It was Sunday afternoon and Kevin was catching up on some homework in the home office. He heard the phone ring and thought about going to answer it, but he returned his attention to his work when the phone went silent after three rings. A short time later, Carl appeared in the home office.

'There's someone on the phone for you, Kevin,' he said.

'Who is it?' said Kevin.

'I'll give you three guesses,' Carl said dourly.

'Is it Oscar?'

'Yes.'

'I'll take it in the hall,' said Kevin.

Carl went back to the living room, where the television was switched on and waiting for him. Kevin followed his father as far as the hall, where he picked up the receiver on the main telephone.

'Okay, Dad, I've got it!' he called into the living room.

Kevin heard the sound of Carl returning the phone extension to its carrier, then he put the receiver to his ear.

'Hello?' said Kevin.

'Hey, dude,' Oscar's voice replied. 'I just wanted to let you know that I'm gonna be doing something after school on Friday, so I'll be a little late coming over to your place... or maybe I won't make it at all. You'll be able to cope without me, won't you?'

'I think I can just about manage,' Kevin laughed.

'All the others will be there, right?'

'Actually, no. Lucy's doing something with her family, and Jandro has a chess club thing.'

'I thought chess club didn't meet Fridays anymore.'

'They don't normally, but they're taking part in some kind of inter-school tournament one Monday in the near future – I think it's two weeks from tomorrow – and they need to discuss their tactics. So I guess it'll just be me and Michael and Ella on Friday.'

'Yeah, I guess so,' said Oscar. 'Ella will probably be hoping for a spit-roast.'

'Shut up, you're terrible!' Kevin giggled. 'So, er, what's the big rush to tell me about Friday right now? I mean, it's not that I'm not enjoying talking with you, but you could just as easily have told me at school sometime this week.'

'I... I want to give you some details about what I'm actually gonna be doing on Friday after school.'

'And what actually are those?'

'I'm gonna be holding auditions for my band in the main music room,' said Oscar. 'I've cleared it with Mr Walton. You see, I've managed to line up two paying gigs for Mood Slime. Not that either of them is paying very much, but...'

'Are you kidding me?' said Kevin. 'That's fantastic news, man!'

'Yeah, I guess it is,' said Oscar. 'The first gig is a week from Saturday at the mall. I managed to persuade the mall manager to agree to move the cheese and sausage cart to one side for twenty minutes so that we can play a few songs, and we get to keep the tips... if there are any.'

'Wow, that's excellent!'

'The second gig is even better. It's after school the next Monday – the same time as Jandro's chess tournament, I guess – and we're actually being paid a fee for playing at some kid's birthday party.'

'Oh my God, that's incredible!' said Kevin. 'Congratulations, bro! How many new band members are you looking for? You already have a couple of guys, right?'

'That's right,' said Oscar. 'Danny Hart from my class has agreed to play the drums for me, and we've got Tim Price on right-handed lead guitar.'

'Oh yeah, I know Tim,' said Kevin. 'He's the same grade as me but he's in a different homeroom. So I guess you're gonna be playing left-handed lead guitar, huh?'

'Naturally,' said Oscar. 'Me and Tim are gonna stand at the front so that we look exactly like the Beatles! And hopefully we'll sound as good as them too, someday. But anyway, yeah, we just need to get someone to help out with the vocals and play bass guitar, then we'll be all set. I'm gonna put up flyers all around the school tomorrow at recess.'

'You have math before recess, right?' said Kevin.

'Yeah,' said Oscar.

'I'll come find you and help you with the flyers.'

'Thanks, dude. I, er... I was actually wondering if you might want to consider... I mean, I know you might not be interested, but...'

'But what, bro?'

'Do you maybe want to audition to be in the band?'

'What?' said Kevin, unable to stop himself from laughing. 'I can't play bass guitar – I can't play any kind of guitar!'

'I meant as a singer,' said Oscar. 'We could always recruit two new band members – one to sing and one to play bass guitar.'

'But I can't sing anymore, man,' said Kevin. 'I'm Aled Jones now, remember?'

'You still sing beautifully, bro.'

'I don't – I sound like a bear that's being strangled by a python!'

'Oh well, it's just a thought,' said Oscar, laughter evident in his voice. 'Maybe you'll mull it over a little before Friday, huh?'

'Well... maybe,' said Kevin. 'Anyway, thanks for calling, bro. I'll see you at recess tomorrow, okay?'

