Chloe’s hair splayed over Rav’s chest and the rhythmic movement as it rose and fell rocked her. He was warm, and their bodies seemed to fit together in a way she couldn’t understand. He gently stroked her hair, twisting long strands of it around his fingers. For the first time in a long time the monologue inside her head went quiet.

When she woke up, the house was quiet. Chloe was surprised to see it was morning – and that Rav hadn’t sneaked out in the night. He left for a lecture at about eight o’clock, kissing Chloe’s forehead and grumbling about not having time to go back and get his notes.

‘Entirely your own fault,’ said Chloe, pulling the duvet up around her chest.

‘Entirely worth it,’ he said, winking before shutting the door behind him.

She lay back, a warm feeling spreading through her. She’d finally done it. She couldn’t wait to tell Zadie.

The house was, predictably, a mess. The kitchen was covered in plastic cups and cigarette butts, and freezing cold because the back door had been left open all night. Chloe made a cafetière of coffee, the kitchen now as familiar to her as her own, then went to Zadie’s bedroom.

‘Wake up,’ she said, knocking on the door. ‘We have to clean up before Max gets back, or he’ll murder us.’

Zadie moaned dramatically. ‘I can’t.’

‘You’re hung over.’

‘No, I know what a hangover feels like. This is something entirely different. This is something fatal. I know it. Can you ring my tutor and tell him I’ll need at least a week off?’

Chloe tugged open the curtains and handed Zadie a cup of coffee. ‘Nope. But I did bring coffee, because I am a very good person. And I have gossip.’

Zadie hitched up the strap of the negligee she was wearing and propped herself up on one of the dozens of pillows that dressed her bed. ‘Well, if there’s gossip, then I suppose I won’t exile you for waking me up before noon. What happened?’

Chloe left a dramatic pause and then said proudly, ‘I had sex.’ She jumped on to the bed.

Zadie’s face lit up. ‘You didn’t just have sex, you lost your virginity! I mean, obviously, virginity is a construct made up to subjugate women and all that, but you had sex!’

‘I did.’ Chloe sipped her coffee and looked out at the clear blue sky. Shards of sunlight were falling on the white duvet cover and the day felt exciting. New.

‘Tell me everything. What happened? Who with? How was it?’

‘It was … good. Weird? Good weird, though. I don’t know. I’d done other stuff before, of course, so I wasn’t expecting it to feel so different. But it was nice. He was nice.’

‘Who was he?’

‘Max’s friend Rav.’