‘Sorry Ella, I’m not really the school council type,’ I say, pulling my arm free of her grasp.

‘But …’ she says, looking surprised.

‘I’m just not good at organising stuff,’ I explain, deciding against telling her the other reasons I don’t want to join. It’s not just because I want to hang out with Laura and play music. I’m also not sure Ella has the best motives for asking me to join the council.

The piano music abruptly changes to something dramatic and I wonder if Laura’s doing it on purpose, to annoy Ella.

If she is, it’s working. Ella glares at me. ‘Is this because of Laura?’

‘Um … no … I just …’

But Ella interrupts. ‘You’re making a big mistake. Big,’ she says, storming off into the council room.

‘Sorry,’ I call after her.

The door slams shut and I’m left alone, wondering if Ella’s right. She’s obviously extremely powerful around here and maybe getting her offside wasn’t my smartest move. I hear the piano music change again, this time to something jaunty and fun. Obviously Laura is enjoying herself by playing the soundtrack to my morning.

My phone beeps as I reach the music room. It’s Immy, texting her usual morning hello. I miss her, but thinking about my old city life makes me feel bad. The band doesn’t need me. Immy’s started hanging out with Ollie. I’m like Immy’s old Doc Martens that she never wears, but holds onto for memories.

‘Howdy,’ says Laura, playing a few bars of cheesy country music.‘Grab a guitar!’

‘Thanks,’ I say, looking around. There’s another piano in the corner and two drum kits. I can’t see a guitar, though.

‘Through that door,’ Laura says, with a grin.

I open it, revealing guitars, some electric, some acoustic, waiting on stands. I touch them all, my hand running along the cool wood. It’s been ages since I’ve played. Now that I’m away from Immy, if I want to make music, I’ll have to play it myself.

I lift up an acoustic and strum it. It sounds okay, but I’m struggling to remember chords. It’ll take a while before I’m playing anything resembling a song.

I head back out to the main room where Laura is now sitting on the edge of the piano stool, facing me. She doesn’t look much like Lex. Where he’s tall and fair with brown eyes, she’s small and wiry with dark hair and blue eyes. Nonetheless, there’s something about her expressions and her spirit that’s similar.

‘What sort of music are you into?’ she asks me.

‘I saw Missy Higgins play last year. She was amazing,’ I tell her. I went with Immy and it was our first grown-up live music event. We sang along with every lyric and screamed for ages for an encore.

‘Lucky you. That’s the worst thing about living here. No bands tour,’ sighs Laura. ‘We just have the sound of Harold and maybe the cows mooing in harmony if you’re lucky.’

I laugh at the face she’s pulling.

‘You wait. You’ll miss it,’ she says.

‘My dad’s still in the city,’ I tell her,‘so I can go back at weekends.’

She groans. ‘Unfair! I’m stuck here. The only fun thing I get to do on the weekend is show jumping competitions,’ she tells me. Then she drags her hands along the piano keys. ‘Wanna play?’

‘Yeah, what song?’

‘“Futon Couch”?’ she suggests, and I realise she must be a Missy Higgins fan too. I like that she didn’t just straight out tell me.

‘Sure,’ I say. Then I remember I have no idea how to play it. Embarrassed, I put the guitar down. ‘Sorry, I haven’t played in ages. I don’t think I can pick up a song that easily anymore.’

‘Do you know the lyrics?’

‘Yeah.’ I’m not about to confess I know every Missy Higgins lyric.

‘Then sing it,’ she tells me.

I hesitate, nervous about singing with someone I’ve only just met.

Laura spins around, her expression serious. ‘This is my music time, Mack. If you’re not up for it, then just go.’ Her tone is a bit hard but I understand the sentiment. Immy would be the same.

I nod. ‘Okay. I’ll try.’

Laura starts the opening bars of ‘Futon Couch’.

I love this song. Immy and I both do. We even tried to get the band to play it once. Laura gives me a look and I know I have to sing. I loosen my shoulders, trying to relax, and start.

