Karen led Bex along the corridor to a small science lab where about 15 teenagers were sitting, gossiping.
"So this is your first lesson, Chemistry. You've got a free period next, so come pop up to my office then and I'll have your timetable sorted. Good luck!" She smiled and pushed open the door for Bex.
Chris Mead was talking animatedly about A Levels and the importance of Chemistry in the real world. He turned to the door and stopped what he was saying and went white.
"Hi…er… I'm, I'm Hannah Smith." Bex smiled desperately at Chris, silently begging him to go along with her story. She couldn't face another explosion of emotions and problems that would surely happen if people found out about her and Chris.
Chris looked speechless and his mouth hung open like a goldfish.
"I'll just be a minute," he muttered as he ran out of the door.
Bex chose a seat in the back corner of the classroom where she could go fairly unnoticed. Most of the class stared at her curiously as she entered, but her closed up face and hunched shoulders made her seem unfriendly and solitary.
Bex saw a familiar person on the other side of the room. Jess was turned round so Bex couldn't see her face, but Bex would recognise her little sister anywhere. She was laughing and busy flirting with several classmates. Her hair was a reddish brown, which was different to her natural blonde Bex remembered her with.
Bex realised how much had changed in the eighteen months she had been gone. Her innocent little sister was now the eldest in the family and had grown up physically as well as in maturity.
Chris came back into the classroom, looking shaken.
"You OK, sir?" called one of the girls.
"Yeah, sorry. Must have been something I ate for breakfast," replied Chris, looking falsely cheery.
Bex closed her eyes for a moment, wishing everything would just go away. She'd come back to try and make things better, but it looked like all she'd done was create a deeper problem. Chris knew her mum! He taught her sister! Bex was confused; she didn't know what to do or how to sort it out. A tear escaped from under her pale eyelashes and she brushed it angrily away.
Jess didn't look at Bex once during the whole lesson – she was so busy getting to know her more interesting classmates. Bex was glad her sister seemed happy and popular, but she desperately wanted her sister to look at her. Would she recognise her? Or would she have forgotten her face just like her mum?
Bex waited outside the door as all her classmates filed out.
"Jess?" called Chris. "A quick word, please."
Bex peered anxiously through the glass panel in the door. What was Chris saying to her sister? She would much rather he kept well away from her, given the circumstances. Their conversation seemed heated and Chris looked angry. Jess seemed to be flirting with him and Bex felt a sick feeling in her stomach.
Eventually Jess came out of the classroom and her thoughts seemed elsewhere.
She walked straight into Bex.
"Sorry…" she muttered. "Wait…Bex?"