‘No worries.’ The other girls caught us up so I hurried off. I was doing better around Farah but a bunch of them was a whole different thing. As I turned a corner something struck me hard. I had my head down, as usual, so it hit my forehead and the top of my head. It bloody hurt but it could have been a lot worse. It knocked me off balance but I managed to stay upright and looked up to see Kemp holding up his rucksack. What the hell did he have in there? Bricks?

Kemp’s grinning face loomed into mine. ‘I told you to keep away from her.’

I rubbed my head. ‘But you didn’t tell her to keep away from me. She can’t get enough, Kemp. That’s not my fault.’ I probably asked for the bag to get swung in my face a second time but at least I was expecting it and managed to knock it off course with my forearm. It probably wasn’t smart but it felt good.

Kemp squared up to me. Shiiiiiit. I hadn’t thought this through at all.

‘Mr Thackery!’ I called down the corridor at the teacher’s back and Kemp scuttled out of sight. Only a temporary solution I feared.

*

There was no sign of Kemp after school, which was a relief. I did some revision in the school library until it was time to get the bus. It felt odd going back to Maggie’s instead of home. For the first time in hours I wondered how Dad was. My phone had been in my locker all day but there were no messages from him. The bus passed the end of Maggie’s track and I got a shot of happy through my veins. I wondered what was for dinner. The big breakfast, school lunch, sandwich and cake had kept me going all day but I was hungry now.

As I approached the house I could hear the faint bleating of the lambs in the field below and a hint of summer in the air. I loved it here – it was peaceful.

I tried the door and it was open. ‘Hiya!’ I called as I stepped inside.

‘Hello, Tom,’ called Maggie. ‘I’m in the sitting room.’

I went through and came to a sudden halt. Maggie was upside down. She was balanced on her head and forearms with her legs tied in a knot above her. ‘What the…?’

‘Lotus headstand,’ she said, before taking a slow deep breath.

‘Right. Why?’ I wasn’t sure why you’d stand on your head voluntarily.

Maggie let out the breath and as if in slow motion she uncrossed her legs and returned them to the floor and then into a kneeling position. ‘It’s yoga. I’m focusing on building strength in my upper arms.’

‘Right.’ She was full of surprises.