'Sure thing, dude,' said Oscar. 'Ciao for now.'

Kevin put the phone down and went back to the home office.

Kevin had barely taken up his pen and returned his attention to his homework when he heard the phone ring again. As before, Carl stomped into the room a short time later.

'It's for you again!' he said peevishly.

'Really?' said Kevin, sounding very surprised. 'It's not Oscar again, is it?'

'Sorry to disappoint you, but it's not Oscar!' Carl snarled. 'It's some kid called Michael. And when you're done talking with him, maybe you could answer the phone yourself if it rings again? I'm not your God-damned answering service!'

'I was going to answer it myself both times, Dad,' said Kevin, 'but you got there first. There's no extension in here, remember?'

Carl muttered something disagreeable and returned to the living room. Once again, Kevin followed him as far as the hall. He picked up the phone, listened for the sound of his father disconnecting the extension, and then put the receiver to his ear.

'Hiya, Mike,' said Kevin.

'Hi, Kev,' Michael's voice replied. 'My mom brought home her latest supermarket shift schedule yesterday and I wanted to run a couple of things past you.'

'Oh yeah?'

'Yeah. The first thing is that she's gonna be working 'til eight on Friday, so I decided to invite Ella to come over to my place after school and have dinner with me.'

'Ooh, a romantic evening for two. Ella's the lucky one, huh?'

'I'm the lucky one, Kev. Anyways, I called her before I called you and she agreed to come over Friday, so I'm afraid we're not gonna be able to come to your place like we were planning. Sorry.'

'Oh, don't worry about that,' said Kevin. 'I hope the two of you have a great time together, Mike.'

'Thanks, Kev,' said Michael. 'The other thing is that the next Friday after that – a week after this coming Friday, I mean – my mom has to work the night shift, so I was wondering if you'd maybe want to have another sleepover with me?'

'Sure, I'd love to,' said Kevin. 'Do you want to see if we can destroy the entire apartment?'

'Don't joke about that, Kev,' said Michael, laughing nevertheless. 'I have a heart attack every time my mom goes anywhere near that wall!'

'We'll be sure to be extra careful this time,' said Kevin. 'Anyway, yeah – I'll definitely come and spend the night with you, Mike. I'm looking forward to it already.'

'Good; so am I,' said Michael. 'I'll get the snacks in and find us a cool movie to watch.'

'Excellent,' said Kevin. 'It's a date. Well, I guess it's not exactly a date, but you know what I mean.'

'Yeah, I know what you mean, Kev. See you in homeroom tomorrow.'

'Ciao for now, dude.'

As Kevin replaced the receiver, Carl appeared in the hallway with a slightly sheepish look on his face.

'Kevin, I'm sorry if I was a bit rude to you just now,' he said. 'I'm feeling a little stressed about my interview tomorrow, but I know I shouldn't be taking it out on you.'

'That's fine, Dad; don't worry about it,' said Kevin. 'They'll make you a full detective for sure – I just know they will!'

'Thanks, son,' said Carl. 'You, er... you're sleeping over with Michael again, huh?'

'Yes, Dad,' said Kevin. 'On Friday next week. That is, not this coming Friday but the one after that. His mom's working the night shift at the supermarket and I'm gonna keep him company, like before.'

'It's just gonna be the two of you at his place, all night?'

'Yeah.'

'Michael's the one with the girlfriend, right?'

'Yeah, that's right.'

'Good,' said Carl. 'I mean, um...'

'I know exactly what you mean, Dad,' said Kevin. 'I have to get back to my homework now.'

Kevin turned tail and stalked out of the hallway. Carl stared after him for a few moments, then he returned to the living room.

The following Friday after school, Michael and Ella made their way towards the music block.

'You're definitely gonna come back to my place after the audition, right?' said Michael.

'Very few things in this world are actually definite, Mike,' said Ella. 'You'll just have to wait and find out, won't you? Or did you want to head home and I'll maybe join you there when I'm ready? Unless I decide to go over to Kevin's place after all, to see if he wants someone to play chess with him or something.'

'What?' said Michael. 'No, I'll wait for you!'

'I'm only kidding, babe,' said Ella, frowning ever so slightly. 'Of course I'm coming back to your place after the audition.'

'Are you only gonna sing for them or are you offering yourself as a bass guitarist as well?'

