Page 16

27th June PARIS

29th June BRUSSELS

2nd July AMSTERDAM

4th July BERLIN

7th July WARSAW

9th July PRAGUE

13th July VIENNA

15th July ZURICH

25th July LONDON

27th July LIVERPOOL

29th July BIRMINGHAM

31st July GLASGOW

1st August EDINBURGH

3rd August DUBLIN

7

Luca spends her weekend watching every single Scorpio Season live performance that has ever been posted to social media. Most of them are grainy recordings from various London pubs, but even though the audio is choppy and the lyrics are hard to understand, Luca can tell right away: They’re good. Florence commands any room, whether it’s The Hare and Oak or a posh wedding venue. Izzy is electric on stage, and Toni makes playing ridiculous guitar solos look easy. Miray’s sweet voice twines around Florence’s during quieter songs as she plays the keys.

Their music is not what Luca expected, if she’d expected anything at all. It’s gritty and sensual. Strangely hypnotic, she finds, as she loops the same song on repeat thrice.

Luca wants, so badly, to be a part of it. She spends every moment she isn’t listening to their music practicing on the drum kit that’s been gathering dust in her and Parker’s dingy basement, playing by ear until the rhythm comes as naturally as breathing. She only stops when one of her neighbors comes downstairs to ask, very politely, if she could stop—by then it’s nearing midnight, and Luca realizes she hasn’t eaten anything in eight hours.

It isn’t particularly unusual for her. When something catches her interest, it’s almost impossible to tear her away. Her childhood therapist’s voice echoes in her head again: The term ADHD is a bit misleading, really. Luca doesn’t have a deficit of attention. She just has a trickier time pointing it where it needs to go, is all.

For now, her attention has firmly latched on to the band and the four songs she needs to learn. She wishes it could’ve done the same when it came to her uni studies, but she’ll take what she can get.

On Monday, she’s practically buzzing out of her skin by the time she arrives at practice. The room they’re rehearsing in feels like it’s about ten thousand degrees. Izzy, Toni, and Miray are already there—Izzy is messing around with her bass on the sofa, while the other two are poring over something on Miray’s phone.

“I think it looks good,” Toni says as Luca enters. She glances up at her. “Luca, hey. What do you think of our new logo?”

Luca squints as she steps closer to look at the sketch on Miray’s phone. The name of the band is written in wine-red cursive font on an off-white background, with a coiled scorpion in place of the first S.

“It’s really cool,” Luca says.

Miray beams at her. “Thanks! I spent all weekend drawing and redrawing it. Izzy, what do you think?”

Izzy looks up from her bass, motioning for Luca to hand her the phone. She whistles through her teeth as she takes in the logo. “Looks sick. Good job, Tiny.”

Miray’s cheeks turn rosy as she takes her phone back. “Great. I already showed it to Florence—she likes it too.”

“Speaking of which.” Toni glances at her phone. “Did she say when she was going to—”

As if on cue, the door bangs open and Florence swoops in. “Sorry! So sorry,” she says, tossing her tote bag onto the sofa next to Izzy. “Piano lesson ran late. Did you guys already start?”

The sight of her makes Luca’s stomach do something funny. She looks like she ran here; her cheeks are flushed, and her hair is coming apart from where she’s pinned it up. Her perfume is different today—a lighter, citrusy smell.