When home time came, I was in no mood to go back to the flat. He would be there and so would they, smiling, telling me what a great day it had been, what a great person he was. If he was such a great person, why was he turning them against me? Ellie seems to hate me now, Mum is always annoyed at me and even Sid is beginning to ignore me.

Walking home, I took a diversion through the park. It wasn't that I wanted to run into Dennis or anyone else, I just wanted to be away from there. I found myself a bench, taking out a packet of sweets; the one from Friday, bought just minutes before everything went wrong.

'Oi, Toots give us one.'

I looked up to see Minnie, her ginger hair escaped from its pigtails. I held the bag up to her and she took a generous handful.

'So, why you sitting on your own, where are the others?' she looked round as though expecting to see them playing football or leaping out at her with water pistols. I shrugged.

'I don't know. I think they went to Danny's.'

'Oh, why aren't you with them?' Minnie asked, helping herself to another handful of sweets.

'I'm just not.' What is with everyone? Why do they keep asking so many questions?

'Right, but that still doesn't explain why you're sitting in the park on your own eating sweets? Why don't you just go home?'

'Don't feel like it.'

'Why?'

'Just don't want to go home.'

'What's with being all secretive?'

I shrugged again.

'Come on, come back to my house, it's got to be better than… this.' Minnie said indicating the overgrown park, which always smelt of stagnant water even though there isn't a pond.

I stood up swinging my bag over my shoulder, dropping the empty bag of sweets into the overflowing bin. The floor was already covered with a layer of litter, bottles, sweet wrappers and smashed glass.

'Been to the other side of town lately? They've got a new ride.'

'No, I think we're going there next week at school.'

'We've got this new teacher, he's a right creep.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, he's got this massive square head, sits at the front going 'Hem hem' and walked into our class room when we were getting changed. He had to be forced out the door.'

'Don't you have changing rooms?'

'Yeah, but we had this football tournament and we had to change during break time.'

'Is your school doing that maths competition?'

'Unfortunately.'

We reached Minnie's house and she unlocked the door.

'Home Mum.'

We went into the kitchen and Minnie passed me a can of coke. On the way back to her room we passed her Mum cutting someone's hair in the living room. It always surprises me that Minnie is such a tomboy when her mum is a hairdresser and does nails and make up for weddings.

I caught sight of my hair in the mirror, dark and pulled back into a ponytail; I haven't had it cut for ages. It was only then that I realised in my rush to get out of the flat, I'd forgotten my trademark red and black spotty bow.

I ate tea round Minnie's house and I almost forgot about him and how it would be when I got home. It was only when it got to 6 O'clock that I realised that I really should be going home.

When I got in, they were laughing and joking and Mum didn't even ask where I'd been. Usually she would have gone mad but she seemed not to even notice I'd come in. I thought back to how Minnie's Mum was at home all the time and how her parents got along nicely, they didn't leave her out or cheat on one another. I tried not to feel jealous as I sat in my room listening to them all have fun.

He went out at 8 and didn't come back to 12.46. I heard him outside, so I quietly pulled back the curtains and watched him say good-bye to a group of his friends and some women who I didn't recognise.

Then I saw her in her stupidly high heels and tight leather jacket, he gave her a hug, a kiss and it was at that moment I knew she was the real reason he had come back.