Breaking Her Rules

Chapter 5

On Saturday, Dan and I spend our afternoon in the pool, drinking ciders and sunbaking. He tells me how his writing is going at Crater Mag and I tell him about my first week at school.

'I should have quit chemistry last year,' I'm telling him, wiping condensation down my cider bottle. 'Screw Mum for pushing me into Chem and Biol. As if I'm ever gonna be a fucking doctor. Now I'm stuck in this class with Duncan and Lucas for the whole year, and it's going to be shit. Like sure, I like learning about that stuff, but the other day in Chem we had to mix these chemicals in the fume cupboard because they were so deadly if you inhaled them you'd die. I started breathing pretty heavily and I was freaking out about it. And Lucas is just so smug about it all. He knows I have anxiety about that shit, but he just pushed past me, pushed me away and started mixing them himself. Jerk.'

'Speaking of Lucas! I forgot to mention!' Dan says, slamming his cider down on the pool ledge and launching himself out of the water. He runs into the house, leaving me lying on the edge of the pool, bewildered. He returns, holding a battered old copy of a magazine, and a towel wrapped around his waist.

'What's this?' I ask.

'It's an old copy of Crater Mag,' Dan says, sitting down next to where I'm lying on a towel. 'At work they had me sorting through the archives. It was awesome! And I found this little beauty.'

'When's this from?' I ask.

'It's from 84,' he says. He flips it open to a page straight away, and leans it against the railing so we can both read. It's an article about Dime's the Limit, our father's band.

In 1980, when they were just sixteen, Ivan Shepherd, Karen Penn, Nicoletta Giordano and George Addison unleashed the makings of a new band, Dime's the Limit, often shortened by fans to Dime's. With schoolmates Thomas Maisonwood and Trevor Elmhirst, the band quickly made its mark in their school's Battle of the Bands, with talent soaring high above the other competitors in the year. Two years ago they released their first independent record, which made it to the top forty of radio charts in the city. They hit a minor setback last year when lead singer George Addison performed a risky stunt at a gig and broke his arm. But this year they're back, touring Australia. George and his high school girlfriend Nicoletta have perfect chemistry on stage, and they're set to entertain. And if you're hoping for a risky stunt again, you may be satisfied. George is wild, entertaining and sexy on stage, and he's sure to work up a crowd. Find venues and tickets through the number below.

I look at Dan, who has already read the article and is staring at me expectantly. 'Jules' mum was dating George Addison?' I say.

'That's what the magazine says,' Dan says. 'And sure, they might make something up to add to the appeal of the band, but the idea seems likely! Karen and Nicoletta were best friends back then, and Karen was going out with Ivan. Maybe Nicoletta was going out with George?'

'Do you reckon Julian knows this?' I say. 'That's probably what Lucas was talking about! What if Nicoletta and George broke up, and the break up was so big it broke up the band?'

'That's what I was thinking,' Dan says. 'I bet Trevor has said something to the Elmhirst boys: something about Nicoletta and George's relationship. Everyone else was keeping it a secret, and so Lucas decided to taunt Jules.'

'But why wouldn't our parents tell us about that?' I say. 'Dime's was their life for a few years. We've heard the funny antics they got up to backstage, but we never heard the real story of their band!'

Dan shrugs. 'Maybe they never wanted us to know when we were younger. It's just not something you bring up in conversation. George killed himself – he was pretty fucked up. Maybe Nicoletta didn't want her kids knowing she dated him.'