‘What the heck just happened?’ Kelly asks.

I shrug. ‘Power cut?’

‘Oh shit! Do you know what time it is?’

I press the home button on my phone, bringing the screen to life. The first thing I see is a whole bunch of missed calls from Amma.

‘It’s half six!’ I say, incapable of understanding how the sky went pitch black without us noticing. Guess time flies when you’re geeking out.

‘My mum’s going to kill me …’ Kelly says.

‘She probably hasn’t noticed, otherwise she’d’ve been blowing up your phone, innit?’

She shakes her head. ‘My battery died at lunchtime, and Jade wouldn’t lend me her power bar.’

‘This is all Gilchrist’s fault.’ I scowl. ‘Six whole hours of She-Hulk sex! Man, is he getting fired.’

Kelly gives a belly laugh. Soon we’re both rolling, cos the whole situation is so mad.

I stop abruptly. ‘Kelly, what if the caretaker locked us in?’

We stare at each other, the whites of our eyes almost iridescent in the darkness. Then we bolt for the door, heading downstairs in a flurry of flapping limbs and thundering feet.

The doors are sealed shut.

We bang on them, calling for help, punching the disabled door-activation button. Nothing happens.

‘How comes the motion sensors aren’t working?’ Kelly asks, waving her arms like she’s trying to flag down a plane. ‘If we spend the night here, we’ll die of starvation or pneumonia. Whichever comes first.’

‘That happens, I’m coming back as a zombie, and Gilchrist’s brains will be on the menu.’

‘I think I’ll come back as a poltergeist and give all the bullies terminal wedgies.’

‘Even Imran?’

She covers her mouth with both hands. ‘Oh my God, you don’t want to know the kinds of things I’d do to him!’

In spite of myself, I laugh.

Every fire escape in the building is locked, but luckily a few classrooms have been overlooked. Thank God for shabby cleaners. My phone holds the gloom at bay as we enter a science lab, but the power is fading fast.

A cool draught wafts under my eyes, drying my sweat. A second later, I see Kelly’s silhouette in front of a partially open window, beckoning me over like a shadow puppet. Together we push open the window and toss our bags out. Then we climb on to cupboards lining the wall.

‘Ladies first,’ I offer.

‘Forget it,’ Kelly replies, pushing me forward. ‘I may need your skinny corpse to break my fat fall.’

The spangled sky stretches across the world like a veil. A full moon glows among the constellation of stars, staring down like a gigantic eyeball.

In my mind, I’m PakCore, poised at the top of a skyscraper. Behind me lurk the Living Shadows; in front lies certain death. With only a slim chance of survival, I remake the Sign of Wahid, receiving a ferocious power upgrade that may very well consume me …

‘Hurry up, or I’ll push you!’ Kelly snaps.

I bend my knees, muscles like cherry bombs, adrenalin lighting their fuses. Pushing off through my heels, I launch upwards, starting a mid-air rotation.

Oh my God, I think. I’m actually going to do this!

Suddenly the rotation reverses, gravity dragging me down. My stomach shrinks to the size of a pea, before I crash into the wet earth, crying out in pain.

‘What the hell was that?’ Kelly calls from the window.

‘Kick the Moon?’ I say weakly.

She sits on the window ledge and eases herself down gently, her DMs absorbing the worst of the impact. She pokes me with her boot. ‘I think the moon kicked back.’

Reaching down, she pulls me to my feet. I’m shook by how strong she is. OK, so she never looked like Jade and the rest of those cookie-cutter Barbies, but I reckon Kelly could probably carry me home.

She shakes her head. ‘What were you thinking?’

‘Dunno,’ I say, checking myself over for a dislocated limb. ‘I just kinda saw the stars and wanted to reach for them. All that stuff you said about my drawings, kinda made me feel like I could …’

For a moment, Kelly is nothing but a bushy silhouette, breathing fiercely. Then without warning, she bear hugs me.

‘I gotta go. See ya!’ She takes off, flying out of the gates.