Ben peered through the glass-panelled door to make sure the classroom was empty. Melissa had assured him it would be. The school day had finished hours ago, and photography club only met on Mondays and Wednesdays. Sometimes members used the darkroom at the rear of the classroom to work on their projects, but only if they had permission, and Melissa had checked to make sure the rota was clear. If anyone caught her here, she would claim she’d asked Mr Garfield and he’d simply forgotten. Mr Garfield, who ran the photography club, was a pushover, apparently. According to Melissa, she had him wrapped around her little finger – something Ben, knowing Melissa, could well believe.

As he approached the back of the classroom, he saw that the red light on the wall outside the darkroom was on, suggesting that, even though Ben was early, Melissa was already inside. The door to the darkroom was ajar, meaning she hadn’t started work yet on developing the photographs, and there was no chance Ben would ruin the negatives by blundering in. He reached to open the door wider – and then stopped when he heard voices filtering out from the darkness inside.

‘—not what we agreed. I told Ben it would be just me and him.’

‘So what? I’m not staying long. And if he gets here before I leave, we’ll tell him there was a change of plan.’

It was Melissa’s voice Ben had heard first, and if he wasn’t mistaken she was talking to Lance. Arguing with him, rather.

‘That’s not fair. You saw how nervous he was. That’s why I said we’d develop the pictures together.’

‘What do you care how he feels? If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were actually starting to like him.’

Ben recoiled. What was that supposed to mean?

‘At least I’m making him feel wanted. Seriously, Lance. It’s like you’re actually trying to drive him away. What are you even doing here, anyway?’

‘I’ve got a right to be here, haven’t I? I thought I was part of this, too.’

‘Yeah, well, that’s what we thought as well. But you haven’t exactly been acting like it lately.’

Lance muttered something that Ben didn’t catch. Careful not to make a sound, and wary of the extra light that would leak into the darkroom, he opened the door a fraction wider.

‘And anyway, that’s exactly my point,’ Lance was saying. ‘We were supposed to be doing this together. Deciding on things together. Why do I get the feeling that Callum’s decided everything for us?’

‘Because he has! Callum’s the one who figured everything out. Who came up with the idea in the first place.’