As ever, to Liam and Calum for their love, hugs and endless support, and Gaitlin, who gave me the idea for Joey in the book! Thanks also to Mum, Dad, Andy, Lori, Joan and my whole fab family. Special thanks to my first readers, Catriona, Fiona and Mary-Jane, and also Helen, Sheena, Zarah and all my lovely friends – whether it’s swimming, climbing hills, eating cake or just talking, you’re always there for me.

Thanks to Paul for knitting me such a cool website, and Martyn for doing the adding-up bits. Thanks to Darley and his angels, Julia, Lucy and all at the agency, and to Rebecca, Francesca, Adele, Tania, Shannon, Kirsten, Jo and all at Puffin HQ for believing in me.

To the kids who email the website or write to me, a huge thank you – your enthusiasm and encouragement is the best. Last, but not least, thanks to the fab and talented pupils at Kells, Carsphairn, Springholm, St Peters, Crossmichael and Gelston schools for your knack of putting a smile on my face every time I’m teaching. I’m gonna miss you! (Sniff!)

CHAPTER 1

My best friend, Joey Donovan, is weird. She is clever, she is kind, she is seriously cool, but still, she’s weird, in a take-it-or-leave-it kind of way.

She always has been, ever since she marched into my classroom seven years ago, wearing pink wellies, reindeer antlers and a don’t-mess-with-me look in her big blue eyes. She pitched up in Kirklaggan like a small tornado, and she’s been like that ever since.

It’s Monday morning, and Joey stomps down the aisle of the school bus, a vision in freckles and black lipstick.

She’s wearing a grey school skirt with the hem chopped off so it’s all frayed and ratty, and long stripy socks that reach up over her skinny knees. One sock is black and white, the other black and red. On her feet are clumpy black biker boots with shiny silver buckles, and her jacket is a huge, drooping school blazer like something your great-grandad might have worn in 1947. Where the school badge once was, she has stitched on a Good Charlotte patch, slightly squint.

She is on a one-woman mission to overthrow school uniform, or redesign it as her own version of punk/goth/scarecrow chic. She is twelve years old.

‘Like the socks,’ my brother, Kit, calls down from the back seat of the bus. A few kids snigger, and Joey sticks her tongue out at him, but hey, my brother probably does like the socks. He is thirteen years old and lately I have seen a moonstruck, fuzzy expression seep over his face whenever Joey is around.

I haven’t mentioned this to Joey yet. I don’t want to scare her.

She slides into the seat beside me. Her hair, ash blonde with random stripes of pink and green, is bundled into two stubby plaits that stick out alarmingly above her collar.

‘Major news!’ she says, eyes sparkling with excitement. ‘I mean, seriously major, Hannah! You will never guess what happened yesterday!’

Yesterday, Joey was meant to come round to my place to hang out, use my PC for her English homework and get her usual fix of The Simpsons. Jed and Eva don’t have a computer or a telly in their house, and Joey gets withdrawal symptoms sometimes. At the last minute, she rang to cancel.

I didn’t mind too much, but Kit was crushed, all dressed up in his best jeans and hoodie, hair gelled into hedgehog spikes and trailing a cloud of toxic aftershave. He’s got it bad.

‘So,’ I say now, tugging at Joey’s plait, ‘what was it all about? Tell!’

She settles into her seat, breaking a stick of gum in half so we can share. ‘Guess what? Jed and Eva are only going to foster a new kid! After all this time!’

Joey and her little brother, Mikey, started out being fostered, but their family, Jed and Eva, got the legal bits sorted and adopted them for keeps a few years back. If you saw the Donovan family all together you’d never guess they weren’t related. They are a perfect fit – the whole bunch of them are seriously flaky.

‘No way!’ I grin. ‘A new kid? Is that good or bad?’

‘Oh, good, definitely,’ Joey laughs. ‘Paul, his name is. Paul Slater. The social workers said he’s from a troubled background, whatever that is, but they reckon he’ll settle in great with Jed and Eva. They brought him down from Glasgow yesterday Cool or what?’

‘Cool. How old is he? Will he be a friend for