‘Are you coming in, Momma?’ I ask as the car pulls up outside the school. I already know what she’ll say, but I ask anyway.

‘I’ve got more sorting to do, hon,’ she says. ‘See you at eight.’ And she leans across and kisses me on the cheek.

Before Papa left, Momma used to help out in the school library and serve in the school canteen. Now she stays at home. I know what her old friends all think – There, you see, we told you so. You should never have married an outsider.

I step out of the car into the windy night. I’m late and it looks as though everyone’s already inside. Dell Hollow Elementary is in an old house that used to belong to one of the founding families of the town. I open the front door and cross the lobby to what used to be the ballroom. Now it’s used once a week for school assembly as well as for things like the Sixth Grade dance. Slips of wind follow me in, making the streamers in the lobby spin like skipping ropes.

‘Hello, Ziggy,’ says Miss Cubby, who is serving drinks. She’s wearing a red dress with a small white collar and a thin black leather belt that matches her shiny black shoes.

‘Are you going to dance tonight, Miss Cubby?’ I ask, grinning at her.

‘Who do you think I should dance with?’

‘Big Bobby,’ I say. ‘He’s a really good dancer.’

‘All right then, I will. Enjoy yourself, Ziggy.’ She turns to ladle out a drink for Principal Poole.

I see Petal in the far corner and wave. She looks so pretty in the orange dress with red and yellow tulips her momma made for her. Is she wearing lipstick? She is! I smile, touch my lips and raise my eyebrows.

When she comes up to me she says, ‘It was too red so I added a bit of Mom’s powder to make it pink. Can you tell?’

‘No, it’s perfect,’ I say.

Stella Parker is up on the stage. She volunteered to be DJ because she loves being the centre of attention. Tonight she’s wearing her hair piled on top of her head. Stella reminds me of a peacock. Her green eyes flash around the room as she stands behind a big rectangular black box, twisting knobs and flicking switches. Red and green lights flash on the panel in front of her.

Petal turns away in disgust. Besides Harry Arnold, Stella Parker is the only other person Petal can’t stand.

‘Decided to wear your best ball gown, did ya?’ says Harry Arnold as he passes me.

I ignore him.

Grandpa Truegood used to say, ‘When a mean person says mean things to you, they are usually describing themselves. The world they see around them is like a mirror. They hate it and scream at it and it really has nothing to do with you.’

I wave at Big Bobby Little. He waves back and Petal and I go over to him.

Big Bobby has a cowlick right in the middle of his forehead and bits of blond hair stand straight up as if they’re spring-loaded. Everyone calls him Big Bobby because he is the biggest kid in junior school. He can’t talk, but his hearing is excellent. And he has a very special gift. He can make just about anything out of paper. People, trees, animals, cars, buildings, machines.

In the school library there’s a long table with a miniature replica of Dell Hollow that he made. It is beautiful and so realistic. Every shop and every house is there, as well as some of the townspeople, including me and Petal. Even Mystic trots beside me.

The only thing I don’t like about the paper town is the way he’s depicted the woods. They are dark and menacing and tower over Dell Hollow like they’re ready to devour it. I see the woods cradling our town, protecting it.

Big Bobby points to the dance floor, using his hands to communicate.

‘I told Miss Cubby you’d ask her to dance later,’ I say.

He nods an okay and grins.

Stella pumps the air with her fist. ‘Come on, everyone. Teachers, parents, students. Let’s go!’

Petal, Big Bobby and I hold hands in a circle and spin. We lean back against each other’s weight. Soon the music, the hall, everyone else, disappears. There is only the circle, the three of us, as if we are electrons spinning around an invisible nucleus.

When the music stops, I feel suddenly hot.

‘I’m going outside to cool off,’ I say.

The ballroom’s double doors lead out to grass and trees. The moon hides behind stringy dark clouds.

I suck in the cool air and soon my skin no longer prickles from the heat. I’m just about to go back in when a mini whirlwind of dry leaves spirals up my legs then sweeps across the grass. For a moment I’m mesmerised as I follow the swirling leaves with my eyes.

That’s when I see him.

A boy is standing between two spruce trees. He is about my age, I think; tall and thin with curly dark hair, wearing some kind of long loose-fitting shirt over trousers. The dappled light makes him look like his clothes are made from leopard skin.

I know every kid in Dell Hollow, but I don’t recognise this boy. I’d normally call out, but the way he’s staring at me is creepy.

Without taking my eyes off him, I walk backwards towards the door. But as I do, he takes a step forwards.

I feel like I’m his prey. I turn and quickly open the door, bumping into Petal.

‘There’s a strange boy outside,’ I blurt.

‘And plenty inside too,’ Petal grins. She grabs my hand and hauls me onto the dance floor before I have a chance to tell her about him.

Big Bobby Little starts dancing with Miss Cubby and everyone stands back to watch, except me. I am eyeing the door, expecting to see that creepy boy come in at any moment. But he doesn’t.

A sudden bright flash of lightning plunges the room into darkness. There are screams and a lot of laughing. Principal Poole calls for candles while he and some of the dads go outside to look at the fuse box. In the darkness and the flickering candlelight, everyone shouts and laughs above the sound of the pelting rain on the shingled roof.

Later, as Momma drives me home, I think about the boy again and wonder who he is. Or was he just in my imagination?