A comforting smell of grease basted the air. The fast food joint in Charlton was heaving. Ruby revelled in the total anonymity only achieved when a large group of people who don’t give a toss about one another are crunched into the same space. She didn’t bother looking at the menu lit up on the board in front of her; she always had the same thing: a burger and fries.

When it arrived, shoved into her hand by a teenager around two years older than her and with eyes that seemed dead, Ruby looked around for two seats, and finally found a free table.

She and Harry moved as one as they unwrapped their food, tossed the thin paper to one side, then took the top off their burgers and removed the gherkins. They could, of course, have ordered minus the gherkins, but both of them never did, and Ruby liked the sense of closeness it gave her that they shared this routine. As if they were one half of the same person. Soulmates.

They often met in Charlton. Harry lived on the western outskirts, edging towards Woolwich, while she lived in Blackheath, so Charlton was halfway for them both. It was only five or so minutes for them to travel to. Plus, it was way nicer than Woolwich, but not so posh as Blackheath, where Harry joked people stared at him, worried he might be a mugger.

As they ate, they bitched about their lives, the people they knew, the stupid bullies at school, their pathetic parents.

‘Well, Jayne and her cronies aren’t going to bother you no more,’ Harry grinned. ‘Not after you clocked her one in front of everyone. That was a brilliant punch.’

‘Thanks for teaching me,’ she beamed, tearing at her burger with gusto.

‘Yeah, but what made you do it now?’

Before she could answer, the stink of stale sweat and the sickly aroma of unwashed clothes suddenly assaulted Ruby’s nose. She turned. A man who looked homeless wandered past, up to the counter. Sensing entertainment, she twisted in her seat for a better view, elbowing Harry.

‘’Scuse, mate, could I have a cup of tap water, please?’

The dead-eyed server’s reply was short and to the point. ‘No.’

‘Come on, it’s just a glass of water. I’m parched.’

‘Tough,’ she shrugged. ‘Next.’

The man was shoved out of the way by someone desperate for a chicken burger, fries, and an extra-large Coke.

Unwatched, uncared for, the beggar shuffled over to a seat in a corner, and appeared to be making himself comfortable. Staff came over, told him to move on. But he refused.

A few people tutted, some at him, some at the staff. But no one got involved. Ruby and Harry watched, nudging one another and laughing. A trio of police officers arrived.

‘Come on, sir, we’ve had a complaint so you’re going to have to come with us…’

Harry jumped up. ‘What you arresting him for?’

‘Breach of the peace.’

‘How has he breached the peace? Are you arresting him for trying to sleep here? There’s nowhere else for him to go.’

‘Don’t be silly, son. You’re not seeing the whole picture.’

Ruby leaped in, feeling a thrill of glee at baiting authority. ‘What whole picture? Is he breaching the peace by being homeless?’

‘You’ve really got a lot of learning to do, haven’t you?’ the officer sighed. He walked past them both, trying and failing to ignore the phone Harry was almost shoving in his face. ‘Sir, don’t come any closer with that camera, okay? You can record me, but please record me at a distance.’

‘There’s nowhere for that geezer to stay. He just wants some water and somewhere to sleep. This system is broken,’ Ruby shouted.

‘Yeah, man. Let anarchy rule. Screw the system,’ Harry joined. ‘Look at you, Mr Policeman, strutting about, fiddling the crime statistics.’

The policeman went red. ‘Fiddling…? That’s it, record all you want, but I’m not fiddling any statistics. If anyone is doing that, it’s the government.’

‘No, it’s not. It’s you. You claim to be protecting people but it’s a lie. The whole system is a lie. It needs to be brought down.’

‘Really.’

‘You should arrest the real criminals. The bankers. The businessmen. The dodgy accountants.’ Ruby was particularly thinking of her father as she said this. ‘MPs, and people stealing from taxpayers. Yeah? They’re the real criminals.’

‘Really.’ Again, that same tired tone, an adult talking to a child. ‘I think you need to get an education.’ He started to walk away.

‘Yeah? So do you,’ shouted Harry.

The officer turned, pursing his lips. Trying to keep his temper. ‘What organisation do you represent? You don’t, do you, you’re just a couple of kids…’

Ruby’s heart jumped. It was impossible not to feel slightly intimidated by the black and neon figure bristling in muscles and a stab vest.

‘Journalist,’ she shrugged.

‘You’re a journalist? Really? Who for? Do you have a press pass?’

She sniggered. Beside her, Harry’s shoulders shook, and she grew even braver. ‘Yeah, right. I’m not here on official business. I’m here in my downtime.’ She shoved her hands in her pockets and looked back at him, cocky and confident. ‘We don’t need a press pass here, we’re in a restaurant. There’s CCTV everywhere, we’re already being recorded. We’re just joining in.’

‘Freedom of speech, man,’ Harry added.

The officer folded his arms across his neon vest. ‘Okay. Well, we received a report that someone was being aggressive, so we’ve responded to that. It doesn’t help the situation to hear immature, petty comments from you, stirring it up. If you have an issue, if you have a complaint, I can tell you who my inspector is and you can make that complaint through the proper channels.’

‘You’re arresting him for no reason,’ Ruby repeated.

‘He’s drunk.’

‘Oh, now he’s drunk?’

As if on cue, the bemused homeless man vomited a Technicolor rainbow. The only reason he stayed upright was the firm grip of the other police officers.

‘Well, I’d be drunk if I had to sleep on the streets,’ Ruby rallied.

‘Here’s some advice, kids: grow up, okay?’

‘Grow up? You grow up,’ Harry laughed. He grabbed Ruby’s hand and ran from the building before the officer could say any more.

As they raced down the street, Ruby’s blood was pumping. She kept laughing, wanting to leap. She felt alive.

‘The system is screwed, man. What’s the point of following rules that are meaningless and corrupt? If you want something, take it and screw everyone else. That’s the only law that matters. Don’t ever let anyone get in your way,’ ranted Harry.

‘Take the law into your own hands.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Yeah!’

The thought was exhilarating, liberating, like a thousand small explosions going off beneath the surface of Ruby’s skin.

‘World would be a better place if all the idiots died. Someone should kill them all,’ she shouted.

‘Everyone who has ever been awful to us. Anarchy!’

Harry’s grin was so wide that Ruby couldn’t resist. She stopped short, pulling Harry towards her. Snogged him, right there, right then. He drew her even closer, ignoring the tutting passers-by who barged into them on the crammed pavement.

Inside her pocket, her phone vibrated.

Harry pulled away. Gave her a penetrating look, serious brown eyes framed by the brilliant green of his glasses, which brought out the fire flecks around his pupils. She held her breath. Hoping, praying that he hadn’t felt the buzz. That he wouldn’t want to check her phone.

‘I’m gonna have a whizz down this alley, yeah? Won’t be a minute,’ he said.

She tried not to show her relief. Simply nodded.

As Harry walked away, she turned her back and slipped her mobile from her inside pocket. Slid a finger across the screen to unlock it… as Harry snatched the phone from her fingers.

‘What the hell? I thought this was over,’ he shouted.

Her secret was out – and Harry was furious.