Tim’s beer ran out and he went back to his little house to get another one. Felicity leaned back in her chair with a look of accomplishment on her face. Jasmine really wanted her to go home, but she was stuck for now. Jasmine knew that Felicity was only rebelling against her own situation, acting out to feel different, to feel like someone else. It was a recurring theme. It wasn’t her fault; Jasmine had been to her house enough to know that she would probably feel the same way in Felicity’s place.

The truth was, she was jealous. Over the last couple of weeks Jasmine and Tim had forged a special bond. Knowing that he might be a murderer, this worried Jasmine. She always wondered when she was reading her true crime books how these duos found each other, how they could meet and then know that they had a shared destiny, something huge that pulled them together, like a magnet. She could feel that magnetism from him and it scared her. Jasmine knew she had made too much of a point of saying she didn’t fancy him at all, and she actually hadn’t realised how much she did like him until she was in direct competition with her friend. She only had herself to blame for what was happening. Tim returned to the garden and he was holding a joint. Felicity looked excited at the prospect.

‘You going to tell on me?’ Tim said in Jasmine’s direction, without actually looking at her.

‘Not if you give me some.’ She took a swig of her drink. She wanted to loosen up and be interesting; she wanted to be funny and stop thinking for just five seconds. Jasmine had never smoked pot before. She had smoked cigarettes but never a whole one.

‘Well, all right.’ Tim smiled at Jasmine this time and the heaviness she was feeling disappeared for a moment. His eyes were lighter than before, bluer somehow, and he had a crinkle in his brow. His smile was something else entirely; he had perfect teeth and somehow you saw every single one when he smiled, like a cartoon smile. When he wasn’t smiling his lips were always slightly parted and you could see his clenched teeth underneath. The good thing about having Felicity there was that Tim was so distracted by her that Jasmine could just stare at him as much as she wanted to, and he didn’t notice.

‘Is that what you were doing when I saw you at the fair? Getting this?’ Jasmine asked.

‘You got me,’ he said. She detected a hint of anger. Because she’d brought up the fair?