Maisie doesn’t want to go to her dance lesson, but I insist.

As far as I’m concerned, part of the problem is that her world has somehow become far too narrow. Me and Mum, Shaun, Joanne and Piper are the only people she sees regularly.

Besides, I have an idea, if I can get her there.

With tremendous effort, I push the anonymous letter I just received from my mind. Maisie is what matters most. I might have lost sight of it temporarily, but without doubt my focus is back on track.

‘I think it’s time to reconnect to your friends, poppet. It’s been a few weeks since you had Sandeep over, or when you visited one of your pals’ houses. Why do you think that is?’

Maisie shrugs. ‘Nobody likes me any more,’ she says flatly.

‘Oh sweetie, whatever gives you that idea?’

‘They all like Piper more than me. I think she’s been telling them nasty things about me.’

I feel cold inside. I can still remember what it’s like to be the odd one out at school, when you’re not in favour for no reason you can understand.

Shaun’s reaction to this would be so predictable, if I tried to discuss it. There’s no way he’d accept that Piper could be so conniving and heartless. I have no problem at all imagining it, but it’s not going to be helpful to agree with Maisie. She’ll just feel more isolated than ever.

‘You’ve been friends with those girls for a long time, Maisie, they can’t just dislike you for no reason, in the space of a few weeks. You should try and join in with them again. Ignore Piper.’

She pulls a face but stays quiet.

‘There are friends at school I never hear you mention any more, too. Friends that don’t even go to the dance school or know Piper.’

‘Nobody wants to be my friend at school either. I think the dance girls have told the others horrible things about me.’

I feel so helpless. Maisie’s usual teacher has been off sick for a while, so I can’t just have a quiet word with her.

‘If I need to speak to the head teacher, then I will,’ I say in a steely tone.

‘No!’ Maisie stomps past me. ‘Just leave it, Mum. You don’t know anything about it and you’ll just make everything worse. I don’t want to talk about it any more.’

Just up the road from the dance studio, Maisie kisses me on the cheek and gets out of the car. I watch as she walks limply to the entrance. Gone are the days of her bounding in, excited to see her friends and get to class.

Groups of mums and girls – most of whom I recognise – stand around talking, but nobody turns to acknowledge Maisie, much less speak to her.

She climbs the steps and disappears inside, and I’m about to pull away when I see Joanne’s Mercedes slide into her unofficial double-yellow parking spot directly outside the building.

Piper, sheathed in a bundle of sparkling pink net, skips out onto the pavement, posturing and preening to Sandeep and her mum, Sarita, who have just arrived on foot.

Joanne half gets out of the car and shouts something to Sarita, who laughs and waves.

It’s all I can do not to stomp over there and dress Joanne and her daughter down in front of all the other mums. I’d like to ask my boss what she thinks she’s playing at, allowing her daughter to demonise Maisie to the other girls.

But I know Maisie will never forgive me, and Shaun will think I’m off my trolley.

No. It’s best that I stick to my original plan.

I pop to the small Sainsbury’s nearby and pick up some milk and juice to replenish the fridge. The wording of the letter keeps looming large in my mind and I keep pushing it away.

I keep a strict eye on the time, and a full ten minutes before the end of Maisie’s class, I’m back waiting in my spot up the road. With two minutes to go, I grab my handbag, lock the car and walk quickly down to the corner of the dance studio.

Cars are beginning to park up, and I can see Sandeep’s and Zoe’s mums ambling down the road. I’d love to speak to them, invite the girls over to ours, but there’s something much more pressing I need to attend to.

As per her usual routine, Miss Diane pushes open the double entrance doors.

I scurry up the steps and she staggers back slightly, clearly surprised.

‘Sorry to startle you,’ I say, a little breathlessly. ‘Could I have a quick word? It’s really important.’

‘Of course.’ She smiles. ‘Come through, Emma, and I’ll catch up with you as soon as all the girls are safely out.’

I could hug her, I feel so grateful she can give me a few minutes. As I walk past her, I notice her smile dissolve as she spots something outside. When I turn round, I see that Joanne has just pulled up in her car.

I step to the side of the entrance porch and wait.

The girls cluster together on their way out, giggling, hunched over their phones. One of the groups contains a surly-looking Piper and a few of Maisie’s friends. Piper looks up and meets my stare as she passes, narrowing her eyes and smirking without any fear of reprisal. The light-hearted mood she came in with seems to have dissipated for some reason.

Inappropriate it may be, but it takes all my resolve not to grab her arm and pull her to one side to reprimand her. It’s scary, the powerful wave of emotion that ebbs and flows within me on behalf of my daughter.

I feel like my heart will burst with sadness when Maisie finally appears, dawdling behind everyone else, alone. Her head remains down as she shuffles along with an expression like she has the weight of the world on her thin little shoulders.

‘Maisie!’

She looks up almost fearfully, and her eyes widen when she sees it’s me.

‘Mum, what are you doing here?’ She glances at Miss Diane’s back as she talks to a parent at the door. ‘Please don’t cause any trouble. You promised.’

Actually, I did nothing of the sort. I just didn’t comment when she asked me not to go down to school.

‘I’m not going to cause any trouble.’ I ruffle her lank dark curls. ‘I need to speak to Miss Diane and I want you to wait here. I won’t be long.’

Her expression darkens. ‘What are you going to say to her? Why can’t I be there?’

‘I just need to speak to her about various things. Nothing for you to worry about, poppet.’

‘Right. I’m all yours!’ Miss Diane turns, beaming. She looks from me to Maisie and back again.

‘I wanted a private word, if that’s OK,’ I tell her. ‘Maisie is going to wait here.’

‘Perfect. I’ll lock the doors and then we know our little dancer will be safe.’ Miss Diane smiles at Maisie and she gets a lukewarm response. I’m embarrassed.

We go into a side room and Miss Diane closes the door before we both perch on plastic chairs.

‘Thanks for seeing me,’ I begin, awkwardly. ‘I wanted to ask if you’ve noticed a change in Maisie? It seems her friends have all but deserted her lately.’

‘Oh no, I certainly hope that’s not the case.’ She frowns for a moment, thinking. ‘You see, the girls don’t really chat much during lessons, as they’re expected to focus on their dancing. But I would have thought Maisie would be full of excitement rather than down in the doldrums.’

I stare at her, not quite sure what she means.

‘Hasn’t she told you?’ Her smile fades a little. ‘I announced during the class that I’m giving her the role of Dorothy in the Christmas show.’

‘What? No, she hasn’t! That’s wonderful, thank you so much.’ My cheeks colour with pride for Maisie. I haven’t had much chance to speak to her but I know that just a few weeks ago, she would’ve blurted out her news before I even uttered a word.

‘In answer to your question, I hadn’t noticed anything about her friends, but I’ll certainly keep an eye out now.’ She hesitates, as if she’s not sure whether to say something. ‘There are certain mothers who are rather pushy, I’m sure you know that, Emma. One in particular causes a lot of trouble when I give other children the chance to step into the spotlight.’

I know exactly who she’s talking about. An unexpected rage sweeps through me like the blast from a furnace door.

I honestly don’t know what comes over me. I jump up and storm past Miss Diane, past Maisie in the foyer. I slide the bolts back on the double doors, fly down the steps and collar Joanne Dent in front of all the other dance mums.