‘But it might be a little more likely if you win the competition and go to Houston,’ says Mr Curtis. ‘Haven’t most astronauts worked towards their dream from a young age? Couldn’t going to the Space Centre and meeting a real astronaut create a connection that might one day help you in some way?’

I blush when I hear him say this because the same thought has run through my head and it’s one of the reasons I want to win so much. ‘I suppose so,’ I say. ‘But where would we begin?’

‘What’s wrong with your speech at the moment?’ he asks.

‘What I’ve written is well researched and accurate, but it all falls apart when I try to say it out loud. I hate speaking in front of people: I talk too fast, and I get these red spots on my neck – see!’ I point at the marks I can feel blooming on my skin right now. ‘And even though I’ve crammed my speech full of incredible facts and statistics, my grandad says it lacks “passion and pizazz” – and he’s right. Oh, and there’s this muddled bit where I try, and fail, to change the subject of an equation by manipulating the fractional indices.’

Meg and Rose stare at me blankly, but Mr Curtis isn’t about to be put off. ‘And I assume you have your speech on you?’

‘Always,’ I say, and I pull my cards out of my bag.

Annie has picked up my card on rocky planets and their relationship with gas giants. ‘This is like seeing into the mind of a maniac. You actually understand all this?’

I shrug. ‘Of course.’

‘Rose,’ says Mr Curtis, ‘you help Meg learn what’s on the cards because her speech will be much better if she’s memorised it. Annie and I will –’

Annie laughs. ‘Do nothing because we don’t understand a word of it?’

‘No. We will look at manipulating fractional …’

‘Indices,’ I say.

‘Exactly!’

‘Sir, this is definitely more useful than making origami elephants,’ says Annie.

‘Thank you,’ says Mr Curtis. ‘And in half an hour, all your hard work will be rewarded with some whole biscuits!’ He pulls a packet of chocolate Hobnobs from his briefcase.

‘Whoop!’ calls out Jackson from the corner of the room.

‘Quiet, you!’ snaps Annie.

FORTY-EIGHT

I manage to memorise more cards during Biscuit Club than I have in the past two weeks. Rose teaches me this amazing technique called ‘memory palace’ and I have to visualise a different room that I know for each of my cards. At first I think she’s making it up, but after I’ve imagined the Alpha Centauri B part of my speech in Grandad’s hamster room and the bit on Beer–Lambert in my bedroom, I’m amazed to discover it actually works. Also, Annie solves the equation problem by ringing a friend who’s some sort of mathematical genius. At the end, Rose highlights every word and phrase I get wrong and writes them up in a list headed ‘What Meg Doesn’t Know’, so I can work on those parts later.