'I'm auditioning for vocals and bass guitar. You remember how I learned to play guitar in fifth and sixth grade, don't you? That weird hippy guy used to come in at lunch recess on Thursdays and take me, Rosemary Haddon and Jonathan Scott into the TV room and teach us to play the guitar.'

'Yeah, I remember,' said Michael. 'The guys used to say he was probably doing you all in the butt one after the other.'

'Guys can be so stupid!' said Ella.

'I never said it,' said Michael.

'Yeah, I didn't think you would've,' said Ella. 'They say it's exactly like riding a bike, don't they?'

'They do?'

'Yeah. As in, you never forget how to do it. Playing a musical instrument, I mean. Once you start practising again, obviously.'

'Oh, I see. I thought you meant... well, never mind about that. Don't worry, Ella – you'll knock 'em dead and they'll be lucky to have you!'

Ella smiled at Michael and stroked his cheek, then she opened the door to the music block and led the way inside. The door to the main music room was closed; Ella went to peer through the small glass panel.

'There they are,' she said. 'Looks like they're auditioning someone else right now.'

Michael came to take a look; Ella sidled out of his way.

'They're all boys!' he exclaimed. 'I didn't realise all the band members would be boys!'

'Now Mike, we're not gonna have to go through all this again, are we?'

'Um... no. No, of course we're not. I'm sorry, Ella.'

'You don't really think I'd ever drop you for someone else, do you? Mike, I don't want someone else – I want you!'

'I know,' said Michael.

'Okay,' said Ella, 'so let's not have any more of this jealousy garbage, huh? Anyway, it's only Oscar and a couple of his friends.'

'Oh yeah, that's right,' said Michael. 'Yeah, I'd never be worried about Oscar making a move on you.'

'You wouldn't, huh?'

'Not in the least.'

'Just out of interest, why not?'

'Well... he's gay, isn't he?'

'What?' said Ella, unable to stop herself from laughing slightly. 'Where the hell did you get that from?'

'I... I thought we all kinda knew it,' said Michael. 'I mean, I thought we'd all just taken it as read... haven't we?'

'Not me,' said Ella. 'Still, I guess he is kinda... but that doesn't mean he's necessarily... not that it matters either way, of course, but...'

The music room door burst open and the previous auditionee stormed into the corridor, looking more than a little affronted. Tim came to the door a few seconds later.

'Next, please,' he said. 'Oh... there's only two more of you, huh?'

'Only one more of us,' said Ella. 'He's with me.'

'I'm her boyfriend,' said Michael, drawing himself up to his full height and staring daggers at Tim.

'I guess you'd better come in, then,' Tim said to Ella. 'I hope your boyfriend won't mind waiting outside.'

'Of course he won't,' said Ella. 'See you in a few, Mike.'

Ella followed Tim into the music room and slammed the door in Michael's face. Oscar looked up from playing around with his guitar strings and adopted an expression of surprise.

'Ella?' he said. 'You've come to audition to be in Mood Slime?'

'Why else would I be here?' said Ella. 'There's no problem, is there? Your flyers didn't say this was a sexist band for boys only!'

'That's because it isn't,' said Danny.

'Are you auditioning for vocals?' said Oscar.

'Yes,' said Ella, 'and for bass guitar as well. The only thing is, I don't actually have a guitar.'

'That's okay,' said Oscar, 'you can use Tim's old one. Does, er... does Michael know you're doing this?'

'Yes; he's right outside the door,' said Ella. 'But he doesn't control my life, you know!'

'Yeah, I know,' said Oscar, 'but I was slightly worried that I might have him coming up to me in the restroom on Monday and threatening to beat the crap out of me. Not that I'm saying he necessarily could, but... well, it's good to know that the whole situation isn't on the cards, all things considered.'

'I guess I can't blame you for feeling that way,' Ella said with a smile, 'but it's not an issue, I promise. So, where do you want me?'

'Come on up to the stage,' said Tim, 'and we'll see how you and my old guitar get along with each other.'

'How did it go?' said Michael, as Ella emerged from the music room.

'Pretty well, I think,' said Ella. 'I enjoyed myself, anyway.'

'So are you in the band?'

'They're discussing that right now.'

'I hope they won't take too long over it,' said Michael, glancing at his watch.

'Why are you so desperate to get me back to your place?' Ella asked, with a small smile.

