“Yeah I like it.” Michael replied with a smile, before unpacking his homework on the table. He scooped up his culottes beneath him and sat down. He then pulled up his knee socks a little and straightened them before getting on with his homework.

“You got your socks mixed up again I see.” His mother said, noting he wasn’t wearing the plain white socks he’d left for school wearing.

Michael looked down at his socks which had a diamond pattern running up the sides. “Yeah, it always happens.” He replied. “I think Mary Collins ended up with mine.”

“How on Earth do you get your socks mixed up?” His aunt asked.

Michael told her they all hung their socks to dry on the radiators when it’s been raining, and that retrieving them after class is a bit of a smash and grab. “I always seem to end up with girls ones.”