Jack and Nick both spotted their friends and raced off to join them. Mia walked over to Michiko and Shae. She had the crazy song Jack had made up in her head.

‘Hi, Mia!’ called Michiko, hanging upside down over the gate. Michiko had just started going to circus classes and she was always practising her latest tricks. ‘What are you smiling about?’

‘Oh, just this silly song Jack made up this morning,’ replied Mia, grinning. ‘It was so funny.’

Shae leant against the fence, watching the boys disappear across the front lawn.

‘You know, Jack looks a bit like Jesse McCartney,’ she said.

Mia laughed. ‘No he doesn’t!’ she said. ‘Jack’s got black hair, for one thing.’

‘But he’s got green eyes like Jesse. And the same hairstyle. Ella thinks he’s cute.’

Mia didn’t know what to say. She’d never thought of Jack as being cute before. He was just Jack.

‘Hey, watch this!’ said Michiko. She held onto the gate and then flipped her legs carefully over her head. Mia watched her friend admiringly. Michiko made it look so easy!

‘Can you show me how to do that?’ Mia asked.

‘Sure!’ said Michiko.

‘Uh, Mia,’ said Shae nervously. ‘You’re not supposed to swing on the gate. I’ve been telling Mich that all morning.’

‘Don’t worry, Shae,’ said Michiko. ‘We’ll be quick. No-one will catch us.’

Michiko showed Mia how to hook her legs over the gate. But just as Mia was about to somersault off the gate, Brooke walked through. Brooke was in Mrs Bonacci’s class, too. Mia almost accidentally kicked her.

‘Careful, Mouse,’ Brooke said crossly.

Mia flushed. ‘Sorry,’ she whispered.

‘Well, you should be!’ said Brooke huffily hurrying past.

Michiko stuck her tongue out and crossed her eyes as Brooke walked off. Shae waggled her fingers in her ears. Mia laughed. It was pretty babyish behaviour, but it was funny, too. Her friends always made her feel better.

‘Hey, guess what!’ said Shae, her eyes sparkling. ‘I’ve got some goss about Brooke. She’s got a boyfriend!’

‘Really!’ said Mia. ‘Who?’

Shae looked around to check no-one was listening. ‘Oliver Radcliffe!’

Oliver was in Jack’s gang of friends, along with Flynn and Hugo. He had nice brown eyes and a big smile.

Mia knew lots of girls liked him. All the same, she was surprised by Shae’s goss. ‘Are you sure?’ she asked doubtfully. ‘I’ve never even seen them talk to each other.’

‘That doesn’t matter,’ said Shae. ‘They’ve liked each other for ages.’

‘How can you tell that?’ asked Mia curiously.

Shae grinned. ‘I can always tell,’ she said. ‘There are all these little give-aways. Like, some people check their hair a lot when they’ve got a crush on someone. Others get really clumsy or really shy. And some people just totally ignore the person they like!’

Mia laughed. She wasn’t sure if she believed Shae. It sounded too weird. Why would anyone want to ignore the person they liked?

‘It’s true!’ insisted Shae. ‘I can tell you who everyone in our class likes. For instance, I know Cassie likes Sam and Adrian likes Bec.’

‘Who do I like then, Smartypants?’ asked Michiko, grinning.

‘That’s easy,’ said Shae. ‘You like Flynn!’

Michiko went bright red. ‘No I don’t!’ she said. ‘I don’t like anyone!’

Shae chuckled cheekily. ‘You do so like Flynn. You always wave at him when he walks in the room. Plus he’s the first boy you pick if you’re team captain.’

Michiko gave Shae a friendly push. ‘That just means I like him. It doesn’t mean I like like him!’ she said. ‘Anyway, you obviously like Jack!’

Shae shrugged. ‘Jack is nice,’ she said. ‘But there’s someone who likes him heaps more than I do.’

‘Do you mean Ella?’ asked Mia. Ella was always talking to Jack.

Shae laughed. ‘No, I meant you, Mia!’

Mia felt a blush creep up her neck, over her cheeks and then rush towards her ears. ‘I do not!’ she said.

‘Yes, you do,’ teased Shae. ‘It’s totally obvious he’s your boyfriend. You’re always talking about how funny and cool Jack is. And he likes you, too. He’s always smiling at you!’

Mia shook her head. ‘He’s not my boyfriend,’ she insisted. ‘He’s my …’ Mia stopped for a moment. ‘He’s just my friend who’s a boy … my friend-boy!’ she said eventually.

‘Boyfriend, friend-boy — it’s the same thing!’ giggled Shae.

‘No it’s not!’ said Mia. ‘Jack is my friend like you guys are my friends.’

‘Sure he is!’ chuckled Michiko. ‘We believe you!’

Just then the bell rang. Mia had never been so happy to hear it in her life. This conversation was just way too embarrassing.

‘Come on!’ said Michiko, dashing off. ‘I’ll race you both to class!’

Mia ran after Michiko. It was nice to be distracted from all the thoughts swirling around in her head.

Still, she couldn’t help wondering. Jack was a friend. And he was a boy. Did that mean he was actually her boyfriend?

Michiko and Shae seemed to think so!