Zoe felt like crying. It was so unfair. She was always missing out. By the time she went back to school, everyone would know Isabelle except for her.

That afternoon, the phone rang while Max and Zoe were on the sofa watching TV.

‘Zoe,’ called her mum. ‘It’s Iris for you.’

Zoe got up slowly. She was surprised to find she was feeling dizzy and cold.

‘Hi, Iris,’ she said.

‘Zoe, you didn’t call me last night. And then I was worried when you didn’t come to school today.’

‘Didn’t Mr Mack tell you? Max has chickenpox, and I probably have it too, so we have to stay home.’

‘For how long?’

‘At least a week.’

‘A week!’ cried Iris. ‘That’s forever.’

‘Or longer,’ said Zoe. ‘We can’t leave the house until our spots scab over.’

‘Scab over? Gross! How many spots do you have?’

‘None yet,’ said Zoe, feeling even worse. ‘Anyway, tell me. How was school? Did you hang out with Isabelle?’

‘Yeah, you’ll never guess – Mr Mack put her at our table. She’s sitting next to me!’

‘Really? What’s she like?’

‘Oh, she’s so funny! You won’t believe what she did! When Mr Campbell came in for computers, Isabelle made this kissing noise, and Ching Ching went bright red in front of everyone!’

Zoe laughed, but she felt a little sad. She wished she could have been there.

‘And then,’ Iris went on, ‘at lunch, Isabelle dared Dylan to sneak out the gates and run to the corner and back.’

‘No way!’ said Zoe.

‘Yep. And Dylan said he wouldn’t, because he and Oscar got in so much trouble last time they snuck out. So Isabelle went herself! And she didn’t run, either. She just walked out, like it was no big deal.’

‘Wow,’ said Zoe, impressed. ‘So Isabelle’s pretty cool, then?’

‘The coolest.’

‘Oh,’ said Zoe, in a small voice. ‘Good.’

The next morning, Zoe woke up hoping she’d feel better. But she felt worse – she was all hot and itchy!

Her mum checked her temperature and sent her straight back to bed.