I shove my plate away, the food half finished. ‘Can we talk about something else?’

He drops his burger. ‘You know, I can’t figure you out. I feel like I’m getting to know you and then you put up this wall and –’

‘I put up walls?’

‘Like a human breeze block.’

He sits forward in his seat, his face flushed and his eyes bright. I’m not sure where this is going, but I sense it’s nowhere good.

‘Whenever I ask about your family you change the subject. You never come out for drinks with the guys from work and you insist on getting the bus, even though I could take you home or you could get a lift with the girls in the café. Then today you go all Jackie Chan on me. You don’t get skills like that from watching YouTube, yet you’ve never mentioned you do martial arts. It’s like you don’t want people to get to know you.’

I wait, wondering if he’s finished, but apparently he’s just getting started. ‘Take this morning with the guy in the anorak. Fair enough, you don’t want to talk about what happened, but you haven’t even said why I’m taking you to Wales.’ A huff escapes me and he adds quickly, ‘I’m happy to take you, whether you tell me or not. It’s just –’

‘It’s just what?’

He gives me a pained look and I can’t decide if it’s exasperation or hope on his face. ‘I’m just trying to be a friend to you, Ivy. We all need someone to talk to, even me. I might walk around at work like everything’s fine, but deep down inside …’ I lean across the table and he sniffs and hangs his head. ‘Deep down inside my shoe, my sock is sliding off.’

I tut and he grins. ‘Sorry, sometimes I don’t know when to stop. Seriously, though, I’m not a bad listener if you did want to talk about anything.’

I know he’s doing me a huge favour by driving me all this way, and I guess it’s only natural for him to wonder why I didn’t go home to get changed or pack a bag. I open my mouth, unsure what to say but feeling I have to tell him something.

‘There are things you don’t know about me.’

‘Erm, yes, we’ve established that.’

‘I mean big things.’

‘Like?’

I don’t answer and he crosses his arms. ‘There are things you don’t know about me either.’

‘It’s not a competition, Tom.’

He laughs. ‘Look, we all have secrets. We all have stuff. Human beings have this thing called conversation. One person asks a question and the other person answers. It’s a highly effective means of social bonding. You should try it some time.’

I still don’t say anything.

‘Come on, Ivy. Just tell me. What harm can it do?’

When I don’t reply, he lays both his hands on the table and looks me in the eyes. ‘The stuff in my car … I’m not moving house. I had an argument with my parents a few months ago and left home. I’ve been sofa surfing ever since. It was fun at first, but now my mates are sick of me and some nights I sleep in my car.’