Parents’ evening at Belle’s college. It was always strange being on the other side of the desk. Fortunately, Belle had always been a good kid and a good student, so Rory usually just sat and glowed whilst the teachers told her lovely things.

However, tonight was different.

Firstly, they ran into Fiona and her mum. Belle tried to steer her away from them, which alerted Rory’s suspicions: Fiona was Belle’s best friend and they had been inseparable for three years. Rory shrugged Belle from her elbow and walked over to say hello.

Fiona’s mum turned and smiled. ‘Hello, I haven’t seen much of you lately. How are you doing?’ Rory opened her mouth to say she’d been busy, but… Fiona’s mum was talking to Belle?

Belle mumbled something about having lots of schoolwork and exchanged worried glances with Fiona. What was going on?

‘Really? Hasn’t Belle been over at yours all the time lately?’ Rory asked. She should have checked up. But this was Belle. Honest, trustworthy Belle. Hadn’t she just wanted to get away from the dust and the DIY noise at home? Where the hell had she been going, then?

Fiona’s mum shook her head. ‘She’s stayed over a couple of times but arrived really late and they disappear upstairs. It’s a shame she doesn’t come and hang out during the day like they used to.’

Rory recognised the ‘I’m so sorry’ eyes that Fiona was directing at Belle. Rory would get to the bottom of this later. Not here, not in front of an audience. She put a hand on Belle’s shoulder. ‘Go and check out the queue in the Maths department and see if it’s worth me making my way up there yet.’

When the girls had left, Rory turned to Fiona’s mum. ‘I obviously need to keep a tighter check on my daughter. I don’t suppose Fiona has mentioned anything about her to you?’

‘Only that Belle has a boyfriend now and she spends all her time with him. I’m sorry; I assumed you knew.’

Rory wasn’t about to admit to Fiona’s mum that she hadn’t met him. This woman would judge the parenting skills of Saint Mary. ‘I know about her boyfriend. I hadn’t realised they were spending so much time together. Belle is such a dreamer; I don’t think I considered it to be serious.’

‘I know what you mean. I suppose we need to accept that our girls are growing up. How’s the house renovation going? I’ve seen John Prince’s van outside your house quite often; is he doing the work?’

Why would she assume that Rory wasn’t doing most of it? ‘He’s just doing the bits I can’t do. Do you know him?’

‘A little. He’s lovely, isn’t he? When I split from Fiona’s dad, he came and did lots of small jobs for me. You know, the kind of thing you get used to having a man to do?’ Rory didn’t know, but she nodded anyway for ease of conversation. ‘A friend recommended him as being very good for women on their own.’ She looked knowingly at Rory, who was at a loss for the second time in the last ten minutes.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You know. Trustworthy. Reliable.’ She paused and lowered her voice. ‘Easy on the eye.’

This was uncomfortable. Fiona’s mum obviously believed she was speaking to a like-minded woman. ‘Apparently, he was brought up by only his mother. His dad left when he was young. He seems to have a compulsive need to help out single mothers.’

Rory felt a little sick. And stupid. ‘Really?’

‘Of course,’ Fiona’s mum continued conspiratorially. ‘I threw myself at him a little. Fiona’s dad had only been gone a couple of months and I was feeling very lonely.’ She seemed to go into a short daydream. She sighed. ‘Nothing happened, though. He was the perfect gentleman. Makes him seem all the more attractive, doesn’t it? I’m sure his bill was about half the price it should have been. It was the same for my friend.’

Was anything in Rory’s current life as she had assumed it was? Belle and Fiona returned to say that the queues in the Maths department were terrible, but Rory couldn’t stand there any longer. ‘We may as well just join a queue. See you soon.’

In actual fact, there was hardly anyone queueing. Rory frowned at Belle. ‘You said it was busy?’

Belle scrutinised her fingernails. ‘It was. You were talking for ages to Fiona’s mum.’

Belle’s Maths teacher seemed very pleased to see Rory. He stood up to shake her hand. ‘I’m so glad you could make it. Belle wasn’t sure you were coming.’ Rory looked at Belle. Why would she tell him that? But Belle just stared ahead, avoiding her eye. Then her teacher sighed and leaned forwards. Rory had enough experience of parents’ evenings to know that leaning forwards was not a good sign. ‘I’m a bit concerned about Belle. She’s a bright girl, but I feel like her motivation and concentration are slipping.’

‘Really? I have to say I’m a little shocked.’ Rory turned to her daughter. ‘Belle, what is this about?’

Belle shrugged. ‘I’m not really interested in Maths any more.’

Not interested? Since when was Belle not interested in anything at school? Rory turned back to the Maths teacher. ‘Thank you; I think Belle and I need to have a conversation at home. Is there anything specific she needs to work on?’

It was the same story in Chemistry: ‘Bright girl, slipping in concentration.’ And in English: ‘There’s not a big problem, or we would have called you.’ With each successive meeting, Rory progressed into a strange land she’d never been in before. One in which she didn’t know her own daughter.

