To my surprise, I could sing much higher than I expected. I practised a couple more times. When Ingrid came back into the rehearsal room and encouraged me to sing, I couldn’t push out a whole lot more than when she first heard me.

‘That’s great,’ she said when I’d finished. ‘Come and listen to your classmates. And it’s important that you start to think about the song you want to perform on the night of the performance.’

We returned to the rest of the class, who had gathered. Everyone who wanted to perform something had strictly two minutes, with Ingrid ringing a bell when time was up.

Ethan went first, playing really good classical guitar. And then Hayley, Caroline and Matilda busted out some more amazing classical music on the violin. I watched Matilda’s face as she played, all concentration and self-assuredness surrounded by blonde-brown curls. She scared me.

After Jamie played the guitar and sung The Beatles’s ‘Black Bird’, which was also amazing, Ingrid turned to the rest of the class. ‘Would anyone else like to share?’

I shook my head, completely intimidated by my classmates. Ingrid scanned the classroom slowly and when no one volunteered to perform, she said, ‘Okay, then. Good first lesson, everyone. You may go to lunch.’

I made sure to walk out the door after Caroline and when we were out of earshot of the others I leaned in and asked, ‘Is there any way that I can avoid the music performance night?’

‘You could not turn up?’ she suggested with a laugh.

‘Yes, of course,’ I responded excitedly.

‘But Ingrid will fail you,’ she pointed out.

‘Oh.’ That wasn’t an option, then.

Caroline slowed to a stop, stared me in the eyes and said, ‘You could get up and play the bongos, triangle or tambourine with a group, but at the end of the day, that’s hard too because you don’t want to mess up anyone else’s performance. The best advice I can give you, Phoebe, is to perform something that you like and have fun with it.’

‘Hmm.’ As we walked onwards, I was looking forward to hitting the court again and getting my mind off of the damn music performance night that was bound to haunt me for months.

When the school bell rang, I slumped onto my desk, releasing the tension of the day, before heading home. The good thing about living in The Village was that I could walk home from school within minutes. The downside of living in The Village was being apart from Katie and Jane. I flopped onto my bed and listened to Triple J while flicking through Instagram. There I was, checking out pics of them with all of my other buddies. I wanted to be with my friends, sharing in the excitement of the start of the new school year.

An hour or so later, Caitlin knocked on my door. She was wearing yoga pants and a faded purple singlet with no bra. Her nipples were poking out and I had to look quickly away because she was grossing me out.