Ms Edgecombe puts a worksheet in front of me and gives my shoulder a squeeze. ‘Ed’s better than extinction,’ she says quietly.

When we get back to school, I’m the first person off the minibus. The last workshop was terrible. Everyone on my table kept asking me if I’d go out with them in the event of an apocalypse and then they moved on to celebrities and then animals – Meg, what about a really hot woodlouse? The fact that I was ignoring them didn’t put them off. In fact, I’d say it only encouraged them. Bella and Ed were strangely quiet, though, and now I’m worried that they’ve realised the joke went too far and one of them will try to apologise. I put my head down and walk straight out of the school gates. I just want to forget that this afternoon ever happened.

I find Grandad in the flat giving Elsa the bubbliest bath I’ve ever seen. ‘I’ve been experimenting,’ he says, tipping something pink into the water, ‘and you’d be amazed, and possibly horrified, by what makes the best bubbles.’

Elsa smiles at me through a bubble beard. ‘Beb … beb!’ she says.

‘Great,’ I say, flopping down on the toilet seat. I’m guessing Grandad doesn’t know about Elsa’s eczema either.

Grandad looks at me. ‘You all right? Did the trip go well?’

‘Mum rang.’

Grandad’s face lights up. ‘How is she?’

‘Great. She’s having an amazing time.’

‘Beb!’ shouts Elsa. She’s standing up now and reaching for me. ‘Beb!’

We look at her. ‘I think she’s saying your name,’ says Grandad.

‘Beb,’ says Elsa, and I pick her up out of the water. She throws her arms round my neck, soaking my school uniform.

Whatever Grandad put in the bath, it’s made her very slippery. ‘That’s right,’ I say, resting my head against her soapy hair. ‘I’m Meg.’ Then I hold on tight to her, even though she’s wriggling to get away.

THIRTY-FIVE

I force myself to go to school the next day. I haven’t had a day off school since Year Eight and I’m not going to start now just because I freaked out at some stupid joke. I get a lot of amused looks from people who were on the trip, but I ignore them, hold my head high and walk straight to my first lesson – maths. As soon as I’m seated, I put my head down and start working so I can be totally distracted when Ed turns up.

A few minutes after the lesson has begun, I hear him sit next to me. I keep scribbling numbers as if my life depends on it. Luckily, we’re doing a practice exam paper so we’re not allowed to talk and at the end of the lesson, Ed’s up and out of his seat before I’ve even put my books away.

I guess he wants to ignore me just as much as I want to ignore him.

It’s a relief to get to Biscuit Club – a place where I can be certain I won’t run into Bella or Ed. While Mr Curtis is off making our cups of tea, Jackson tells us about some gruesome accident at the skate park. Suddenly, Annie interrupts him and says, ‘I want to hear about Meg’s trip.’ She smiles at me and there’s something about her smile, something that makes me wonder what she’s heard.