Page 87 of Scorpio Season

Mason raises a brow at her. “If everything was so good,” he ventures, “why do you look like someone has died?”

All of a sudden, Luca can’t stand to look at him anymore. “Haven’t you seen the news?” she asks her half-eaten plate.

“Those rumors?” her dad asks. “Don’t worry about them, love. Gossip means you’ve made it.”

Luca smiles weakly. “Yeah. Maybe.”

“Did something else happen?” Even without looking up, Luca can tell her mum is frowning.

The silence that settles over the table is broken only by the humming of the bumblebees and the chirping of birds and the next-door neighbors’ son yelling something across the garden. Luca keeps staring at her plate, like maybe the splash of ketchup on it will reveal an answer that won’t make her burst into tears at her parents’ barbecue.

Finally, Henry speaks again. “You’re in love with her,” he says quietly. “Aren’t you.”

Luca buries her face in her hands and gives a tiny, terrible nod.

“Oh, sweetheart.” There’s the rustle of chair legs dragging through overgrown grass, and then her mum is there, wrapping her arms around Luca from behind, smelling like soil and smoke and home. “What happened?”

It really doesn’t help that every single person at the table already knows who this is about. The whole world has seen her stare at Florence on every stage they’ve played. The only thing worse than being rejected is being rejected after openly falling for someone with the entire internet as a witness.

“It’s my fault,” she says wretchedly. “I knew she had different priorities.”

I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that my priorities had changed.

Her mum’s arms tighten around her. “I just don’t understand,” she says. “It seemed so obvious, in the videos.”

“Yes, well.” Luca sniffs. “She is a very good performer.”

“What does this mean for the band?” Mason asks.

“Surely, they’ll keep playing,” says her mum. “Right? You’ve come so far. It would just be silly to give up now.”

“Every good band has a little scandal,” her dad agrees.

“And a little relationship drama,” Henry adds.

“Besides, you still have the UK shows.” Her mum, again. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you in Hyde Park all month.”

“You’ve always been so in love with the drums,” her dad says. “And now is the perfect time to experiment. Maybe you can even earn a little money on the side while you finish your degree.”

Luca freezes.

“Exactly,” her mum is saying. “My boyfriend in uni played in a band, did I ever tell you? They weren’t very good, not like you girls, but it was so much fun, hanging around those bars, helping him write songs, getting to say My boyfriend is a music—”

“I dropped out of uni,” Luca blurts.

Silence.

“I dropped out,” Luca says again, in case they didn’t understand. “Three months ago. I’ve been working at a café.”

Henry is the first to collect his jaw off the floor. “Now?” he asks. “We’re doing this now?”

Against her will, Luca laughs. It comes out sounding slightly unhinged, but she can’t stop it as she finally looks up at the incredulous faces of her parents.

“Luca,” her mum says quietly. “Is this a joke?”

“I meant to tell you sooner.” Under the table, Luca’s fingers lock together tightly enough to hurt. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed.”

Her mum’s arms are still wrapped around her. Luca can feel her exchange a long glance with her dad over her head. “Luca, sweetheart,” she whispers. “You could never disappoint us.”