Lisa felt the anger rising in her once more.

Christ, the file had been doing the rounds on the internet for weeks. It was a miracle her mother hadn’t discovered it earlier. Only because Schiwy had tipped her off.

What a huge shock it was all of a sudden, and yet she was the whore screwing her daughter’s teacher. Jesus Christ, the stupid cow probably thought that shagging made them invisible. But you only had to wander past the wrong café at the wrong time on the wrong day and see the two of them ramming their tongues down each other’s throat. Puke.

Querky: hey, are you still there?

She stared at the blinking cursor. In Easyexit chat you wrote in white letters on a black background, which was fitting for a suicide self-help forum, but it hurt your eyes after a while.

Moonshadow: when’s the best time to do IT?

Querky: not straight away. first make her think that everything’s okay with you.

Moonshadow: i think i managed that quite well today.

The ship’s engines had barely roared into life before she was putting on an Oscar-winning performance, pretending she was really looking forward to the trip.

‘This is so great, Mum.’

She’d even managed to squeeze out a tear. The encore had then been her show at dinner.

‘Don’t worry,’ she’d told her mother. ‘The video is a hoax, a fake. That’s not me. All my friends know that. And no one in the school takes the scumbag who’s posting all that shit about me seriously. We laugh about it, me and my mates.’

Yes, I know, Mum: ‘My mates and I.’

‘The reason why I’m hardly seeing my mates at the moment is my boyfriend. Yes. I’ve got one. My secret’s out. Phew. I didn’t want to tell you, but that’s why I’ve been so weird recently. No, it’s not what you think. We haven’t done anything but a bit of cuddling.’

As she recalled this, something amusing occurred to her that she had to tell Querky right away.

Moonshadow: i told Mum we were a couple.

Querky: huh?

Moonshadow: when i told her i was going out with a boy she asked me his name. the only one that i could think of off the top of my head was your nickname.

Querky: she thinks your boyfriend’s called Querky?

Lisa couldn’t help smiling.

Moonshadow: i told her it was a nickname based on your surname, Querkus.

Querky: blimey! if only she knew… ☺

‘He’s older than me,’ she’d said, continuing to spin her yarn. ‘Seventeen. You’re bound to meet him soon. But don’t say anything to Dad, will you?’

Her mum had looked at her with the same relief on her face as her best friend had that time she finally got her long-overdue period after a school trip.