Melody 5 - Rising Stars

8 (v) - Rhian

--- RHIAN ---

As they walked down the gravel driveway towards Amy’s parents’ house, Rhian was glad they’d chosen Kat to be in the band.  Rhian was discovering they had a lot in common.  They were both the oldest girls in large families; were both desperate to escape their remote hometowns; neither of them were English (what with Kat being from Poland and Rhian being from Wales); and both of them had an overbearing parent.  Kat hadn’t gone into much detail about her dad yet, but the little she had said, implied he wasn’t an easy person to be around. 

“Wow, your home is lovely,” said Kat to Amy, as they approached the front door.

“It’s my parents place,” clarified Amy.

“It’s really kind of them to help you out,” said Kat.

“Hello, girls,” trilled Christine, as Amy opened the door. 

“Kat could start right away so we brought her straight back,” said Amy.  “Hope you don’t mind, mum.”

“No,” tutted Christine with a tight smile.  “And we’ve got another guest as well.”

“Alright, babe,” said a familiar Welsh voice, giving Rhian the shock of her life.  She couldn’t believe who was stood next to Amy’s mum, munching on a slice of cake and dropping crumbs all over her luxurious beige carpet.

“Kyle!  Oh my God!” gasped Rhian.  “What are you doing here?”

“You invited me, remember?” he smiled.

No she hadn’t.  How did he even know where she was?  The last time she’d texted him, had been when they’d been living in Muswell Hill.

“You said it’d be alright to pop in if I came up to London.  Well, here I am,” said Kyle, as he stuffed the last bit of cake into his mouth.

Kat didn’t have a clue what was going on, but Rhian could feel the glares from the others boring into her.  They obviously thought she had invited him.

“I meant we could meet up in town or something,” stumbled Rhian.

“Well, Mrs Anderson said it’d be alright to stay over for a night or two.”

“For one night,” corrected Christine.  “Seeing as you’ve come such a long way.”

“Great stuff,” smiled Kyle.  “So tell me about this band of yours then, Rhi.  Made any money yet?”

Rhian saw Amy and Jadine share a look.  Kyle was clearly living up to the low expectations of what she’d described.

“Rhian, why don’t you and your friend go through to the conservatory,” clipped Christine.  “I need to finish making dinner.  There’s a pot of tea already in there.”

“Got anything stronger Mrs A?” grinned Kyle.

“Rhian isn’t old enough for anything stronger.  And I suspect neither are you,” said Christine tartly.

“Fair enough,” said Kyle.

“Would you like us to come with you?” asked Molly.  She clearly thought Rhian needed back-up.

“Maybe in a bit,” mumbled Rhian.  She wanted to get Kyle on his own first and find out what the hell he was doing here.

“Okay,” said Jadine, following Molly’s lead.  “We’ll get freshened up and then join you.” 

“Kat, I’ll show you to the room you’re sharing with Jadine,” said Amy, fixing Kyle with a stern gaze before she headed upstairs.

“What’s their problem?” grunted Kyle, as Rhian steered him towards the conservatory.