I looked around the bubbler hut. The only girls still in the game were myself; Belinda, who still had what Mrs Gerard called serious toileting issues and perpetually smelled like the wee smell that drifted out of the boys toilets; Mahana, the light brown girl who had recently started at our school with her twin brother Amira, and who wasn’t allowed to eat ham or sit in scripture classes or talk to boys; and Claire, the grade two bossy-boots.

I’d been the victor of Catch and Kiss for the last few days, but suddenly winning didn’t seem like such a victory.