‘And perhaps you could tell us the points you plotted,’ says Mr Andrews. ‘Just to remind us.’

‘Yes,’ I say, suddenly confident, but aware everyone in the class is looking at me.

‘Felix?’ says Mr Andrews. ‘It’s not a trick question. You’ve already done it.’

I look at my paper.

‘Pawn to e4. Pawn to c5,’ I blurt. ‘Knight to f3. Knight to c6!’

‘What?’ Mr Andrews frowns.

‘White’s fifth move – pawn to c4!’

‘Felix, what are you on about?’

‘Uh . . . Nothing!’ I say, looking around. Some of the class are laughing and Jake’s giving me a weird look like I’ve just arrived from Mars. Mr Andrews tells the class to shush, then turns back to me.

‘Felix,’ he says. ‘You’ve got two choices – either sit and be sensible or go to the Isolation Room.’

I shake my head slowly. I can’t risk speaking when my head is full of numbers – chess numbers.

‘Well?’

‘He’ll be sensible,’ says Jake. ‘Won’t you, Felix?’

I nod.

‘Good,’ says Mr Andrews. ‘So, somebody else tell me . . .’

His voice fades away. I sink back in my chair. It’s like suddenly I’ve turned into a computer spouting code, but at least I did get the answer to the graph right. I glance around the class. Some of them have got their heads down to avoid answering Mr Andrews’s next question, four have got their hands in the air. Simon Jones answers. Mr Andrews tells him well done and moves on to the next question. They’re all carrying on like nothing has happened, except for Rebecca who’s sitting right behind me, shaking her head and smiling at the same time.

*

‘a3, b4, h5, m1.’ Jake’s talking in a robotic voice as we walk down the corridor. ‘You had me worried, Felix.’ He slaps me on the back. ‘For a moment, I thought you’d gone all brainy.’

As usual he’s got it totally wrong, there isn’t even an m1 on a chessboard, but at least this way no one else will know I accidentally blurted the chess move Granddad taught me last night. I put my head down. Jake keeps speaking like a robot, but eventually I get some peace as he turns into the toilets.

I walk on a few more strides and wait for him by the noticeboard. Boys and girls rush past me on the way to the dining hall. I take a deep breath, try to shake the chess out of my head. Granddad, I think to myself. I know I wanted to learn chess, but I don’t want it to take over my life. More students pass by, then I notice a pair of girl’s shoes below blue tights has stopped next to me. I look up and see Rebecca giving me the same knowing smile that she had in class.