‘You cold? I’ve got a spare jumper if you want it,’ says Matt through a mouthful of chips.

‘I’m okay. It’s just weird being up here.’

‘Seeing your world from another view? Yeah, it is weird.’

Then he holds out the biscuits. I recognise the packet. Mint Slice. ‘Are those Maggie’s?’

‘Borrowed,’ he says. ‘I’ll replace them, I promise.’

‘You’d better. They’re her secret stash for when she needs quiet thinking time,’ I say, taking one anyway and hoping he’ll keep his word.

‘Cheers,’ he says, crashing his biscuit into mine. ‘To your first rooftop.’

‘This doesn’t count, does it?’

‘Course. A rooftop is a rooftop is a rooftop.’

‘So, what do we do now?’

Matt shrugs and munches his biscuit. ‘You tell me why we’re here.’

I fidget on the corrugated metal, trying to get comfortable, and pretend I’m really interested in eating my Mint Slice.

‘I’m not in a hurry,’ says Matt with a smile.

‘I dunno,’ I say finally.

He starts laughing. ‘Yes, you do.’

He holds out the packet of biscuits and I slide another one out. Maggie once showed me how she likes to eat these when we were hanging out in the tiny courtyard garden at our block of flats. She slides her teeth across the top until all the chocolate and mint cream is demolished, then nibbles slowly on the biscuit base.

‘Mum’s come back to live in the flat,’ I tell him.

‘Is that a bad thing?’

‘I don’t know. It wasn’t great when she burnt dinner this afternoon and the flat filled with smoke,’ I say, concentrating on the tiny bumps in the metal seam near my foot.

‘So, we’re here because you wanted to escape?’

I look over at him, wondering if he’s making fun of me. But he’s not smiling.

‘Yeah, because she started crying afterwards, and it was like before. I’m not sure I can trust her.’

‘Maybe she was scared,’ he says calmly.

‘Maybe …’

I wait for Matt to try and convince me, but he doesn’t. He just keeps eating biscuits, holding out the packet for me every now and then.

‘Don’t get me wrong, I like your rooftop, but it’s not quite as dramatic as some,’ he says finally.

‘What’s the best one you’ve climbed?’

‘That’s easy,’ he says, turning to look at me. ‘The first one I went to on my own.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I was there just for me.’

I watch Matt lie on the roof and rest his head on his backpack. ‘Look up,’ he says to me.

I try to get comfortable, leaning back on my elbows. The sky is peppered with grey-and-white clouds, and the sun is losing its strength. I hear my phone beep.

‘Your folks?’ Matt asks.

‘Yeah. Probably.’