Her phone beeped again, and Poppy lept at it, hoping Norah had second thoughts. But it was just Sammy, the bassist from the band.

Get here now.

Where? Poppy replied.

Rehearsal room. The man is here.

Man?

The man from the thing!

Poppy couldn’t be doing this cryptic shit right now. What are you talking about?

‘The A and R guy. He wants to talk to the band.’

Poppy wasn’t excited, only confused. The guy Sammy meant was Jeff Park, and he worked for Jam Records, a small label. He had come to the showcase and the after-party and had talked to a couple of performers who were very much not them. She’d assumed they’d blown it. But he’d come down to the school? For what?

***

Poppy walked into the rehearsal room to find Jeff talking to the three other guys in the band. Sammy was talking about his influences.

‘Lemmy, man. He was a bassist, and he was still the star. And that’s hard because no one ever pays that much attention to the bassist. But he rocked so hard, you had to pay attention.’

‘Well, he was also the lead vocalist of Motorhead,’ Jeff pointed out, sounding bored.

‘I guess that helped, yeah,’ Sammy said.

Jeff noticed that Poppy had walked in, and his boredom evaporated. ‘Poppy!’ he exclaimed.

Poppy, who had no idea this man would have any way of knowing her name, was shocked by the familiarity of the greeting. ‘That’s me.’

‘I’m so glad you could come down. Fancy a chat?’ he asked, and it was pretty clear he meant just her.

Poppy glanced at the other band members. Sammy, Barnaby (the lead singer) and Micky (the drummer) didn’t look happy. Barnaby looked like he might throw a full tantrum. No one had understood what was happening until this moment. But it was obvious now. He had come for Poppy.

Poppy should have felt elated. But she was just scared. ‘Umm, OK,’ she said to Jeff. What else could she say? Noaroony?

‘Great, let’s go to the refectory,’ he said, ignoring the rest of the band’s daggers.

***

‘Sorry I didn’t have a chance to talk to you at the showcase,’ Jeff apologised. ‘I had to run to another thing.’

‘Right...’ Poppy said. She was still a bit confused as to what this was.

‘I want to tell you I thought you were great.’

‘Who, me?’

‘Yes.’

‘But I’m just the rhythm guitarist,’ Poppy told him. ‘You get that, right? Barnaby is on lead guitar and vocals.’ Poppy felt that if anybody from the band was getting plucked from obscurity, anyone would assume it was going to be Barnaby—including Barnaby.

‘But you sing backup, don’t you? And someone told me you’re the lyricist, too.’

‘Yeah, I do.’

‘I thought the lyrics were good. Your backing was strong, too.’

‘Oh. Thanks,’ Poppy said, absolutely baffled.

‘I was wondering if you had any demos? Maybe you write stuff that you perform by yourself?’ he asked hopefully.

‘Why?’ Poppy asked him outright.

He laughed. ‘Straight to the heart of it? I like your style. I’m trying to find someone for a group.’

‘A group?’

‘Yes, all female, three members. We could do with someone like you.’

‘Me?’ Poppy exclaimed, shocked.

‘We need someone who can compose. And your look could be perfect, with some minor tweaking.’

Poppy frowned. ‘Do you mean a girl group?’

‘It’s a group with girls, yes. I can see you’re thinking that’s not your bag, but this would be different. You’d all play instruments.’

Poppy was spinning out. On the one hand, she was being potentially recruited. On the other, she had never wanted to be a Spice Girl—not even slightly. She wanted to be PJ Harvey in an ideal world.

‘Look, I know what you’re thinking. But you have to remember, this kind of thing can be a stepping stone. If you get the job, it’s just the start. You can move in a lot of different directions with a high profile.’

Poppy had to admit, it was a persuasive argument. Still, she was unsure. She wanted to make music. But like this?

‘So, a demo?’ Jeff asked hopefully.

‘I’ve been working on some stuff,’ she admitted. ‘I’m not sure if I have anything you’d be—’

‘Send me your most polished track,’ he said quickly. ‘The thing you’re most proud of.’

It wasn’t hard to choose. It was “Norah’s Song.” It was easily the one she poured the most hours into. Still, she’d never actually thought anyone else would ever hear it. Showing it to Jeff seemed a bit mad. It would be like flopping her diary and saying, ‘Check it out. I got my heart smashed to bits, and it was all my own fault.’ Poppy didn’t love the idea.

Jeff was watching her carefully. ‘What is it?’

‘What? Nothing.’

‘You have a song in mind, I can tell,’ he said smugly.