Page 44 of Second Verse

‘Let them never find out we love junk food as much as them,’ Norah replied.

And with that, Norah knew she and Poppy were mum friends.

Twenty Years Ago

Norah was seething. This was getting ridiculous. It had been a week, and she could not get hold of Poppy. She lived down the street, and she couldn’t find a single minute for Norah. Aftereverything?

She looked at the last text she’d had from Poppy for the hundredth time.

Sorry, the band is busy right now. There’s a showcase next week and someone from a label is coming. We’re practising every minute.

That was it. That was all she had to say. Nothing about them being together. Nothing about any kind of feeling. Not a thing to imply she was desperate to see her or anything like that.

Norah had seen Poppy around school, but the few times they’d bumped into each other in school, the disinterest was unmissable. ‘Oh, hi. Nice to see you. Got to run.’

Norah was pretty sure she was getting dumped. She felt so stupid, so hurt, so blindingly angry. She’d thought they were something. She’d thought...

How could someone who’d written a song about her turn out to be a user?

Norah couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t just let this happen without saying something. While she had no desire to look Poppy in the eye and have it all confirmed, she was losing her mind. She needed the truth.

She walked downstairs to see her mother coming in. ‘You going somewhere?’ she asked, taking her coat off.

‘Yeah, just need a quick word with... Poppy,’ she said nervously. She’d tried not to bring her up since the snoggus interruptus incident.

‘You haven’t seen her much lately?’ her mother said.

‘Is that a question?’ Norah asked.

‘An observation, that’s all.’

‘Yeah, I guess.’ They looked at each other like there might be more to say. But no one said it, so Norah decided to tie the interaction off. ‘Well, back in a bit.’

She left the house, walked down the street and up the path to Poppy’s. She didn’t ring the bell right away. She needed to collect herself, think up a game plan, an opening line, something. Then she realised if she stood out here much longer, someone was going to look out of a window and see her psyching herself up, which would make this whole thing that much more embarrassing. So she rang the doorbell.

She heard someone walking towards the door. It was fifty-fifty whether it was Poppy or her mum who would answer.

It was Poppy. ‘Oh, hi!’ she said, trying to smile, but Norah saw the fear in her eyes.

Norah licked her lips. ‘Hello. Thought I’d pop round and check in.’

‘Check in?’ Poppy asked.

‘Yeah.’

That hung in the air for a while, heavy. In that silence, Norah hoped she was wrong about this and it was just a misunderstanding.

‘I’m a bit busy,’ Poppy said. ‘Homework.’

Norah pushed down the lump in her throat. ‘So that’s it, is it?’ she managed to say.

Poppy looked down. ‘Yeah.’

Norah realised Poppy was just waiting for her to get the hint and go.

It was all true. Norah had been used. She knew Poppy was more experienced than she was, but she’d never guessed she was like this. That it was all a game to her. That she didn’t give a shit about her now she’d gotten her ‘prize.’

‘OK,’ Norah said. She turned and walked down the path, hearing the door shut behind her.

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