Of course, the second I sit down for English (Rose questioning me and Ronan smirking from his usual corner seat) a small girl, the messenger, comes in. "The principal would like to see Ronan Caninamara, Rosemary Taylor, and Emma West in his office right now."

"What have you done now?" Mr Anita sighs in exasperation and waves is out. The three of us stand up noisily and follow the small girl outside. Ben and Danny give us a thumbs up as the door swings shut behind us.

Hannah is already sitting on a chair outside the office, looking perfectly at home. She raises an eyebrow when we shuffle into three empty seats. "Wow, what is this? We the four Musketeers or something?"

"Something." Ronan replies, wrapping his arms around himself. Rose and I are having similar reactions. Hannah may be fine and expected daily in this office, but the three of us have a reputation to keep.

"Caninamara, Prince, Taylor, West?" A deep voice calls from behind a door. "Please come in."

The four of us stand up and head inside. Principal Holloway is sitting at his desk, hands folded in front of him. He gestures to four chairs that he'd put there just for us probably. We sit.

"Now, I was told that last hour you four weren't in class." He says seriously. He turns to Hannah, who's painting her nails a deep mauve. "Now, what excuse will you give us this time, Miss Prince?"

"Hm? Oh, I have a note." She pulls a piece of paper out of her bag and slides it across to Holloway, who reads it and sighs. I lean over to Hannah.

"You're going to jail." I whisper. She shrugs and smiles as Holloway passes it back with a begrudging look of acceptance on his face.

"You may go. Now, for you three...." He turns to us, and I shrink lower in my seat. "You three are friends of Hannah's yes? Please tell me you aren't turning down her alley, I know what she does."

"Oh, no, Ronan was-"
"My arm-"
"He-"
"He was gonna hurl-"

"So you're saying Ronan's arm," Holloway glances at the sling, "was causing him to have to... 'hurl'?"

Rose nods calmly, and I realise that she's a good actor. On my other side, Ronan rubs his arm and groans quietly. He's managed to make himself a little green, and that settles it for Holloway. "Out!" He shouts. "You're excused, get out!"

We run to the boys' bathroom and Ronan ducks in. Apparently the green tinge wasn't an act. I wrinkle my nose at the sound of muffled apologies mixed with retching. Hannah and Rose lean against the wall, looking disgusted.

"So now what? Back to class? Or do you want to skive?" Hannah tips her head, an evil grin on her face.

"Skive." Three voices say at the same time. Hannah beckons us forward and then takes off towards the bushes. Rose and I exchange a glance before running after her, with Ronan stumbling along behind. I watch as my friend holds up a finger to her lips and moves into the bushes, long pink hair shining in the sun.

"Emma you next." Rose suggests. I get down on my hands and knees and follow Hannah through the leaves. There seems to be a well-used tunnel in here, and I almost laugh out loud. Hannah spins around and shushes me, then beckons for Rose and Ronan to come through.

The ground slopes steadily downhill, and it gets very cold and damp. I blink at Hannah is she pats down the walls to make sure they don't cave in. "So is this how you keep escaping?"

"This tunnel was a gift to me from the seniors three years ago." She says haughtily. "I've made well use of it, and when another troublemaker comes along this will be theirs."

I hear a stifled laugh behind me at her serious tone, and then we emerge into daylight. I blink rapidly, crouched in the mouth of the tunnel until Hannah sticks out her hand and hauls me up. Then comes Ronan, and next is Rose,complaining about the dirt in her hair.

"About time, how long has it been since you three crawled through mud?" Hannah complains.

"Ten years ago." Rose says.
"Thirteen." I lie.
"A month or so." Ronan says, unhelpfully truthful. Hannah and Rose stare at him and he shrugs. "What, you think I got shot in my house?"

"Okay never mind. Let's go!" Hannah gestures around us and it takes me about five seconds to realise we've crawled from the school grounds to the children's playground, half a block away. A three year old is staring at us, a plastic truck momentarily forgotten.

"Ah.... Hannah, I think we're attracting attention." Ronan hints. Hannah glances at the toddler and swiftly moves us out of the playground and onto the street.

"So, what do we do?" I wonder aloud. This starts off a round of suggestions.
"Museum!"
"The Mad Hatter."
"My house!"

"Museum?" Ronan asks, staring at Rose. She shrugs and blushes.
"What can I say, I'm a history buff."

"Alright, museum is a bit far fetched." I agree. "How about we go to the Hatter, then to Ronan's house."

"Won't your parents object to us skipping school?" Rose asks, glancing at Ronan. He shrugs, then looks a little green again. Rose whirls on him. "Don't you dare!"

A little way off from us, Hannah is rummaging through her bag. I wander up behind her, curious. She pulls out a large piece of paper, and spins it around a couple of times until a street map starts to make sense.

"Where's Ronan's?" I point at Ronan's house and Hannah circles it with a pencil. Then she circles the Mad Hatter Café, drawing a line to connect the two places to the playground. "Alright, let's go!"

"Rose, Ronan, stop arguing." I call, turning around. Ronan is taking advantage of his height and dangling Rose's phone above her head. When he hears my voice he stops and looks over. "We're leaving."

The four of us head off down the street, ignoring the accusing glares from passing adults. We try to copy Hannah's look of complete innocence, as if we have every right to be here.