‘What will I do with the chicken? It’s such as waste,’ continued her mother.

No wonder Dad travels so much.

‘Don’t worry, Mum,’ interrupted Claire, easily slipping into her role as peacemaker. ‘Tomorrow, cook the chicken – we can still enjoy the roast and go for a walk just the two of us? Or…’ said Claire, hoping to break the tension, ‘we can watch Bullseye. You wouldn’t be able to do that if Dad was here.’

To her relief, both her parents chuckled. It was a long-standing joke about Patricia Sharpe’s secret addiction to the dart game show.

For a few minutes, there was only the sound of cutlery and Claire felt her shoulders relax. Just today and tomorrow to get through and then it would be Monday and her new school life would begin! When Anne had joined the Queen Bees, there had been occasions when Claire had stayed at home while Anne went out to secret meetings and parties. They had always done everything together and Claire had felt excluded and hurt. Anne had always called her straight after and while she was secretive about what happened there, her excitement was palpable down the phone and Claire burned with jealousy. She understood why Anne had to be so cagey though – there was only one thing worse than not being in the Queen Bees and that was being thrown out of the Queen Bees.

Everyone knew that’s what had happened to Jennifer O’Reilly, although she told everyone that she got fed up with all the stupid rules and being told what to do. Either way, it was social suicide and she now hung around with some random girls from the year below. Claire had always been in the popular group. Not a leader as such but definitely an important member – there’d been about ten to fifteen of them and they did so much together. It was only when Charlotte had set up the Queen Bees that the group had become fragmented.

And now Charlotte was very much the leader. Claire thought of her; yes, she was pretty, but it was something more than that. She had a confidence about her that made her stand out and she always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else.

Claire remembered Rachel coming into school one morning proudly showing off her brand-new Walkman. But it wasn’t the normal black or grey one like most people had. It was yellow! Apparently, Rachel’s dad had gone to America on business and had picked it up there. And then Charlotte had seen it, had flicked her bag open, and taken out her own – a stunning red Walkman, with its own strap that went over the shoulder. You could wear it cross-body, like a bag. Everyone had gasped and crowed over it, desperate to try it on and, just like that, Rachel had been forgotten.