Free You Don't Know Me by Sophia Bennett

swap with Jodie, so I’m between her and Nell, with Rose still on the end. As we shuffle around, Jodie stares at me, her mouth a round O. I think she’s thinking what I’m thinking: despite what Sebastian said, there’s no way they’d be giving us this much attention if we didn’t have a serious chance.
    Two more minutes and forty-five seconds. Nell, Jodie and I give it everything, all over again. Rose holds the tune for us and even jiggles slightly more this time, although she doesn’t appear to smile. The harmonies go to pieces abit by the end, but overall, I’m pretty sure, to quote Jodie, that we did not ‘totally suck’.
    When we finish the song, there’s a silence. A long silence. The kind of pause they love in talent shows, when they allow your heartbeat to get so fast you think you might need medical attention.
    Two of the judges are leaning forward this time. Linus and Roxanne. The silence continues.
    Nell sneaks her hand into mine, and I squeeze it, holding out my other hand for Jodie. I can’t see Rose properly, at the end of the line, but I assume she’s holding hands with Jodie too. We watch and wait. The nearest camera moves in to focus on Linus. He lets a slow smile gradually play across his face.
    â€˜Well, yeah. OK. That worked.’
    Did he really say that? Nell squeezes me again and squeals under her breath. Jodie grins a totally un-Jodie, un-cool grin.
    Then Linus pauses again, and his smile starts to fade. Oh no. I can feel a ‘but’ in the air. This is definitely one of those pauses that ends with ‘but’.
    But what? After all that. Did he notice that I was flat? I know I was, in certain places.
    Linus taps his pencil on his yellow notepad.
    â€˜I see you as a trio,’ he says. ‘Like the Sugababes, or Stooshe – but younger. You look like a dream, you’ve got some crazy energy and . . . how old are you? Fifteen? Sixteen?’
    We nod.
    â€˜Yeah. You’re young. You’re hot,’ he continues. ‘But like I say, as a trio. I think one of you . . . has a voice that just doesn’t work with the others. It throws everything out.And the dance moves aren’t working.’
    As he says it, my heart slows down. It feels like it’s contracting into a tiny ball. Oh God. I was flatter than I thought. And I got so close and loved it so much and all the time I must have sounded ridiculous, and probably looked it, too. Catsuit girl . I can’t bear to think that I’ve let everyone down.
    â€˜The thing is,’ Linus adds, ‘I think you’re going to have to make a choice. The band, for me, is you, you and you.’ He points with his pencil. ‘Like that, you could go through to the final nine. I’d send you through right now. But as you are . . .’
    A camera moves in to do a close-up on his face, and then Roxanne’s. She looks shocked for a moment, then she nods reluctantly. She stares at her multi-ringed fingers for a moment, while she works out what to say. At the end of the judges’ table, Sebastian shakes his head.
    I look along our line. Beyond Nell, Jodie is squeezing Rose’s shoulder.
    Rose?
    Wait. Me . . . or Rose?
    Rose wasn’t flat. If anything, her voice was even more gorgeous in this big auditorium. But a camera is closing in to do a special close-up on her face.
    How did her voice not fit? It doesn’t make sense. But it’s happening.
    Rose.
    This is wrong. Rose is our best singer. I look across at her, but her face is a blank wall. She doesn’t seem surprised at all, but I’m astonished.
    Rose?
    Meanwhile, Roxanne smiles for the nearest camera.
    â€˜Oh, Linus. You’re so mean! I remember when I was growing up, how close I was to my girlfriends. You can’t do that to a girl!’
    She smiles again at Linus, but he isn’t smiling back.
    â€˜So? D’you agree with me or not?’
    Sebastian leaps in with his