Megan picked up her bag from where she’d slung it on her chair and put it on her desk so she could sit down for afternoon registration. Life at the school was definitely getting easier. She’d made some friends in the class and she knew her way around but, on the downside, Lily was still sniping and sniggering and giving her knowing looks, whispering stuff to her sidekick, Summer. Sure, with the exception of Lily and her little gang of acolytes, the others were all right but most of the kids had been pals since primary school and, even though they were nice enough to her, she couldn’t call anyone a ‘best friend’. Everyone already had their bessies and they didn’t need her tagging along like a gooseberry. And, moreover, most of the kids lived at the other end of the town, on the housing estate near the school. As Ashley had told her, the people in the posh houses, on her side of the town, went to St Anselm’s in Cattebury so there was no one near her to hang out with after school. Ashley was nice, he always waited on the corner of his road to walk the last bit to school with her but, as it wasn’t the done thing for the boys to be seen with girls in school hours, they barely spoke to each other once they got through the gates. And she hadn’t gone to the play park for ages because the weather had been too shit to bother so, if she was honest, their friendship was pretty embryonic. And she certainly didn’t yet have a close girlfriend in Little Woodford who she could have a giggle with, confide in about boys she fancied, listen to One Direction with, or shop with. Bex kept telling her it was early days yet, but it didn’t stop her from feeling lonely.

She pulled her timetable from her bag and checked what was on the menu next; food tech, then maths. Great. She put the timetable back and got out a comb and a handbag mirror and checked her hair.

‘Yeah, like that’s going to make you look better,’ hissed Lily in her ear.

Megan swivelled round in her chair to face her. ‘Piss off, Lily.’

‘Oo-oo-oh, hark at her.’ Lily’s group sniggered as Lily sauntered forwards a couple of steps and parked her bum on Megan’s desk. ‘You want to watch it, you do. My dad’s a governor of this school and he could get you expelled. Just like you were from your last place.’

Megan reeled. She hadn’t been expelled. That wasn’t why she’d left. ‘I wasn’t.’

Lily looked over to her friends. ‘She would say that, wouldn’t she?’

‘But...but...’ Megan was so bowled over by the enormity of Lily’s accusation she was unable to react. She glanced across the room to see if she could catch Ashley’s eye but he wasn’t there. He must have left the room for some reason – gone to fetch something from the cloakroom perhaps – but his absence made Megan feel totally vulnerable. She always felt that when he was around, because he was a friend, if Lily really kicked off he might be her knight in shining armour.

‘There, you see – she doesn’t deny it. How could she when it’s true.’ Lily laughed. ‘So... gypsy’s warning, as my old gran would say – you’d better be nice to me and my friends or you won’t have a happy time here.’

Megan felt Lily, more than likely, could deliver that threat. She stared back at her tormentor. ‘Really,’ she said with a bravado that was entirely false.

Lily nodded. ‘Yeah, really.’ She put her hand on Megan’s unzipped backpack and flipped it off the desk. As it fell it turned upside down so that everything tumbled out onto the floor, including the ingredients that Megan had brought in for food tech. The container containing the flour hit the top of the pile and the lid came off, sending flour everywhere.

‘Oops,’ said Lily before she sauntered back to her group. ‘Clumsy old me.’

A second later, as Megan was staring at the mess at her feet, Mrs Blake walked in.

‘For heaven’s sake, Megan, what a mess. Pick up your things at once and then get a brush. What were you thinking about?’

Behind her, Megan heard the other girls snort and splutter.

I will not cry, Megan told herself. I won’t.

*

On the school bus that took the kids who lived in the villages surrounding Little Woodford home, Lily was sitting next to Summer and toying with her phone.

‘Is it true, then?’ said Summer.

‘About Megan getting expelled from her last school?’ Summer nodded. ‘Well, my dad said there had been “an incident”.’

‘What kind of incident?’

‘Dunno, I overheard Dad talking to Mum about her but then he shut the door so I didn’t hear all of it – but something deffo went on there, that’s why she had to leave. It stands to reason it had to be something serious if they had to move, and I intend to find out.’

‘How?’ Summer swivelled round in her seat. ‘Hey, do you suppose Ash knows? I’ve seen him and Megan walking to school together.’

‘He does what?’

‘He walks with Megan.’

Lily frowned. ‘Has she got her nasty little foreign hooks into him?’

Summer shrugged. ‘They only walk together.’

