‘You know what he’s like,’ Alex muttered.

Bruno’s father always said that people who were late didn’t respect other people’s time, which was why Bruno was always at least five minutes early. Simon’s attitude annoyed him, as did the fact that the rest of their group of friends seemed to think it was absolutely fine.

They turned the music up even louder, got out of the car, pissed against a tree trunk then lit a cigarette each. Neither Bruno nor Alex really smoked – the packet in the car belonged to Alex’s girlfriend Carina, but this was all part of the ritual, something they did together on lazy days like this one. When they’d finished and stamped out the butts on the gravel, they reluctantly set off to carry all their kit the five hundred metres from the barrier to the quarry itself.

The narrow dirt track sloped steeply upwards, the kit was heavy, and Bruno was struggling by the time they reached the plateau on the left that was their usual campsite. Alex, on the other hand, had barely broken a sweat. Back in the day, Bruno had envied Alex – the body that did whatever he asked of it, the self-confidence, the way other people looked at him. But over the years Bruno had come to terms with the situation. He was Alex’s best friend after all, which meant that he enjoyed some of Alex’s status, making Bruno a solid second in their unofficial ranking. At least that was how he saw things.

As they finished putting up the first tent, Simon’s orange Crescent bicycle appeared down below.

‘Perfect timing,’ Bruno murmured. Alex shrugged but didn’t say anything.

‘Sorry, I had to make a phone call,’ Simon said breathlessly when he joined them, slipping his guitar case off his shoulder.

‘Did you bring the evening paper?’ Bruno said acidly. His father always made that comment even if someone was only a few minutes late. It was a stupid thing to do, but he was hot and cross, and Simon shouldn’t be allowed to get away with yet another of his crap excuses. To his annoyance, Simon ignored him.

‘When are the girls coming?’

Alex stuck his head out of the tent. ‘Carina finishes at four. Marie’s going to pick her up, so they should be here by four thirty.’

‘OK, so what’s happening with you two? Are you and Carina together on alternate weeks? I can’t keep up . . .’

Alex grinned and gave Simon the finger. Bruno tried to join in with a witticism of his own.

‘What a way to spend your days, wiping old people’s fucking arses. Does Carina enjoy it?’

‘At least it’s a proper job.’ Alex sounded irritated, which wasn’t what Bruno had expected at all.

‘I’ve worked all bloody summer,’ he said in his defence.

‘In your daddy’s restaurant – that doesn’t count,’ Alex said.