Page 49 of When Sparks Fly

‘This is my rock chick look,’ I inform him, holding my arms out in a ta-da kind of way. ‘What do you think?’

‘You look awesome,’ Adam says. For this compliment, Si shoots him a dirty look.

‘It’s very… raunchy,’ Si says, attempting to be tactful. ‘For a morning, I mean. Obviously I think you look amazing.’

I shrug my shoulders and sit down at the table.

‘Ooh, can I have some of that?’ I ask Adam, picking up the box of Coco Pops from next to him.

‘Sure,’ he replies, flicking a soggy piece of cereal from the edge of his bowl at me playfully.

‘You did not just do that,’ I reply with a laugh.

‘That’s enough, Adam,’ Si snaps as he reads his paper.

Adam and I look at each other like a couple of naughty kids. I don’t know what it is about Adam but he brings out this different side of me. He makes me want to have a laugh, to not take myself too seriously.

‘I had a word with Kerry this morning,’ Adam tells me. ‘She thinks it’s a great idea that I go check out the bands with you, give you my opinion.’

‘That’s awesome,’ I reply, vaguely aware of Si staring at us as we chat.

‘So, the two of you are going out together?’ Si checks.

‘Yeah, well, for work,’ I reply.

‘Do you know what else Kerry told me?’ Adam continues, and I can already tell from his tone that it’s going to be good.

‘What? What?’ I reply, excited already.

‘She told me that The Burnouts are doing a secret set,’ he replies. ‘They’re not announcing it, they’re just going to turn up. It’s all a part of their comeback tour that seems to be going on and on.’

‘Oh my God, no way! Do you think I’ll get to meet them?’ I ask.

‘I’m sure you will,’ he replies. ‘I tell you what – I’ll make sure you do.’

‘Who are The Burnouts?’ Si interrupts.

‘You haven’t heard of The Burnouts?’ I reply, absolutely astonished.

Si shakes his head.

‘The Burnouts were not only massive, like, ten years ago, but they’re doing this huge comeback thing, and they’re bigger and better now,’ I tell him. ‘Are you sure you haven’t heard of them? They’re never off the radio or the TV.’

‘Nope,’ he says simply.

I do feel a little bad that I’m gravitating towards Adam and having conversations with him that Si can’t be a part of. They’re both my housemates; I need to make more of an effort.

‘Do either of you guys fancy the cinema one night this week?’ I ask.

‘Yes. Actually, there’s a World War II film that I really want to see,’ Si replies, suddenly enthusiastic and clearly delighted to be included.

I don’t intend to, but I must have pulled a funny face because Si reacts to it.

‘What, you don’t like war films?’ he replies in disbelief. ‘What would you rather see?’

‘Well, they’re showing a run of horror films at the cinema this week,’ Adam says, perking up. ‘In the run-up to Halloween. Classics, mostly. Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Shining – that sort of thing.’

‘Oh, I love the Scream movies,’ I say, probably a little too enthusiastically.