Chocolate Box Girls: Bittersweet by Cathy Cassidy

love to hear it, Shay, but … it won’t make anydifference. There’s nothing I’d like more than to sign you up … but your age is against us here. I’ve been talking to my colleagues. Your dad doesn’t just have misgivings, he’s actively hostile to the whole idea. Even if your mum was totally on board with all this I’d be very wary about taking things further right now. When we work with a minor, we need to know that the family are in, one hundred per cent. In your case, Shay, we couldn’t rely on that, no matter how supportive your brother may be.’
    ‘So … what are you saying?’ Ben asks, frowning.
    ‘I’m saying … there is nothing I would like more than to sign you to Wrecked, Shay, but right now I can’t. Keep working – keep singing and writing. And come back and see me when you’re eighteen.’
    We shake hands with Curtis Rawlins and walk out of there with our heads held high, but inside I am shaking. I’m not sure I can take another knock without falling to pieces.
    ‘Sorry, mate,’ Ben says. ‘That didn’t go so well.’
    ‘I’m sorry,’ I sigh. ‘I’ve wasted your time … all that effort for nothing.’
    ‘It wasn’t for nothing,’ he grins. ‘I got to spend some time out with my little brother, even if I had to practically kidnap you to do it. I’ve had fun. And it wasn’t a waste – we know the situation now. You have something to work for, something to aim for.’
    ‘I guess,’ I say.
    ‘Definitely,’ Ben insists. ‘We tried, didn’t we? If you want something badly, you go the extra mile. You don’t just sit back and accept things, you do everything you can to make it happen. Maybe it didn’t work out this time, but if you keep believing, keep working, then sooner or later it will. Keep the faith. We gave it our best shot. No regrets!’
    I frown. Ben is talking about the record deal, of course, but he has a point.
    I think about a girl with glossy, blue-black hair, shining almond eyes fringed with long, sooty lashes, the sweetest smile. Cherry is my best friend, my crush, my confidante. Without her, everything is dull and pointless. Without her, my heart is in the gutter.
    I remember Honey’s advice from last night, Finch’s words from this morning.
    I messed up the best thing I ever had, and all over a tangle of lies and misunderstandings. I need to ditch the excuses and fix it up before it’s too late. I wonder if there’s time to meet Finch for a pep talk before facing Cherry, seeing as we’re actually in London. I pick up my mobile to message him and find it’s dead, out of charge. Looks like I’m on my own with this.
    What was it Ben said? If you want something badly, you go the extra mile.

Ben and I mooch around Camden for a while, checking out the quirky stalls and eating pitta bread and falafel down by the canal in the sunshine. I remember Honey’s pipe dream of running away and starting a fashion stall here, and sigh. Ben buys a couple of T-shirts and I buy a second-hand silver chain with a cherry-motif pendant, hoping I get the chance to give it to Cherry. We both pick out mirrored sunglasses and drive out of Camden at sunset with the sunroof down and Ben’s Beach Boys CD blaring.
    We don’t get home till midnight.
    Dad appears in the doorway the minute Ben’s car pulls up, the anger rolling off him in waves. I can feel my shoulders slump.
    Today is the day I learnt how cool my brother really is, and the day I found out for sure that I will not be a fifteen-year-old teen idol signed up to Wrecked Rekords. It’s the day I discovered that the best things in life are worth fighting for, that if you don’t like something you change it.
    It was a life-changing day, but now, back home, itfeels like nothing has altered at all. Dad unleashes his temper, ranting about how Ben and I have let him down, left him short-staffed, had everyone worried sick.
    Yeah, right.
    Following Ben down the garden path, I stop abruptly and turn, dropping my schoolbag