‘I hadn’t forgotten,’ replied her mum, slowly navigating the roads. ‘What are you planning to wear?’ Like a tried and tested recipe, her mum had found a fail-safe topic on which to communicate with her daughter. Clothes. For a moment, Claire thought about telling her about Paul and how, over the weeks, that trip to the cinema had developed into a relationship. She knew Paul thought of her as his girlfriend and she knew he was confused and hurt about her insistence on keeping their relationship a secret. But somehow, she’d convinced him that it was more fun and exciting that way.

But it wasn’t. Not really. It was stressful, and it made her edgy, constantly having to look over her shoulder. But she didn’t have a choice. The Queen Bees had made their feelings on Paul clear – he was the school nerd, the lowest of the low, and not even worth a moment’s consideration unless it was for their own amusement. If any of them found out about her and Paul, she would be out of the club for sure. Instead, Charlotte and the girls had already picked out someone who they thought would be perfect for Claire.

‘What?’ exclaimed Claire when the Queen Bees had gathered together one break time.

‘Chris Carmichael would be perfect for you! Oh my God, can you imagine the two of you? The babies you’d make!’ squealed Nicola.

‘He’d be perfect,’ echoed Anne after Claire had instinctively turned towards her friend. Since then, the Queen Bees had come up with a multitude of ways to get Claire and Chris together including inviting Chris to the Queen Bee parties. So far, he’d never turned up and Claire was half relieved, half disappointed. She had to admit she was curious. But then she thought about Paul. She wondered what her mum’s advice would be and decided not to risk it – she would have no clue. No, Claire thought, perhaps instead she could test out the topic of Paul tonight at the party. If she told them how much she liked him, how nice he was, how intelligent he was, then they might see him differently as well?

It was worth a shot.

*

‘Have fun!’ called her mum as she dropped her off outside Charlotte’s house.

‘Thanks. Anne’s mum will drop me back home tomorrow,’ confirmed Claire.

‘Okay, have a good night and I’ll see you in the morning.’

While Claire was thankful her parents were early sleepers, it was better to stay over at Charlotte’s. While she never drank too much at the parties, she was aware that she probably smelled like a brewery when she came in. But for now, the night was just getting started, and Claire walked quickly up the pathway and rang the doorbell.

‘Password!’ cried a voice from behind the glass.