Georgia furrowed her brow. ‘I want a latte, but it says they only do soy or oat milk.’

‘Soy is better IMO,’ Zac said. ‘Think of the poor dairy cows, udders covered in shit and infected pus oozing into the milk …’

There was only one staff member working. After bringing tea and toasties to the mums of playing toddlers, the round-faced waitress smiled fondly at Zac, then spoke with a Czech accent.

‘You must be Sophie’s sister,’ she said brightly. ‘You are so like her!’

Georgia smiled and blushed as Zac charmed the waitress.

‘Georgia, meet the wonderful Kamila. Kamila, I’ve just been praising your muffins.’

‘The orange is really fresh, baked this morning,’ Kamila said proudly.

‘I’ll go for that and a soy latte,’ Georgia said. ‘How did you know Sophie?’

‘Through SAG,’ Kamila said.

‘The Socialist Action Group,’ Zac explained. ‘This is where we have our weekly meetings.’

Georgia nodded. She’d heard of Zac going to SAG meetings, but Sophie wasn’t as political as Zac and Georgia wondered if he knew she’d called it SWAG – Socialist Wankers Action Group – behind his back.

‘Sophie was too busy to come regularly,’ Kamila told Georgia. ‘But she made an important contribution.’

‘Cool,’ Georgia said, stifling a smirk.

As Kamila headed behind the counter, Zac leaned across the table and cleared his throat.

‘Something ominous?’ Georgia asked.

Zac spoke delicately. ‘I asked you to meet here because I had an idea. I just hope it doesn’t seem patronising …’

‘I’ll do my best not to be offended.’

‘I moved to a new school when I was a teenager in Hong Kong,’ Zac began. ‘I felt alone and powerless, until I started getting involved in pro-democracy meetings. At first, I was scared to go on a demonstration or speak in a meeting. But I found that I got along better with people who cared about more important stuff than shopping and video games. Instead of being a kid in a room messaging a few dumb friends, I had a connection to something that mattered.’

Georgia looked suspicious. ‘You think I should get into politics?’

‘Political activism,’ Zac said defensively.

‘I could join the Young Conservatives,’ Georgia teased. ‘My dad would like that.’

Zac laughed so hard he banged a knee under the table. ‘Don’t say that here, you might not make it out alive! But, seriously, I’d love it if you came to one of our SAG meetings. It’s informal. Everyone has different opinions. We usually meet Thursdays, but we’re actually meeting up at the town hall on Monday night to try and stop the council finance meeting.’

Georgia looked confused. ‘That’s the budget cuts, or something?’

Zac nodded as Kamila slid coffees and two orange muffins on the table between them.

‘I was telling Georgia she should join us on Monday night.’

‘Of course!’ Kamila said brightly. ‘I’ll be there.’