Mr Walters suddenly appears from his classroom. He bellows, ‘What on earth is going on here?’ Seeing Vince and me squaring off, he wades through the throng, pulling bodies out of the way by their rucksacks, and plants himself between Vince and me. He locks eyes with the snarling youth. ‘What are you doing, Vince?’

‘He’s not doing anything, Sir, just asking our mate Josh if he’s seen someone.’ Alan’s attempt at carefree gives away his own tension. I bristle at being called his mate, reminded of how recently I’d considered it to be true.

Mr Walters retorts, ‘And from what I heard, he hasn’t. So perhaps you’d better ask elsewhere. Or, even better, get to your lessons.’ He says the last part not just to Vince and Alan’s retreating backs, but loudly to the gathered mob around us.

Students start to move along again, disappointed that nothing really happened. The two rivers of school uniforms flow around Mr Walters and I, still stood in the middle of the corridor. Mr Walters watches them go by for a few seconds, his angry-teacher-face fixed. Then he turns to me. ‘Alright, Josh?’

I nod.

‘Actually, there’s a bit of an investigation going on into Dana’s whereabouts since this morning. We’ve all been asked to keep a look out for her, stealthily mind.’ He winks. ‘So, you really haven’t seen her?’

‘No. Definitely not.’

‘Good, good. On your way then. But if you hear from her, you let me know, OK? Or any other member of staff, of course.’

And he disappears back into his classroom, shutting the door.

The corridor is empty again. Except for me.

*

When I knock on the garden door after school, Dana opens it almost immediately. She fidgets with her hands and has made one of her nails bleed slightly. She sucks it as we speak.

‘It’s got to be soon, Dana. Now, maybe.’

‘Tomorrow.’ Dana is firm, despite her clear nervousness.

‘We can’t put this off anymore.’

‘I’m not putting it off, but there’s something arriving at Carl’s tomorrow that he has to keep hold of for a few days before passing it on.’

‘What’s arriving?’

‘I don’t know, exactly. But I know it’s the kind of thing you’re not supposed to have without a permit or something. It’s definitely something he doesn’t want to get caught with.’

‘OK then, tomorrow. We’ll go in the morning. First thing?’

Dana is hesitant, nervous. ‘I can’t go back there, Josh. To my house, I mean. I can’t do it. Not anymore.’ Dana seems to root herself into the soil. I know I can’t argue with her, and I don’t want to anyway.

‘Why not?’