They crashed in through the doors of the ticket office, calming themselves only when they came to the barriers, where an inspector was on duty. They showed their passes one by one, moving through in sober single file. School started at eight-thirty, so the children were released at three-fifteen. Aaron shouldn’t have left, in fact, because he was supposed to be at a play rehearsal until four. He was feeling guilty already, because forgetting was one thing, but deliberately cutting a commitment was forbidden – his parents would be furious. Once you made a commitment, you stuck to it – but he’d got into conversation with Ollie, and suddenly all he wanted was to be out of the building and off the site. He could say that he’d felt ill, or had remembered a dentist’s appointment, and there was nothing the teacher could do. If she threw him out of the group it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It was worth it, to be with Khari.

Khari had found an empty bench and was climbing onto it. This was bold, since the platform was busy and the benches were quite close to station staff. He’d dropped his bag, and was standing with his hands behind his head. Like Aaron, he wore his shirt untucked, but his shirts were way too big and they were loose and long. The collar was done up, and his neck looked slender. The tie was tied so the knot was extra fat, and whilst some teachers fought against this Khari had got away with it all day, and stood there looking sleek and handsome. Aaron felt a thrill of excitement, and he wished he had the same build. The boy’s trousers were fashionably tight, and his trainers were unlaced. His legs were wide apart, and he looked at Aaron and said, ‘What?’

‘What?’ replied Aaron.

‘What are you looking at?’

‘Nothing. Are you going straight home?’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t know. Nothing.’

Aaron was on the bench, next to Khari’s right foot. Ollie was checking the train times, though they all knew they had a while to wait. The train they caught came in at 15.55, so he checked it was on time and sat down. Khari put a hand on his shoulder and slid down next to him. Then he snaked his other arm round Aaron and drew him close. He put his mouth close to his ear.

‘Hey,’ he said quietly. ‘Aaron.’

‘What?’

‘We’re mates, aren’t we?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, there’s a toilet over there, mate. Any chance of a blow-job?’