‘You want one?’ she said to Rob.

‘Sure.’

She handed him a can. It hissed as he opened it.

‘I feel so bad for her,’ Carrie said. ‘I could feel how tense she was when we arrived, wondering whether they were here.’

‘Yeah,’ Rob said. ‘It’ll take her a while to get over it. At least we have a plan for a fresh start after this summer. And they leave her alone now. One good thing to come from lockdown.’

‘They’ were Laura, Andi and Dana. Worst of all, Dana. They had been friends since they were in kindergarten, but early in ninth grade something had changed. And it had changed for the worse.

There had always been something of an edge to Dana, a hint of cruelty, of taking pleasure in others’ discomfort, but Carrie had dismissed it. She wished she hadn’t – she wished she had never let them become friends at all – because, on the last day of school before the winter holiday, Nancy had come home and gone straight to her room.

Carrie went to talk to her.

Aren’t you supposed to be going to the movies?

Nancy was sitting on her bed, staring out of the window.

I’m not going.

Why not?

I’m just not.

What happened? Tell me?

Nancy shook her head. She looked, in that moment, like the baby she had once been.

You can tell me. I’m your mom.

It’s my friends. They don’t – the sobs started, long racking sobs that Carrie would hear plenty of over the coming months – they don’t like me any more.

Amidst the pain, there was a note of disbelief in her voice, as though she simply couldn’t understand what was happening.

How long has this been going on?

I don’t know. A few weeks. They’ve been doing things without me.

Carrie could hardly believe it herself. But they’re your friends! What have they been doing?

Meeting up. Going out. Chatting online. Dana showed me all the threads I’ve not been on.

Dana. Fucking Dana. Why would she do that?

I don’t know, Mom. But they don’t like me any more. Dana tells them not to.

But why?

Because of George.

Carrie’s head was spinning. Who’s George?

The new guy at school. She likes him, but he’s not interested in her. Me and him are friends, and she said I turned him against her, which is crazy because I don’t even like him, not in that way.

Then she needs to be a bit kinder, Carrie said. She needs to stop being mean.

Nancy gave a low laugh. She likes being mean, Mom.

At least it was the last day of the semester. Over the winter holiday Carrie had kept Nancy busy, hoping that when they got back to school it would blow over, but it had gotten worse.

Much worse.