8.15 am. Bus Stop 39, on the outskirts of Kingsmouth, a Norfolk seaside town.

There’s an angry-looking kid with a weird hairstyle kicking at the pavement. A girl sits on her schoolbag reading a trashy ‘celeb’ magazine. A boy in a tracksuit flexes his calf muscles at the bus stop, slyly checking out the quiet blonde girl with the i-pod. The guy in the hoodie, standing on his own, checks his watch. He’s going to be late for work. He avoids the eyes of someone silently waiting next to him – a floppy-haired boy from the local private school.

They are all strangers who don’t know each other yet. But they soon will…