Ged swallowed hard, two proper conversations in one day – what was going on? He chewed his lips and tried to remain cool. He was one of Frankie’s boys now and if he wanted to impress him, he needed to be confident, show he was game for anything, even talking to girls. He could always fall back on his acting skills. The drama teacher had always told him that from the minute he stepped onto the stage he was no longer Ged Grey, he could be whoever he wanted to be – confident, gobby and fearless, whatever. Ged took a deep breath. ‘Is what it is, Nancy. I just keep my head down and I do my rip here.’ He had his words on point, no longer the shy kid, he was Ged, mate of Frankie.

‘Do you want to hook up tonight? We can go for something to eat if you want, some KFC?’

Not what Ged had been expecting. He went bright red – not so cool now. Nancy was hitting on him; what was going on? No one had ever given him the time of the day before. Ged fidgeted, nervously cracking his knuckles. ‘I can’t tonight, but give me your number and I’ll text you when I can?’ There, Ged had asked a girl for her number, whoop, whoop, go on lad, get in there, he told himself.

Chelsea and her mob were on board now and she was eager to make an announcement. ‘I’m having a party at the weekend, you lot can come if you want but you need to bring booze. Jack Daniels is my favourite so make sure you bring some. A few glasses of that down your hole and you’ll be steaming. What do you say, Frankie, you having it or what?’

Frankie nodded, no words. If he turned up, then he turned up, if he didn’t then so what?

Nancy was staring at Ged; he could feel her eyes burning into him. Speak lad, start a conversation, anything, but just don’t sit there like a big numpty.

‘So, what’s your story, why did you get chucked out of normal school?’ See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? He started to relax. Somehow he was starting to feel comfortable with this girl; even though they’d just met, he didn’t know her, he could feel a connection.

Nancy hunched her shoulders, pulled her jacket tighter around herself. There was a sadness in her eyes, an emptiness. ‘I’m “not engaging”, they said. I keep running away too. My mam is at her wits’ end with me. This place is my last chance. God knows what will happen if I mess up here.’

Ged nodded. ‘Yep, we’re all in the same boat. Everyone’s story ends with that line. It’s do or die time, isn’t it?’