No problem, just be careful next time, my sister replied.

Wow, you sign! the boy replied, getting the attention of one of the others. Hey, Courtney, this lady signs!

My stomach dropped when I realised who the group were, and looked around me to see which adults were supervising them. Mike and Sasha were standing behind me waiting to collect tickets, and when he saw me his face went bright red.

‘Paige. What are you doing here?’

I nodded to the machine. ‘Seeing a film with my sister.’

‘Yeah? Which film?’

I stared at him. ‘The same one as you, obviously.’

Sasha was looking between us as if watching a tennis match, so I switched to BSL.

My sister is deaf, and we were really excited to see a subtitled film at the weekend, I told her.

I know, that never happens, Sasha replied with a smile. We thought it would do these four some good to get out. It feels wrong, somehow, having fun while all of this is happening, but life has to go on, doesn’t it?

I agreed that it did.

And they’re all going mad being stuck at the school, she continued. They’re still teenagers, at the end of the day, and they need to let off steam like any other kids.

Sasha, do you mind if I talk to Paige for a moment? Mike asked, giving her a winning smile. I willed her to refuse, and point out that he was there to supervise the students rather than socialise, but she nodded and walked off. I collected our tickets and considered turning my back on Mike, but then I thought the quickest way to get rid of him would be to hear him out.

‘I’m so sorry about last night,’ he muttered once he’d collected their tickets. ‘I honestly don’t know what I was thinking.’

I nodded. ‘Okay. Is that it?’

He frowned. ‘What? I’ve apologised. What more do you want from me?’

‘Nothing, Mike. That’s the whole point. I don’t want anything from you, and I haven’t for the last three years. Your behaviour last night just showed me that you haven’t changed at all.’

‘That’s not fair. I accepted responsibility for the way I treated you, and I hoped you’d accept some responsibility in return.’

‘Responsibility for what? What is it that you think I’ve done to you?’ I asked, trying my best not to raise my voice in a public place.

He let out a sharp laugh. ‘Well, how about throwing me out of our home without ever explaining why?’

‘You know full well why our relationship ended, Mike. You locked me in and left me for four days. Four fucking days, with no way of contacting the outside world other than shouting through the window.’

‘I was coming back,’ he said quietly. ‘I wouldn’t have left you there. I would never have done that to you.’