‘Oh, well done! I wish I could say the same,’ said Ms D, who had long grey hair in a bun and was a bit, just the tiniest bit, like my mum might have been if she’d been able to grow old. Though, up close, I now noticed that she didn’t even look that old. It was just that she’d let her hair go grey. According to school gossip, she’d been married five times, though I didn’t actually believe that.

She patted my shoulder. I looked at the corridor. I had to walk down there to get to my tutor room, but I didn’t think I could do it. How was I supposed to make my way through the middle of a collection of telly-ghosts from the future?

‘Will you –?’ I said and then stopped. I drew a breath. ‘This sounds really lame, but could you come with me to tutor? In G6? Just as far as the door?’

‘Of course! Don’t worry about being late, though. Mr Patel won’t mind.’

‘I know, but still.’

I let her get a little bit ahead and kept my eyes on her back. Every time I walked through one of them, I felt a blast of cold. I stared at Ms Duke. She was wearing regular teacher clothes: a red jacket, a black skirt, a white blouse. Her shoes clopped on the floor. She was older than Mum would ever be.

It was shit having to be brave all the time.

She pushed the door open, ushered me in and shouted across the rowdy room: ‘Sorry Ariel’s late, Mr Patel! My fault!’, then waved at me and clopped away.

I sloped across the room and sat next to Izzy.

‘All right?’ I said.

‘You?’ said Izzy.

‘Yep.’

‘OK with Ms D?’

‘Sure. She was just being, you know, Is everything all right? We’re always here for you.’ I tried to adopt a mildly mocking tone, but my voice cracked. Izzy put an arm round me and pulled me in close for one of her hugs.

One year. A year without Mum.

All the talking stopped when the music started. Mr Patel’s way of being a cool guy involved him blasting us with one of his favourite songs at full volume in the morning. Today, as so often, it was ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, which got extreme approval from most of the class, and a lot of air guitar and drums. It lasted four minutes, and I lost myself in it for a while, and it felt good. Izzy and I both ended up singing along. It was impossible to talk while the music was that loud. It reset me.