Jasmine was particularly struck by what a closed little community her classmates were whenever she came back from her family’s travels abroad – like a tiny cosmos that always stayed the same, a secret hidden in the valley. She noticed the sideways glances towards anyone who didn’t fit in, who wasn’t part of the accepted genetic make-up of the locals. Jasmine knew people who had never even taken a bus out of town; their world began and ended there. Felicity was one of those people. Aside from visiting her uncle in Spain once, Felicity had never left the confines of the town. Felicity’s relationship with her mother was fractious and the more time the two girls spent together the more grateful Jasmine was for her own family situation. Felicity’s mother Carol spent most of her money on drink and cigarettes so they didn’t really do family holidays and Flick hadn’t seen her biological father in over five years, even though he lived less than half an hour away. They didn’t talk about it much, but it was clear to Jasmine that Felicity had inherited her mother’s taste for alcohol and sometimes when she was drunk she would say things, enough that Jasmine could see why Felicity was so desperate to get so far away from the town and her mother. Jasmine couldn’t imagine that.

Jasmine also wondered how her own parents had come to settle in this pretty little part of the world. Both Frank and Lisa loved to travel, always had, and they loved all different kinds of people and cultures, yet there they were in the most English and insular of towns, tucked away in its own little microcosm. Being there seemed the opposite of who they were. Her parents weren’t from the area, although they never really discussed much from before they met, and so she wasn’t entirely sure where her father was from originally. Jasmine’s mother was less secretive and sometimes told her about her life on a farm, although she was sure she remembered Lisa once telling her that the farm was in Hertfordshire and another time that it was in Wiltshire. Jasmine had learned not to ask – Frank had always maintained it wasn’t where you come from but who you are that matters.

‘Maybe we can find someone for you,’ Felicity said.

‘Not interested. Please don’t try and set me up with anyone.’

‘What if Taylor is there?’ Felicity said.

‘You know full well he will be there, everyone’s going to be there.’

‘You don’t fancy him at all?’

‘No, I don’t think so. I don’t fancy anyone at school.’

‘Maybe you will fancy one of the Carneys.’

‘I’m really not that bothered about getting off with anyone to be honest, Flick, that’s more your thing.’