Freya came closer, and I could smell her vanilla perfume. She leaned on my arm and I froze. My heart was beating way too fast.

“Here,” she said.

I watched Anu’s last attack on me. It was weird, like a film in which I was the main character.

“If Anu knows we’ve got evidence,” Freya said, “she’ll stop.”

I didn’t care about Anu right then. I was too busy staring at Freya. She was saying “we” again, like there was a “we”. Like there was an us …

“Cal?” Freya asked. “You OK?”

She was so close that her breath felt hot against my cheek.

“Er, yeah,” I said. “Er, catch you later …”

I didn’t even wait for her to reply. I just ran down the corridor and hid in the toilets until I’d calmed down.

*

As I left school that day, I found Jacob sitting on the steps by the main door.

“Hey,” I said, with my best friendly smile. “Did you like Year One?”

“Was OK,” Jacob said. “The drawings were cool. And the fighting.”

“I’ve got more at home.”

“Yeah, you said.” Jacob grinned. “You live in a library?”

“No.” I shrugged. “Just thought you might want to see them.”

“Maybe,” he said, and he stood up. “Gotta go, geek. Smell ya later …”

I watched him leave. Maybe we might be friends, after all? I smiled, but not for long.

“Oi – dork!”

It was Anu.

But just before she reached me, Freya appeared.

“Leave him alone,” she said.

“Who’s this – your girlfriend?” Anu asked. “Is this Geek Love Island or summat?”

“Yeah, it is actually,” Freya said. “Leave Cal alone.”

Anu looked like she might hit Freya. But then we heard another shout.

“Freya! Come on …”

It was her mum. Freya looked at me. “You’re coming, too,” she said.

“Me?”

“Yes you, Cal!” she said. “Or would you rather stay here?”

I shook my head and followed her.

“Geeks in love,” I heard Anu say. “I wanna puke …”

It was nice to get a lift and all the way home I didn’t think about Anu or Jacob. All I could think about was Freya. Something felt odd – but in a really, really brilliant way.

“See you tomorrow, Cal,” Freya said, when we got to my house.

“Er, yeah,” I said. “That’d be cool.”

“Maybe you should give me your number?” Freya said with a smile. “We could talk about our mission …”

She dropped her voice to a whisper so her mum wouldn’t hear.

“To get Anu …”

“Only one problem,” I told her. “I don’t have a phone.”

Freya grinned. “OK, geek boy,” she said. “See you in class, then.”

6

Young Justice

Two days later, we were at the food bank when I saw Jacob’s mum come in and start chatting with my mum. Jacob pulled a face and went back outside.

Martin could see that I was nervous. “What’s up, kid?” he asked.

“That angry lad,” I said. “I want to talk to him.”