"Oh, the usual sort of thing when it comes to little girls. When Sally so-and-so wouldn't let me borrow her lightpen in class, I told all our friends she still wet the bed -- or if Rachel what's-her-name told me she didn't like my hair, I'd go and try to steal a boy she liked...I got a little cleverer with it as I got older -- mostly, I just got better at not getting in trouble for it. But those were little spats. Most of the time we got along just fine."

She falls quiet for a moment, thinking about her old schoolmates, her old friends, just figures frozen in time to her now. They must all be out of university by now, or at least still in it. But rather than letting her smile waver, she just leans in with a wider grin. "The really fun lies were the ones I told to my sister's boyfriends. And those were the ones I really got in trouble for."