Playlist for a Broken Heart by Cathy Hopkins Page A

were even more shops and cafés. I couldn’t
wait to report back to Allegra that first impressions were good. Very good. Bath was buzzing.
    Along the way, I learnt that Clover was in a relationship with a boy called Chas who was at Bath Spa University. He was eighteen and a musician who played gigs and earned a fortune busking at
the weekends. Tasmin had just broken up with a guy called Stu after three months because ‘the spark had gone’, though apparently he wanted her back. He was a musician too and played in
the same band as Chas. Tasmin had had six boyfriends so far. ‘A sl-ut,’ said Clover, though none of them sounded that serious or like they’d lasted that long.
    Clover seemed to have quite a relationship history too, with four ex-boyfriends, all who’d lasted about four months. I felt inexperienced and naïve as I listened to them talk about
boys, school and future plans. Tasmin wasn’t sure what she wanted to do when she left school, but a gap year travelling in the Far East was high on the list, and Clover wanted to do something
in fashion when she went to college and maybe have her own vintage clothes shop.
    ‘What about you, Paige?’ asked Clover.
    ‘I want to study literature or art,’ I said, ‘though I’m not really sure yet.’
    ‘Literature,’ mimicked Tasmin.
    ‘Don’t be mean,’ said Clover.
    Tasmin rolled her eyes. ‘Sorry, Paige but you don’t half sound posh. Lit-er-a-
ture
.’
    I ignored her. I was starting to realise she didn’t intend to be mean. She just said what popped into her head. ‘Not sure what I’ll do with it. Maybe write, but I’m not
sure what yet, or paint . . .’
    ‘Write about us,’ said Tasmin. ‘Can we be in your first novel?’
    ‘Deffo,’ I said as we stopped to listen to a boy standing in the middle of the pavement at the top of town. He was playing guitar and singing his heart out.
    As we stood there, I noticed a group of teenagers walk past. They stopped on the opposite side to us to watch, although I could see they were more interested in Clover and Tasmin than the
singer. I also noticed another boy go to join them.
    It was Niall, my new next-door neighbour. He was on his own this time. He listened for a few moments then started heckling the boy, then awoo-howling like a dog. The performer finished his song,
glanced at Niall then moved off.
How mean
, I thought and I gave Niall a filthy look. He noticed me looking at him and winked. I rolled my eyes as if to say, ‘I am
so
not
interested in you’. He clearly didn’t get the message because he came over.
    ‘Hey Tas,’ he said to my cousin. ‘Who’s your new friend?’
    ‘Someone
way
out of your league,’ said Tasmin. Her phone bleeped that she had a text and she pulled Clover over to look at the message.
    Niall turned to me. ‘I’m Niall,’ he said and gave me what I presume was supposed to be a killer watt smile.
    ‘And
I’m
not interested.’
    For a second, hurt registered on his face and I almost regretted my abrupt response. Then I remembered what I’d seen yesterday and today – three girls in under twenty-four hours and
him heckling some innocent street performer. He was not a nice guy.
    ‘So you’re staying with Tasmin?’ he asked.
    I nodded and looked away in the hope that he’d go away.
    ‘I saw you looking at me,’ he said.
    ‘I was not.’
    ‘You were. In the garden yesterday, then again today by the sausage stall, and if I’m not mistaken you were even spying on me from behind the curtains in Tasmin’s
bedroom.’
    I couldn’t believe it. The cheek of him. ‘As
if.
I was not spying on you. For your information, I’d just arrived in Bath and was looking out of the window to see where
I was.’
    Niall put his hand over his heart. ‘And then you saw me.’
    ‘Only by accident, I can assure you.’
    ‘So where have you come from?’
    ‘London. Not that it’s any of your business. And by the way, I saw you with three different girls, two