I sent her an email a month ago, but I haven’t had one back. ‘I still hear from her,’ I say. ‘She’s loving it over there.’

Annie nods, then says. ‘Last question: tell me a secret.’

‘That’s not a question.’

She points her pen at me, narrows her eyes and says, ‘Meg Clark, do you have any secrets?’

I know I could say anything. Tell her I once stole a Twix or that I’m scared of the dark, but for some reason I don’t want to do this because I can tell Annie is genuinely interested in my answer. She’s genuinely interested in me. I glance around then say, ‘I’m on a secret mission.’

‘What is it?’

‘If I told you, I’d have to kill you!’

Annie smiles, then Mr Curtis is backing into the room, sloshing tea over his hands and yelping. As he passes round the drinks and broken biscuits, we finish writing our definitions. I notice that as Jackson and Rose read theirs out, Annie is still writing mine, crossing words out and frowning.

‘Lovely!’ says Mr Curtis in response to Rose’s description of Jackson. ‘Now, let’s hear what an Annie Demos is.’ He looks expectantly at me.

‘Demos, Annie. Proper noun,’ I say. ‘1. Born in Watford. 2. Only child. 3. Avid reader with a dislike of human beings, tuna and school. 4. Owns two pet rats, called Alice and Mabel.’

‘Yep. That’s me,’ says Annie.

Mr Curtis turns to her. ‘And how do you define Meg, Annie?’

She clears her throat and sits a little taller. ‘Clark, Meg. Very proper noun. 1. Born on a journey and in possession of half a sister. 2. Cosmic explorer whose feet are stuck firmly to the ground in sensible shoes.’ She pauses and her eyes flick from my lace-up shoes to the badges on the lapel of my blazer. ‘3. A blazer-wrapped, award-studded human computer whose friend went down under. 4. A fan of facts. 5. A geek with a secret.’

For a moment, no one speaks. Rose’s eyes flick between Annie and me.

‘That’s it,’ says Annie, crumpling the piece of paper up just like she screwed up the note in detention. I see it fall to the floor.

‘Thank you, Annie,’ says Mr Curtis. ‘That was powerful stuff and I think we can all agree that the ice is well and truly broken.’

‘Smashed to pieces,’ laughs Jackson.

‘I liked it,’ I say quickly.

‘Really?’ says Jackson. ‘You like being called a geek?’

I shrug. The way Annie just said it, it didn’t sound like an insult. ‘I’m used to it,’ I say.

‘I’m afraid our time is up,’ says Mr Curtis. ‘We’ll be building on what we’ve achieved today on Friday …’ He trails off. Annie’s already leaving the room. ‘… And perhaps then we can do some trust exercises.’

‘Any possibility of getting us Party Rings?’ asks Jackson, heaving himself off his beanbag. ‘They’re my favourites.’

As Rose thanks Mr Curtis for ‘the delicious cup of tea’, I pick up Annie’s definition of me and slip it in my pocket. I might be feeling painfully aware of my shoes right now, but everything she said was true, and, as she pointed out, I am a fan of facts.