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that ever occurred—”
    It made a refreshing change, seeing Lila and Ollie at each other’s throats. Not such a perfect couple after all , Eve thought.
    Realizing they had an audience, Lila and Ollie stopped yelling at each other and regarded Eve and Josh warily. Ollie’s face was red with anger. It wasn’t a good look, Eve decided.
    â€œWe can’t wait to see what you two are going to show us in the boardroom,” she drawled. “Squabblers United: we’ll have all your arguments for you!”
    Lila looked like she was almost in tears. “Shut up, Eve.”
    â€œIs there anything we can do?” Josh asked.
    Lila shot another poisonous look at Ollie. “Do you do assassinations?”
    â€œWhat are we going to do?” Ollie said fretfully. “There’s no time left.”
    Eve sighed. Did she have to do all the thinking around here?
    She nodded at an accessories shop across the road. “Go in there and get a handful of necklaces or something. You’ll have to wing the rest. It’s almost four o’clock and I don’t want to be late for the presentations. Come on, Josh.”
    Grabbing Josh’s arm, she towed him back towards her dad’s offices. They had a task to win.
    Mr Morrison was chatting to two members of her dad’s management team and – surprisingly – the principal of Heartside High, Mr Cartwright. What was he doing here? Eve glanced around for her dad. She checked her watch. Ten to four.
    The big room was a riot of colour and conversation as people hung posters and arranged products on their tables in preparation for their presentations. Eve started feeling nervous.
    â€œI’ve made a special detour to be here this afternoon on request,” called Mr Cartwright over 10Y’s heads. “And I don’t have much time. Shall we get started?”
    â€œMr Cartwright shouldn’t be on the judging panel,” said Eve fretfully. “It should be Daddy.”
    â€œYour father was called away about half an hour ago,” said Gloria, passing Eve with a sheaf of paper in her arms. “Urgent business. Your principal has kindly stepped in.”
    Eve felt her eyes pricking with tears of disappointment. Her dad was supposed to be judging this, and seeing how brilliantly she had done everything. He was then supposed to round off her away day with one of his special speeches that would make everyone laugh. But he had left her all by herself.
    Josh nudged her. “Are you OK?”
    Eve was relieved she’d had the foresight to wear waterproof mascara. “Of course I’m OK. Now are we winning this thing or what?” she snapped.
    The presentations weren’t as much fun as Eve had hoped they would be. Everything had taken on the greyish tinge of disappointment. She smiled blindly for the room as she went through the pitch, letting Josh offer their healthy snack bars to the judges. The other teams presented a blur of accessories, beauty treatments and wash-off tattoos that made no impression on Eve at all. She didn’t even have the energy to enjoy Ollie and Lila stuttering their way through a presentation about stacking bangles that they’d called – in a brief moment of inspiration – Off the Cuff. When she and Josh were called out as winners, she felt nothing at all, except the papery crinkle of a thousand pounds’ worth of shopping vouchers for the future shopping centre pressed into her hand by Mr Cartwright.
    â€œThank you everyone for coming,” she said mechanically as the applause died down. “It’s been a great day for Heartside High and Somerstown Developments.”
    â€œA thousand pounds!” Polly said in awe as Eve joined Josh and the others munching through what was left of the Fruitful products. “I’ve never even seen a thousand pounds before.”
    â€œIt’s not real,” Lila said. “It’s just vouchers. And the shopping