“Have you spoken to his mum?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “Janice won’t answer her phone.”

And so I lay awake until 3 a.m., fretting about Jacob.

*

“It’s freezing out there,” Freya told me when she came over the next day. She took off her woolly hat and blew on her hands. “How’s Batman?”

“I’m fine,” I said.

“Apart from the bruises and the sore head?”

“Never mind that,” I said. “What happened with Jacob and Myles?”

“It’s all rumours,” Freya explained. “But Jacob’s been excluded. Mr Gossage told us –”

“We need to see him,” I said.

Mum appeared at the living room door.

“I’ve spoken to Janice,” she told us. “Jacob is fine, but the school won’t have him back.”

“This is all so wrong,” Freya said. “Horrible and wrong.”

“Perhaps,” Mum said, “but that’s not the point. Jacob has … issues.”

“No!” I snapped, so loud I shocked Mum and Freya, and myself too. “Jacob doesn’t have issues. It was Myles! Look what he did to me.”

“Cal,” Mum soothed, “I know you’re looking out for your friend, but it’s up to the school – there’s nothing you can do.”

I knew she was right. I knew it, but I hated it. After she’d gone, Freya sat down beside me.

“Are you OK?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m here with my best friend. What could possibly be wrong?”

I smiled.

“Is that what I am?”

“Yes,” Freya said. “And maybe something else, too.”

I gulped, all nervous again. Did she mean …?

“You’re Batman,” she said. “The way you took on those lads. You were really brave.”

“Oh – that,” I said.

“Cal!” Freya insisted. “You stood up for Jacob. You tried to save him. Never mind superhero powers and all that rubbish. You’re a real hero.”

“But …”

She leaned over and kissed me. It was so sudden, and so fast, that I didn’t have time to react. Her lips were soft and I could taste strawberries. It was lovely – as if she’d just eaten some sweets.

“But …”

“Oh Cal, shh,” she said. “Say nothing.”

*

I was in a much better mood that night. I took my painkillers, read a comic and fell asleep thinking about Freya and that strawberry kiss. I felt older somehow, more like a proper teenager. It was like I’d stopped being a geeky kid. I’m sure I fell asleep with a great big smile on my face.

But then the house phone rang, and woke me up right in the middle of a dream. It was 4.03 a.m.

13

Nightrunner

Jacob had run away.

“I heard him banging about,” Janice said. “But I just thought he was in a strop.”

“When did you realise he was missing?” Mum asked.

“I woke up around 2 a.m.,” said Janice. “I went into the kitchen for a glass of water and I found his note on the table.”

Mum nodded. It was now 6 a.m., and I couldn’t stop yawning. The kitchen was cold and flecks of snow were falling outside. Janice’s hands shook as she held her tea, and there were dark bags under her eyes.