We peer into the woodland, but I can’t see anyone. I can’t hear anyone either. There’s nothing but the sound of my own heartbeat thundering in my ears.

‘Are you sure?’ I say, turning to look back at Cameron.

And that’s when I see it. Or, rather, don’t see it. His birthmark.

‘That’s Ethan!’ I yell, but it’s too late.

‘Yoink!’ he says, snatching the flag.

‘Stop him!’ I scramble forward, but we’re far too slow. He sprints into the woodland, getting rid of the evidence by tossing his stolen blue bandana as he goes. We try to follow, but he’s so quick and agile that we can barely keep up. He pulls his red bandana out of his shorts and reties it as he reaches the treeline, sprinting out into the open.

‘Get him!’ I yell to any of our teammates within earshot. Some of them immediately go after him, but he ducks and dives and manages to evade them. I see Chase running with the red flag in the opposite direction, but a Hawthorn lad steamrollers him, taking the flag back like it’s nothing.

‘Someone stop him!’ I yell again, but it’s hopeless. Out of breath, Ethan passes the flag to Tiffany, and she effortlessly runs up the hill, scoring their final point.

‘Fuck this,’ I say as their team erupts with celebration. ‘He can’t do that.’

‘Where in the rules does it say that he can’t?’ Kellen says, out of breath.

‘I don’t need to read the rules to know that’s cheating. I’m telling Madzikanda.’

‘Don’t,’ he says. ‘It’s not worth it. Snitches get stitches, Zach.’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realize we were in a prison yard all of a sudden!’

‘Just leave it,’ he says. ‘If we report them, they’re just gonna hate us for it.’

‘I’m sorry to break this to you,’ I say, ‘but they already hate us, Kellen. I know you want them to like you, but Tiffany and Ethan? They’re never gonna really accept you.’

‘I know,’ he says, and it surprises me. ‘But it’s the last day. I just want everything to be chill. They’re Rhys’s friends. I’m going to have to spend prom night with them. I just don’t want anything to ruin it.’

‘That doesn’t mean we have to let them get away with this.’

‘Zach, please …’ he says. He looks at me with a sense of desperation I’ve never seen from him before. ‘I need tonight to go perfectly.’

I think on it for a moment. I don’t really understand why, but this seems to mean a lot to him. Maybe Bec and Chase are right. Maybe I do need to try harder to accept his relationship. ‘OK, fine,’ I finally say. ‘But you owe me.’

‘Thanks, Zach,’ he says, opening his arms for a hug.