Lily chewed on a fingernail. She wanted Ashley to be interested in her, not Megan. All the boys fancied her so why didn’t he? And, if Ash fancied Megan instead, he’d totally overstepped the mark. Megan must have been giving him the eye, encouraging him, otherwise why would Ash like that jumped up little incomer instead of herself? Lily acknowledged that Megan was pretty but only if you liked that sort of thing. She wasn’t English. Well, that was it, Megan had gone too far. Lily decided it was time to put her in her place once and for all. She opened her Facebook account and tapped a few icons.

‘Hey,’ she said to Summer. ‘I’ve just asked Windy to be a friend on Facebook.’

‘You what?’

‘You heard.’

‘Why did you do that?’

‘Because, if she accepts we can friend her other friends – if she’s got any.’

Summer sniggered. Then she frowned. ‘Why d’ya want to do that?’

Lily rolled her eyes. ‘Because, thicko, there’s stuff Windy isn’t telling us and I want to find out. Maybe she wasn’t expelled but something happened at her old school. Bet there’s kids at her old school who know and if we get pally with them on Facebook...’

Summer’s jaw slackened. ‘Fucking hell, Lil,’ she said, her eyes wide with admiration.

Lily smiled smugly.

*

‘Megan? Megan!’ Bex hollered up the stairs. Much as she loved this house, having three floors could be a serious pain, especially as Megan seemed to spend a lot of her time, when she was home, up in her eyrie. Bex waited for a reply, wondering if she’d have to yell again.

‘Yeah?’ came Megan’s voice, floating down the stairwell.

‘I’m popping out. Can you look after the boys?’

‘What?’

Oh, God, she couldn’t keep yelling like this; it set a bad example to the boys. The last thing she wanted was for the entire family to shout from one room – or one floor – to another instead of talking in normal tones, face-to-face. Bex began to climb the stairs. As she got to the first landing Megan appeared at the bottom of the attic stairs.

‘Sorry?’ she said.

Bex stared at her. Her long eyelashes were spiky and stuck together. Had she been crying? ‘Are you all right?’

‘Fine,’ said Megan.

‘You look like you’ve been crying.’

Megan shook her head. ‘Of course not.’

Did she pry – demand the truth? ‘OK. I’ve got to go out. Can you keep an eye on the boys? They’ve done their homework and I’ll be back in plenty of time to cook supper. I’m only going to be a short while.’

‘No problem.’

Bex went back downstairs and told Lewis and Alfie, who were watching cartoons, that if they needed anything they were to ask their big sister, before she let herself out and walked the few yards to the pub.

She pushed open the door and saw that there were a number of people enjoying a swift post-work drink. The occupants looked at her with curiosity – a stranger? In their pub?

She saw Belinda behind the bar, hanging up a new display of bags of pork scratchings.

‘Hello, Belinda.’

‘Bex! Good to see you. So... what’s the decision?’

‘Yes, yes I’d like to take the offer.’

‘That’s brilliant. Hey, guys.’ A dozen pairs of eyes swivelled towards the bar and conversations stilled. ‘This is Bex – the new barmaid.’

There was a friendly chorus of greetings and Bex felt oddly pleased and embarrassed at the attention. She waved shyly at the locals.

‘I won’t bother introducing them to you at this stage but you’ll get to know each other over the next few weeks or so. When can you start?’

‘When do you want me?’

‘Honestly? Right now! But I understand about you only being available at lunchtimes. Tomorrow?’

Bex took a deep breath. Crikey, this was all happening fast. But she thought about it; seriously, why not? The kids would all be at school, most of the unpacking had been done, what else did she have to do? She’d set herself two goals of making friends and getting a job – wasn’t this the ideal way to go about it?

‘Yes.’ Although she’d have to make some sort of arrangement with Amy as she wouldn’t be there to let her in on the next Monday afternoon. She’d talk to her cleaner when she came to ‘do’ for her on Friday.

‘We open at twelve so get here for eleven and I’ll show you the ropes. And don’t worry, I won’t let you manage on your own to start with.’

‘You break her in gentle-like,’ heckled a voice from by the window. ‘I know what a tough cookie you can be, Belinda.’

‘We all do,’ said another customer. ‘Likes the whip hand, so I’ve heard.’

A bellow of laughter greeted that comment.

‘And you mind your own business, Bert Makepiece,’ chided Belinda. ‘It’s hard enough getting good staff without you scuppering things.’

‘How do you know I’m good?’ said Bex quietly.

‘I don’t, but I’ll take a chance on you if you’ll take a chance on me and Miles. Deal?’

‘Deal.’