Ewan shuddered. Bloody hell, that hurt! As if the pressure of approaching an occupied Oakenfold wasn’t enough, a girl he had lived with for almost a year had opened his eyes to something awful: one of the worst results of his avoidance habit.

Please tell me I haven’t gone a whole year without mentioning my mother . I must have at least thought of her.

‘Dad got us our weapons. That’s the main reason I’ve talked about him, I guess.’

‘What were they like?’

Kate, you’re my friend and everything , but please just shut up.

‘Complete opposites of each other. You couldn’t imagine two people being so different. They say opposites attract, but maybe their opposite genes mixed so badly they gave birth to the ultimate screw-up.’

Kate opened her mouth, but Raj cut in before she could protest.

‘I told them we’re striking at three,’ said Raj. ‘That’s still true, right?’

‘Yeah. Thanks.’

Raj fell to the back of the group, and Kate went with him. Ewan had just enough time to breathe half a sigh of relief before someone else picked up the conversation.

‘You want some advice?’ asked Jack. ‘From someone else with a dead mum?’

Ewan hadn’t even known Jack was listening. In most conversations, it was difficult to tell the difference between when he was concentrating and when he was daydreaming. In both cases, he looked away from people and flicked his fingers. As a child, it had led to adults talking about Jack as if he weren’t in the room. Apparently, non-autistic people thought his ears only ever worked in conjunction with his eyes.

Ewan’s mouth opened, but he reigned in his impulses and stopped himself before telling Jack to mind his own damned business. In all fairness, his thoughts were always worth a listen.

‘I was twelve when Mum died,’ said Jack. ‘I didn’t talk about it for a long time. Surprised I even told you when I did, to be honest.’

‘A cancer death’s different to being sprayed with bullets, Jack. You didn’t see the moment she turned into a corpse.’

‘I’m not competing with you, Ewan. If I were, I’d tell you how long and drawn out my mum’s pain was compared to yours. I’m talking about the aftermath. Maybe you don’t mention her because the memory of her death is too painful. But I’ve heard you mention everyone else who died that day, including little Alfie. So I’m going to guess your relationship with your mum was a little complicated.’

‘You mentioned advice, Jack?’

‘Yeah. Don’t let things rot.’

Ewan threw a glance at Jack, looking as confused as his face would let him, although he suspected Jack wouldn’t see his confusion in the dark.