Chapter 1
A magazine lay open on an old, battered coffee table, amongst empty mugs and crumb covered plates. A fallen petal, from the bouquet of lilies sat in the centre of the table, drifted down to rest atop the photo that accompanied the headline, ‘The Valkyries; Mythical Masterpiece or Fictitious Failures?’. Around the coffee table was a faded mustard armchair that was more lumps than chair, and a velvet chaise lounge that had clearly seen better days.
On the armchair sat Lily Evans, a young woman with flaming red hair and a hideous habit of biting her nails. She sat, legs tucked under herself, staring blankly in the vague direction of the table, as she bit the edge of her thumbnail. Taking a deep breath, Lily broke the silence that had consumed the apartment since Dora had dropped the magazine off a half hour ago.
“Well, we should probably read it.”
A grunt of agreement came from the girl on the chaise lounge, Marlene McKinnon, muffled by the hair tie held between her lips painted with her usual cherry-red lipstick. Neither girl made a move to grab the magazine, Lily seemingly paralysed by anxiety and Marlene, occupied with Mary’s hair. Mary MacDonald sat cross legged on the floor between the chaise lounge and the table as Marlene braided her hair. She leaned forward, earning a groan of protest from the girl behind, to grab the magazine. The petal fell onto one of the many dirty plates.
Silence resumed, as Mary read through the article, the only noise coming from Lily as she resumed her nail biting.
“So, what does it say?” Marlene asked as she tied off the first plait.
“So far? Talks more about the fucking Marauders,” Mary grumbled, “Says, we’re their main competition which is suppose is good. Been singing their praises for months, so if we compete with them,”
“Does it say anything worthwhile?” Lily cut her off.
“’For an all-female band, these young ladies have really subverted our expectations. Perhaps women really can do anything!’ Fuck off!” Mary was shouting by the end, and threw the magazine on the table. “Subverted our expectations! When the Marauders released their first album, they actually wrote about the music not their defiance of gender norms!”
Lily had picked it up and was now scanning through the article, “Oh! Here, they said ‘The combination of the upbeat melody and the devastating lyrics creates this conflict of emotions that few artists can seem to produce.’” A small smile graced her face, and Marlene seemed to lose some of the tension in her jaw. Mary on the other hand, couldn’t care less.
“Half that article is about a different band Lils! They spent more time talking about the Marauders than us!”
“Maybe, but Mary, they said it was good, which means we have a fighting chance.” Marlene said. This seemed to calm Mary, and as Marlene tied off the second plait, Lily stood from her chair and grabbed the dirty dishes, heading to the kitchen. Dishes placed carefully on the countertop, she turned on the tap and let it run. As the bubbles grew and steam began to float out the tap, Lily pulled on a pair of pink Marigolds. Carefully scrubbing the jam off a plate, Lily let her anxious thoughts come to the surface.
Unlike Marlene, Lily grew up in a working-class family. And unlike Mary, Lily’s family were obsessed with ‘bettering themselves’. Her older sister Petunia had a reasonably wealthy husband, a mortgage, and the middle-class lifestyle their parents strived for. Despite their claims to the contrary, Lily knew she had disappointed her parents. Rejecting her unconditional from Durham for Politics to pursue music with her friends turned roommates/bandmates. Their Sunday phone calls, and monthly dinners contrasted with Petunia’s bi-weekly phone calls and Sunday dinners, showing their disappointment, even if they wouldn’t tell her explicitly. This, combined with the complete radio-silence from Petunia, had resulted in Lily being a tad more anxious than the other two in regard to the band. She risked everything for it and couldn’t handle the look on her parents faces if they failed. Thus every time they made a step forward, Lily panicked and Mary, well she just didn’t get it.