There was something strange about the boy who moved in next door. He always seemed to be in two places at once, and yet he was the slowest-moving person I'd ever met. Mum made me invite him over to play, even though, since we started big school, girls weren't supposed to hang around with boys. I was surprised how much fun we had. Joe knew lots of great games, although he always beat me at hide-and-seek. I'd think I'd spotted him and run like a looper to the tree or wherever, but when I arrived, there was nothing there except a faint shadow and the lemony scent of him hanging in the air.

He went to my school. I knew right away he wasn't going to fit in. The boys made fun of his clumsiness and the girls wanted to know why it always took him two hours to get anything done. Tom Green, a big, ugly, thug of a boy, called him 'Slow Joe', and the nickname stuck. When I was hanging around the schoolyard with Michelle, I'd sometimes spot Joe hunched over on the benches, and I'd give him a little smile. He'd come to life then, slowly uncurling his body, smiling and waving back. But most of the time, he looked really sad.

He kept of trouble though, at least until the day of our maths exam. It was one of those big end-of-year ones and the room was almost static with tension. It was strange to see all those little wooden desks and chairs lined up in the gym, where they didn't belong. I was sitting about two desks away from Joe, and I could see him idly twirling a pencil between two fingers. 'Joe!' I whispered, 'you better start!' He shifted around in his chair to look at me. Then, gentle as a wave breaking on a beach, he smiled his slow smile. I couldn't help smiling back, but I shook my head, too. He was never going to pass. They'd probably send him to the special school.

About ten minutes after that, there was a tiny crack and I looked up. Joe was gone. His chair was shoved out at an odd angle, like he'd left in a hurry. I couldn't imagine him doing anything in a hurry. And then I smelt it, that lemony tang, rising above the stench of sweat. I suddenly felt nervous and looked towards the front of the gym, where the invigilators were strolling up and down. None of them seemed to have noticed. The other kids all had their heads down, focused on their papers. I looked back, and Joe was there again, writing away in his slow, methodical manner. I was daydreaming, I decided. People don't just disappear. I turned back to my own paper.

Later, after the results came out, Joe was called up to the Headmaster's office, accused of cheating. He'd scored a perfect 100% on his paper, when no-one even expected him to pass. But there was no evidence, and his mother came up to school and made a big fuss, so they let it drop. Joe was picked on even more after that. Cheater, they called him now, as well as Slow Joe. And Tom Green was always first with the insults.

But Joe continued to do well in school. Despite his dullness, he managed to get top marks in almost every subject. He flew through his GCSEs and was predicted straight As at A'level. I didn't see so much of him anymore. I was busy learning how to backcomb my hair and find a lipstick that would stay on, even after a snog.

It wasn't until results day that I next really noticed Joe. Me and Michelle were busy scanning the board for our candidate numbers. I found mine and gripped Michelle's arm. 'Two Cs! And a B! I'm going to uni!' She got in as well. We started jumping around, hugging each other and laughing. That was when we heard it - a sickening thud, just down the corridor. We ran around the corner to see.

Joe and Tom were fighting. Or rather, Tom, about twice Joe's size, was beating him up. 'Stop it!' I yelled, horrified. But Tom seemed to be in another world, his eyes glazed over, fists flying. I doubt he even heard me. 'Go and get a teacher!' I screamed at Michelle. Joe's face was all bloody and he wasn't even attempting to defend himself. Michelle ran off. I hoped she'd be quick. But then there was a little crack and Joe wasn't there anymore. Tom's last punch met thin air. He had time for one shout of surprise, before crunching to the floor as Joe suddenly reappeared on top of him, slamming his entire body-weight into Tom's back. There was an awful snapping sound, and then silence. The two boys lay motionless on the ground, but I could only hear one of them breathing.

And then Mrs Jennings appeared, storming around the corner, Michelle running to keep up. 'It's Tom, Miss,' Michelle was saying, 'he's killing him!' But Joe was on top of Tom now, and it didn't look good. Mrs Jennings gave a little scream. 'Michelle,' she said, in a funny, high-pitched voice that scared me more than anything else, 'go to the administrator's office and have her call an ambulance. Right now, please.' Michelle ran back the way she'd come. By now, Joe had struggled to his feet, but Tom was still lying there, unmoving. Mrs Jennings crouched over him. 'Tom? Get up, Tom.' She shook him, then gently rolled him over. I took in a sharp breath. His face was completely grey. There was blood coming out of his ears. I focused on not throwing up.

The next time I saw Tom, he was in a wheelchair. It wasn't forever; he was going to walk again, apparently. But it didn't look like he'd be fighting anyone again for a while. I suppose Joe would have been expelled, but school was over.

***

I took up my place at Edinburgh University. It was a beautiful, old, cobble-stoned town, with row upon row of neat Georgian houses, and I fell in love with it. I spent most of my time in Halls with my books, though. I was dead set on being a teacher.

The first time I visited home, it felt sort of strange. Small items had moved from their familiar places around the house, and there were changes in the town, too. A new library had opened, and my favourite hair salon had closed down. Mum and dad were still the same, though. There was a charity fete being held at my old school and they wanted me to go along, help out on one of the stalls. 'Come on,' Mum pleaded, 'don't you want to see your old friends again? Joe's helping his Mum out on her stall.' Joe, I thought, and something tickled me deep inside. 'Okay,' I said.

