This is my first time doing a group leap. My left hand holds Big Ben: my right, Mrs C Eckler. I suddenly realise it’s not Big Ben squeezing my hand super tight; it’s me squeezing his. I don’t want him to think he’s my boyfriend. My hands start to feel fizzy, like when I get a static shock taking washing out of the tumble dryer. Grandma can’t manage the laundry, so I take it in the shopping trolley to the laundrette every week, and every time I get a shock. I hate that. This fizzing is worse because it doesn’t stop, but Mrs C Eckler warned us about it and says it passes in about 30 seconds when the power reaches its height.

This is like my solo leap to the power of 6. That doesn’t mean 6 x 1, it means 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 x 6. Big Ben taught me that. I don’t feel like I’m in a car accelerating to top speed but staying in the same place. I AM the car. Big Ben’s done an interdecade leap before and he loved it. He said it felt like being a Koenigsegg Agera RS. Not that he’s ever even been in one. But he could imagine it. I feel sick. I close my eyes and squeeze both hands tighter. I’m scared. Scared I’m going to vomit. Then I remember what it said on the itinerary. If you feel sick, concentrate on the number. The number for our trip is the year of destination: 2048. I focus on 2048. 2048. 2048. The numbers work their magic. I think I hear Mrs C Eckler saying the number but I’m not sure whether it’s her saying it now or me remembering her saying it in a lesson and it’s playing back in my head. It sounds like a recording.

I relax. Though I still have my eyes closed, I can see everything’s become brighter. It’s like looking at a red screen rather than a black one. But it’s not a plain red screen. If I look closely, I can see tiny grains of black right in the middle. Numbers. The first two numbers are two and zero and they don’t change. But the last two are flickering like a countdown. Except it’s a countup: 37, 38, 39. We reach 2040 and the numbers start to slow down. Almost there.

I’m too scared to open my eyes but I want to. This is hard. I squeeze Big Ben’s hand and Mrs C Eckler’s hand. No one’s talking but they both squeeze my hands back. I concentrate on 2048. The numbers slow right down. I can feel light rain on my face and hear birds singing. I open my eyes.

We are no longer in Room 4D in Block T in Intercalary International.

We are outside the Time Squad Centre.