At 8:47 am, Katherine pulled into a parking space in front of the school reception. There were other students hurrying along the paths, knowing, like Agatha, that the Home Group bell had just gone.

Agatha twisted her fingers in her lap.

‘If you want me to, I’ll wait here for a while,’ Katherine said.

Agatha shrugged. ‘No, that’s okay. If I know you’re here I might not get to class.’

Katherine leaned across and placed her hand over Agatha’s twisting fingers. ‘Just remember to keep your head up. I think you’re incredibly brave.’ Agatha looked at Katherine, not believing what she’d just said. Katherine nodded. ‘Really, I do.’

Agatha’s hands stopped twisting. She got out of the car, grabbing her schoolbag from the foot of her seat. ‘You’ll be here? After school?’

‘Yes. I’ll be here.’

Katherine watched Agatha head along the path and into the long grey building. She disappeared, and apart from a few late students running to get to where they were supposed to be, the school grounds were empty.

Katherine turned on the engine and pulled away, checking her review mirror several times along the long school driveway.

There was the clatter of locker doors shutting and students dodging quickly past each other as Agatha walked at a steady pace. By the time she approached her locker, no one else was around. The bell had finished ringing, so she was now officially late.

She surprised herself by getting the combination lock open on the first go. Agatha chuckled to herself, as she remembered Tully telling her yesterday that it usually takes everyone ages to master their combination locks. ‘Not me,’ Agatha said to herself.

‘You’re here!’ Agatha turned to see Mr Brown looking directly at her through the open Home Group door, his face welcoming, as if he was happy to see her. ‘Trouble with your lock?’

Agatha nodded. ‘I couldn’t get it open.’

‘Don’t worry about that. Everyone has trouble at first. You’ll be right after a couple of days. Got everything?’ He had a smile on his face, as he motioned her into the classroom.

Agatha took a deep breath and, closing her locker, she walked into the room. The seat she sat in yesterday was still empty, so she walked towards it. Tully was sitting exactly where she’d sat yesterday too. Agatha kept her eyes to the ground. She didn’t want to see Tully’s face. Faces told her everything she needed to know.

She carefully placed her books on the desk and sat down. Then, reminding herself to keep her head up, she raised her chin, just slightly, and looked at Mr Brown.

Ignoring the fact that he had a chair to sit on, Mr Brown took up his position on the edge of his desk again. He checked the attendance roll and then picked up a piece of paper from behind him.

‘Okay, folks, here we all are again, and I see there’s been a change made for our group.’

Agatha sighed. Rita had been wrong yesterday evening when she’d said, ‘I doubt they’ll move you, Agatha. Imagine if schools had to move a child from a class every time a parent complained!’ But it seemed Tully’s mum did have the power to move her out of Tully’s class.

Agatha put her hands on the small pile of workbooks in front of her, ready to leave as soon as the announcement was made. She lowered her head.

‘After recess,’ Mr Brown said, ‘you folks are meant to have Health, then Science Theory.’ There was a small groan from the class at the mention of Science Theory. It was quickly becoming the least favourite class.

‘Hang on, hang on, I said “meant to”. However, just for today, you’re going to have a double Science Practical instead. And for those of you who have been waiting to make some chemicals explode, well, this just might be your chance.’ As Mr Brown smiled at the excited group, Agatha let out the breath she’d been holding in.

‘Okay, folks, settle down ... ’ Mr Brown held up his hand. ‘I need a quick word with Agatha and Tully before you all go.’

‘You guys are in trouble,’ someone called out.

‘Hey, you don’t know me, but that’s not my style,’ Mr Brown said. ‘If you’re in some trouble, I’m not telling you in front of all of Home Group, so just relax.’

Hearing Mr Brown say that didn’t help Agatha relax. She had heard teachers say all sorts of things over the years to cover up the serious conversations they wanted to have with students. Agatha approached Mr Brown at the same time as Tully, but she avoided glancing at Tully’s face. Agatha didn’t want to know whatever she would read on her face.

‘How you two doing?’ Mr Brown asked quietly.

‘Fine,’ Tully responded cheerfully.

‘Fine,’ said Agatha, aware that Tully was looking at her, but not being brave enough to look back.

‘Okay, so there’s a message here from Mrs Sloane.’ He looked back down at the piece of paper. ‘She says to tell you that whatever happens outside the school doesn’t come inside the school. She says she thought the two of you looked like you were getting along really well yesterday, which I agree with, and she hopes that continues. Got it?’

‘Absolutely, Mr Brown,’ said Tully, as she grabbed hold of Agatha’s arm. ‘That’s great, don’t you think, Agatha?’

‘I’m not sure I ...’

Mr Brown leaned in closer. ‘Agatha, you’re not moving classes and you’re not banned from being friends with anyone. While you are here at school, you and Tully can be friends with whoever you please, and that includes each other. Now, what happens when you folks leave the school grounds, well, we have no control over that. Does that make more sense?’

Agatha nodded her head, smiled and turned to Tully, who was still holding her arm. Tully’s eyes were wide open and her smile went right across her face. ‘We can be friends, Agatha!’

‘Right, now that’s all settled, you two can get on with things,’ Mr Brown said, and just as he finished, the bell rang for everyone to move to their first class. ‘Have a good day, folks, and don’t forget, double Science Prac after the recess break.’

As Agatha walked past him, with her books in her arms and a smile on her face, Mr Brown said, ‘I’m glad you came back today, Agatha. You belong here.’

‘I know, Mr Brown, I know.’