Nick nodded grudgingly and slumped down on the stool behind the till.

‘Bye, Jacki,’ said Mary, and then she hurried out the door, taking with her any affection I felt for my ex-boyfriend in Dublin. I took out my purse and approached the counter with my milk and biscuits.

‘Hi,’ he said.

‘Hi.’

I tried to think of something intelligent to say, but failed miserably.

‘That’s two ninety-five,’ said Nick.

‘Thanks,’ I murmured as I handed him three euro with a slightly shaking hand.

‘So, you’re Jacki?’ he asked as his eyes met mine, and he dropped the change into my palm. My insides jolted when I heard him say my name.

‘Eh… yeah. You must be Nick.’ There were a few moments of silence. I tried to think of something to say. Anything at all. But nothing came.

‘So how are you finding Avarna so far?’

‘Yeah it’s… it’s cool.’ Avarna was a lot of things, but cool certainly was not one of them. Why did I have to say cool? Any other word would have done. Any one at all.

‘That’s good,’ said Nick. He smiled at me. I could feel my cheeks warming. The thought that they were undoubtedly bright red made me cringe.

‘OK, I better be off,’ I said. I wanted to get out of there before I said something else embarrassing.

‘See you around,’ he said.

And then it came. Whatever possessed me to wave at someone whose handsome face was a mere metre away from me I will never know. But I did. I gave him a big giant wave. He looked at me a little strangely as I turned away, embarrassed, and rushed out of the shop, my cheeks burning so brightly I could almost feel my new social life going up in flames.

Chapter 2

The next morning I got up early. I put on my purple skinny jeans and Led Zeppelin T-shirt, ran my fingers through my hair and swept some black mascara on to my eyelashes.