She looked around to see clusters of pupils all studying the board. She stared at the line with her results and it was as if they became magnified. She had attained a handful of F’s, a couple of U’s, which meant ‘ungraded’, and the odd E, but it was the number that burned into her mind.

Three hundred and sixty-one.

Three hundred and sixty-one!!!!

‘Are you actually fucking kidding me right now?’ she yelled. ‘No way!’ All eyes turned to face her. She could feel their stares burning into her back, but it was too late to keep quiet now.

‘Come on.’ Michelle, suddenly by her side, put a hand on her lower back and steered her towards the exit.

‘Bessie?’ Louise Berry’s shout echoed, and she turned slowly to see the smiling girl, staring at her with palms out and shoulders raised as if to say, How did you do? Louise was apparently the only person in the hall who had not heard the fiasco at the other end of the noticeboard.

Well . . . I won’t be coming back to attend the sixth form. I won’t be doing A levels . . . These facts lodged in her throat like sharp sticks. I’m stupid! I’m as stupid as my teachers and brother think I am! How can I apply to airlines without a single decent grade? What am I supposed to do now? She blinked at Louise and watched the girl’s smile fade; Bessie’s expression was apparently enough to convey all she was struggling to contain.

On shaking legs and with Michelle navigating through the crowds, steering her, they walked the length of the hall. The entrance seemed to move further away with every faltering step and the door got smaller and smaller.

‘All right there, Bessie?’

She turned to see Melanie Hall and her crew all huddled with their hands in or around their mouths, chewing nails, stifling giggles or whispering. Her face burned hot with shame and she again felt the sting of tears at the back of her nose and throat.

‘I heard MENSA were trying to get hold of you!’ Melanie called, and her mates laughed, as Bessie picked up the pace and walked as quickly as she could with Michelle towards daylight and fresh air. They came to a stop in the foyer beyond the school hall.

‘Are you okay?’ her friend asked, bending to peer into her eyes, like a mum checking on a sick child.

‘I don’t . . . I thought . . .’ she managed.