‘Grrrr! Miss, I can’t do this!’

Ms Mughal glances up from Ray’s book. ‘Of course you can, Kara. It’s essentially just drawing bits of circles – something you’ve been doing since Year Seven.’

‘But I was rubbish at it back then as well,’ Kara moans.

‘You’re doing it right,’ I tell her, glancing over at her diagram. ‘Your dodgy compass is the problem.’

‘Can I borrow yours then?’

‘Sure, lemme just finish mine.’ I measure the gap between the compass point and the attached pencil, then whirl an arc across my worksheet, trying to represent the locus of a water sprinkler. ‘Why did the examiners have to mess up an already difficult topic by bringing in Inequalities, anyway? It’s like sticking you in a cage with scorpions and snakes. Overkill.’

‘Preach!’ Kara says, then leans in closer to share some gossip. ‘You know that girl who paid twenty quid to shave Imran’s hair off the other day?’

I try not to flinch. One slip, and I’ll have to start over, which is too much for a Monday.

‘Well apparently she’s dating him now! Dunno what he sees in her.’

‘Dunno what she sees in him,’ I counter.

Kara swots my arm. ‘Salty bish!’ My pencil tip slips, marking a squiggle in the middle of my diagram. ‘Oops …’

Sighing, I rub it out and start again.

‘What’s with the shade, though?’ She looks at me expectantly. ‘I thought you boys were mates again.’

‘Imran’s a thug, and the thug life ain’t for me.’

‘Girls love a bad boy. I’m thirsty for it.’ She cackles.

‘You do realize he’s been putting it around. Like, a lot.’

‘Well then he must be great in bed!’ she says, flicking her tongue and making randy cat noises. ‘Don’t look at me like that! Boy’s fine as hell.’

‘She’s not bad either.’

Her eyes nearly pop out of her head. ‘Have you not noticed how much make-up that hoe’s been wearing? It’s like she’s taking lessons offa Mrs Waldorf.’

I finally snap. ‘Imran screws around, and he’s a stud. The girl wears make-up, and she’s a hoe. Do you not see the double standards here?’

‘Yeah – but everyone, like, idolizes Imran.’

‘So why have you got these then?’ I ask, holding up her bag, pointing at the assortment of badges with feisty slogans: Riots not diets! Feminist & Proud! Cuterous.

‘Savage!’ Nawal says, clapping her hands. ‘The boy is a better feminist than you, Kara.’

Kara sticks her nose up in the air. ‘It’s not a competition.’

‘What’s a cuterous?’ asks a Alfie.

‘Some place you came out of,’ says Nawal, making everyone laugh.

‘Can I have you all looking at the board, please!’ calls Ms Mughal. ‘I’m going to demonstrate how to answer questions one through four, since quite a few of us are struggling.’

At 3.10 p.m. I see Kelly coming out of her languages class and hurry over.

‘Hey, I know you don’t want to help me with my comic any more, but could I ask you a coupla questions about your notes?’ I pull them out of my rucksack.

‘There’s an inter-school football match on in ten minutes …’ She sees me deflate and touches my shoulder. ‘But you should totally come.’

I scowl. ‘Since when do you care about sports?’

‘Um, since the captain became my boyfriend?’

‘So you’re spending time going to Imran’s games, which you hate. Does he listen to your stories?’

‘Do you?’

Her question throws me.

‘Project X,’ she reminds me pointedly. ‘You haven’t asked me about it even once since those detentions with Gilchrist. All you care about is your comic.’

A fine mist of acid coats my tongue. ‘You said you weren’t gonna work on Project X till uni, otherwise of course I would’ve asked. I think it’s badass!’

‘Oh really? So what’s it about then?’ She folds her arms.

‘World epidemic of the flu. Cassie finds a cure and joins a group of rebels to get it to the people, but sinister forces are afoot. See? I do care about your dreams. And I care about you, which is why I don’t want to see you get hurt.’

‘But I’m not going to get hurt. Why do you keep saying that? It’s like you want it to happen. Anyway, I’m just not into stories any more.’

‘Imran’s changing you. I miss your curly hair.’ I glance down at her kitten heels. ‘You’ve even stopped wearing uncle Fiz’s boots.’

Her cheeks colour. ‘Well maybe change isn’t such a bad thing? We’re all growing up. Having a boyfriend is important to me right now. I shouldn’t have to apologize for it.’ She grips my arm, eyes twinkling. ‘Try it! Find yourself a cute girlfriend.’

Suddenly I feel like everything hangs on my next words – screw ’em up, and I’ve lost her forever. If it was a picture, I could draw what I need to explain. But words? I’ve been lazy, looking to Kelly for those.

‘Yeah, well you concentrate on growing up. I’m going to go win twenty-five grand! Never needed you in the first place, fam.’

I walk off, my lies ringing in my ears.