Nobody does hostile curiosity like a bunch of thirteen-year-olds who are putting off doing their homework. One skinny mixed-race girl cocked her head and asked whether we were in a band.
‘I bet your mum’s looking for you,’ I said.
‘No,’ she said. ‘Can we come and watch?’
‘No,’ I said.
‘We’ll be quiet,’ she said.
‘No, you won’t.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I can see into the future,’ I said.
‘No you can’t,’ she said.
‘Why not?’
‘’Cause that would be a violation of causticity,’ she said.
‘I blame Doctor Who ,’ said James.
‘Causality,’ I said.
‘Whatever,’ she said. ‘Can we watch?’