‘We are interrupting our programming to bring you a breaking news story,’ the newsreader says. ‘There have been reports of a large explosion in the town of Straybridge. The cause is not yet known and we have no details of any casualties. Local police and fire services are responding to the incident and we’re hoping we can provide you with more information shortly.’

‘What is happening, Lance?’ Mum whispers, and I can see that she’s scared. This is not good for her.

‘I don’t know, Mum,’ I say. ‘But it might not be as bad as it looks.’

She pats the sofa next to her, and I perch on the edge of the seat.

‘The explosion is believed to have originated at the university campus in Straybridge.’

‘Oh god, I hope Nadia’s OK.’ Mum grabs her phone with shaking hands, and holds it up to activate her face ID. ‘Stupid thing,’ she shouts when it fails to recognise her three times because she’s moving around too much. 14

‘Here,’ I say, taking it from her and holding it up to her face to unlock it. ‘And I’m sure she’s OK. It’s Saturday, so she’ll be at home with Karim.’

Mum scrolls through her recent calls and then puts the phone to her ear. ‘Damn, it’s engaged!’

‘I’ll call Karim.’ Mum is going into full-on panic. Since she met Nadia at the hospital back in June, they’ve become really good friends. And I’m glad because it was our mums who introduced us before we started at Latham. I really didn’t want to meet Karim at first, because it was weird being set up by our mums like some kind of arranged friendship. Plus I already had my mates and I wasn’t looking to add any more. But we got on as soon as we met. We have loads in common and have a laugh. And, as it turned out, my other mates didn’t last that long into the first term.

‘Sparshott, my G!’ Karim’s voice shouts into my ear. ‘Can you believe what is happening?’

‘Is your mum OK?’ I say, because Mum is literally whacking me on my knee and mouthing words urgently in my face.

‘Yeah, we were all at home when it happened,’ Karim says. ‘Mum’s just gone in now to try to find out what’s going on.’ 15

‘She’s fine, Mum,’ I say. ‘She’s just gone in now to try to find out what’s going on.’

‘Oh, thank goodness,’ Mum sighs. ‘Tell Karim to tell his mum to call me when she gets a chance.’

‘Did you hear that, K?’

‘Yep. Will do.’

I give my mum a nod, and then shuffle back on the sofa while she goes off to make a cup of tea. ‘So, what do you know?’