Hey. Sorry – I overreacted. I’m just sensitive because my parents despise each other and haven’t been in the same room in a decade. I shouldn’t have got so cross. I’m sorry. Will you forgive me? Also, do tell Linda Bella Italia isn’t a patch on PizzaExpress. X

Ellen had replied instantly.

hey I’m sorry too i was insensitive and dumb. you can borrow linda and john whenever (srsly). can we be friends again plz. coffee? now?? xx

Alexa had been watching her phone when the text arrived. She fumbled the slide mechanism in her haste to read it. Relieved, she had replied immediately.

Yes! Copper Kettle? I’ll get us a sofa. X

Yayyyy!!!! Let me find some pants and i’ll be on my way xx can we get a cake??

When Ellen arrived they had hugged, and Alexa had felt comforted by the warmth of her. For the previous forty-eight hours, it had been like she didn’t exist.

‘I couldn’t find any pants so I’m wearing bikini bottoms,’ Ellen had admitted when they separated. ‘It’s quite nice, actually.’

Alexa sighed now at the memory, and then fretted that one of the others might have heard. A spider was picking its way across an ancient newspaper nearby, and she watched it for a few seconds as her temper subsided. She could hear the occasional murmur of Jack and Ellen’s conversation from the open window, though couldn’t tell what they were saying to each other. She didn’t dare steal a peek at Ben. She still felt too irritated by everything.

She knew it was beneath them to fight over a boy, and she knew – realistically – that she wouldn’t pick Ben over her best friend. Still, she hated that it was being presented as a choice. She wished, suddenly, that she could speak to her sister, Nina, about this. If only there was a way they could tell for sure whether it was Ben who had ghosted Ellen – although if it was, she reflected, that definitely wouldn’t help matters.

She regretted snapping. She should have been more sympathetic. Sometimes it just happened: a chink in her armour, a temporary loss of control, like that row in the cafe. They joked about it now – it was one of their riffs – but she remembered how adrift she’d felt for the two days she and Ellen hadn’t spoken. Alexa chewed the skin on her thumb knuckle. She knew she needed to apologize. It wouldn’t solve anything, but she needed to show Ellen she was on her side. She tried not to think of Ben and his dimple.