‘Who’s mean to you?’

‘The other girls. Not all of them, obviously. But plenty of them.’

Her dad shifted in his chair. ‘What is it that they do to you?’

Nina explained.

‘If you ask me,’ he said, ‘they sound very foolish.’ For the briefest of moments, Nina thought she was making progress. ‘But,’ he added, ‘I doubt there’s any real harm in them.’

‘That’s—’

‘You mightn’t like to hear this, Nina, but sometimes even the best of people behave like idiots. You’ll have to stand your ground with the Emer girls. And if you do, I bet they’ll leave you alone. They’ll find someone else to tease.’

‘We could have a word with the headmistress,’ said her mother.

‘No!’ said Nina, with more force than she’d intended. ‘You can’t do that. I’d get nothing but hassle then. Please don’t make me go back.’

‘All right,’ said her dad. ‘If you don’t want us to get involved, we won’t. But your mother is right. You’ve got to give it more time.’

‘We’ll always be here for you,’ said her mam, ‘and Kilmitten isn’t going anywhere.’

‘But I don’t want to go back. If I do, I’ll …’ The sentence fell away, lost in a stupid, teary quiver.

More than four hours had passed since the electricity had cut out. The room smelt of candle wax and, faintly, of perfume. Nina’s mother wore Rive Gauche. Sometimes, she allowed Nina a spray or two. ‘Remember to press lightly,’ she’d say. ‘Too much is worse than not enough.’ For some time, they sat in silence. Nina sensed that more was to come. Sure enough, her father eventually swapped looks with her mother, coughed into his hand, and began again.

‘One of the reasons we’re keen for you to go away to school is … we’d prefer if you didn’t see so much of Tess.’

‘Why?’

‘I think what happened the other night shows why she’s not an appropriate friend for you.’

‘I don’t understand.’ Nina did understand, but she wanted to hear her father say the words.

‘Tess isn’t a good influence. You don’t want to get caught up in her world.’

‘Tess’s world is the same as mine.’

Her dad looked down, and her mam took over. ‘It’s not, though, is it? I know you’re fond of Tess, but how much do you actually have in common?’