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There’s a little scuffle between them. I’m not surprised. I’m fairly sure they have feelings for each other, but neither is brave enough to ask the other out.

“Right, let’s get started with the lesson before Mr Beaumont marks me down.” Mr Wakefield chuckles.

“Looking forward to it,” Ellie calls from the back row, clearly changing her tone and probably enamoured by him.

I reach for my pen and notepad, ready for the lesson to start and desperate for it to end so I can get out of the classroom which suddenly feels cloistering.

As soon as we’re finished, I gather my things and shove everything into my bag. I have free periods until lunchtime, and then it’s back-to-back classes for the afternoon. I usually hate that structure, but the break feels like a relief today.

Mr Beaumont files out with the rest of the class, caught up in conversation with Jack about yesterday’s football match.

“Are you running off to another class?” Mr Wakefield asks, staring at me.

“I have two free periods,” I reply.

“About this morning—”

“We don’t have to make this awkward,” I cut him off.

“Christian isn’t—” he starts again, but I wave him off.

“This really doesn’t concern you,” I argue.

He pauses for a moment, mulling over my response.

“You’re right. I apologise for overstepping.” He shrugs slightly. “Seeing you in class took me by surprise.”

“Yeah, me too.” I chuckle.

“It’s Delilah, right?”

“Getting to learn the student names after the first lesson. Good going, Mr Wakefield,” I joke.

I hoist my bag onto my shoulders and turn towards the door to the classroom.

“It’s Joseph,” he calls after me.

I pause and look at him. “Well, thank you for the coffee and the banana, Joseph.”

“You’re welcome, Dee.”

I don’t correct him on the nickname, the one reserved by Felix and his family. I don’t say anything at all. I just pull the door open and step out of the classroom, shutting the door behind me and marching off in the direction of the common room.

Five months, I remind myself. Five months of keeping my head down, and then I’m out of this place. I can put this all behind me and start living my life for me, away from the bullshit and the angst.

Chapter three

Joseph

Two Years Ago

Delilah fucking Adler.

I cannot get the woman out of my head. She appears to have taken up permanent residence there since the second I realised who she was in the shop.

She was on my mind during the interviews and the red-carpet photographs. She was on my mind the whole way through the film premiere. She was on my mind throughout the small talk I was forced to make at the afterparty. She was on my mind when I got home and nursed my way through half a bottle of Jack, thinking that was the answer to my prayers. She was still there when I abandoned my attempts to stop thinking about her and crawled into bed. And, for fuck’s sake, she’s still on my mind as I wake up.

I roll over, kicking angrily at the covers that I appear to be tangled in. Clearly my sleep last night was fragmented, and I tossed and turned most of the night. Frustrated, I sit up and force myself to get up. I know there’s no point staying in bed, not when I’m in this type of mood. The only bright spot is that I seem to have escaped a hangover.