‘Yeah.’ They walked towards the traffic lights at the bottom of the hill; ahead of them, on the other side of the road, strolling past the park, were Marnie, Lauren, Sophie and Grace – Evie’s usual crowd. The lights changed and Kym glanced at Evie who seemed to be very determined not to notice her friends. ‘I’ve told her the exams don’t matter,’ she went on, ‘that it’s next year that really counts, but she won’t have it.’ It was an exaggeration, of course, Kate wasn’t that bad.

‘No. Nor will mine. Dad’s OK, he’s a bit more laid-back, you know. But she—’

Deep in her bag, Kym’s phone buzzed. ‘Sorry,’ she said, rummaging inside, and as she stopped, Evie stopped too, seemingly unbothered that she had no chance now of catching up with her mates. Kym wondered what might be going on there. ‘Missed call,’ she said, when she finally laid hands on her mobile. ‘Ty.’ Not so cool, after all.

‘Oh, right. Do you want to call him back?’

‘God, no.’ Kym frowned at the screen, then dropped the phone back inside her backpack. ‘He really needs to get over himself.’ She looked up at Evie. ‘We split up,’ she said.

‘Oh.’ Evie looked embarrassed. ‘I didn’t realise.’

‘No reason why you should,’ said Kym, ‘it’s no big deal.’

‘Isn’t it? Haven’t you been going out, like, forever?’

‘No.’ Kym tried to look offended. ‘Only a year, well, two years. We were just mates before that.’ There were photos at home, picnics and birthday parties, stretching back as far as nursery school. She and Ty had known each other their whole lives, had been best friends for as long as she could remember.

‘It must be – weird – not being around him anymore.’

‘Yeah,’ said Kym. ‘But it’s not like . . .’ She slowed her pace, trying to work out how much she wanted to say. ‘I want to go to uni, you know? Get on. Get out. Tyler doesn’t. He’s staying on to keep his dad happy, but honestly, he’s just marking time until he can go and work with his uncle. He reckons he’ll set him up with some sort of apprenticeship.’

‘That doesn’t mean you have to split though, does it? There’s holidays, and once you get your degree you can live where you want.’

‘You sound like him.’

‘Sorry.’

Kym smiled. ‘Anyway. Who the hell marries their first boyfriend?’

‘Or their cousin.’ Evie’s expression was deadpan.