FABLE

Chapter Thirty Nine

"Marshmallows. Do you eat them?" Ben asks as he slips onto a barstool next to Alastaire.

"I guess," I say. "They're nice in hot chocolate."

"Good," he says. "We're running out of food and all we have left is a jumbo-sized bag of marshmallows until Kitty can get to the shops tomorrow."

"Wonderful planning as always Kitty," says Alastaire. "You had one job. ONE JOB."

"Hey!" Kitty says as she punches Alastaire in the arm. "We wouldn't have run out if you guys hadn't eaten an entire week's worth of groceries in one weekend. It's not my fault you're all such gluttons."

"That's not true," Ben says. "Anyway, I would kill for a pizza right now. Remind me again why we're camped out in the middle of the woods hours away from civilization."

"It's all in the name of music my friend," Alastaire says breezily. "Which reminds me. Cupcake, no more napping today, okay? We thought we'd show you around the recording studio this afternoon. We've got a few tracks in the works we can play for you. And if you behave yourself and help us make lots of pretty music, I'll let you have some of my Moët at the bonfire."

"What?" I say, feeling pretty lost.

"Moët & Chandon," Alastaire says. "I have Rose Imperial and a few bottles of the 1943 cuveé if that's your scene."

"No, I mean, you said there was a bonfire?" I say. Am I missing something?

"Yeah, it was Elliot's idea," Ben says.

"That's why they've been forcing me to do manual labour like a middle class pleb all morning," Alastaire says. "We've been out collecting wood. If we're going to eat our weight in marshmallows for supper, we might as well roast them over a bonfire under the stars. Washed down with equal amounts of vintage champers of course to make the whole experience more bearable."

"Marshmallows, beer and champagne are literally all we have left," Ben says. "That, and coffee."

"You want me to stay for the bonfire?" I ask, worried about where this is all going.

"Yeah, of course," Ben says while the others nod in unison.

"But... won't it be dark by the time we're done?" I ask. "I don't know about walking home through the forest. That seems sort of dangerous. Even with a flashlight."

"Who said anything about you going home Cupcake?" Alastaire leans closer to me, twirling his finger around a strand of my hair. "You're spending the night."

"Alone in a locked room of course," Kitty says as she shoots Alastaire a scolding glance. "That bedroom you were in earlier is empty. You should just stay over."

Should I do it? My parents are going to freak. No way can I ask them if it's ok for me to sleep over in an isolated cabin in the forest with five teenaged guys. Literal, actual rock stars to make it even worse. One of whom is a world-renowned manslut. I'll definitely need to make up a cover story.

"I think it's ok," I say. "But I have to make a phone call."

"Good luck," Ben says. "Haven't you noticed yet? There's no service out here. I'm having serious YouTube withdrawals."

I fish my phone out of my cardigan pocket. He's right - there aren't any signal bars.

"Actually, I found a spot with signal near the house," Kitty says. "It's really weak but you should be able to make a call."

"What?!" Ben and Alastaire both gasp at the same time.

"You didn't think to share this information?" Alastaire asks, staring daggers at Kitty.