‘You’re the liar,’ Ben found himself saying. ‘I wasn’t doing anything, and if you try to make out I was, I’ll … I’ll tell everyone I followed you and caught you looking through keyholes!’

Harris flushed with indignation. ‘How dare you,’ he hissed. ‘I am the headmaster of this school! Your threats and filthy insinuations will not save you, young man. But rest assured, I will be certain to mention them when I make my report.’

Ben knew he’d crossed a line. Suspension was the best he could hope for now. Expulsion was far more likely. He thought of what his father would say – of how furious he would be – but it wasn’t his father’s reaction that worried him. Rather, it was the prospect of letting Callum down. Of proving that what Lance had said about Ben was true. And it was the thought of Callum – of what he would do in these circumstances – that drove Ben to say what he said next.

‘You won’t tell the board. You won’t tell anyone.’

The headmaster stood up straight. He was a full head taller than Ben, and he looked down his nose at him with an outright sneer. ‘I most certainly shall.’

‘Oh, no, you won’t,’ Ben said. ‘Because my friends will back me up. Lance Wheeler. Melissa Haynes. Callum Richardson. We’ll all say we saw you, and then it’ll be four against one.’

Now, for the first time, a flash of doubt crossed the headmaster’s features. Ben knew Harris was afraid of Callum – of losing his father’s contributions to the school, probably – and Ben wasn’t sure if it was that or the threat itself that was causing the headmaster to have second thoughts. Either way, he could tell he’d said the right thing.

‘You’re a joke,’ Ben pressed, on a roll now. ‘You act like you’re so superior, but really you’re as afraid as everyone else. It’s like Callum said: you’re a phoney. A fraud. You don’t belong here any more than I do, and you’re terrified someone’s going to find out.’

For a moment Ben was worried he’d pushed too far. There was such a look of hatred in Harris’s expression, Ben felt sure the headmaster would decide to risk it all – his reputation, Callum’s father’s contributions to the school – just for a chance to make Ben suffer.

But in the end Harris said nothing, and Ben knew he’d won. He turned away, giddy with anger and adrenalin. In that instant, he realised what it must feel like to be Callum – to know that he could get away with anything.

Friday 25 October, 10.55 a.m.