Love Can Drop Dead (Sequel to DBNO)

Chapter 18

I cocked my head to the side as I heard movement from down the corridor so I got up and boiled the kettle to make coffee since from the noise it sounded like both Adrian and Jeremy were awake. For once I was up before Adrian which rarely happened but that was probably because I was still buzzing with excitement from last night.

I had so many people telling me how great I had been at singing as well as playing the guitar and I'd gotten double the amount of tips that I made on usual nights when we had a lot of people.

"Morning" Adrian yawned from behind me and I smiled at him as I added the milk to his cup and stirred before I did the same with Jeremy's.

"Morning to you to" I replied, handing Adrian his drink before I sat back down at the counter and emptied the purse that I'd stuffed full of my tips last night before I started counting out the money.

Jeremy shuffled, bleary eyed into the room as Adrian sat next to me as I heard the china of Jeremy's cup scrape the surface as he slid it towards himself before I heard him slurp the liquid. He claimed a stool opposite me while I continued to count out the money.

I'd just gotten to £185 with a few more notes left to count just as the door opened and Anna and Jay walked in. They headed straight for the coffee machine and poured themselves some drinks before sitting next to Jeremy.

"Wow, I got £205 yesterday" I gasped, looking up at my friends. They smiled and nodded but went back to drinking their coffee, which made me bite my lip as I removed my phone from my breast pocket on my plain white tee, which had paint splatters all over it. I found the calculator on it and worked out how much it would be to split £205 between five people to see that it was £41 for each of us. At least this way I wouldn't feel bad about getting money from customers when I wasn't the only person in the band.

I moved the money and change into five piles of £41 before I pushed a pile to each of my friends, making them frown at me.

"What are you doing?" Adrian asked, pushing the money back to me, but I covered his hand, stopping him from moving it any closer to me.

"I'm splitting the money between us" I shrugged, glancing away to look at my other three friends' reactions, to see that they looked surprised.

"But you earned this last night" Anna frowned and I smiled at her.

"True, but I wouldn't have earned it if it wasn't for the four of you. You guys are my friends and yesterday you were my bandmates, it's only fair that I share it. Though I know it's not much" I sighed, raking a hand through my messy hair, ending in some wisps of hair escaping the clips, since I'd pinned it back to keep it out of my face.

"Liz, trust me it's enough" Jay sighed and I frowned but nodded slowly.

"Okay, well thanks for helping out yesterday" I smiled and my friends all smiled back as the door opened again and Summer bounded inside. She grinned at me and I nodded back as she skipped over and sat on my right hand side, while the guys walked in through the open door. I nodded at them as Summer tightly hugged me causing me to groan when my face got squished against her collarbone. I heard Dan chuckle from behind us as I heard him pouring out coffee for the six of them before Summer released me. I rolled my eyes and rubbed my numb cheek as she smiled at me. She seemed excited about something.

I heard a light knock before the door opened and the four females walked in. I smiled at Christy, Ivy and Kayleigh but nodded at Lisa, who glared at me. I chose to ignore her as the girl sat down. Kayleigh sat on Jeremy's other side so she was sat exactly opposite me while the other girls sat next to their boyfriends. I noticed that Kayleigh didn't look up instead she kept her gaze focused on playing with the ring on her right hand, twisting it this way and that which caused the ceiling lights to reflect the ruby stone nestled on the ring. I hadn't seen much of the girls, which was a shame really since they tended to stay in the apartment, but I noticed instantly that Kayleigh looked a pale. Actually she didn't look very well. I frowned and she looked at me causing me to tilt my head questioningly at her, which made her send me a hint of a smile. I knew it was meant to be reassuring but it really wasn't. I sighed quietly and turned to look at Summer, sitting on my right who was greedily gulping down her coffee. She finished the cup and set it on the table before she turned to look at me.