It was clear that Amelia was struggling to get her words out. Tina helped her up and sat her down on a chair. ‘Come on, take deep breaths. I’ll get you a cold drink of water and you might start to feel a bit better.’

She was back in a couple of minutes with a full glass. Amelia sat sipping it slowly as Tina watched her.

‘How are you feeling now?’ Amelia put the glass down and dropped her head into her hands, mumbled under her breath. Tina struggled to hear what she was saying and asked her to repeat herself. Amelia looked up.

‘Miss, I think I’m pregnant. I’ve missed my period and I’m puking every morning. You need to help me. My dad will leather me if he knows I’m knocked up. Please, Miss, help me. Make it go away, do something. I can’t have a kid. I can’t even look after myself properly, make it stop, take it away.’

Tina groaned inwardly. It wouldn’t be the first pregnancy test she’d bought for a pupil at the school. The girls were always thinking they were with child in this place. She thought of what her own mother would have said if she’d come home knocked up. She’d always warned her not to have her knickers up and down like a yo-yo. Little did she know then that getting pregnant was never going to happen.

‘Right, let me go and drop my bag off upstairs and then I’ll call the clinic. I can go with you.’

Amelia was distraught. ‘No! Are you not listening? I said nobody can know about this. I don’t want a clinic to go on about my “choices”. If I’m pregnant then I’m getting rid of it. I don’t want a baby at my age. How the hell will I cope? I can’t do it.’

The irony of the situation had not escaped Tina. Her cheeks burned. Here she was desperate for a baby and this young girl was desperate not to have one. Life really wasn’t fair.

‘OK, OK, just relax.’ Tina walked up and down dragging her fingers through her hair. She had to think on her feet. ‘Just stay there for a minute, let me go upstairs and speak with the head. I’m not going to tell him what’s happened. I’m just going to say you need some sanitary pads for now. No one asks questions if you say that.’

Amelia sat with her arms wrapped around her body, shivering, sobbing. ‘Just hurry up. I don’t want to be on my own. My head’s going to burst if this isn’t sorted. I need help. Just help me, will you?’ She was desperate.

‘I’ll be back, just stay put.’