‘Bye!’ I shout up, timing my exit with her shower.

‘Wait! Hang on a sec!’ I hear her get out of the shower. I stand, house keys in my hand, trying not to look too impatient. She runs down the stairs, water dripping on the peeling wooden banisters. ‘Where are you going?’ She wraps the towel around her chest a bit tighter.

‘Into town with Callie.’

‘Hope, about last night, in the car. After you went to bed, I phoned your grandfather. I told him to come.’ She wraps her other towel around her head like a turban. When she stands back up, she looks different without her long hair to frame her face, more vulnerable, especially without her make-up. I drop my bag and keys on the floor and hug her tight and a squeal of excitement pops out of me. She laughs. ‘So, I’ll see you later. Maybe you and I could do something together tomorrow, if you’re not busy with Callie?’

‘Sure. We could take Scout for a river walk?’ I offer, knowing this is her favourite.

‘And have Sunday lunch at The Riverside?’ she adds as if this is an everyday moment but it’s not.

Callie lives two stops away so when I get on the bus I put my bag down on the seat next to me, saving it for her. The bus is always busy on a Saturday morning and I don’t want some stranger sitting next to me, especially not some man with his legs spread wide. I wish they made more single seats on buses.

Callie waves to me as she shows her bus pass. She throws herself into the seat next to me and sighs dramatically. I’m supposed to ask her what’s up but instead I just smile. I have some gossip of my own for once. She reads me like a book, forgets her news and prods me in the ribs.

‘What’s that smirky smile about, Hope Baldi?’ She waits, eyes sparkling. I instantly wish I hadn’t started this.

‘You have to swear not to tell anyone else. Swear it on our snow globes?’ I can’t stop myself, I want to hook her in, to tell her something so big and secret that she’ll look at me the way she looks at Aisha, Niall or the others when they share some juicy detail about their weekend. Callie knows every single thing about me; there’s nothing left that will make her gasp. At least she thinks she knows everything about me.

‘Our snow globes? Oh, I swear. I swear. Tell me!’ she squeals, forgetting about the rest of the bus and the volume of her voice. She pulls me in so close that I can almost taste her Japanese cherry-blossom perfume.

‘I met someone.’ I’m not sure how much I’m going to tell her. She switches her phone off. ‘He’s called Riley, he’s Irish and he’s been texting me. A lot.’

‘By the power of the snow globes!’ she shouts, then looks around the bus, embarrassed for a second. ‘Could he be THE ONE?’ she whispers. ’When did you meet him? And where?’ Her questions form a pushy queue, all demanding to be answered. ‘Is he a hot patootie?’

‘Um, yes. I mean, yes he’s hot and shut up about THE ONE!’ I cringe but cannot turn the corners of my mouth down.

‘Now, how hot are we talking here? On a scale of warm to damn hot where are we?’ She’s not even joking.

‘Don’t objectify the poor lad!’ I pretend to sound shocked.

‘Good point, there’s no room for double standards. Instead, tell the viewers, where did you meet and how come you’ve been so cloak and dagger about it?’ She curls her fist up like a microphone.

‘Well, Callie, thanks for asking. We met on the ferry, on the way back from an exotic trip to Dublin.’ I stick as closely to the truth as possible.

‘I see. And tell us, we’re all dying to know, is his accent as gorgeous as Niall’s?

‘It is indeed.’

‘Ah, Hope, you always get all the luck.’ She drops her fake microphone. I catch her words and hold them close and wonder if that’s really how she sees me.

‘Well, you were inside and I was outside and we got talking and he gave me his number,’ I continue casually, missing out the how and why we met on the ferry and skipping to the good bits that will keep her hanging on.

‘And then once he started talking to you that was that, I’m guessing?’ Callie nods in satisfaction, as if she can see the moment playing out in front of her. I don’t want to ruin it.

‘Si, signorina, as we both know I have the gift.’ I wink.

‘My, my, Hope Baldi, you’re back!’ She looks relieved and then impressed and I absolutely love this feeling. ‘Ah, how I’ve missed you! Let me count the ways.’ She hugs me dramatically as if we’ve been parted for months.

‘Shut up!I haven’t been anywhere.’ I pretend to misunderstand. I know what she’s on about; I’ve been missing in action for some time now. ‘Anyway, he’s really funny and flirty and messages me way too much.’

‘So, when do I get to meet him? I’ll need to make sure he’s good enough for my Hope.’ She closes her eyes and fake swoons back into her seat.

‘We haven’t talked about meeting up. Well, he has but I haven’t agreed to anything,’

She senses weakness – she knows me far too well.

‘Maybe you should ask him over here? Then it’ll be on your terms and your turf.’ She presses the bus’s stop button.

‘Maybe. Anyway, I know what I’m doing,’ I lie. I have absolutely no idea at all. ‘And it’s not as if Riley’s a stranger. We have met, remember?’ I try to look as confident as I sound.

‘Okay, but promise me you won’t do anything without telling me first?’ she bargains as she follows me down the aisle. ‘Have you still got that app on your phone?’

I know the one she means – Stay Safe or something. Our mums made us put it on our phones when we first started going for auditions so that we’d always know where the other one was.

‘Yeah, yeah, mamma mia!’ I joke, stepping onto the busy pavement, dodging people and pushchairs. There’s no danger of Riley and me ever meeting up. It isn’t that kind of thing. I’ve just made it sound like that kind of thing to Callie. I’ve got no idea what THE ONE even means, let alone what he or she might look like. All I know for sure is that Riley couldn’t be further from THE ONE if he tried. So why did I let Callie think he might be?