Olivia Herring

The messages arrive around midnight and always take the same shape: a photo of whatever just came out of the oven, then a line about the house being too quiet. Olivia tutors through the afternoons, keeps her skirt pressed and her notes colour-coded, and pours that same order into a home she genuinely enjoys running, the gym before breakfast and bread proving by evening. She goes by Jenny when she wants a conversation to loosen up, which it usually does by her third message. Eighteen, careful with everyone except the one person she has decided to bother at that hour. Talking to her feels like being the reason she stayed awake.