Her hair glints in the sun as she shakes her head. This is not a negotiation. This is how she has become. There was a time when our conversations were effortless, the sound of two minds dissolvable in each other, free to shift direction at will and without confusion, as if we were sharing a dream. But, as today has drawn closer, our interactions have become about one thing only. Every night we refine, we reinforce, we remind. And we do nothing more.

‘Everybody knows,’ she says. ‘They’ve got knives. They’ve got hammers. They’ve got acid. Everyone’s talking about it. They’re coming for you. They’re coming this afternoon.’

I know she’s right. ‘What if we leave now?’ It sounds pathetic. We’ve been through this a thousand times.

‘We’re so close, Ollie.’

‘I don’t know what to do.’

And I don’t. For weeks, I’ve had a future. Now I have no idea where I’ll be in half an hour.

‘Who did you tell?’

I check myself before I speak. Saying I’ve told no one would be a lie. Because I haven’t told nobody. She knows it would be a lie. She knew I’d told someone when she asked the question. Because she understands me. She knows me better than anyone.

I’m such an idiot. My stupidity might have cost us everything. It’s exactly what I fucking deserve.

‘Who, Ollie?’

‘Amit.’ I want to smash my face into the ground. ‘I told him to go home early.’

‘You’re such a sweet boy, aren’t you?’

‘Fuck off.’

‘Now that’s more like it,’ she says, laughing. ‘A bit of aggression. Let me guess, they’re all being nice to you? Pretending you’re best buddies again?’

I’m shrinking once more. I’m a loser and I chose to be.

‘You’re too nice, Ollie. But you’ll die for it. You’ve let those animals play you.’

I hammer my fists into the ground. ‘This is fucked up.’

‘It’s not too late,’ she says.

But it is. I’m outside the Plan now. I’m way off schedule – 11C are in the wrong place. ‘It’s hopeless.’

‘Have you forgotten about Kenny?’

‘No,’ I snap. Of course I haven’t forgotten about Kenny.