I always thought that fame happened to other people. When i was little, all i wanted was to own a cake shop and spend my life surrounded by sticky buns. I'd eat chocolate eclairs for breakfast, lunch, and tea. But instead, i formed a band and became a rock 'n' roll star.
I suppose if i've learned something (besides never singing anything without a lawyer present and that sulky-faced boys will break your heart), it's that life takes funny turns when you're not looking. That Thursday afternoon was like every other Thursday afternoon. It was raining and Jane and Tara and me had a free double period, i think, or maybe we were skivin off French because Jane hadn't done her homework. Anyway, we were hanging out in the music room becuase it was heated and had a great view of the back of the art college opposite, so we could gaze longingly at boys with strangely dyed hair who were sneaking a crafty cig. Jane was copying my French homework when she found this stupid poem i'd written about on of those boys with strangely dyed hair. So then she kept singing, "I want to be your highlighting cap" (I didn't say it was a good poem) over and over again in a high-pitched voice, and it was so annoying but catchy that the three of us spent the rest of the week humming the tune. That's how it started.
I know it was me who decided that we should form a band. I think i even said "Hey, we should form a band". But we were always coming up with these ridiculous schemes to get a bit of respect. Not even respect, just to be noticed but someone. By anyone. Jane, at least, had a reputatio-but that was only because she'd snogged even more boys than Lizzie Firestone. And Lizzy Firestone got away with it because she was blond and popular. Jane was also blond- but that was due to a monthly application of peroxide, and she wans't popular, so it was all right for people to scrawl Jane is a ho on her lockers. Me and Tara were completely anonymus; always picked last for games. The only thing that i was known for was being the only girl in the upper school who didn't need to wear a bra. So after staging a sit-down protest against having to disect animals in biology(which no one attended) and performing expermiental art piece at the school's annual talent show (which resulted in detention and letters home), being in a band seemed like a logical progression.
I already had a guitar. It was for Christmas present that i'd begged and sulked for- and promptly discarded when i realized that strumming eas going to wreck my nails. I dragged it out from under my bed, cut my nails right down, listened to my favourite songs over and over again, and worked out where to put my fingers on the fret board until i could play three chords.