It was a week before the school re-opened. The principal’s office still hadn’t been repaired, the window was simply boarded up. There was a caravan parked beside it, acting as his temporary office. Scientists and weather experts had finished their investigations and taken their data back to their laboratories and offices.

Newt had had seven days of pampering from her parents, who were very relieved that she was okay. It was great, but she was ready to get back to a normal life, without doorways into other worlds or freak weather conditions or parents hanging around telling her how much they loved her, every five minutes.

She met Rowan by the front entrance.

‘You know, last time we were here there were –’

‘I know,’ Newt cut him off. ‘I haven’t forgotten.’

‘Cool.’ Rowan looked embarrassed. ‘I just wanted to make sure … you know … I hadn’t imagined the whole thing.’

‘You didn’t imagine it,’ Newt assured him.

‘Cool … ’cause I …’ Looking a bit guilty, Rowan blurted, ‘I told someone about it.’

‘You what?’ Newt’s eyes flared. ‘Are you nuts? No one’s going to believe it. They’ll think you’re crazy. They’ll …’

‘It’s okay. It’s okay,’ he said. ‘I found a website about other people going through doorways. Their stories were so much like what happened to us … I couldn’t help myself … I had to send a message.’

‘I’m not sure that was a good idea. What if –’

Rowan interrupted her by digging in his schoolbag and pulling out a badly wrapped gift, which he thrust at her.

‘It’s a book,’ he said. ‘The Hobbit. A fantasy. But … I thought maybe –’

Newt interrupted him by digging in her schoolbag and pulling out a neatly wrapped and ribboned gift. ‘Snap!’ she said, holding it out to him. ‘This is also a book. A Brief History of Time. It’s a science book.’

They exchanged the gifts awkwardly, putting them away in their bags without unwrapping them.

Newt couldn’t quite believe how far the two of them had come. We’ve gone from hating each other, to saving the world and giving each other presents.

‘Newton. Rowan.’

They turned with relief, to see Ms Bloom rushing over from the staff car park.

‘I just wanted to make sure you were both okay,’ she said, a little flustered. ‘After all, I sent you to the principal office, into the eye of the storm, so to speak.’

‘We’re fine, thanks,’ said Rowan.

‘Well, I’m glad.’ She went to move off. ‘See you in class.’

‘Um, Ms Bloom?’

‘Yes, Newton.’

‘Have you always been a science teacher?’

‘Yes,’ she replied, surprised by the question. ‘I almost chose a career in research, but opted for teaching instead.’

‘How come?’

‘Oh, I don’t know.’ A faraway look crossed their teacher’s face. Newt watched her lips as she spoke. There were no scars.

‘Long ago, just after I finished my PhD, I was offered a job with an up-and-coming tech firm. They did a lot of government contracts. Weapons and things. I almost took the job. But then … I decided that was not the person I wanted to be. I didn’t want to use science for destruction. That’s not forward thinking. I believed it should be about the betterment of the future. And what better way is there to do that, than by teaching.’ She smiled. ‘Speaking of which … you will be doing that experiment in class again today. Try not to blow anything up.’

‘I still don’t understand the experiment,’ lamented Rowan, as Ms Bloom walked away across the school grounds.

‘I’m sorry about that,’ said Newt as they walked along. ‘I should have helped. We were supposed to be doing the experiment together.’

‘Attention!’ Mr Hardnose was bellowing at students in the grounds. ‘Bell’s about to go. Move it! Double time! Quick, march!’

Mrs Farunkle stuck her head out of the caravan window and shouted. ‘Rodney! Phone call! It’s that over-caffeinated parent again!’

‘It’s good to be back,’ Newt said to Rowan.

They smiled at each other and headed off to class.