All my thinking was pointless, of course, because I’d never see her again. But it passed the time.

Dad had made the video call through the media room, so we sat in the front row while Mum’s face, two metres high and one metre wide, gazed down on us. She was not happy and the size of the image made her expression even more terrifying. A small part of me registered this as unfair. Our faces and bodies would seem tiny to her. She loomed like a monster.

‘I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I am in you two,’ she started. ‘What were you thinking? My kids, truants?’

I opened my mouth to speak, but it was obvious my contribution was not going to be welcome, so I shut it again. Mum was like a rollercoaster. She’d started and momentum was building and building. We’d just have to cling on, terrified, until she came to a stop.

‘I can’t even begin to count the number of times you’ve been told to obey the rules, that you must not, EVER, go out by yourselves, that the world is a dangerous place, more dangerous than you can begin to imagine and yet, what do you do? Huh? What do you do? You jump over a fence to go off on your own. God knows why.’

I opened my mouth to lie about our motive, but closed it again.

‘Anything could have happened to you. You could have been attacked, God forbid, kidnapped or murdered or …’ Aiden and I stared at her eyes, blinking only occasionally. ‘Are you totally stupid, the pair of you? Or is it that you simply don’t care what you’ve done to us today? Your father was worried sick. He was close to breaking down and sobbing when he rang me and that was after you’d been found. I can only imagine what he must have gone through when you were missing, when he got the call from the school. Plus the damage you’ve done to that teacher. Apparently he was distraught as well, and could quite possibly lose his job over this. And it would all be thanks to you. But you didn’t think about that, did you? You didn’t stop to think how this would affect anyone else. You only think about yourselves. A pair of selfish brats.’

My eyes filled with tears. Mr Meredith. Mum was right. I hadn’t thought that us going off without permission might affect him and it would never have crossed my mind that he could lose his job over it. What had we done?

‘So what have you got to say for yourselves, huh?’

And suddenly I found that I didn’t have anything to say. I’m sorry? That wasn’t going to cut it, but I couldn’t think of anything else.

‘I’m so sorry, Mum.’

‘Not good enough, Ashleigh Delatour. Not good enough at all.’

‘It was my fault.’ I’d almost forgotten Aiden was there. I turned towards him, my mouth open. ‘It was my fault, Mum,’ he continued. ‘It was all my idea and Ashleigh didn’t want to go but I persuaded her. She tried to talk me out of it. I’m the only one who’s to blame.’