Scandalous

and Raj Patel, photo opportunities and interviews that suggested they might be a couple. That was the most ridiculous one of all. But as Gemma pointed out, ‘The beauty of it is that it can run and run. You’ll continue to be seen together. People will keep guessing. You’re a public figure now, Sasha. You have to think of your life as a sort of reality show.’

‘Reality?’ Sasha laughed out loud. ‘But everything you’re doing is made up!’

‘Exactly. Like I said. A reality show. I write the scripts.’

It was new world for Sasha, and one that, though she loathed to admit it, she found she rather enjoyed. She’d started Ceres

Just at that moment, Theo’s phone buzzed to life on the table. He grabbed it, read the text and quickly deleted it.

‘Nothing important, I hope?’ asked Ed.

ic in the first two weeks, w

None of them required interviews. All five offered her a place. She decided that, if Cambridge rejected her, she would go to Exeter, and she did her best to look forward to the prospect. But deep down she knew that the Cambridge physics faculty was the best in the world. She desperately longed to get in.