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advances, Alex might just make things worse by settling the score. I’d have to rely on my own charm. ‘I’ll drop by the rehearsal tonight and see what happens.’
    ‘Your funeral,’ said Matt glumly.
    ‘Don’t you want me back on side?’
    ‘Of course I do. But I worry about you, sweetheart.’
    ‘You’re a good friend, Matt. Thanks. But I can look after myself. Jay’s the one who should be worrying.’
    The band rehearsed in a room in Imperial College where Jay was supposedly studying electronic engineering. At least he knew how to wire a mixing desk so his university place wasn’t entirely wasted. I lingered outside to listen to how they sounded without me. I could hear a lot of expletives from Jay and dark grumblings from his band mates. I could not resist celebrating the discovery that my enemy was suffering. Let’s face it: I never was in the frame for a sainthood.
    They tried ‘Star-Crossed’ but without the violin solo it came across as lame: all clever music tricks and no heart. Time for me to make my entrance.
    ‘Hi, guys!’ I said breezily, taking off my coat and opening my violin case. ‘Do you want to try that again?’
    Jay stood speechless. Matt grinned and started playing. The drum intro kicked everyone into action before Jay could stop them. I swooped my way through the solo, adding a few embellishments I’d thought of during the months I’d been away. When we came to the end, I let my bow drop by my side.
    ‘So?’ I asked. I pasted a huge Angel-sure-of-herself smile across my face.
    ‘Angel, that was great!’ said Kyle, our bass player, toasting me with his bottle of water.
    ‘Cool. I’ve missed you,’ admitted Richie, our saxophonist.
    ‘Not bad,’ said taciturn Owen, the second guitarist. High praise from him.
    We all looked to Jay. I could see he was weighing up bawling at me for invading his rehearsal without an invitation versus making use of me.
    ‘Guys, give Angel and me a moment,’ he said. ‘We’ve done enough for one night so I’ll see you down in the bar.’
    Obediently the band packed up and filed out. Matt gave me a warning look as he left. I checked the room for water sources but sadly the fire extinguishers were the CO 2 sort. An awkward silence fell.
    Jay stood his guitar against the wall. ‘You’ve got a cheek coming here.’
    I ran my finger over the clasp of my violin case. ‘Cheek? That sounds like me.’
    ‘I suppose you want me to take you back?’ Jay leaned against the door, blocking a quick exit. He was doing a good impression of being intimidating.
    ‘Matt says you haven’t filled my place yet so I thought we could do each other a favour.’ It was much harder than I expected to meet his eyes.
    ‘So you expect me just to forget what happened?’
    Predictably, he wanted me to crawl. ‘What did happen, Jay? You had an accident.’
    ‘And yeah, you laughed at me.’
    In his mind, that had been my real sin. He had no idea I was responsible for the accident in the first place.
    Humble pie time. Will Benedict, I hope you are grateful. ‘I’m sorry I laughed at you. I was nervous. Before the show I always get giggly—you know what I’m like.’
    He gazed at me, probably wondering what else he could extract from me in the way of humiliation. ‘You’re still not one of us.’
    My heart sank: I’d failed. ‘OK.’ I put on my coat, picked up my violin and headed for the door, hoping he’d let me pass without contact.
    His hand gripped my elbow. ‘But if you’re nice to me, I’ll bring you back for a trial period—on a session musician basis.’
    I wanted to spit at him but forced myself to remember why I was doing this. ‘You’ll let me play at Rockport?’
    ‘Yeah, but you won’t be mentioned in the lineup. I’m serious about you cramping our appeal to female fans.’
    ‘That’s not fair.’
    ‘It’s the only deal I’m offering.’ His fingers were digging in painfully.
    I don’t think I’d ever despised anyone so much as I