Girls Who Play Guitars

•drama in ellie-ville•

Kim's parents' house was a pristine brick veneer with a tidily trimmed garden and perfectly pruned hedges lining the driveway. As Ellie skidded her bike to the front gate, she stopped for a second; reminded herself Kim was grumpy with her. Ellie needed to apologise to her. She knew there were so many things going on with Kim she needed to be there for.

Nothing else.

The shock of seeing Daniel on the porch with Jessie had set off something inside Ellie. Her reality had been skewed by how caught up in him she was. And who else did Ellie have? Kim and Meg were her best friends. The real deal. They were the ones who would see her through the ups and the downs. She needed them. And she needed to show she was there for them.

Dropping her bike onto the fresh-cut grass, she launched herself up the concrete front steps. After wiping her nose on the back of her sleeve and calming her wild hair down with her palms, she pressed the doorbell with a firm forefinger. The familiar blaring squeal of it sent a pair of magpies perched on the edge of the birdbath squawking, flapping away into the sky.

She could hear voices inside; footsteps.

The door jerked open and Kim's dad popped his head around the side. When he saw it was Ellie, he didn't open the wire screen door, only peered at her with stormy eyes through the thick metal grating.

"Hey, Mr. Amato." Ellie swallowed her nerves—she'd stood in front of thousands of people and played her heart out; she could stand in front of Kim's bullish father. "Is Kim in?"

She felt like she'd gone back to her high school days, having to beg Kim's parents to let her come and practice.

"No, Kim's not available," Mr. Amato said flatly, his Japanese accent still as strong as Ellie remembered. He went to close the door.

Ellie peered through the crack. "I really need to see her."

"I've told you before, Ellie, you and that band are no bloody good for my daughter." He shook a finger raggedly at her. "As soon as we met you, I knew you were trouble and Kim's finally learned I was right about you all along. She's quitting the band, and she's going to university and she'll move back to Tokyo with us and get a proper job. Get married. She needs some security in her future. And I hope we will never see you or that other strange girl again."

All Ellie could think about was how incredible Kim was when she was on stage hammering away at those skins. And maybe what Mr. Amato wanted for Kim wasn't what Kim wanted for herself. Mr. Amato would never change, though, even though he expected his only daughter to change for him.

"Mr. Amato," Ellie pleaded, daring to rest her hand on the door handle as she spoke through the wire door. "Did Kim tell you we've had number one singles and our album is number one in the U.K.? All because of Kim!"

Mr. Amato pointed his finger at Ellie again, jabbing it so sharply at her face Ellie was glad of the screen door between them. "Where will you be in five years, Ellie? Ten years? This band thing is just a childish hobby. Your parents are just as bad as you are by encouraging you. It's time the three of you grew up."

"With all respect, Mr. Amato, you don't get to tell me or my parents what to do," Ellie fumed, feeling the tears rising again.

"No. And you don't get to tell my daughter what to do. You aren't taking care of her in London. She's coming home. She needs her family—"

"Mr. Amato," Ellie said in a loud voice to make sure Kim would hear from wherever she was inside the house, "tell Kim I will find the evidence we need for the court case. Tell Kim I will not let her quit the band! Tell her she's the most awesome person I know—"