'Because I want the two of us to... spend some quality time together,' said Michael. 'I've been looking forward to it for ages.'

'That's very sweet of you, Mikey. It's okay; I think Tim's coming now.'

Sure enough, Tim came out of the music room and peered up and down the corridor.

'There's no one else waiting to audition, huh?' he said.

'What does it look like?' said Michael.

'That settles it, then,' said Tim. 'Ella, you're in the band.'

'Yes!' said Ella.

'I hope you don't think you're doing her a favour by letting her in 'cause you don't think you're gonna find anyone better!' Michael snarled.

'That's not it at all, Michael,' said Oscar, appearing in the doorway behind Tim. 'We all agreed that we really wanted Ella in the band, but we'd have to listen to anyone else who wanted to audition, seeing as they'd bothered to show up. But as no one else has bothered to show up, we can tell Ella the good news right now and then pack up and go home!'

'Ella, you can make the mall gig next Saturday – a week from tomorrow, I mean – and the birthday party the Monday after that, can't you?' said Tim. 'And like I mentioned before, we've booked this room for practice sessions every lunch recess next week from one o'clock.'

'Don't worry,' said Ella, 'I'll be there for all of it – I can't wait!'

'Neither can we,' Oscar beamed at her.

'Can we go now?' said Michael.

'Of course,' said Ella.

Kevin heard the doorbell, dragged himself off the couch and went to open the front door. His face lit up when he saw Oscar standing on the other side.

'You came!' said Kevin.

'Yeah, I did,' said Oscar. 'We only had three people to audition so it hardly took any time at all... and I was always hoping I'd be able to come over after we were done, of course. Can I trouble you for a Go-Gurt? I'm famished.'

'You can have all the Go-Gurts you want, man,' Kevin grinned at him. 'Here, let me take your guitar.'

A short time later, Kevin and Oscar were sitting side by side on the couch, both sucking on a Go-Gurt.

'You decided you didn't want to launch your singing career today, huh?' said Oscar.

'Yeah, I did,' said Kevin. 'But it's not that I definitely never want to be in your band, bro. I mean, I'm not saying no, not ever – I'm saying not right now, thanks very much for the offer.'

'Fair enough,' said Oscar.

'Did you find what you were looking for?'

'Yeah, we did. We found Ella, and it turns out she's exactly what we were looking for!'

'Oh, wow,' said Kevin. 'I had no idea Ella was interested in music.'

'Neither did I, but she's absolutely perfect,' said Oscar. 'She can hold a bass line like no one I've ever heard before, and she sings like a professional... which I guess is exactly what she'll be from next Saturday!'

'Does she sing better than me?'

'It's not better, exactly; it's just different.'

'I guess no one can casually write you off as just another boy band now, huh?'

'Yeah, I thought of that too. I was secretly hoping to get a girl all along.'

'Just for the purposes of the band, you mean?' Kevin grinned.

'Yeah,' Oscar laughed, 'just for that.'

'Was Michael there?' said Kevin. 'With Ella, I mean. I know they were supposed to be going back to his place this evening.'

'Yeah, he was there,' said Oscar, 'and they went off together afterward.'

'And so it's just the two of us here,' said Kevin.

'Yeah,' said Oscar. 'It's, er... it's not that I don't absolutely love it when we're all hanging out together as a gang, 'cause I do, but... well, I'm kinda glad that it's just the two of us here right now, you know?'

'Yeah,' said Kevin, 'I do know. So, should I get the chess out?'

'That'll do for starters,' said Oscar.

Michael piled up the used crockery and cutlery and carried it over to the sink.

'I'm sorry the toast was a little burned,' he said.

'Don't worry about it, Mikey,' said Ella. 'It was really great toast.'

Michael smiled, dumped the dirty things into the washing-up bowl and then went through to the lounge and sat down on the couch.

'Aren't you gonna do the dishes?' said Ella. 'I thought you were too house-proud to leave them festering in the sink.'

'I'll do them before my mom gets home,' said Michael, 'but there's some other stuff I want to do first. Why don't you come over here and sit with me?'

'Okay,' said Ella.

Ella came through to the lounge and sat next to Michael, who immediately started to kiss her.

'What's this for?' said Ella, when she could breathe again.

'Does there have to be a special reason?' said Michael. 'Let's say it's to celebrate you getting into Oscar's band, if there does.'

'That's quite a celebration,' Ella remarked.