It was a gorgeous, blue day, and all the stalls were set out on the long sloping lawn at the back of the school. I actually got quite into it, pricing up Mum's useless junk and haggling with the old ladies who came to buy it. 'Come on, it's got to be worth 20p! 10p? Okay, but I'm robbing myself.'

A little while later, I strolled over to find Joe. I hadn't seen him in almost a year. He was up at Oxford now.  continue>

His mum had baked about a million cakes for her contribution and Joe was doing the haggling bit too. 'Six for a pound! Oh, all right then, eight.' I got a little jolt as I took him in.  He seemed so much taller now! Maybe it was just that he'd lost his hunch. There was something else different about him, too. He was moving at normal speed, that was it, like all the dullness had somehow been shaken away. But the lemony tang that accompanied him wherever he went was still there. 'Hi, Joe,' I said, smiling. He looked up. 'Suze! Wow! It's been months! How the hell are you?' I was taken aback by the new air of confidence in his manner. 'I'm fine. You know, same old.'

'But you're living in the North now. What's that like?'

'It's really great, actually. I've made a lot of friends. And how's Swot City?' He grinned easily. 'Wonderful. They work us to the bone, so we make sure we party to the bone, too.' I blinked in surprise. Now there was a 'we'? Since when had Joe partied, or even had friends? I realised, with a little sinking feeling, that I didn't really know him anymore. 'Listen,' he said, 'I promised to show some of the kids the new library. It's officially closed, but my dad works there, he's given me the key. Wanna come along? Help me control twenty screaming brats?' I really did. 'Fantastic,' I said. Then, realising that sounded a little too enthusiastic, I quickly backtracked. 'I mean, you know, anything to get out of helping Mum flog the entire contents of her garage.'

We gathered up the children, only about six of them in the end, and headed across the road to the library. The purring steel lift took us up to the children's section on the top floor. Then we all sat around in a circle, while Joe read out loud to us. He made funny voices for all the different characters, and I suddenly realised it was the most fun I'd had in ages. But then, one of the kids - Meg, I think, nearest the door - said she could smell burning. Joe got up and went to check it out. When he came back, his expression had changed. 'We have to go, now,' he said. To me, he breathed, 'There's a fire.' He made all the kids get in line and hold hands in pairs. 'Right, come on. Walk quickly.' I was starting to feel anxious now. How bad could it be? Very bad, apparently.

The stairs were blocked with roaring flames. We could already feel the heat pressing us back. 'The lift,' Joe said, shortly. There was a sign on it - 'In case of fire, use stairs'. Ha! I thought, herding the children inside. I pressed the button for the ground floor and felt it lurch into motion. 'There you go, children,' I said cheerfully, 'I told you we'd be out of here in no time.' Jenny stopped crying and Meg even smiled. But we were barely underway, when the lift juddered to a halt. Bugger. I tapped the button again, fear rising like a bubble in my throat. And again. Useless. There wasn't even a phone, just a panic button. I pressed it. Nothing happened. Wonderful. We were stuck.

Then my eye met Joe's. Could he still..? Was it possible he might..? 'Joe,' I began cautiously, 'Do you think you could go and get help?' He looked at me in confusion. 'What do you mean, Suze? We're stuck in a lift. Look, I know it's scary, but we just have to sit tight. Sooner or later, someone will notice we're missing.' I tried to keep the rising panic out of my voice. 'Remember how you used to…sort of…jump around with your body?' His expression was blank, but I pushed on. 'You know, that disappearing, reappearing somewhere else trick. Maybe you could try it now.' He looked at me like I was on something. 'Jump around with my body? I think the heat's getting to you, Suze.'

'Come on, Joe, you must remember,' I wheedled. 'It's not so long ago.' He shook his head. 'Sorry, Suze. I don't have a clue what you're on about. In fact, I think you should drop it and focus on helping me calm these kids down.' That really rankled me. 'Tom Green,' I snapped viciously. 'I was there, remember? I saw you.' His face went white. 'No,' he said. Then, in a voice so quiet, I had to strain to hear it: 'I don't do that anymore.'

'So you do remember?' There was a long, painful pause. Then he sighed and rubbed his eyes. 'Of course I bloody remember. I was Slow Joe all through secondary school! My co-ordination was shot to put, something to do with the teleporting. But after Tom…Jesus Christ, I nearly killed that boy! I swore I'd never-' He stopped, like even thinking about it was too awful. But there was no time for sympathetic gestures. 'Joe,' I said evenly, 'the whole building is on fire. If you don't go for help, we'll die. All these children.' A flicker of something - fear? pain? - passed across his face. He looked around at the children, their little, frightened faces. Then his expression relaxed again, and it was as calm and serene as I'd ever seen it. 'You're right,' he whispered. And he was gone.

***

When the firemen finally hauled us all out, Mum came rushing over. She crushed me in her arms, before spotting Joe. She literally did a double-take. 'Have you got a twin brother or something? I could've sworn I saw you in the street just now…' She tailed off, looking at him uncertainly. Joe glanced at me sideways, and gave me a tiny wink. I smiled back, and squeezed his hand. 'No,' I said, 'you must be mistaken, you can't have seen Joe. He's one of a kind.' We looked at each other. And then we had our first kiss, right there on the library steps.          End

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