Jack was staring nervously at Ellen’s profile again when, with the power of a vision, he had another idea. The story about Ellen and Ben – that would probably do well too. People had cared about them being locked in the attic, after all, and this was much more exciting. Well, not exciting, exactly. More of a strange coincidence. But it was definitely the sort of thing Jack saw on the internet all the time: people live-tweeting something extraordinary that was happening to them. And the others wouldn’t see it until they got out of the attic – at which point they wouldn’t mind as much, probably.

In fact, the more Jack considered it, the more it seemed sensible that he should share it.

He glanced at the top-right corner of his screen, keeping one careful eye on Ellen. He had a bar of WiFi! This meant that everything would load slowly. But it was enough for him to tap out a tweet and hit Share.

@jackbarnes93

wow NEWS FLASH: housemate has found out that our other housemate’s Hinge date is actually her MSN boyfriend from when they were at school #newcross #stuckintheattic

It was buffering, so it would take a few minutes.

But it would send in the end. He could feel it.

18. Ellen

May 2009

After he’d dropped the letter, he signed out and left her reeling, and it took Ellen a good fifteen minutes of reading and screaming silently into her pillow before she gathered her senses in order to type her own reply.

Dear Benjamin,

I agree utterly with everything you have written. In the course of our correspondence, I too have developed strong feelings for you. Sometimes, all this barely feels real and I have to remind myself that you do really exist.

Like you, I struggled for so long to connect on here – it feels like a lot of the boys I spoke to weren’t really on the same level as me. They are immature. Not like you, though. I definitely agree that we see the world in the same way. I like to think of you, out there somewhere, looking at the things that I look at. It feels weird that we must be so close sometimes and not know it.

I agree about meeting. I feel like it would be a really special step for our relationship. I also want to find a way for us to take this relationship on and to grow closer.

E x

She spent the whole day at school on Monday thinking about it. It was the last week before study leave began, and she was supposed to be using this time to make the most of her harried teachers’ attention, but the day passed in a blur of daydreams and anticipation. When the bell finally rang, she snuck to the bus stop without texting Kate, who’d definitely have wanted to go to Starbucks.