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anon – (first review) I actually didn't think about why she refuses them... I think it's a mixture of both. She's pretty happy as she is, and doesn't really see the point of dating at that point of her life. (Second review) Aha, be patient! I work until 6 on a Tuesday.

I don't own Night World.

Chapter 4

Friday passes with no mishaps, and before I know it, it's turned into Saturday and we're doing sound-check for the gig that night.

And sound-check was the single most stressful thing in the world.

I was absolutely fine. I understood music levels, and so I could help, and Val understands them very well, but Hugh and Pierce...

"Shouldn't I be turned up? I can't hear myself," Pierce says.

I take a deep breath and frown at him. "Pierce, we've gone over this a hundred times. Trust the sound people; they understand levels, and they're sitting where the audience will be sitting."

He glares at me as the sound-check guy shouts at Hugh to turn the volume of his guitar down, because of course he felt like he should turn it up. Sometimes I really wondered about these guys. I exchange a glance with Val, who rolls his eyes whilst juggling his sticks. I laugh at his expression, which was now one of utter concentration. Okay, I wondered about that guy too.

"Okay, Jez. Try out your microphone," the sound-check guy says. I hold up the microphone and start singing one of the songs as he fiddles with the slidey buttons. Hey! I understand sound, doesn't mean I understand the equipment!

The sound-check doesn't cause too much hassle, though at one point I am very tempted to shout at Hugh as he turns the volume of his guitar up yet again. Before I have time to catch my breath, we're backstage as the people filter in, waiting to be called. Raven comes to wish us luck (though I really wish I didn't have to see her wish Val luck. I am only 17, after all), as does Thistle at one point, but she's much too distracted by her new phone to sound completely sincere.

As I'm escorting Thistle out back to her mother, something happens, with a suddenness that surprises me so much that I'm very close to falling over in shock and/or shouting something very embarrassing such as 'crab-nuggets!' No kidding, I have actually done that before when I realised Colin Firth was standing right in front of me.

And the reason? Well, Blackthorn is right in front of me. Sadly not as amazing as Colin Firth, but I forget that quite quickly when I see him in normal clothes instead of the shirt and black trousers he's in usually. And he looks quite... well... good.

"Mr Blackthorn!" I say in a voice slightly higher than usual. He smirks before answering.

"I saw your gig being advertised, so I decided to come," he explains.

"Oh," I say, and I feel a blush colouring my cheeks. Dammit. I realise that Thistle is looking at me very strangely. "I need to get going. Umm... enjoy the show." Oh my goodness. What a dorkish thing to say... I drag Thistle, whilst still trying to make it look as if I have to get out of here or I might just jump on him. Why did he have to come? I was never particularly nervous, but knowing that he was in the audience would so make me mess up.

"Who's he?" Thistle asks, turning to look at him.

"My English teacher."

She gave a low whistle. "Wow. Lucky you. He's gorgeous."

"Woah! Thistle, you're ten!"

"And I spend most of my time with the band. It's all your fault," she was grinning at this point, and I couldn't help laughing at her.

"Yes, I know. We're a terrible influence, and we've ruined your innocent mind with our crass jokes and sleazy innuendoes."

"What's crass?"

I ruffle her hair. "Don't worry about it. Go on, there's your mother. Be a kid for a couple of years longer, okay?"

"Yeth," she lisps and skips off, earning another laugh from me. I almost sprint back to backstage, sticking to the shadows lest Blackthorn wanted to come find me again. If I was going to be able to function, I had to forget the fact that he was here. And he looked... well... like he did.

"Jez!"

I jump violently. "What? What?"

Val frowns at me. "Damn, girl. What were you thinking about?" I stubbornly fought the blush and he smirks. "I see. But we're on, so get your mind out of the gutter."

"What?"

He slaps my shoulder and winks before spinning me round to get onto the stage, and the gig started.

It surprised me that, at the beginning, my hands were shaking. I was never scared at gigs, but I figured out a trick. If I didn't look at Blackthorn, who was standing to the side (with a very pretty blonde, which made me quite angry) then I could perform normally. Towards the end, I'd forgotten he was even there.

The gig ended as usual (with Val whooping and hollering and the rest of us laughing at him once we'd gotten down from the stage), and as usual, I go alone backstage. The others usually let me.

I remembered the origin of my discomfort and uncharacteristic fear when I see Blackthorn come up. "Well, I definitely didn't expect that."

I control my expression before turning to frown at him. "In a good way or a bad way?"

"Good. Definitely good," he says with a laugh. Oh, for goodness sake, why did he have to laugh? I was a bit breathless when I answered.

"What, you expected us to be bad?" I say, feigning hurt.

"I expected you to be a bit under-rehearsed, what with you being particularly lazy."

"Only in English," I tease him with a smile. I'm distracted when the blonde I saw him with earlier comes over and takes hold of his hand. Dammit, they are together.

My thought surprises me. Even if I was attracted to him, what could I possibly do with that? He was my teacher.

"Oh, Jez, this is Ella, my girlfriend."

I plaster a smile on my face (which I pray doesn't look too forced). "Nice to meet you," I say. Well, actually, I practically chirp it. Blackthorn shoots me a strange look.

"So you're Jez," she said, with a smile. "You were really fantastic up there tonight."

"Thanks. Wait, what exactly has he been saying about me?" I cross my arms and eye Blackthorn.

Ella laughs. "That you're the most interesting student in his class."

Well, might as well have some fun. When life hands you lemonade, make lemons or whatever-the-crap the saying is. "Are you sure he didn't say the most amazing?"

"Close enough, I'd say." She turns to Blackthorn to whisper something in his ear and he nods. She says bye to me quickly and leaves.

"How long have you been with Ella, then?" I say, just a bit too brightly, to Blackthorn.

He seems surprised by my question. But, hey, after teaching me for about two months, he should know that go by halves isn't really in my vocabulary. "About two years," he answered. "How about you with the music?" he steps closer to me and I lean nonchalantly against the wall.

"Oh, right. Because that's like a relationship, right? The only relationship I'll ever have," I say. He seems surprised by this too. "I started classical piano when I was six and modern when I was eleven. Though the 'band' was set up when I was seven."

"Hence a name like 'Chaos'." He steps closer again. He was now less than a metre away, which wasn't helping me figure out what to say next. And my stupid eyes kept on being drawn to his lips. I was sure he would notice, and that would be embarrassing for both of us. He frowns slightly, his emerald eyes suddenly so intense that I couldn't bring myself to look away. "Do you really believe that?"

"What?" He was leaning closer, and I could hardly even remember my name, let alone what I'd just said a few seconds ago.

"That you won't ever have a relationship."

There was absolutely no way I could answer that in my current position. He closed the remaining centimetres and kissed me.

I could have died happy right then. But just as my hand is reaching up to touch his hair, a loud shout resonates from somewhere outside our little bubble, in the real world. He jumps back, his eyes wide.

"Jez!" Val calls again. I look in the direction of where his voice is coming from in time to see his head pop out from behind a door.

"Yeah?" My voice, strangely, is really quite steady.

"What's 675 divided by 4?"

"168.75," I answer automatically. What? I said my IQ was higher than Einstein's. When it came to maths, at least.

"Thanks!" he disappears again. I turn back to Blackthorn, but only see the back of his head as he almost runs out of the door.

Oh no. Did that seriously just happen? Did I seriously just kiss my teacher?

Apparently so.