‘I was on library duty at school and we were talking. I can’t even remember exactly what we were talking about; he talked to me a lot. I thought it was just because he knew I loved reading and books. Anyway, he pushed me up against the shelves and kissed me. Apparently he grabbed me as well but I don’t remember that part. The cameras got everything, he got caught, lost his job, case closed.’

‘Grabbed you?’

‘Just … you know …’ She gestured towards her chest, not wanting to say the words, not sure which words to use. She saw a flicker of anger in his face just before he turned his head towards the clifftop path and looked intently for a few moments.

‘I should get back to the fair. My friend Felicity is waiting for me,’ she said. She was starting to feel uneasy again.

She was alone in the dark with Tim. She saw a shift in him, too, also uncomfortable at the situation. He paused for a moment.

‘Why don’t I take you home instead? You should tell your parents.’

‘Please don’t tell them, they’ll just ask me a million questions and put me in counselling again.’

‘Let’s just get you home safe. He might come back.’

‘Fine. I’ll just text Felicity and let her know I’m leaving.’

She pulled out her phone and told Felicity that she didn’t feel well and her dad had picked her up. She didn’t know why she was lying to her friend, but she just couldn’t face the teasing or questions. Mr Morrell did scare her a little. He hadn’t before, but this incident was different. She had misunderstood the extent of his feelings; it didn’t seem like he was going to let it go. He was absolutely convinced that she felt the same way about him and that other people were keeping them apart. She didn’t know what would have happened if Tim hadn’t been there tonight. Mr Morrell could have dragged her into any of those dark little corners of the beach; she got chills just thinking about it. Everyone was so focused on the fair that she doubted they would have noticed; with so many screams coming from the rides, any screaming she might have done wouldn’t even register.

‘Are you OK? You’re shivering,’ Tim said.

‘I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here. Thank you.’

‘It’s OK. I’m glad I was here, too.’ He smiled softly. ‘He’s not going to come near you again, OK?’

She followed Tim to his car, occasionally looking behind her to check that Mr Morrell was really gone. As they pulled away, Jasmine saw that her hands were shaking, her fingers cold despite the never-ending heatwave.

She hoped that was the last she ever saw of Mr Morrell.

Chapter Sixteen

Now