And he was right. I wouldn’t. I didn’t. Instead I watched as he scaled the fence at lunchtime and disappeared down Albert Street. I couldn’t even stand there peering through the fence and waiting for him to come back, because that would have made someone on yard duty suspicious, so I just strolled around the grounds, trying to be cool but actually churning with worry. Now I wished I had gone with him. It would’ve been better than waiting here, nursing an overactive imagination.

He was gone twenty minutes. I saw him approaching the fence out of the corner of my eye as I was talking to the teacher on yard duty.

‘Ow,’ I said, blinking furiously. ‘I think I’ve got something in my eye, Miss. Could you look, please?’

She tilted my head up and I held open my eyelid as best I could. Apparently she couldn’t find anything, which didn’t come as a great surprise to me. I blinked a couple more times, announced myself cured and thanked her. Aiden strolled past, hands in pockets, whistling. I caught up with him.

‘Well?’ I hissed.

‘Never better, thanks,’ he said. ‘You?’

And it was then I noticed the small cut above his right eye. I pointed it out to him.

‘Ah, yes,’ he said. ‘That’s where my head came into contact with a kid’s knuckles. Bit unfortunate.’ He held up his right hand, made a fist. There were scrapes along its back. ‘Which is when these came into contact with his head.’

‘My God, Aiden,’ I said. ‘You’ve been in a fight?’

‘Not a lot gets past you, does it, Ash? What gave you the first clue?’

I grabbed him by the sleeve, pulled him further away from a group of girls huddled together, chatting and laughing.

‘You’ve just recovered from a serious head injury, Aiden,’ I pointed out. ‘And you get into a fight? Are you crazy?’

He laughed. ‘I’m beginning to think so. Settle down, Ash. It’s nothing. You should see the other guy. He’s not looking as pretty as me.’

I sighed. ‘I don’t know what’s got into you recently, Aiden,’ I said. ‘I reckon that injury to your head has addled your brains.’ But he just kept grinning. ‘So was all that worth it?’ I added. ‘Did you see her?’

‘No. But I did see that boy, Ziggy. He dropped out of a tree just like last time.’

‘What did you say to him?’

‘That he really should think about varying those dramatic entrances.’

I folded my arms and put my head to one side. That just made Aiden grin even more.