I turn to her. "Angie? What are you doing here?"

She crosses her arms across her chest, pouting slightly. "I could ask the same of you, Meelie. What are you doing here in the bathroom with my brother? Anything private?"

"Ew, you're gross," Zach mutters. "Angie get out. We're having a private conversation."

"Zach, just tell me what's going on."

"You already said you heard it," I tell her. "So, why don't you tell me?"

"Amelia, she doesn't know anything about it," Zach says quietly. "And you shouldn't either, so if you can both just go away and pretend you didn't hear anything, that would be great."

Angie steps closer towards her brother. "Zach. I heard it. You can control the weather."

Zach goes pale. "Look, Angie—"

"Go on. Show me," Angie says and, for a minute, I think she looks excited. "I want to see."

Zach sighs and shows her what he showed me. Angie's dark eyes go wide and she squeals in excitement.

"Oh, Zach! That's so cool!"

"Shh," Zach hisses, leans forward and slams the door closed. "Mum can't hear. You're not supposed to know about this."

"Quit it, Zach," I tell him forcefully. "The secret's out. And anyway, we can help you."

"Humans can't help guys like me," Zach says. "I'm sorry but—"

"No, Zach. We won't tell anyone. Won't we?" Angie nudges me.

I nod. "We won't tell a soul. Promise."

Zach stares at both of us. "Okay," he sighs. "I guess you deserve a little bit of an explanation."

"Start from the beginning," I say. "We've got plenty of time."

"No, Mum'll hear," Zach says. "We've gotta do it somewhere private."

"I know," Angie says thoughtfully, turning to me. "The park. In the bushes. You know what I'm talking about?"

I nod. We used to a have a hideout between two bushes in the park. It was like a special place where Angie and I would go and tell each other secrets. I've haven't been back there for years.

"Okay," Zach says. "We'll go now. I'll tell Mum we're just going for a kick around in the park."

He leads the way out of the bathroom and the three of us troop out to the kitchen where Angie's Mum is still washing the dishes.

"Mum," Zach starts. "We were thinking of going to the park."

His mother doesn't turn round. "Okay, good," she replies whilst rinsing a plate. "Just be back by five and try not to slip."

Zach leans forward to give his Mum a hug. I feel sorry for him, having to keep this big secret from his mother. But then I stop to think. I can't actually believe this is happening. I know that my friend's brother caused a massive storm along with my other friend but that's about it. It's just too confusing.

I don't know if I should believe anything or not.

After all, he did kill hundreds of people.

I stop myself on that thought before continuing. I don't know for certain how many people died. Everywhere we turn there are ambulances and I've seen the occasional body bag. I always have to avert my eyes at the sight of one.

I keep thinking about it as we cross the road down to the local park. Not many people are around but those who are, are wearing coats. It's as though they still think there's going to be another freak storm any moment now.

Well, only Josh and Zach can determine that.

I wonder how Angie's coping. I wonder how Mum and Maisie at home are coping. I wonder about Josh, about whether he regrets telling me any of this. I wonder how a few weeks ago I didn't know any of this stuff and here I am, about to be explained everything.

Lastly, I wonder about Dad. I wonder if he went even as far as a few feet in that snow. I wonder how he must have looked, his beard freezing, his eyes as blank as the ice surrounding him. I wonder what he must have been thinking, lying there like that. He must have been terrified whilst he looked at his fingers as they turned a foul black. Perhaps he thought of us. Perhaps he cried, but then I guess his tears would have frozen solid. The thought depresses me so much that I shake my head rid of it and suppress a shiver.

We reach the old bush that holds so many memories. Zach goes in first, then Angie, then me. We all sit ourselves down on the ground where it's reasonably dry.

"Okay," Zach mutters. "Well, here goes nothing."

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