was that Ed and Jamie (Ginny’s boyfriend) were going to smuggle in a load of alcohol with Ed’s uncle Paul’s DJ kit, as he had been booked to DJ at Ginny’s party.
Paul had also promised that he’d supply them with some weed for the after-party at Ed’s house.
None of their parents had a clue about their plans and that was half the fun of it.
Ginny and Evie had spent months planning what to wear and, in the end, they were both very pleased with their choices.
They’d bought their outfits from Kensington Market over several happy, lazy Saturday afternoons, mooching around the different stalls, soaking up the atmosphere.
Even the food smells seemed exotic. They looked in awe at the eclectic bunch of stallholders - who seemed so mature and sophisticated to a couple of young and impressionable girls from Barnes.
Evie had chosen the shortest black dress you had ever seen, which had a scooped low-cut back, so there was no chance of her wearing a bra.
She’d teamed it with some cowboy boots and a black leather biker jacket.
Ginny had a Grecian-style red dress. Her boobs looked even more enormous than usual, thrust forward in a gravity defying bra.
Her peroxide hair was piled high on her head. She looked stunning.
The plan for after the official party was that Ginny had told her parents that she was staying with Evie and Evie had told a similar story to her parents, when in fact they were all staying at Ed’s house.
Ed’s parents were away for the night, but Ed’s Uncle Paul would be there.
Paul seemed cool. He wasn’t like any of their parents.
The party was amazing. Paul’s choice of music was incredible, so the dance floor was never empty as he played all the latest hits from The Smiths to The Police, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees to New Order.
There was something for everyone. You could almost smell the testosterone in the air as the single boys vied for the prettiest of the single girls, plying them with cheap booze as they pulled them closer as the music started to slow down towards the end of the evening.
God knows how Ginny’s parents didn’t have a clue about what was going on, but they had mainly stayed in the little kitchenette area, handing out cokes and lemonades, which little did they know were being mixed with varieties of Cinzano and Bacardi.
The tension mounted as Ed and his band, The Propellers, did their soundcheck and Paul helped them set up their kit.
Ed was fairly drunk by now, but he still knew how to work a crowd.
Towards the end of their set, Ed decided to say a few words to the audience.
‘Thanks to everyone for always supporting us and to the lovely birthday girl Ginny for allowing us to play at her party. I’ve just written a new song, and I’d like to dedicate it to my girlfriend, Evie.’ Ed slurred to the audience, swaying ever so slightly.
He threw Evie one of his special smiles, and suddenly everyone’s eyes were on her.
The band started with the beginning of the song being just a riot of loud drumming from Mark coupled with Jez’s bass guitar repeating the same riff over and over again, before Ed cut in with his vocals, his voice was slightly gruff and husky from an evening of smoking and drinking.
The words were raw and personal, and Ed didn’t take his eyes off Evie for a second as he sang every word directly to her.
It was as if no one else existed in that moment.
The song ended in the same way that it had started - with Mark’s heavy drumming and Jez’s repetitive riff as Ed’s voice repeated the same chorus line of “Forever mine, forever mine” again and again until the music came to an abrupt stop.
The crowd clapped and cheered for the band, and Ginny and Evie just looked at each other in complete awe.
‘Oh my God, Evie. That song was just beautiful. Have you heard it before?’ asked Ginny, giving Evie’s hand a squeeze.
‘No, never.’ Evie shook her head, still in complete shock, her face beaming.
‘Ed’s always saying he writes songs about me, but I’d never heard any of them until just then. That really was kinda cool.’
Ed sauntered towards Evie, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her so passionately he nearly knocked Ginny’s mum over, complete with a sagging tray of soggy egg mayonnaise sandwiches. Once they came up for breath, Ginny’s mum looked at them both, slightly wide-eyed.
‘Sandwich anyone? There are loads left over.’ Ginny’s mum asked, trying to regain composure after being taken aback by such a passionate kiss.
Ed flashed Ginny’s mum one of his killer smiles, patted his taut stomach whilst muttering something about needing to keep his figure in check, politely declining the neglected egg sandwiches.
‘Oh, Ed, you’re such a lovely young man and a very good singer too. Although all that drumming and guitar noise has given me quite a headache.’ wittered Ginny’s mum.
Ed’s uncle Paul managed to interject cleverly, saying that he would lock up and that her and her husband were to get themselves home and rest up after all their hard work putting on such a good spread.
He even said that he would make sure that everyone would take a piece of Ginny’s birthday cake home.
They didn’t need to be asked twice. Ginny’s parents had never moved quite so fast. On their way out the door, Ginny’s mum asked Evie to thank her parents for having Ginny to stay over.
Evie nodded and smiled politely, stifling a giggle.
Paul played “Come on Eileen” for one of the closing songs and finished with “New York, New York”, which typically resulted in most of the crowd falling over as everyone linked arms and kicked their legs higher and higher as the song came to an end.
Thankfully, Ginny and Evie remained upright.
It really was one of the most brilliant parties Evie had ever been to.
Ginny had begged her parents to let her have one of her presents early.
She’d been hankering after a Polaroid instant camera so she could take loads of photos at the party.
Of course, her parents caved in, and the latest must-have camera was in Ginny’s possession just in time for the party.
They’d had great fun taking photos of each other in various stages of undress while they got ready.
The boys had managed to get hold of the Polaroid for a while and took some photos of the band together with quite a few shots of them generally larking about.
They spent ages poring over the photos later that night back at Ed’s.