It’s not perfect. I’m not loud enough and I come in too late, but at least I’m in tune. The song takes me away for a second, out of this room, away from the country, and back to my old school and my old friends. It makes me wonder about them.

‘Your voice is good. Better than good,’ comments Laura as she plays the final notes. ‘You’re a lead singer, not a backup.’

‘Really?’ I’m surprised. I know I have a good solid voice, but I’ve always thought it wasn’t strong enough to lead. Although, if I’m honest, I never really got the chance to try. Immy claimed the space as the lead singer and I never challenged it. It’s strange thinking about all of that now. Having some distance makes me see things differently.

‘Maybe we could muck around like this again?’ Laura suggests, and I realise from her voice that she’s nervous I’ll say no. As if!

‘Sounds great,’ I say. Then she tells me how much she hates the sort of music that is usually played live in town. It’s all hard rock and commercial radio.

We agree to meet up again this week before school and just see how it goes. She also tells me that I can probably speak to the music teacher (who is also the drama teacher and sometimes the PE teacher) and borrow a guitar for a few days if I want.

As we head out of the music room, I notice Ella and Saskia walking down the corridor, their backs to us.

‘What’s the story with you and Ella?’ I ask Laura quietly, feeling bolder than I have in a while.

Laura sighs. ‘We used to ride together. I only rode for fun but Ella liked competing in horse events. She used to win everything. Then last month I decided to compete too.’

‘And you won?’ I guess.

Laura smiles sheepishly and shrugs. ‘She’s mad because now I’m the first rider and she’s the second. I guess she liked it better when it was the other way around.’

It makes me think of Immy and me. What would’ve happened to our friendship if I’d pushed harder to sing the songs I wrote and not just perform backup? ‘Do you think you’ll work it out?’

Laura shakes her head. ‘Not really. Lex thinks it will be okay, but he’s another part of the problem.’

‘What do you mean?’ My heartbeat has suddenly sped up.

‘I’d better get to class,’ Laura says, avoiding the question. ‘See you later, Mack,’ she calls as she heads off.

The rest of my day is a bit lonely. I’d hoped to hang out with Laura at lunch but I couldn’t find her, so I sat on my own with a bucket of sauceless chips and a brownie. At one point I imagined telling Becky my food choices just to gauge her reaction. Thinking of the horror she’d express made me smile.

Ella and Saskia looked over a few times and it was obvious they were talking about me, but at least they left me alone. During PE, Lex tried to have a chat but Ella quickly stopped that. Looks like I didn’t just put Ella offside this morning – I lost any access to her entire group of friends, including Lex.

After school I decide to drop by Mum’s office and surprise her. As I head out of the school gates, I send Immy a message.

Immy keeps her phone close by, unless she’s rehearsing, so it usually only takes about a heartbeat before she texts back. But this time minutes pass with no response. I check the screen in case I missed the incoming message beep, but there’s nothing. Weird.

At the corner, I hear my name being called and turn around. Laura’s jogging towards me, her hair flopping crazily.

‘Want to walk home together?’ she asks.

‘I’m dropping in on my mum,’ I explain.

‘I’ll walk with you,’ says Laura. ‘I’m trying to avoid my after-school jobs! Hey, do you ride? Because I was thinking you could come to the farm one day for a ride. You can take your pick of the horses.’

‘I’d love that!’ I wonder about taking Chokita, but decide I should just let Laura lend me one of her horses. I don’t want to seem ungrateful.

‘Cool! What about Saturday?’

I’d been planning to head back to the city this weekend, but then Dad told me he has a dinner party to go to and Immy’s been super preoccupied with Battle of the Bands. She still hasn’t returned my text. It’s starting to feel like I miss her more than she misses me.

‘Sounds great,’ I tell Laura as we reach the supermarket on the corner.

She looks pleased. Then, as she’s heading off, she turns and adds, ‘Lex will probably want to come too, by the way.’

She grins at me strangely then and I wonder if I’m missing something. Lex is Ella’s boyfriend. So why do I feel a bit giggly when I think of him coming along on Saturday?