Jacob grinned.

“Are you gonna beat me up if I don’t?” he asked.

“No,” Freya said. “He won’t. But I will.”

“Well, I don’t hit girls, so …” Jacob said.

“That’s sexist,” Freya said. “But I’ll let you off, just this one time.”

Jacob led us to his den. It was just a plastic sheet, tied to some tall bushes. He’d made soggy cardboard walls, propped up with bricks and sticks. He’d laid out more cardboard for a bed, and had three cans of baked beans in a row. But he left all that behind. All that mattered was a framed photo.

“Come on, Gramps,” I heard him whisper. “Let’s go before Cal gets really mad and gives us double detention and makes another speech …”

I was about to nudge him for mocking me when I saw a bag tucked under the cardboard.

“Don’t forget these!” I said. I grabbed the bag – it was full of graphic novels.

Jacob took Freya’s hand, then mine, and the three of us walked back under the bridge as snow fell thick and fast.

“You know what?” Jacob asked.

“What?” Freya and I said together.

“You two are pretty sound – for a pair of geeks.”

“The name is Jones,” Freya said. “Jessica Jones …”

A few weeks later

I got to pick the film, but Freya insisted on buying the tickets herself.

“Did you see what happened to Anu?” she asked as we stood in line for popcorn.

“Yeah,” I said. “I felt sorry for her.”

“Cal!” Freya said. “You can’t save everyone.”

Mr Ahmed had acted fast. Anu was excluded, and her best friend Maddie moved schools. Anu’s dad arrived to take her home just as the bell rang. It felt like the whole school was there to witness it, and I couldn’t help cringing. It must have felt so humiliating for her.

Anu had kept her head down, as her dad told her again and again how stupid she was and how she was an embarrassment to her family. I was one of the few pupils who didn’t laugh. I stood and watched, and at last I understood why Anu was such a bully. She’d had a good teacher.

“Sweet or salty?” Freya asked. She pointed at the popcorn.

“You decide,” I told her. “You always do, anyway.”

Myles Granger was permanently excluded too, along with two of his gang. No one missed them – they were the meanest bullies in school. After they left, life got a lot easier for everyone.

“Sweet, please,” Freya said, just like she always did.

“I wish Jacob was here too,” I said.

“What are the chances of that?” Freya said with a shrug, and then she sauntered off to get pick ’n’ mix.

We’d tried to win Jacob a reprieve, but it didn’t work. Mr Ahmed still kicked him out. But Jacob was lucky in other ways. The police decided not to press charges, especially after so many pupils told on Myles and his gang.