“Morning!” I said brightly. I hoped when they saw me they’d let me squeeze in under the umbrella. But none of them turned round.

“I don’t know, but it was so cold!” Nia said. “It felt just like it did when we were in the Alps.” She turned her head and spotted me. “Oh, hi, Anna,” she said.

“Hi, Nia. That sounds amazing!” I said.

She smiled. No one moved to make space for me. I felt really awkward just standing there with rain dripping off my nose.

“Did you have a nice weekend, Shavina?” said Nia.

“Yeah, it was OK,” said Shavina. “I had a county competition. I won the freestyle, but we lost the relay.”

Shavina was a brilliant swimmer and spent so much time in water that I was surprised she hadn’t turned into a fish.

“I went to my street-dance club!” said Erin. “It was so cool. We’re doing a routine at the school fete next weekend!”

The three girls all smiled.

“Oh, that’s great, Erin!” said Shavina.

“How about you, Anna?” said Nia. “Did you do anything nice at the weekend?”

I opened my mouth. I had nothing to say. I didn’t do anything out of school and my mind was a total blank. Nia, Shavina and Erin all watched me, waiting for me to say something. Our teacher, Miss Burnell, suddenly called out across the playground.

“Come on in out of the rain, Badgers Class!” she said.

I closed my mouth. I was saved.

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

We headed inside to our classroom. The windows began to steam up as we took off our wet coats and brushed the rainwater from our school uniforms.

Erin and I shared a desk with Anthony and Seb. I sat down next to her and she smiled at me. Erin’s hair was damp and frizzy, and she began to weave it into a braid. It looked lovely.

“Your street-dance club sounds great, Erin,” I said.

“You should come, Anna. You’d love it!” said Erin.

I smiled and nodded, but that was never going to happen. We’d all been given a flyer about the new club starting in the community centre a couple of months ago. Erin and a few of the boys had signed up right away. Those kinds of clubs were really expensive, so I hadn’t bothered to ask my parents.

Miss Burnell placed a cardboard box on top of her desk.

“What’s that, Miss?” said Erin. “Have you been shopping online?” Erin always talked to teachers like they were someone from her family or a friend.

“I’m going to show you in just a minute, Erin,” said Miss Burnell. Her eyes twinkled. Then the bell went, signalling that school had begun. She waited for everyone to settle down and then she stood up.