She shrugs. ‘I was bored. I wanted someone to talk to. The note says that they need to do some tests on you.’ She looks up at me and grins. ‘Did you notice that Sir didn’t even question it?’

Annie’s going so fast that I have to trot to keep up with her. ‘So where are we going?’

‘To the best place in the entire school.’ She pushes open the door to Learning Support. ‘You’d better be quiet,’ she says. ‘You’re not supposed to be here.’

‘I don’t want to be here!’ I say, but she’s already disappeared round a corner so I have no choice but to follow her. I find her waiting outside a door labelled The Oasis.

‘Ever been in here?’ Annie asks.

‘No, but I’ve always wanted to.’ The Oasis is the sensory room that our school put in last year. We had an assembly on it, explaining how light and music can help students with autism and other special needs.

‘Come on then.’ She pushes open the door. ‘I told Jan that I was feeling angry so I’ve got it to myself for the whole hour.’

I step inside. The room is entirely blue. In the corner are three tubes filled with rising pink bubbles and the floor is covered with huge cushions and beanbags. I slip off my shoes and Annie pulls herself out of her wheelchair. Without using her crutches, she walks across the room, lurching from side to side. ‘It’s OK to look,’ she calls over her shoulder. ‘Sometimes it’s best just to have a really big stare until you get used to me.’

‘Sorry,’ I say.

‘I said it was OK, didn’t I?’

‘So do you feel angry?’ I ask, following her across the room.

‘Yeah … a bit.’

‘Why?’

‘Oh, all the usual boring teenage stuff: school, spots, arguments with friends … And added to that I’ve got a serious amount of bum ache at the moment.’ Her eyes flick to me. ‘But don’t even think about trying to talk to me about it.’ She picks up a boomerang-shaped control, presses a button and the room is flooded in red light.

‘There’s a ball pool,’ I say to break the silence.

She smiles. ‘Get in if you like.’

So I go to the ball pool, climb in and sink down in the white balls. Annie presses another button and the balls glow pink.

‘Wow!’ I ripple my hands through the balls. ‘Hey, I’m almost weightless!’

Annie lifts herself on to the edge of the ball pool, pulls her legs over and slips in next to me. Then she throws a ball at me and it bounces off my head. ‘Here, you have a go.’ She passes me the controls and I start pressing buttons at random. I change the colour of the bubble tubes then I make a film of the sea appear on the wall. While I’m trying out the different music, we talk a bit about Biscuit Club and Annie puts forward her dubious theory that Mr Curtis is actually working for the government and is planning to recruit us for a teenage superhero unit.