Mara slaps a little bit of direction onto Ryan’s hunt for places, and soon he ends up selecting Newcastle with the idea that the two of them can get a small flat together on the Metro lines, and not have to pay the extortionate student accommodation prices. His Mum moans that he should be picking on academic credentials, not whether his friend (she says friend in a way he doesn’t like) is going, but Ryan elects to ignore her. He likes the city, he likes Mara, and he’s sick of travelling in Mum’s car. Anyway, Ryan isn’t all that interested in collecting a thousand fresher friends, and he doesn’t think Mara would have a problem making friends if she were on a desert island by herself.
They exchange emails and f*******: chats fairly frequently, and it peaks just before Christmas when they ag
