Yeah, yeah, I’m thinking. I want to know about the dreams.

‘As for the dreaming?’ she says, effortlessly steering the conversation back on topic. ‘I cannot say that it is particularly Tibetan or not.’ She chews another mouthful and looks upwards thoughtfully. ‘I should not think so. But my Mola studies a form of Tibetan Buddhism called “Bon”. She grew up years ago in a town called Shangshung. It is a long way away from the capital.’

‘And her dreams?’

Susan swallows, smiles, and wipes her mouth with a paper napkin. ‘It happens sometimes when she is meditating, or even when she is asleep. She just comes down every now and then and says that she was awake during her dream, and it was fun, or “enlightening”. “Dream yoga” she calls it. She says these dreams are better than the old video films she watches! What happened in yours?’

So I tell her, and her dark eyes shine with fascination – which, compared with the reaction I got from Mason Todd, is a big improvement. I’m careful not to mention the Dreaminator because I don’t want to answer questions about how I got it. Nor do I mention anything about Seb sharing my dream because that just sounds too mad. (I also miss out the bit about her being in it, because it sounds a bit creepy.)

For a few minutes, in the school dining hall, it’s as if all the noise has gone and there’s just me and this strange, earnest new girl. At the end, I say, ‘So you don’t think I’m crazy?’

She winks at me like a much older person would, making me feel suddenly very small. ‘You jump into my garden, bleeding; you narrowly escape death at the hands of my Mola’s car; and you confess to spontaneous waking dreams? All in less than a day? Perfectly normal, Malcolm Bell!’ Then she glides off, smiling her strange, superior smile to herself, and the noise of the dining hall returns.

‘Hang on!’ I call after her. I want to ask her if she’s ever had ‘waking dreams’ herself, but she can’t hear me. Besides, I can see Kez Becker pushing her way towards me, and my retreat is blocked by the waste trolley.

First day of term, and school is taking a turn for the worse.

Chapter 20

‘When trouble knows where you live …’ Valerie the school counsellor had said. It has just come knocking in the unmistakable shape of Kez Becker.

‘Did you get anythin’, Bell?’ she says, shoving aside a Year Five and squeezing herself into the space next to me left by Susan. Behind her is Jonah Burdon and they are both smiling smugly. ‘Last night? I had to make a tactical retreat, you understand.’

I look at Kez, making my face as blank as possible, and give a half-hearted shrug.

‘No. I don’t understand.’