I sighed and headed straight for the bathroom. Towards the end of my shower I switched off the hot water and let the cold water roll over me for a minute or two. It felt so lovely. The calm was interrupted when I turned off the shower and could hear the South American music again. I started thinking about Dad and Caitlin being hypocrites, drinking their wine while bitching about Mum.

I pulled on some pyjama pants and a T-shirt, dragged myself into my room, switched on the fan, flopped onto the bed and pulled a sheet over me. I was so tired I couldn’t even be bothered checking my socials.

Somewhere between exhaustion and the thought of sleep I found myself thinking about Matilda, her comments, my new classmates not sticking up for me and missing Katie and Jane.

I reached for my phone to listen to some music. I put in my headphones and searched for something chill. I found an album that Mum had got me into, Blue Lines by Massive Attack, and played the track ‘Safe From Harm’. And weirdly enough, all I could see in my mind’s eye was Jamie, running laps around the oval at a steady pace, set on never stopping.

CHAPTER 5

When I saw Jamie before morning circle, he didn’t make a big deal about us hanging out the other night. He just nodded hello, and laughed when I rolled my eyes as Ingrid prompted our singing to start the day.

I actually tried singing a bit more than usual this time. To be honest, all of the high school kids singing together sounded really amazing. It was hard not to notice Matilda towering over everyone, and although she looked like an angel as she sang, I wondered if she was going to make another sharp remark during the day.

I know that I wasn’t the only one bothered by the heat when we were all trying to pay attention to Michael in our first lesson. The air conditioning wasn’t working for some reason and I felt like a chook about to become Sunday roast.

‘Let’s go to the library,’ Caroline said when the recess bell rang. ‘It’ll be cool in there.’

I followed her to the library and we plonked ourselves down on some massive cushions, with our drink bottles. It wasn’t much cooler than our classroom, but it was cooler than outside, and it was comfy.

‘What’s it like at a normal school?’ Caroline asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Your old school. What was it like there?’

I laughed. ‘Very different to here.’

‘How?’

‘People aren’t as nice there,’ I said. Then I thought about Matilda’s comments. ‘I mean, people don’t go out of their way to be nice to you. You have your own group of friends, and then everyone else kind of pays you out or ignores you. Here, everyone seems to get along.’

‘We kind of do. Although Matilda wasn’t very nice to you yesterday.’

‘You noticed?’