‘He’s a complete pervert,’ Zadie whispered in her ear. ‘Honestly, tell him the worst idea for a book ever and he’ll swear blind he could get it published, all while looking down your top. No follow-through, though. I tried to kiss him once when I was sixteen and he looked like he was going to cry.’

‘Who did you try to kiss?’ asked Max, sliding behind Zadie and wrapping his arms around her torso. ‘Was this a recent development?’

‘Obviously not. I only have eyes for you.’ She twisted her neck to kiss him. Chloe shifted her weight between her feet, unsure where to look.

‘Shall we?’

Zadie nodded. ‘Come on, Chlo. Nearly midnight.’

Chloe followed them upstairs, Zadie and Max both carrying bottles of champagne, then up some more stairs, then up another smaller flight to a glass door which opened out on to the roof. The cold stole the air from Chloe’s body.

‘Look up!’ said Zadie, her teeth chattering. The stars above them were unlike anything Chloe had ever seen before. She searched for the right metaphor, something devoid of cliché, but failed. Her head was heavy as she tipped it back, as if it were filled with the champagne she had been drinking all evening. Zadie tipped some between her lips from the bottle she was holding and walked towards the edge.

‘Careful,’ said Max, who had taken a spot sitting on a chimneypot. ‘You’re off your tits. I don’t want to start the New Year by telling your parents they’ve only got four kids left.’

Zadie laughed too loud, and drank again. Max held his bottle out to Chloe, who took it gratefully.

‘Cold?’

‘Fucking freezing.’

Max shrugged off his jacket and gave it to her.

‘I can’t.’

‘Yes, you can. If you don’t, then I’m a prick.’

She wrapped the jacket around her, feeling the warmness he had left in it seep into her skin. It smelled of CK One and cigarette smoke.

‘Chloe, come and look over the side!’ shouted Zadie, who was still standing perilously close to the edge.

‘I don’t like heights,’ Chloe lied. She didn’t dislike heights if it was a skyscraper or a roller coaster. She disliked heights which were genuinely dangerous.

‘Come on! It’s amazing, it makes you feel all tiny.’

‘I can feel tiny from over here.’

‘Come onnnn.’

Chloe stood up. Max put his hand on her forearm. ‘You are allowed to say no to her, you know. She needs it.’

Zadie turned. ‘You’re talking about me.’

‘No, we’re not. I’m just telling Chloe she doesn’t have to risk her neck to entertain you. You need to play nicely with your toys. Any memory of any previous ones?’

Zadie pouted. ‘She’s my friend. Not yours.’

Max snorted. ‘Is that true? Chloe?’