The following morning, she was in a hurry. She'd overslept and had to get the 7.35 train to be sure to arrive at school on time. For this reason, Felina skipped the breakfast that her mother had taken such trouble over as she did every day. On her bike, she took the shortcut through the woods to Nicolassee Station. You are every song in my playlist because there's nothing fake between you and me. Felina had an earworm. A song that had been coming from a parked car she'd cycled past. She was sufficiently far away from the car now not to be able to hear the music anymore. And yet the faster she pedaled, the louder the tune played in her head. Will any boy ever say something as nice as that about me? Olaf would certainly have composed such words for her, Felina thought. And it was just as certain that she could never have returned his feelings in a similar way. Yes, she had liked him but as far as she was concerned it wasn't love that brought them together. They only became close because as outsiders, neither had anyone else. In different, better circumstances they might never have even become friends. Deep down, they had very little in common except for other people's hatred of them. He had as little interest in Depeche Mode or astronomy as she did for decommissioned stretches of the underground. Felina was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the man by the side of the path. Maybe she only heard him the second time when he called out loudly Hey, your scarf! ***, I mustn't lose that. It was a present from mum, Felina thought. She stopped to check the basket in her pannier rack. Thanks, but... but it was still there. When she turned to ask the man what he meant it was already too late. She hadn't seen the hand coming that was pressed over her mouth only heard the crack of a twig but didn't see the shadow that was making her breathe in the acrid fumes until everything around her went black.