Ellen looked at Kate. Kate widened her eyes and shrugged. Perhaps Holly hadn’t heard her.

‘Yeah,’ came Holly’s reply, eventually. She tapped another key, hard, then slowly turned towards Ellen and Kate. ‘So,’ she cocked an eyebrow.

Ellen observed that Holly’s skin appeared celestial in the glow of the sixth-form centre’s strip lighting.

‘He’s smart. Likes books. Goes to Rainham. Doesn’t just want to chat about the size of your tits.’ She tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘I mean. No offence if that’s your thing.’

Ellen felt that it was very, very important that Holly Stanley should know that chatting about the size of her, Ellen’s, tits was very, very much not her thing. She also knew it was important to sound as casual as Holly Stanley did.

‘Yeah, no, not really my vibe,’ she said, as casually as possible. Kate was still staring at her. Ellen’s face felt warm.

Holly Stanley appraised Ellen for a few seconds. Her eyes were unusually pale.

Then she spoke again. ‘Cool.’ She shrugged her shoulders, almost imperceptibly. ‘I’ll give you his name.’

Holly reached into her school bag, a black tote bag marked with the logo of what Ellen assumed was a band, or possibly a political movement, to pull out an A4 sketchpad and a pencil. She held it between an elegant thumb and forefinger, and wrote down a name.

Ellen and Kate held their breath for the duration.

‘Here …’ She passed it over. ‘I used to chat to him a lot last year, but it sort of fizzled out. I know the name’s a bit’ – she made a face, screwing up those exquisite features – ‘but I think you’ll like him. He’s got good chat.’

Ellen paused for a moment to savour the flattery of Holly Stanley thinking that she would like someone Holly thought was cool. ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘That’s really nice of you.’

Holly shrugged and stood up to her full, extraordinary height. She slung the tote over her shoulder.

‘Bye,’ Kate said.

Holly didn’t look back.

‘Well, that was weird.’ Ellen examined the piece of paper.

‘Um, so weird,’ Kate agreed. She blew a bubble with her gum. ‘So, are you going to add him, then? Can I add him too?’

‘Rainham_romeo1991,’ Ellen read. She contemplated it, cocking her head to one side, making a slight grimace. ‘I suppose it’s not the worst I’ve heard.’ She looked at Kate. ‘No, you cannot add him! You have Ryan.’