‘Nope. Sweet,’ she said firmly. She went to move away from his table but then she stopped. ‘I don’t suppose I could join you for a few minutes, could I? Jane’s supposed to be meeting me here but she got held up.’

Darren smiled. He supposed she’d more than made up for her earlier gaffe. And now that he was looking at her through different eyes, she was pretty hot.

‘Sure,’ he said.

*

Andrea

‘Callie! Callie! Slow down.’ Andrea had to run to catch up with her niece. It had been an entire week since she’d missed her at the bus stop and she’d been feeling guilty about her promise to Mimi. So it was a relief to spot her on her way towards the library this afternoon.

Callie finally swung around to face her as she caught up with her at the library entrance.

‘Oh, hi Aunty Andrea. Sorry, I didn’t hear you.’

Andrea was still catching her breath. She was perplexed; there was no way Callie hadn’t heard her, she’d shouted from a short distance and the quadrangle was clear and quiet with most of the kids gone for the day now the last bell had rung. On top of that, there was a dullness to Callie’s voice that was unusual. Maybe Mimi was right to be concerned.

‘I feel like I haven’t seen you around school in ages. How are things going?’

‘Fine. But I’m running late for my study group.’ She nodded towards the library door.

Study group? That seemed unusual; it was almost the end of term.

‘Oh! Sorry. I don’t want to keep you,’ Andrea said, trying to hide her disbelief. ‘But can we catch up some time, Callie? Maybe have a coffee together after school one afternoon? Like I said, it’s been ages. I miss having you in my classes.’

Callie had been keeping her eyes on the ground, but now she looked up and stared Andrea straight in the eyes. When she spoke, her voice had turned icy. ‘Actually, I’d rather not, thanks.’

Then she turned and pushed her way through the library doors.