But the best thing is that for half an hour I’m forced to forget about Mum and the earthquake.

At lunchtime, it’s too sunny to go to the library so instead I sit in a corner of the field, as far away from flying footballs as I can get, and I work through Rose’s list, rereading the sentences on the cards that I keep fluffing. Just as I’m trying to remember that the mass of Jupiter is double the mass of all the other planets combined, my phone buzzes, making me jump. As shouting and laughter drift across from the field, I stare at the little envelope on the screen. It’s a text from Grandad.

‘Meg!’ I look up to see Ed walking towards me. He nods at my phone. ‘Have you heard something?’ He must have been playing football because his hair is slightly dishevelled and his sleeves are rolled up. He drops down next to me.

‘I’ve got a text from Grandad, but I’m too scared to open it.’ I feel the warmth of his shoulders as they brush against mine.

‘He wouldn’t text bad news!’

‘He might,’ I say. ‘My grandad doesn’t always think things through.’

‘It’ll be OK,’ he says, nudging me, so I take a breath, and open the text.

I smile. It’s good news. The best news! ‘Listen to this,’ I say. ‘Alice just rang. The village she’s staying in was hit by the quake, but she’s fine. She’s helping them out, then coming home. Phew!!! –’

‘Hang on, he actually wrote “phew”?’

‘With three exclamation marks.’ I read the rest of the message. ‘She had to borrow a phone and she rang me as she could only make a quick call. Whoopy doop!!’

‘Whoopy doop?’ says Ed.

I grin. ‘Whoopy doop!’

‘Ed!’ comes a shout from the bottom of the slope. It’s Raj and he’s bouncing a football up and down. ‘Come on!’

‘I’d better go,’ he says, but he stays next to me, pulling up bits of grass.

‘Thank you for the facts,’ I blurt out. ‘They really helped.’

He shrugs. ‘That’s OK … But I never did help you with that equation.’

‘Annie’s friend worked it out.’ The sun is so bright, I have to shade my eyes to look at him.

‘Right.’ He sweeps the bits of grass off his trousers then jumps to his feet. ‘See you later,’ he says, then he jogs down the slope.

I look back at my list of what Meg doesn’t know. I’ve got something else to add to it: What does Ed really think about Meg? Along with whether life exists on other planets and what the universe is made of, Ed’s opinion of me is one of my top ten mysteries of the cosmos. But there is a difference. I’d love to find out that little green aliens are running around on some planet, but I’m not sure I want to know about Ed. There’s something really good about this mystery. Who knew ignorance could be so enjoyable?