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The flight was going to be painfully long, and not because of the young family travelling with her.

He’s still odd looking, she thought, and immediately reprimanded herself for being unkind. Even if it were true, it hadn’t stopped her from having a massive crush on him. So, what did that say about her taste in men?

Examining him, she realised her taste hadn’t changed at all. Caleb had what could only be described as a brute’s face. An angular jaw, a long nose that appeared to have been broken a couple of times, and a wide mouth with thin lips – too unusual to be considered classically handsome. The lines around his mouth were well defined, and that feature, combined with his recklessness, had given him the nickname Joker. Which definitely suited him.

Once, he’d become so fed up with a history lesson that he’d jumped out of the window. They were on the third floor, and everyone rushed to the window expecting to find him dead on the concrete below. Instead, he was gorilla-walking down the drainpipe, leaving the school grounds with a cheery salute.

But it was his green eyes that she’d always found the most striking thing about him. They’d always been so serious despite his devilish smiles.

Irrespective of his not-classically-handsome beauty, all the Hackney Academy girls – and some of the boys – had instantly fallen for him. Mainly because of his Californian accent and arrogant attitude. His American mother had married an Englishman and moved her son with her to London. He’d only done one and a half academic years at their school, joining in the January term of the first year of GCSEs and disappearing a few weeks before the end of high school.

She texted Ellie.

Guess who’s about to board my flight?

Her phone buzzed and Ellie had replied immediately with several question marks.

Quickly, she answered, Caleb Townsend!!!!

Ellie must have taken speed-typing classes, because her reply was almost immediate.

Does he still make you Niagara Falls in your knickers?

Hannah snorted. She’d been obsessed with him back then. The feeling wasn’t mutual. All she had been to him was a nerdy teenager who tutored him. Caleb largely ignored her in public. He probably had no idea of the misery he’d left in his wake.

She’d thought she’d never have to face him again, and despite her hot revenge fantasies, that suited her just fine. However, now that he was so close – only a few feet away – a vulnerable part of her wanted to prove him wrong. To shout that she wasn’t a boring loser anymore; she wasn’t Pencil, the hideous and cruel nickname he and the other boys had dubbed her all those years ago.

She sent a laughing emoji followed by rolling eyes. Then peeked at Caleb through the crowd, curious about the man he’d become.

Caleb’s blond head dipped further down, squinting at his screen with a bad-tempered scowl, before he punch-typed on his keyboard like an angry caveman with two meaty fingers. It appeared that some things never changed; he still hated computers.

Hannah must have been smirking because the mum opposite, trying to breastfeed her baby, gave her a narrowed stare. Embarrassed, she immediately picked up her phone again. Ellie had sent another text.

Ahh, sorry you’re stuck with him for so long.

Hannah typed a reply.

I doubt he’d recognise me. I was in my awkward-spotty-bad-hair era, remember.

Ellie didn’t send a laughing emoji at her joke. She knew the truth about those painful years and would never mock her for them.

Well, let me know when you land and if he recognises you or not. I hope he feels sick when he realises what a hottie you are now.

Hannah snorted at her friend’s confidence in her. She wouldn’t say she was a hottie. More confident, healthier and a little happier, yes, but hottie was probably pushing it. That didn’t stop her from taking down her ponytail and fluffing her sunny blonde hair in her camera selfie reflection.

Would Caleb Townsend find her attractive now?

Who was she kidding? He’d probably not even notice her, let alone talk to her. The gate was beginning to fill, and the flight was going to be jam-packed. This might even be the last time she saw him.

She tried to keep track of his face amongst the constantly shifting heads of the family opposite her and raised her phone, zooming in and waiting for the perfect moment to snap a decent picture of Caleb Townsend. Her first obsessive crush, and the first boy to make her cry.

She’d forgotten to turn off the shutter sound, and the phone made an obnoxiously loud, crunchy click as it took the photo. Not that Caleb could hear it. He was too far away, thank God!

‘Did you just take a picture of me feeding my baby?’ shouted the outraged mother opposite her, and Hannah’s stomach dropped to the floor.

Several people turned their heads in her direction, including, to her absolute horror, Caleb. Hannah shoved the phone into her essentials bag with a quick denial. ‘No! I was taking a picture of something else.’

It seemed that this mother was on her last frayed nerve, and Hannah had inadvertently snapped it, because she elbowed her husband dramatically and screeched, ‘She took a picture of me! Do something!’