As the crowd slowly thins, I find a spot on the floor and sit down with my back to the wall. I have no idea how I’m going to handle this. And to make things worse, my father never even showed up—I text him, but there’s no answer. Now I have to rely on a lift with Jaxon or Trent to get back home.

Just as my bum is getting sore from the hard wooden floor, I see Jaxon appear from behind the curtain. My heartbeat accelerates as I get to my feet and go to meet him at the bottom of the stage. He’s holding his trophy and carrying a huge smile.

‘You were awesome!’ I say, hoping we can just ignore the whole song-dedication situation. Maybe I misunderstood; he didn’t exactly say my name. ‘You totally deserved to win. What is that instrument anyway, a clarinet?’

‘Soprano saxophone.’

‘Right. And the other bands, I mean … Yikes. Didn’t love most of them …’ I’m rambling as I study the miniature guitar on his trophy. I lift my eyes and peer into his face. ‘Is that eyeliner?’

‘Told you so.’ He’s smiling at me strangely. ‘What do you think? Good look?’

‘Sure. Very eighties rock star. What are you going to do with the money?’ I ask, still speaking too quickly. ‘Shopping spree or what?’

‘Yeah … no …’ he starts. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Hey, would you mind giving me a lift back? I don’t know what happened to Adam. Are you driving with Trent?’

‘No. What I wanted to …’ He stops, suddenly fascinated with scraping a piece of gum off the floor with his shoe.

Okay, this is officially awkward. ‘Or are you going out now to celebrate or something?’ I say. ‘That’s okay, I can find a lift or catch a cab.’

‘Sky.’ He puts his hand on my arm. ‘Hold on. I want to tell you something.’

Uh-oh.

He looks at me intently. ‘It’s just that …’

Is this really happening?

‘Ever since the first moment I saw you—I mean …’ He takes a big breath. ‘You are weird, like, you love snakes, and your mismatched eyes … you know how incredible they are …’

He looks so earnest and sweet as he babbles that I find myself smiling.

‘You’re awesome. I just wanted to get it out there. And I like you.’ He’s speaking fast now. ‘Really like you. You’re brave and a bit crazy, but in a good way, and pretty …’

It isn’t the worst feeling in the world being enveloped in compliments. No boy had ever expressed much interest, until Oliver. And now here’s another one, and he’s super cool. But at the same time, I don’t know how to react.