Changing Lives
By Mabel Marsters
Disclaimer: only the plot is truly mine!
Lyrics to Born in the USA are obviously by Bruce Springsteen - hope you don't mind boss?
Chapter EightThe plan when they got to the party was that they'd stick close together so James could tell William who everybody was. They'd barely walked in to the place before a dark haired boy came up to them.
"James, mate, how yer doin'? This your cous'?"
"That's Neil," whispered James.
"Hi Neil, yeah, mate, I'm ok. Meet William. William, me mate Neil."
"Hi," said James quietly.
"Don't worry about 'im, 'e's just a bit shy," said William with a grin. Pretending to be James was great fun, concentrating on mimicking his voice left him no time to be shy himself. "See yer later, just need to get a drink." he added as James tugged at his sleeve.
"What?" said William when they were out of earshot.
"Don't want to get stuck wiv 'im all night," replied James, "Borin' git," he added in explanation.
They made their way further into the club - the music was loud, the dance floor already crowded. James tapped William on his arm.
"Biggest test yer'll 'ave, me best mate Richard. Rich, ask 'im 'ow 'is bird is."
Richard spotted them across the dimly lit club and came over. William noticed how James held himself a little stooped, not standing tall like he normally did. With a shock he realised James was reproducing his own body language.
"Christ, that looks pathetic," thought William, making a mental note to stand up straight from now on.
"Wotcha James, God it's been ages, lucky bleeder missin' last three weeks o' term."
"Alright Rich, this 'ere's me cous' William." The lads nodded to each other, James not daring to speak as he was having trouble keeping a straight face. "So Rich, 'ow's yer bird?" asked William, thankfully knowing he was talking about his girlfriend.
"God, mate, 'ow long yer got? Driving me bleedin' mad, keep tryin' to finish it but it don't seem to register wiv 'er. Want a drink? The usual?"
William nodded, then looked to James, "E'll 'ave the same, too," he said, knowing James was about to crack.
By the time Rich got back with the drinks the game was up, they just couldn't stop laughing.
"Can't believe yer 'ad me fooled, yer right pair o' gits." said Rich, joining in their laughter and handing them a beer each.
William raised his eyebrows at James when they were given them.
"Can drink from eighteen 'ere. Rich 'as got a fake ID, plus he looks old!" said James, earning himself a thump from Rich.
William sipped at his beer slowly, not really liking the taste. He'd never drunk alcohol before, seeing the effect it had on his parents putting him off trying it. He managed to 'lose' it on a table when he'd only drunk about a quarter. James headed off to the loo, Rich went for more drinks, this time with James' money, and William asked for a Coke instead, which earned him a bit of a sideways look from Rich, then a shrug. He was standing there alone when a girl marched up to him. She was almost as tall as he was, with long black hair. Her clothes looked like they'd been made for someone shorter than she was, her midriff bare and the skirt barely covering her ass. She was pretty in an over made up kind of way.
"So why didn't you return my calls, you sod? Surely your little bloody cousin doesn't keep you so busy you can't ring?"
William opened his mouth to speak.
"Or e-mail? I know you had to send your work by e-mail, too bloody busy to drop a line to me?"
"Um," said William eventually.
"Um?" she snapped, "Three weeks of nothing and you say 'um'."
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed James returning but when he saw the girl he doubled back and disappeared.
"Thanks, James."
"Well? What have you got to say for yourself?"
"You've got the wrong person," said William, this time emphasising his American accent, "I'm the little bloody cousin."
The girl just looked at William open mouthed. He caught sight of James again and shouted to him.
"James! Think I need an introduction."
James sheepishly made his way over to them.
"God, I ought to slap you," said the girl.
"Nah, pet, yer wouldn't do that to me now, would yer?" he smiled his most charming smile, which the girl promptly slapped.
"Ow! Bloody 'ell, Lucy, that's bang out of order."
"Why didn't you call?" asked Lucy.
"I told yer why before I left school. I'm busy this summer and don't want to be bogged down wiv anyone."
"Bogged down? Is that what you think? Well, you'll not be bogged down now; we're finished." And with that Lucy turned on her heel and disappeared into the crowd.
"Oh, thank God fer that," said James, "Went better than I anticipated."
"That was better than you thought it'd be?" exclaimed William, "I'd hate to see it when it goes worse."
"C'mon, let's forget about 'er, right pain in the arse. I'm free! That's cause for celebration. Wot are yer 'aving?" he asked as Rich returned with the drinks.
"Coke, not big with the drinking," said William.
"Oh right, well, as long as yer don't mind me if I 'ave some?" said James.
William missed the little wink that Richard gave James as he passed the Coke to him.
Ooooooo
A few hours later the DJ stopped playing and people started getting up to sing to backing tracks.
"I forgot there was karaoke tonight," said James.
"Karry whattie?" asked William.
"Karaoke, it's where you pick a song and sing along to it, it's a right laugh, you gonna 'ave a go?"
"God, no!" said William, "Not a chance."
"We'll see about that," thought James.
Sure enough, an hour later Rich and James pushed a still rather reluctant William onto the stage. The DJ announced him.
"Ok, guys, this is Spike, all the way from California and he's going to sing 'Born in the USA'."
"Spike?" queried William.
James grabbed the microphone off its stand.
"E's called Spike 'cause we 'ad to 'spike' his drink with vodka before e'd get on stage!"
Everybody laughed and he passed the mic to William.
The music started and for a second William froze, then he just remembered how easy it'd been to pretend to be James so he took a deep breath, forgot about being William and concentrated on the song. He hardly needed to read the words as it was a track James had put on his iPod.
"Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground."
He started a little shakily but by the end everyone was listening to him. His voice was amazing even over the slightly 'tinny' sounding PA system.
"I'm a long gone Daddy in the USA
Born in the USA
I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the USA
Born in the USA."
He stopped, the song over, and was greeted with silence.
"Crap, was I that bad?" he thought, starting to blush.
Then everyone started to cheer and clap. As he walked off the stage James grabbed him and slapped his shoulder.
"Bleedin' 'ell, yer good, Spike! Yer've got to keep it up when you get back 'ome. Christ, I wish I could sing like that, or at all, truth be told. I 'ave been known to clear a place if I get 'old of the mic."
"Was I really ok?" asked William.
"Look around, yer the best in the place. I know it's not much of a compliment but seriously, mate, yer good, yer really good. C'mon Spike, let's get another drink."
"Ok, but no more spiking Spike's drink, I don't wanna be drunk in front of my mom when she's trying to quit," said William.
"Shit, sorry, I never thought," said James, sobering a little.
"'S alright, just don't want anymore that's all. I'd probably just end up being sick anyway."
The DJ started to play songs again and the dance floor once again was crowded. They managed to find a sofa to sit on at the back of the club and sat there chatting with Rich until it was time to go home.
"Was great to finally meet yer, Spike. Think we're gonna 'ave some fun this summer." said Rich.
"Same 'er," mimicked William with a grin.
Once outside James called his dad for a lift home and they sat on a wall waiting for his arrival.
"All right lads?" said Thomas as he pulled up next to them, "Had a good time?"
"Yeah, was great, Dad," said James, climbing in, "yer ought to 'ere William sing, 'e's bloody amazin'."
"Is that so? Jayne never told us you could sing, William."
"I didn't know I could until tonight," admitted William. He still couldn't believe he'd done it, stood on a stage in front of a crowd and sang! Was it only three weeks ago that he was in awe of Oz being able to do it? Mind you, the vodka had certainly played a part in getting him on stage in the first place. He didn't think he would've managed it sober.
To be continued ….
