Melody 5 - Rising Stars

14 (ii) - Kat

--- KAT ---

"We can't let Lena quit," fumed Kat.

Lena had dropped that bombshell on them as soon as they'd got back to Amy's parents' house. She'd said she was prepared to quit if that's what the girls wanted and had left them all to decide what to do. The girls had been discussing it for nearly two hours around the kitchen table and still weren't any closer to a group decision.

"But it's Lena's choice," said Amy. "She wants to do it for us."

"I don't think she wants to do it," said Molly.

"Absolutely not!" echoed Jadine. "Basically, we're being blackmailed. And we won't be held to ransom by the woman who tossed us aside so she could 'play house' with her cheating scumbag husband."

"She was pregnant at the time," said Rhian.

"Well, just because she lost her baby and her marriage didn't work out," said Jadine. "We're not going to be her consolation prize."

"What other choice do we have?" asked Amy. "The deals the first two record companies are offering us are a joke compared to what Glenn Davies is offering."

"We can go back to them," said Jadine. "Make them change what they're prepared to offer."

"But we've got to give Glenn Davies an answer by tomorrow morning," said Amy.

"There's got to be something we can do," pleaded Kat. "Lena's done so much for us. We can't just toss her aside."

Kat couldn't bear the thought of losing Lena. And she wasn't just thinking of the band. She was thinking of herself.

The night Lena had driven her home to Ipswich had been a revelation. Lena had known the truth about Kat's sexuality before Kat had fully realised it herself. And when Kat had confessed to Lena that she was gay, it had felt so good to finally have someone to confide in.

When they'd gone back to her papa's house and finally got rid of her Auntie Vi, Kat knew she should have talked to Lena about her papa being in a coma, but instead she'd spent the whole night pumping Lena for information. When had Lena realised she was gay? How had she 'come out'? What did her parents say? Had she ever snogged a boy? Who was her first girlfriend? How did she meet her current girlfriend Alice? What was sex like?

Lena had gently laughed at Kat's thirst for knowledge, but had patiently answered all her question nonetheless.

"Do you think the other girls know about me?" asked Kat.

"I'm not sure," said Lena. "I mean you didn't even know yourself really."

"Then how come you could tell?" said Kat.

"It takes one, to know one," laughed Lena. "Seriously though, I guess I sensed some of the same apprehensions I'd had before I embraced being gay."

"I don't think I can tell anyone else," said Kat.

"There's no need," said Lena. "You will when you're ready."

"When will that be?" asked Kat.

"When the time's right, you'll just know," smiled Lena, repeating the phrase everyone dreaded hearing.

"Very helpful," said Kat, with mock annoyance.

"Now you need to get some sleep before the Festival tomorrow," chided Lena. "I'll take the couch. Are you going to sleep in Dani's bed?"

"I suppose so," said Kat. "I'll go and check on the boys first."

It was then that Kat realised this would be her first night alone in a bedroom for months. Since joining the band, she'd shared a room with Jadine. For one night only, she'd have a room to herself. Kat took a deep breath and the words tumbled out before she could change her mind.