‘That seems great, Alfie, but we have to follow police evidence and if you were going home, I think we’d have heard, so don’t get your hopes up too much.’ She started to walk away, then turned to look back at me. ‘Sounds like your friends have mustered up a little revolution for you. That’s lovely, Alfie.’

She closed her mouth, but her lips quivered, as if they were full of things she couldn’t say.

40

Cold Touch

12th September

More than a week’s gone by and nothing’s happened. Sam must have got it wrong, like Miss Jukes said.

Didn’t eat breakfast just now. Couldn’t. No saliva to eat with, and how can you eat without spit? This must be exactly how Lily felt. So I left early and came back to my room to look out of the window. I prefer to wait here.

The glass is wet with condensation and I’m making patterns in it. A solar system in the corner, then a whole tiny galaxy below it.

1.15 p.m.

Just back from Art. Olly got on to me again. Don’t know why he has to pick on me. He crashed over to my table and sat staring at me with a monster face, drumming his head with two fat paintbrushes. Then he held a sharpened pencil centimetres from my face, but he did it too slowly for the teacher to see.

‘Why not?’ he said, over and over, making no sense.

I moved to another table. Olly followed. I moved again and we made patterns around the room like that – chairs left at funny angles, people’s heads moving to follow us – until the art teacher went to fetch Mr Badami, the PE teacher, for extra strength.

After that, Olly was unstoppable. Every type of paint, every colour, every texture. They only let him have one big sheet of paper, but he painted it like a mad French artist – only with more words, frantic, like a firework in a chemistry lab. Until he got too loud and Mr Badami terminated him.

Haven’t been trained to do anything at all yet. This place has the wrong name.

NEW JOURNAL

13th September

They came for my notebook today. Miss Jukes came right into my room for it.

‘All the pages, Alfie. We need to see what you’ve been writing about. But don’t worry, you can carry on with a fresh book here. You can keep writing it out.’

‘My laptop had everything, the whole record—’

‘It’s OK, Alfie – we know. Calm down. It’s different this time.’

She looks like she’s had a shock.

‘What’s different?’

‘Other agencies have been investigating your case, Alfie.’ She’s looking at me in a way nobody ever looks at you in here: like she might believe me. ‘It seems as if some new factors are coming to light, pet. And your journal is very important.’