I look around. Toys, clothes and books are spread all over the carpet and Pongo is running round and round the paddling pool, barking at the inflated rings. ‘Mum, there isn’t enough room for it in here.’

‘There’s loads of room,’ she says, then she jumps to her feet. ‘I’m going to start filling it up.’

Elsa takes the crust out of her mouth and holds it out to me.

‘No thanks,’ I say, but she keeps jabbing it in my direction.

‘Da!’ she says. ‘Da, da!’

‘OK, OK.’ I take it off her and pretend to eat it. ‘Nom, nom,’ I say. ‘Happy now?’

Elsa smiles, sticks her thumb in her mouth and flops back on the sofa. Then we watch as Mum runs to and from the kitchen with pans of steaming water. She’s wearing her Tinker Bell nightie and her bleached-blonde dreads are gathered on the top of her head with a scrunchie. Her bracelets jangle as each pan of water splashes into the pool.

After six trips, the water just about covers the bottom. ‘It’s going to take ages,’ she says sadly, swishing a toe in the water. ‘Can you help me, Meg?’

‘Sorry. I’ve got to get to school.’ I go to the mirror over the mantelpiece and start brushing my hair back into a ponytail.

‘Such beautiful hair,’ says Mum. I can see her in the mirror watching me, her turquoise nose stud gleaming on her pale face. We look so different: me with my dark eyes and hair and Mum, blue-eyed and with hair so blonde it’s almost white. ‘I wish you’d wear it down.’

‘It’s easier this way.’ I smooth a strand of hair behind my ear and button up my blazer. I brush some toast crumbs off my shoulder. ‘Shouldn’t you be getting ready for work, Mum?’

‘In a minute. I’ll just put a bit more water in.’

Mum runs the Mencap charity shop in town. That’s her paid job, but she’s got loads of others, like fundraising for Greenpeace and running the community allotment. She wants to make the planet a cleaner, better place. It’s fair to say she doesn’t feel the same way about our flat.

‘Meg, can you babysit Elsa after school?’ Mum dumps another pan of water into the paddling pool. ‘You know my friend Sara, the nurse?’ I shake my head. Mum’s got so many friends I can’t keep up with them all. ‘Well, Sara’s going to do some volunteer work abroad and she needs a lift to the airport.’

‘I don’t know …’ I think about tonight’s jam-packed square on my homework timetable. ‘I’ve got so much work to do … Plus I’ve got to practise my speech.’

Mum looks at me, eyes wide. ‘I’ll be back around six. You and Elsa can just hang out together until then. It’ll be fun!’

I look at Elsa, who’s now lying on her back on the sofa, gurgling and trying to get her foot in her mouth. ‘You really need to give Sara a lift?’