immediately because I felt so pleased that she even thought I stood a chance of winning the contest.
âOh, Mum, Iâd absolutely love to win, but thereâs no way I could ever do that. I mean, I probably only just scraped a place in the second round. The bands were fantastic, and itâs a really high standard all round, but the very best act is a solo singer from Year Eight. Sheâs called Bella and itâs obvious sheâs going to win the whole thing. Everyoneâs saying it.â
Mum tried to soften her voice a bit. âYou will make sure you explain to Mrs. Roach that youâll practise properly as soon as the competition is over, wonât you? Itâs great that youâve managed to perform but Iâm sure I donât need to tell you, darling, the school made it very clear that your scholarship really does depend on you excelling in your piano lessons.â
I didnât say anything, but I could feel my hackles rising, and I wasnât exactly sure why.
âYou see, the thing is,â she went on, âyou canât show your talent in any other way, as you donât play an orchestral instrumentâ¦â
And then I got it. Thatâs what was making me mad. Not only was writing songs not âproperâ music, but apparently it didnât show any talent. All the effort I put into creating words and music and arranging them together into something that people enjoyed enough to vote for didnât count for anything in Mumâs and Mrs. Roachâs eyes.
âI know,â I mumbled, thinking how often Iâd had that fact drilled into me.
âAnd you know that without the help with the fees that we get from the scholarship, we wouldnât be able to afford toâ¦to keep you at Silver Spires?â
I swallowed and nodded, then realized Mum couldnât hear me nod. âYes, I know that too,â I said a bit snappily.
I hated sounding all stressy like this but I couldnât help it. I probably should have just told Mum why I was cross, but I didnât have the energy, so we talked for a few more minutes about my friends, and how my schoolwork was, and how my little brother had come first in a fancy-dress competition, and how Mum was going on a jewellery-making course the next weekend. And then we rang off and I folded my arms and sighed noisily.
âWhatâs up?â came Georgieâs bright voice. She was walking towards me from Hazeldean. It was Sunday afternoon and we were just chilling. She knew where to find me because whenever I phone home, I always walk up and down the main Silver Spires drive as Iâm talking, unless itâs raining.
âMumâs been reminding me about my music scholarship,â I told Georgie glumly.
âWhat about it?â
âYou knowâ¦how important it is that Iâve got to keep making progress on piano so I donât lose my scholarship.â
âBut you are making progress. Playing all sorts of different pop stuff and jazzy stuff and musicals and things. You never used to take any interest in those kinds of things before. You should tell her, Mia, that youâre â whatâs the expression? â broadening your horizons. Thatâs what youâre doing!â She beamed at me. âIâm quite proud of that actually!â
âYouâre proud of me broadening my horizons?â I felt really touched. âHey, thanks, Georgie.â
âNo â well, yes, I am proud of you doing that, but I mean Iâm proud of myself for thinking of the expression.â
I couldnât help laughing. But I was also grateful to Georgie. Sheâd come up with such a good phrase and I would make sure I used it next time I spoke to Mum. I might even dare to say it to Mrs. Roach.
âI just talked to my mum and dad too,â Georgie carried on brightly. âThey said it was a horrible day and they were sitting around indoors doing nothing much.