Inside, the hall was more like a huge theatre, with tiers and tiers of seats. High over our heads was a dome of stained glass. Sunlight poured through the glass, spilling extraordinary colours everywhere.
　　There was a stage, a very grand one. Right across the back wall was an outsized TV screen, the kind you get at pop concerts, with the word

　Plus, I can't STAND school assemblies. They make me feel as if l can't breathe. I have to tune them out or I'd scream with boredom.
　　I caught major yawn-words like "team work", and even (yikes!) "responsibility", and carried on scrutinising my split ends. But now and then, a more worrying word caught my attention. Michael used it more than an

　　And all the time, like summer birds collecting on telephone wires, angels were gathering around me.
　　I didn't realise this then, but no-one is allowed to die alone. Ever. Some people see their guardian angels, just before they leave their bodies. I didn't. I didn't see much actually. My last few seconds on Earth went something

　As it happened, Miss Rowntree's spiteful put-down was the very last thing she said to me, because next day it was the start of the summer holidays.
　　I'd got an incredibly significant birthday coming up, my thirteenth, so I had some serious celebrating to do. My star sign is Cancer and if I say so myself, it fits me like a glove. Shy on the ou

 
　　But I didn't share these thoughts with my teacher. I might be a bimbo but I'm a very polite bimbo. Whereas Miss Rowntree showed me no respect whatsoever. "Melanie Beeby, you are just an airhead with attitude," she snapped at me another time.
　　But on the last clay of term, she said something so sarcastic, I get the chills just

　I hadn't exactly planned on becoming an angel.But then I hadn't planned on dying at 13, either.Well,you don't,do you?
　　If I'd thought about it ,I'd have said that kind of thing was strictly for Venetia Rossetti. Venetia was a big hit with all the teachers at my school and WAY more suitable angel material than yours truly.
　　But there