‘Thank goodness you’re alright,’ she says as she opens the door and hugs me. ‘I was so worried. How was it with your mum?’

‘Oh man,’ I say. ‘Probably, no, definitely, the worst night of my life. Let’s get going and I’ll fill you in.’

We walk to Karim’s to pick him up like we promised. He actually looks like he’s had the best night of his life. ‘Totally crashed out,’ he says. ‘Got, like, ten hours of solid shut-eye. Mum never came back. Dad wasn’t too worried because she said she might have to pull an all-nighter, but he’s going to take her in some lunch after he’s been shopping. Hopefully they won’t let him in the building either.’ He makes a face. ‘Otherwise I’ll never be able to go home again.’

‘Hey, me and you can be hobos together,’ I say. ‘Cos I’m not going back to mine.’

‘We could sleep under the bridge where it smells of pee.’ Karim grabs his pouch, shuts his front door behind him and we make our way across his drive.

167 ‘Or you could both just sleep at mine,’ Kat says. ‘Idiots.’

We walk through the estate without trying to hide, knowing that everyone watching – and they are watching – will just see that we’re doing exactly what we said we’d be doing. So we laugh and chat like it’s a normal day, and ignore the side-eyes from dogwalkers and faces that peep at us from windows.

‘We’re going straight to Mak’s, right?’ Kat says. And it’s so awkward because she knows where we’re going first, and it’s the last place she wants to be.

‘We need her,’ I say. ‘And underneath it all, she’s still Ade.’

‘Is she though?’ Kat says. ‘She’s like a totally different person and I doubt she’ll want to help us.’

‘She’s the smartest person we know,’ I say. ‘She’s brave and loyal, and she’d do anything for her friends.’

‘Are we talking about the same Ade that goes to Latham?’ Karim snorts.

‘You see?’ Kat says. ‘Karim knows.’

‘Look,’ I say. ‘What we went through at Crater 168 Lake was nothing compared to starting high school. We’ve all made bad decisions. We all forgot what was important. I don’t know why Ade changed like she did, but I know there will be a good reason for it, and I know that if we ask her for help, she’ll help.’