Was she right? He didn’t know. He’d thought he’d loved her, at one point, but how was he supposed to know if what he’d felt was love, instead of lust or just liking her a lot? They’d met at a friend’s Christmas party and kissed, then talked on the phone for about two hours the following Sunday. In the weeks that followed they’d spent a lot of time together after school, and he had thought about her all the time, but now he wasn’t sure what he had been feeling. He’d talked to Jamo about it, but that hadn’t helped. He’d laughed and put on a stupid voice and said It’s the Matty Westbrook gameshow. Love, lust or like? What is Matty feeling?

And this constant badgering didn’t make it easier to figure out. It only put him off her.

‘I do,’ he said, eventually. ‘I do love you.’

‘Promise?’

‘Promise.’ She started to say something – probably a request for him to really, truly promise – but he swung his legs out of the bed and picked up his shorts. ‘Let’s go for a cig,’ he said. ‘And then make plans for tonight. I think Jamo and Danny are going into town.’

She did not reply. He realized he had said something wrong.

‘Into town? Tonight?’ She sat upright and pulled the duvet over her. There was a harsh tone in her voice, like she had had an unwelcome surprise. She shook her head. ‘I thought we had plans tonight.’

‘What plans?’

‘You said you’d come over this afternoon.’

‘I know. And here I am, right now. This afternoon.’

‘Fine,’ she said, spitting the word out. ‘Go and have your cigarette, then go out with your fucking no-mark mates.’

He sat on the edge of the bed. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Wrong? Why would anything be wrong?’

‘Come on, Linz. Tell me what’s wrong.’

‘I said nothing. Now, go and smoke your fag and then fuck off!’ She shouted the end of the sentence, her face red and scrunched up in anger, then turned to face the wall.

‘Lindsey,’ Matt said, keeping his tone as neutral as possible. They had recently had a few arguments which had ended with Lindsey screaming at him, almost out of control, while he tried – without success – to placate her. ‘If I did something wrong, I’m so—’

‘If?’ she hissed. ‘If? You promised me we’d spend the night in together, and now you say you’re going out in town? How is that if you did something wrong? How?’

‘I didn’t promise,’ Matt said. ‘I said I’d come over this afternoon and then—’