'Of course,' said Michael. 'After all, this is quite an occasion.'

With that he kissed her again, then he started to slide his hand underneath her top.

'Mike...' said Ella, giggling slightly.

'Just relax, babe,' said Michael. 'Let me show you how pleased I am for you, huh?'

'Do you want to call it a stalemate?' said Oscar.

'Um... not really,' said Kevin.

'You'll never get me now, dude,' Oscar grinned. 'We'd better just call it a stalemate and congratulate each other on a very well played game.'

'But I know I can get you with a rook and a king,' said Kevin. 'I just can't remember how!'

'That makes the game a stalemate,' said Oscar.

'Give me ten more moves and then I'll give up.'

'Okay.'

Ella pulled away from Michael and frowned slightly.

'Mike, we really shouldn't,' she said.

'I know,' said Michael, 'but I really want to! Don't you?'

'I... I don't know,' said Ella. 'I mean, yeah, I do want to, but...'

Michael whipped off his T-shirt and then reached out to stroke Ella's cheek. Her mouth dropped open slightly as her eyes focused on his right arm.

'This isn't fair,' she giggled. 'You know I can't make rational decisions when I'm transfixed by your biceps.'

'Sure you can, babe,' said Michael. 'It's just that my biceps are helping you to think more clearly.'

'Well, I... I guess we do have a good reason to celebrate,' said Ella.

'The best,' said Michael. 'So, let's celebrate until we can't celebrate anymore!'

'That's seven, dude,' Oscar grinned, as he moved his king a little too close to a corner.

'Yeah, I know,' said Kevin, his eyes suddenly lighting up. 'I'm never gonna get you now, but we might as well just take another three moves each.'

Kevin moved his king so that it was two squares away from Oscar's. Oscar frowned, and made the only move he could make. Kevin cried out in triumph, then he whipped his rook all the way down the board so that it was in line with Oscar's king.

'Checkmate!' Kevin declared.

'Fuck!' Oscar laughed. 'I knew I had to stay away from the corners, but for some reason I didn't!'

'Now you've lost,' Kevin grinned, 'and you have to be punished!'

Oscar squealed as Kevin collapsed on top of him and hurled him down into a horizontal position on the couch.

Ella fell back into a horizontal position on the couch and darted her lips upward to meet Michael's.

'You're absolutely sure your mom's not gonna come back?' she said.

'Yes,' said Michael. 'We still have more than two hours, and that should be plenty of time.'

'I'll say!' said Ella. 'Okay, let's do it.'

There came a tremendous crash as Oscar's shoulder slammed into the TV and caused it to skew to an angle of forty-five degrees on its stand.

'Crap!' Kevin exclaimed, dropping Oscar onto the floor with a thud. 'It's not broken, is it?'

'I don't think so,' said Oscar, propping himself up on one elbow. 'Maybe we should stop now, huh?'

'Had enough, have you?' Kevin grinned.

'I didn't say that,' Oscar grinned back.

Kevin took a moment to straighten the TV, then he found himself tumbling across the floor with Oscar on top of him. They screeched and laughed and clawed at each other, then Kevin slammed his knee into Oscar's stomach and pinned him to the floor.

'Oh my God, my Go-Gurt's coming up!' Oscar giggled.

Kevin laughed, slammed Oscar's shoulders into the floor several times and then said, 'Stay the night.'

'Okay,' said Oscar. 'You'll have to let me up so I can call my mom.'

'Sure,' said Kevin. 'I'll lend you my spare pyjama bottoms, and you can get a ride back with my mom in the morning when she goes out to do her weekly grocery shop.'

'Perfect,' said Oscar, then he wriggled out of Kevin's grasp and flipped the pair of them through one hundred and eighty degrees.

'Hey!' Kevin laughed, finding that Oscar's knee was now in his stomach. 'You're still full of surprises, bro.'

Oscar grinned down at him and said, 'You don't know the half of it!'

Ella pulled her coat on and headed for the front door.

'You don't have to go yet,' said Michael. 'My mom still won't be home for a while.'

'That's okay,' said Ella, avoiding his eye, 'I need to get going now.'

'Can I walk you home?'

'No, there's no need for that. Bye, Mike.'

Ella slunk out of the apartment, still without looking at Michael. Michael stared at the closed door for a few seconds with a mortified expression on his face, then he went over to the sink and started to fill the washing-up bowl with water.