“Blake and me? He’s one of my oldest friends. We practically grew up together. My parents bought me my first guitar the same year his parents gave him a drum kit. I used to go over to his basement and we would jam. Our first band was called . . .” He hesitates.
“Aw, come on, tell me!” I say, nudging him.
“OK . . . it was called The Wizard Boys. We were kind of obsessed with Harry Potter back then.” He cringes, but it’s adorable.
I laugh. “That’s the greatest!”
“Yeah, Blake even used to pretend his drumsticks were wands and our lyrics were spells!”
“Are you serious?” Somehow I can’t square the image of the grungy guy outside with that of a sweet young boy rocking out in his basement and inventing magic spells.
“You might not have heard of the song ‘House Elves Just Want Some Love,’ but it was destined to be a big hit!” He laughs, but then his tone turns more serious. “When things really started happening for me—like Dean finding me on YouTube and signing me up to his management company, all that stuff—Blake and I sort of had a falling-out. He started hanging out with a different crowd and we had some major arguments. It’s one of the reasons why I completely retreated last year. Shut off from the world. I was ready to quit, throw in the towel. If I was going to lose my closest friends because of all this”—he gestures around the tour bus—“it wasn’t going to be worth it. And then I met you. My Inciting Incident.” He kisses my hand. “You showed me it was possible for me to have it all. You gave me the courage to repair things with Blake. Inviting him on tour is the best thing ever—next to you being here, of course. He’s a bit of a joker, but he’s been there for me from the beginning. And I know you two will get along great once you get to know him.”
My face burns—from the compliment but also because I can’t believe I was about to slag off Noah’s best friend to him. I had no idea how much history they had. If Blake is a joker, he’s probably just messing with me. I need to learn not to take so much to heart if I’m going to hang out with the band.
“Hey, I was going to wait until we got to the hotel, but I want to give this to you.” He reaches underneath the bed, where his travel bag is, and pulls out a box wrapped in gold paper. “For you. Go on—open it,” he says when I stare at the gold box.
I open it slowly at first, then I rip off the paper. It’s a brand-new smartphone. One of the fancy ones that I would never have been able to afford on my own. “Oh wow, Noah . . .”
“I wanted you to have a new, better phone since your other one was stolen at my concert. You can’t be happy with that old dinosaur Tom gave you. Plus, this one has an amazing camera.”
He’s right—I’m not happy with Tom’s old phone—but I also just want my old phone, with Noah’s doodles all over it, back. This fancy new phone can’t compare to that one, but it does help. I stare at it in awe. “You shouldn’t have! This is . . . this is too much.”
“It’s not too much, Penny, I promise. What’s the point of being a rock star if I can’t splurge on you every now and then?”
“Maybe because I can’t splash out back?” I say.
“Don’t think that way.” He kisses me on the cheek. “You’re my official anxiety monitor, remember? That’s got to be worth thousands. Come on—should we go back out and join the fray?” He edges to the front of the bunk, his hand outstretched.
“Sure,” I say. Noah’s given me more confidence. Maybe I do just have to give Blake a chance. If Noah likes him so much, he can’t be that bad.
When we emerge from the back of the bus, it’s to hoots and cheers. Noah puts both his hands up in defeat. “OK, OK, guys, settle down.” I feel my face flush red—why do boys have such dirty minds? I wish there was another girl around to help offset some of the testosterone.
Blake is back by the beer fridge. “You want one, man?” He offers a bottle to Noah, who looks at me, then back at Blake.
“It’s early, dude. How many of these have you already had? You smell like it’s three a.m. and you’ve just left a bar.”
“Geez, Noah, lighten up a bit. This is supposed to be fun! You’re starting to sound like Dean.”
Noah takes the beer bottle and cracks it open using the corner of the table.
“Cheers to us!” Blake clinks his bottle on Noah’s and smiles at me.
“Do you want a Coke, Penny?” Noah offers me a can from the fridge.
“Yeah, thanks.” I glance out of the window and am treated to the sight of a giant gate with massive pillars and four horses on the top. It’s huge and majestic and just what I expected from Berlin. I let out a little squeal of excitement. “Wow, look at that! Is that the Brandenburg Gate?”
As the others turn to look out of the window, I lower my voice so that only Noah can hear. “I’m so excited for Magical Mystery Day!”
“Me too,” says Noah, squeezing my hand.
“Elliot texted me earlier with a long list of amazing places we need to check out. There’s a structure that’s over three hundred and fifty metres tall and—”
Blake interrupts me with a snigger. “A what now? Magical what?” He looks at Noah and me.
I feel a wave of embarrassment as I think about how childish it must sound to Blake. But Noah jumps right in to defend us.