On the drive home, Rory tried not to attack Belle straight away. ‘Look, I know A levels are a big jump up from GCSEs. But what’s going on, Belle? The student they described didn’t even sound like you.’

Belle was slumped into her seat with her arms crossed. She stared out the car window. ‘Nothing is going on. I’m getting enough done. The teachers want blood this year. Whatever you do, they just want more.’

Deep breath. Stay calm. ‘And where have you been going when you told me you were at Fiona’s? Why have you been lying to me, Belle?’

Belle’s head snapped round. ‘I haven’t been lying! I do go to Fiona’s. Her mum doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Sometimes me and the other girls just knock for her and we go somewhere else. Her mum probably doesn’t notice me in the group. You can ask Fiona if you don’t believe me.’

Fiona was unlikely to be a reliable source. But Rory left the conversation alone for now. She needed to work out how to handle this.

When she got home, Belle went straight to her room. Rory joined Sheila and Charlie in the living room.

‘How was the glowing report? Are they sending her to Oxford yet?’ Sheila looked up from the jigsaw they were doing together.

‘Not so glowing.’ Rory sat down heavily.

Sheila paused with a jigsaw piece in her hand. ‘Shall I make you a cup of tea and we can talk about it?’

Rory shrugged. ‘I’ll have the tea.’

Sheila looked at Rory as if she was the stroppy teenager, but she spoke to Charlie. ‘I’ll be back in a minute, Charlie love. You carry on with the jigsaw.’

She nodded in the direction of the kitchen. Rory sighed and followed her out.

In the kitchen, Rory held up her hands. ‘Really, Mum. I don’t want to talk about it.’

Sheila filled the kettle. ‘I was just going to tell you that Olive’s been poorly. George is worried that it’s a lack of exercise. We tried to take her out for a walk together, but she gets out of puff very quickly and wants to go home. It’s a bit like taking a small child out. I suggested a wheelchair, but that defeats the object of her getting some exercise and, as she does get fresh air in the garden, it seems a pointlessly difficult endeavour.’

Rory wasn’t listening. She knew what her mum was doing. This had been her tactic when Rory was young. Keep prattling on until it was a mercy to shut her up by telling her what was on your mind. But Rory wasn’t ready to talk about tonight yet. ‘Uh-huh.’

Sheila wasn’t put off. She started to talk about George and how the strain of looking after Olive was beginning to take its toll on him. ‘She is very demanding. She calls for him to come and then doesn’t know what she wanted him for. Karen is really worried about him and he does look rather grey. I’ve started popping in more often. I take little treats for Olive and I’ve made lunch for the three of us a few times.’

‘People are going to start to talk, Mum.’

Sheila crossed her arms. ‘Let them. I don’t care. His daughter doesn’t seem to mind, so they can just keep their noses out.’ They stood in silence for a few moments. Then the kettle clicked and Sheila opened the cupboards to find the cups. ‘Speaking of daughters. What happened tonight?’

Rory sighed. ‘It was awful. She’s not focused in class. Homework is poor. I don’t get it, Mum. She has always been the perfect student. And now they are telling me that she’s disinterested. Lacking in motivation. She’d rather have a chat than complete her work. I don’t know what to do.’ She looked up sharply. ‘Oh my god! Do you think she’s taking drugs?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous! Of course she isn’t. She is just being a teenager. She has this boyfriend now and her head is full of other things. It’s a perfectly normal stage.’

Rory slumped against the washing machine. ‘I still feel like I don’t know anything about him.’

Sheila continued with making the tea. ‘His name is Alfie. He has blonde hair. Not too long; not too short. He is really good looking and he’s had lots of girlfriends but he’s never liked anyone as much as he likes Belle. Oh, and he supports Arsenal.’

Rory had a vague recollection that Belle had started to show an interest in the football scores. ‘Why hasn’t she told me all this?’

‘Because you’re her mum. That’s how it works. Anyway, she thinks you are anti-romance.’

Rory practically growled. ‘I am not anti-romance. I’m just pro-realism. How many girlfriends has this Alfie had, anyway?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. They are only sixteen. I’m sure none of them were very serious.’

That’s where Rory did have more information than her mother. She hadn’t been teaching for the last fifteen years without knowing how early kids got serious these days. But Belle?

‘It gets worse, Mum. She’s been telling me she’s going to Fiona’s house, but I saw Fiona’s mum this evening and she told me that she hasn’t seen Belle properly in weeks. Belle’s never lied to me before.’

Sheila put a cup of hot tea in front of Rory and then put her hands around her own. ‘Aurora. I know you’re worried. And you are right to be upset that she has lied. But you need to keep this in perspective. Belle is a sixteen-year-old girl. You must remember what that felt like? She’s a good girl. You’ve brought her up well. Leave it tonight and talk to her about this tomorrow, when you’ve both had time to sleep on it.’

Rory sipped her tea. Her mum was right. But Belle’s deceit wasn’t the only surprising information she’d received this evening, and she couldn’t talk to her mum about the other thing without revealing how it had made her feel.