As soon as I crossed the school threshold, I became aware of a change in atmosphere. There was a sense of excitement and expectation and from every classroom came the chorus of a different carol, someone noisily practising their lines, or someone else wailing that they’d forgotten theirs. The change in mood was a godsend. We were all rushed off our feet and, thankfully, it was nowhere near as difficult to avoid Beamish as I had imagined.

‘What on earth’s the matter with you this morning?’ Dolly asked me during morning break when she brushed by and I jumped almost as high as the ceiling. ‘You’re like a cat on a hot tin roof.’

I had thought I’d been playing it rather cool, but apparently not.

‘This is no day for being distracted,’ she said handing me a mug of coffee.

‘I know,’ I dithered, in spite of my best intentions not to. ‘I’m just so tense about this afternoon and, added to that the thought that right now Mum and Dad could be reading my letter, it’s all a bit much.’

Obviously I couldn’t mention the near-kiss which was also playing havoc with my head.

‘Fear and excitement,’ Dolly tutted, gazing off into the distance and looking more Miss Marple than ever. ‘Now that is a heady mix.’

‘It is,’ I agreed, blowing into the mug to cool my coffee.

‘And completely understandable,’ she continued as I took my first searing sip, ‘but it doesn’t explain what Beamish said.’

I hastily swallowed the liquid down and felt it blazing a trail to my stomach to join the butterflies.

‘What do you mean?’ I spluttered. ‘What did Beamish say?’

‘Well, he’s a bit all over the place this morning too,’ Dolly elaborated, ‘and when I asked him what was the matter, he said that I had to ask you.’

‘Oh,’ I said, my heart thumping, but not because of the caffeine.

‘Did something happen last night?’ Dolly asked.

‘What?’ I squeaked.

‘When you stayed late, was there some problem with the stage or something? We can’t have children pitching off the front again.’

‘No,’ I said, taking another mouthful of coffee and thinking on my feet. ‘There was nothing wrong with the stage or the lights, but we did have to quickly paint the manger. I daresay he was just worried that it hadn’t dried.’

Dolly opened her mouth to say something else but I didn’t give her the chance.

‘In fact,’ I said, tipping the rest of my still too hot coffee down the sink, ‘I better go and check on it before the bell goes.’