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‘It wouldn’t be if you bought me a mobile,’ Maggie said. ‘Then you wouldn’t have to worry about your precious phone being tied up.’

‘I’m not sure that would save any money,’ he replied. ‘Mobiles are more expensive than land lines. And we talked about it. You can get a phone when you’re sixteen.’

‘My friends all have mobile phones!’ she said. ‘It’s not fair!’

‘When you’re sixteen,’ her dad said. ‘Or when you can pay for it yourself.’

‘Fine,’ Maggie said. This was so annoying. ‘Whatever.’

‘Maggie,’ her dad said. ‘I know it’s important to you to talk to your friends, and I know this is your house too, but you have to be prepared to compromise. I think maybe one and a half hours a night should be the maximum you spend on the phone. I don’t think I’m being unreasonable.’

‘Sure. Can we talk about it later, Dad? I need to leave.’

‘You want a lift?’

Maggie considered it for a second, then shook her head. ‘I can walk. I’m only going to Anne’s.’

‘OK,’ he said. ‘Are you back for dinner?’

‘Yeah. See you then.’

‘See you too, Fruitcake. Love you.’

Fruitcake. He’d called her that since she was a little girl. She kind of hated it, but she also knew that one day there’d be a last time he called her Fruitcake.

And she wasn’t sure she was ready for that day just yet.

2

Maggie’s Cousin Anne lived on the other side of the village. It was a short walk – no more than half a mile – which she had made many times. The road outside her house led to the village centre, but she turned off it after about a hundred yards and walked along a quiet residential street towards a small park. It was a short cut, of sorts, but the main reason she wanted to go through the park was so she could smoke a cigarette. A stream bordered one edge of the park; it was slow moving and full of litter and nobody – no adults, at least – ever bothered with it. It was the perfect place to hide while you smoked.

It was Kevin who had got her started; the first few times she’d coughed and spluttered and wondered how anyone got addicted to something so disgusting, but after a while she’d grown to quite enjoy it. There was something about the ritual that appealed to her – the flare of the match, the crackle of the paper when it lit, the rush of the nicotine – although what she really enjoyed was the feeling that she was doing something her parents didn’t know about. Something grown-up.

She felt in her bag for the cigarettes and matches and smiled as her fingers closed around them. She took one out and held it in her hand, unlit. She’d share one with Anne later. Anne smoked, too; she didn’t know yet that her younger cousin had taken it up. Maggie was looking forward to telling her.

She was also looking forward to what Anne had to say about Kevin. He was going to be devastated, Maggie already knew that. They’d been together nearly six months, and, a few weeks back he’d said how it seemed like a month or two, max.

Maybe that’s what it’ll be like for us, he said. The years will fly by.

Years? It was then that Maggie realized they were not in the same place when it came to their relationship. For her, it had been a bit of fun that had lasted six months because Kevin made it work. For him, it was something a lot more significant.

Have you ever thought about taking … she said, and hesitated, about like, maybe taking a break?

They were lying on her couch and he tensed.

What do you mean? Do you want to take a break?

No, she said. I was wondering if you want to. If you’ve had enough of me. I don’t want to. Of course not.

He relaxed, a little.

No, he said. I’ve never thought about that. The opposite, in fact. You know I love you, Maggie.

He had started telling her all the time that he loved her. She found it very irritating. She felt she had to reply in kind.

I know, she said. I know you do.

Do you love me?