Chapter 76

He didn’t.

He expected there to be a fairly quiet classroom, because people would be busy making up their presentations.

It wasn’t.

In fact, it was packed out with kids Anton was certain weren’t in their year, never mind their class, and he had to fight to get to his desk—at which point, he came across Emma counting money.

“Er,” he said. “What’s going on?”

There was music coming from somewhere, some pop thing blasting so hard the windows were shaking, and people were yelling and jeering. Over the crowd, he could see Larimer’s head stuck up above everyone else’s, and a hint of ginger at his shoulder.

“The charity wax!” Emma said brightly, and held out her hand. Anton hastily dug for money. “Larimer’s just about finished, I think Isabel’s having too much fun showing off Jude’s skirt.”

“Jude’s…what?”

A yelp—a very familiar one, thanks to Anton having discovered Jude was actually ticklish the previous weekend—sounded above the noise, and Anton found himself grinning broadly.