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The shop is still busy when Neon and I arrive back at Every Book & Cranny later that evening.

Gio helps us move the tables and sofas around to make room for a small stage and four rows of seats, which fill up in a few minutes.

I’ve never even seen most of the people here, but there are a few familiar faces – Martha from Bohemian Catsody is in the front row, and Mrs Henderson the librarian sits at the back with her husband and kids.

Nerves surge through me seeing so many people, but I push them down.

Neon and I spent all afternoon practising ‘Go Your Own Way’ back at Carrie’s house and we sounded really good. I’m ready for this.

Caitlin and Hannah are the next performers to turn up. They’re already in their dance costumes – hot-pink leotards with lime-green tights and yellow leg warmers – and they have a lot of questions about what went on last night.

“It’s so weird… I remember hurrying down to the loch, and I’ve got this video on my phone,” Hannah says, showing me a fuzzy clip of lights moving on the dark water. “But I can’t remember filming it. I don’t actually remember seeing anything, and neither can Caitlin.”

“I mean…” Neon looks at me and scratches the back of his head, trying to find an excuse. “Maybe it was the shock? It was definitely a weird night.”

“What about the Blanks?” I ask, lowering my voice. “Those people without faces?”

Caitlin’s nose wrinkles. “No – you’re joking, right? Is that some Doctor Who thing?” She rolls her eyes and tugs on her ponytail. “You’ve been spending too much time with Tilly and her friends.”

It turns out Elsie and Jamie don’t remember much of what happened last night, either, and nothing about the Blanks that they helped Tilly trap in school while Neon and I ran away.

Just like with the cù-sìth, only those of us who know about the Realm are able to remember seeing any of the characters that have disappeared.

While Jamie goes over her routine, and Elsie takes a seat beside Hari and Russell, Tilly and I exchange a look and smile.

I’m glad that I could share this baffling, weird, amazing experience with her.

With Joel and my mums too. Maybe I don’t need to keep as many secrets as I thought.

Mr Ross and his band arrive next, followed by Mikey the cellist and Carrie with her theremin, which turns out to be a strange electronic instrument.

At half past seven, Mum and Gio squeeze through the crowd to the stage area to announce the start of the show.

Mum’s wearing her favourite blue satin dress, and Gio’s made his moustache extra twirly for the occasion.

“Thank you all so much for coming to Every Book & Cranny’s first-ever open-mic night,” Gio says, smiling. “As you know, my brilliant co-worker Laurie and her friends have organised this event to try to save us from having to close. Though we’ve actually got some news about that…”

He turns to Mum. She links her hands together and bounces on the balls of her feet, partly nervous, partly excited. The corners of her mouth twitch from trying not to smile too widely.

“Thanks to a few videos that went viral last night, we’ve had our best day of sales in three years.

So good, in fact, that between that and your generous entrance donations …

it looks like we’re going to be able to stay open for a few more months.

” She holds her hands up before anyone gets too excited.

“We’re not out of the woods yet, but it’s a start! ”

The audience erupts into applause. I spin round to find Mutti and Joel.

They’re sitting by the till, both beaming.

Neon cups his hands round his mouth and whoops so loudly that a man in the back row winces and covers his ear.

My throat gets tight, and I have to blink twenty times to stop myself from crying and ruining my make-up.

I don’t want to get my hopes up too high, but we don’t have to say goodbye to the shop just yet. Right now that’s everything.

Neon has offered to be the show’s MC, so he squeezes to the front and introduces Caitlin and Hannah as the first act. Their routine is actually brilliant – Hannah even manages to do a full cartwheel across the tiny stage, which gets a huge cheer.

After them comes Jamie. Now that the Blanks aren’t around to put her off, her stand-up routine goes perfectly, and she’s hilarious . She does an impression of her uncles squabbling over the remote control that cracks everyone up.

Next Tilly performs two pieces of poetry.

One is called ‘Story’, about getting lost in other worlds, and the other has the title ‘Unicorn’, inspired by Aurora.

They’re both beautiful, and I feel really proud of Tilly for sharing them with everyone.

Mikey the cello prodigy plays something by a composer called Shostakovich, which is unsurprisingly excellent, and then Mr Ross’s band squeeze in for an acoustic rendition of a Fall Out Boy song.

“And next up we have…” Neon drums his hands on the mic stand while I take long, deep breaths, trying to steady my nerves. “Laurie Storey-Peters!”

I spin round to stare at him. He beams at me, looking like he’s invented sliced bread. I shoot a nervous smile at the audience, then take Neon’s elbow and lead him away from the mic.

“What are you talking about? You aren’t going to sing with me?”

“I’ll sing with you after,” he says. “I think you should do one on your own first.”

“Neon, that wasn’t our deal! I can’t do it by myself.”

“Dude, of course you can! Just sing whatever song comes to mind, and I’ll play for you.” He puts his hands on my shoulders. “I’m still right here but I want you to see that you don’t need me, Laurie. You’re more than good enough on your own.”

Part of me wants to walk out, another part to kill him – but I’m aware that there are almost a hundred people watching us have this conversation, so neither is a good option.

With another wobbly smile, I walk up to the microphone.

Dozens of faces look back at me. Mum and Mutti smile.

Joel gives me a double thumbs up and looks like a total dork.

Every cell in my body is screaming at me to get out of there, and it takes everything in me not to spin round and sprint through the door.

But then I close my eyes, and I think about the past two weeks.

I think about the fact that I got onstage at Friday Showcase and at least tried , something I would never have done before.

I remember facing the cù-sìth, how I didn’t run and leave Neon on his own, even though I was terrified.

I remember standing in front of the final Blank and telling Neon’s story, even though it could have wiped away my imagination like condensation on glass.

Neon has saved me in so many ways, but I saved him too.

He’s right. I can do this.

I open my eyes and find the audience still there, waiting patiently. Everyone is here to help the shop. No one is going to laugh if I mess up. No one is hoping that I fail. They’re just waiting to hear a song.

Turning to Neon, I nod. He grins back, another reminder that he’s here for me, that I’ve got this.

So I open my mouth, and I sing. I sing the first song that comes into my head, without questioning if it’s the right choice, without worrying if I’m going to mess up or forget the lyrics halfway through.

I sing the way I do in my room at home, my voice bright and loud and clear. I sing, and I let myself be heard.