Ash Mistry and the City of Death. Sarwat Chadda

      Ash’s mum lifted the BlackBerry from her husband’s hands. “That’s enough, Sanjay.”

      “See what I mean?” Dad shrugged. “Girl trouble.” Ash’s mum was about to protest, but Sanjay took her hand and twirled her, clomping about in his boots. His own suit wasn’t quite as neat or as smart as his wife’s, but Sanjay worked as an engineer and spent half the week on building sites, making sure the walls stayed up and the roofs stayed on. He was at least half a metre taller and quite a bit wider than his wife, so when he pulled her towards him, Ash’s mum was pressed against the globe of his belly.

      “Is it Gemma?” asked Mum.

      “The girl in the poem?” said Dad, and there was an irritating smirk across his face, the sort of smirk all parents get when they are about to mortally embarrass their children.

      “Hold on. You know about that?” Ash said.

      “I think it’s very romantic,” said Mum. “I would have been flattered if some boy had written me a poem.”

      Ash wanted to die, right there and then. Was there anyone in the Greater London area who didn’t know about his stupid poem? It was meant to be private, and it had gone viral on the Internet. One day Josh was going to pay.

      “How did it go, Bina?” Ash’s dad dropped to one knee while still holding his wife’s hand, cleared his throat, and began to recite. “‘If I may be so bold, to say your hair is like fallen gold, and that when I see you smile, my heart flutters for a while…’”

      “Dad, just shut up. It’s got nothing to do with Gemma.”

      Both looked at him with more than mild surprise. Dad lightly punched Ash’s arm. “Another girl? That’s my boy. Come on, do it.” He held up his fist. Ash groaned as he gave his father a fist bump. Parents trying to be cool. Seriously, had he been swapped at birth or what? “Just make sure it doesn’t affect your school work.”

      Ash left his dad in the hallway undoing his boots and went back into the kitchen with his mum. The tap went on and soon the kettle was bubbling. She paused by the open window and sniffed suspiciously. “Someone been smoking?”

      “Smoking? Of course not.” Ash grabbed the Yoda mug with the cigarette stubs. He really didn’t want to explain what had just happened. Frankly, it would sound quite mental. “Let me help wash up.”

      “This girl, she’s someone important, isn’t she?”

      Weird, wasn’t it? Normal girls like Gemma left him sweating and tongue-tied, but Parvati, a half-demon assassin? No problem.

      There had been a moment when, well, if not exactly a girlfriend and boyfriend sort of set-up – there was a significant age gap between them – they had been something a bit more than just ‘friends’. She had kissed him, twice. Didn’t that count for something? But once he’d left India there hadn’t been a word. She’d completely forgotten him. And now, just when Ash himself was moving on, here she was, and it felt like not a minute had passed since they’d last seen one another.

      “Mum, I just don’t know.”

      The doorbell rang. Must be Josh. He’d planned to come over early so the two of them could head out to Dulwich Park together for Bonfire Night. Ash would have to tell him his plans had changed and he couldn’t come. Not that he’d want to go to the park anyway if it meant bumping into Gemma and having to relive the humiliation of what had happened in the canteen.

      “Ash,” his dad called from the hallway. “It’s your friend.”

      Ash went to the hall, and his dad winked at him as he passed. What was that about? Jeez, maybe it was Elaine again. What had she forgotten now – her walker?

      Ash opened the door. “Look—”

      “Hi, Ash.”

      Oh my God. Gemma.

      “Er, hi. Er, Gemma.” He looked around, wondering if she’d got lost or something. “Er, yes?”

      He so wanted to punch his own face. Why oh why couldn’t he just talk to her like a normal person rather than a cretin?

      “Can I come in?”

      “Here?” Yes, he should punch his own face repeatedly. “Of course.”

      Gemma stood in the hall. “Hi, Lucks.”

      Lucky sat at the top of the stairs, chin on her knees, watching. She waved back. “Hey, Gemma, my brother was—”

      “Go away, Lucks,” Ash said.

      Lucky didn’t move. She was totally immune to his threats.

      “Please, Lucks?”

      Lucky blinked. She didn’t know how to respond to politeness. She blinked again, then left.

      So. Gemma. Him. Standing in the hall. Well.

      She’d tied back her hair, but a few curls had slipped free, framing her face. She looked uneasy. “Listen, Ash. I just came to say I’m sorry about Jack. He’s not usually—”

      “Such a git?”

      She smiled. Ash felt another poem coming on. “Git. Just the word I was going to use.”

      “Is that why you’re here? To apologise for him?”

      “No. I never answered your question.”

      “Question?”

      “About Bonfire Night.” She smiled at him. “I am going. What about you?”

      “No. Plans have changed.”

      “Oh. All right then.” She gave a shrug. “Well, I’ll see you later. At school.” She adjusted her rucksack in an ‘I’m about to leave now and you’ve totally blown it’ sort of motion.

      Hold on. He rewound the last few seconds, trying to understand the complex subtext of that last conversation. Somewhere he’d gone wrong.

      “What I meant to say was I… yes, I am going. Totally. I am.”

      “Great. What time?”

      She was asking him. She was asking him. That hair flick in the canteen had meant something!

      Time to play it cool. For once in your life.

      Ash glanced at his watch. “I dunno, about eight?”

      “Shall I pop over?” Then she laughed. “D’you remember when we were at primary school? I was here almost every day. Playing that board game.” Gemma frowned. “What was it called?”

      “The Orpheus Quest.”

      She snapped her fingers. “Down into the underworld to rescue the princess, right? You still have it?”

      Ash shrugged. “Went to the charity shop years ago, sorry.”

      “What happened? We used to hang all the time. I only live round the corner.”

      “I stayed in the Nerd Herd and you didn’t, I suppose.” Ash put his hands in his pockets. “We ended up in different crowds. High school’s a big place.”

      “Do you think I’ve changed that much?” she asked.

      “We all change, Gemma.”

      “That doesn’t have to be a bad thing.”

      Ash’s mobile phone buzzed. It was Parvati, with an address. She wanted to meet at six-thirty.

      Typical. Of all the days since time began, why today?

      Gemma glanced down at the glowing screen. “Problem?”

      “No. There’s just something I need to do, but it shouldn’t take long. I’ll meet you there. In case I’m late or something.”

      “Oh, OK.” Gemma paused by the door.