Girls Who Play Guitars

•so we meet again•

With mashed-up dance music blasting her ears, Ellie searched amongst the smoke-filled, amped-up party crowd in the V.I.P. tent. The energy inside had lifted since Slider had done the obligatory meet and greet before their show with the men in suits who filled space with their rolling jargon and back-slapping egotism. While they didn't wear suits to Glasto, Ellie knew from their not-quite-cool-enough jeans and new sneakers, polished skin and expensive haircuts that, in their regular day jobs, they wore suits. Ellie didn't trust men in suits. She couldn't bring herself to suck up, or flirt and had no reason to be friends with a forty-five-year-old forever-young wannabe only in it for the money.

Now the suits had gone, the vibe was relaxed as band members, crew, friends and family hung out. Everyone recognised Ellie as she pushed through the sea of indistinguishable faces who offered her glasses of half-drunk champagne, various drugs and a weird concoction with a fluorescent light in it.

She found Kim sprawled on a stained velvet covered couch next to—Ellie presumed—Ollie Glass, the lead singer of Silent Moth. His mega-long, curled brown hair framed rounded cheekbones and a pudgy nose, and he wore the band's staple Seventies cord flares and psychedelic shirts. His wide smile and sleepy eyes made Ellie like him straight away.

When she saw Ellie, Kim beamed and shifted over so Ellie could sit.

"This is the best party ever," Kim slurred, adjusting her baby doll dress over her knees. Her breath reeked of something acidic and her usually pristine makeup sat a little askew on her face; her cheeks a little too pink.

Ellie sunk into the dank-smelling couch and wondered how and when she should break the news about Jessie to Kim and Meg.

"Where's Meg?" she asked.

"Messing 'round with some ... bass player." Kim waved her bottle of beer in the air towards the bar.

"Hope she's not setting herself up for another muso fail."

Kim giggled into her beer.

Perhaps now wasn't the time to tell Kim about Jessie. It seemed unfair to ruin her night. Kim was stress-free in a haze of stoned obliviousness. Ellie would tell her and Meg the news tomorrow. Once they'd had their fun. But Ellie couldn't relax knowing Jessie was wrangling her evil ways into owning their songs. "I'm gonna find Lachy," she said, "and get a lift back to the hotel."

As she went to push out of the couch, Kim grabbed her wrist and held her in place.

"Be cool ... Ellie." Kim leaned in close to Ellie. "Be cool."

Ellie sank back into the cushions and had to admit, nestled in the warmth with her head resting on Kim's shoulder, she didn't feel like going anywhere.

Ollie Glass bent across Kim and nodded to Ellie. "Decent gig, man," he said in his heavy American accent, his long hair cascading around his shoulders as he held an enormous joint out to her.

If Ellie started smoking, she'd have no chance at getting away from here anytime soon.

Ollie's yellow speckled eyes were encouraging as he wiggled the spliff, his charismatic grin urging her on.

Fuck it.

Just one toke.

Then she'd go.

Smoke coiled around her fingers as she sucked hard on the roach and held the smoke in her lungs for as long as she could. She passed the spliff back to Ollie and breathed out. The gaseous warmth filled her insides and slipped inside her head, smooth and loose, tingling her skin and spinning her brain, easing her into a cushiony tiredness.