You Don't Know Me by Sophia Bennett Page B

die.
    So that was our backstory. Nothing to do with writing ‘Sunglasses’, or Nell’s plans to be a vet. I just betrayed my fat best friend on TV.
    â€˜So here you are!’ Andy says, sad and serious as the tape finishes and we’re back in the spotlight. ‘You’ve come all this way and it obviously wasn’t easy for you.’
    Even bright, bouncy, ‘my arms and my legs make FOUR’ Andy Grey looks as if he’s wincing behind his smile.
    â€˜I suppose you must have really, really wanted to be here tonight.’
    I did at the time. But not like this. Onstage, not looking at each other, we nod and shuffle miserably.
    â€˜And how is Rose? Is she watching you tonight?’ Andy asks, trying to keep talking over this tumbleweed moment.
    â€˜We don’t know,’ I whisper.
    Which, of course, makes it much, much worse, because now it sounds as though we didn’t ask and we don’t care. Fabulous.
    He decides to avoid taking it further. Instead, he smiles his brightest smile again. Ever the professional.
    â€˜And now, ladies and gentlemen, with a song from the sixties, we have . . . the Manic Pixie Dream Girls!’
    Spotlights create a circle of light, centre stage, where we’re supposed to stand. I’m at the front. The audience waits in silence until the start of our backing track. It’s time to sing.
    Yeah. We shimmy and high-kick our way around the stage in our fabulous high-heeled vintage boots and cutelittle outfits.
    Just the three of us. Without our fat friend, who wasn’t there because we dumped her. Obviously.

 
    Â 
    Â 
    Â 
    Â 
    Â 
    Â 
    Toast
    â€˜ W e’re dead,’ Jodie says, head in hands in the dressing room after our performance. ‘We’re one hundred per cent toast.’
    I say nothing. I’m beyond speech.
    â€˜I’m sure they didn’t mean it to look so bad,’ Nell says nervously. ‘They wouldn’t deliberately do that, would they? I mean, Linus really liked us.’
    â€˜Yeah, right.’ Jodie gives her a sarcastic smile. ‘The way Rolo really likes apples. He likes chewing them up and spitting them out. Come on, Nell. They always like something controversial for people to talk about, and we’re it.’
    â€˜Rose is it,’ I correct her.
    Jodie just stares at me.
    â€˜You really don’t get it, do you?’
    â€˜I do now,’ I say. ‘Roxanne Wills explained it pretty well.’
    Jodie shakes her head.
    â€˜Check FaceFeed,’ she says. ‘See what they’re saying about us.’
    FaceFeed has taken over Twitter as the forum for comments about what’s going on in the world. It’s part of Interface, so you can always see the FaceFeed at the side of your page. I get my phone out of my bag and we all gather round it.
    Sure enough, #killeract is trending, and a lot of the FaceFeeds are about us.
    Hahah! Did you see the three skinny ones drop the fat one? Killer Act was on form tonight. ROFL
    Loving the bit where the three skinny witches dropped the only one who could sing. #dropthefatgirl
    Watch this clip: 3 pretty girls drop the fat one who can play guitar! OMG
    My heart sinks. Poor Rose. Nobody deserves humiliation like this. What have I done to her?
    â€˜See?’ I say to Jodie.
    She glares back at me.
    â€˜You think this is about Rose?’
    â€˜I’d say it’s all about Rose, wouldn’t you? Pretty much. Or does everything have to be about you?’
    â€˜Stop it! Stop it!’ Nell shouts. ‘It’s bad enough as it is. Don’t fight.’
    Janet, the floor manager, appears in the doorway.
    â€˜Time to go, everybody. We need you on the stage in five for the final wave.’
    I glance at my phone screen one more time before I shut it down and put it away. There’s a personal message to me, so I click on it. It’s from Nina Pearson, one of the girls in my class.
    I had no idea u could be