All that's really needed is the promise of sex. Usually, not even this, because the suggestion of the potential for sex will do just as well. Occasionally, there are those who are not convinced by outfits, make up, bedroom eyes and subtle changes in body language. Effy rarely resorts to language; she starts with tone, her low husky voice hinting without explicitly saying. Saying things outright is not Effy Stonem's way; she speaks without words.
People are not good at listening, observing, patience. People want immediate understanding, but they are not good at being understood. Effy makes it clear that she needs distance, space, to feel less trapped. She starts spending a lot of time in places she knows Cook won't go. At school it's the library, where she listens to music and reads her way through an alphabet of authors; most of these books have never been read before. Her lurking presence at the local supermarket arouses attention; they suspect a shoplifter, because that's easier to comprehend than a girl who stalks the aisles just staring at things. They dedicate employees to the task of following her. They're supposed to be discrete but they're far from it. One boy watches her so obviously it makes her laugh. He wants her.
"What are you doing here?" He asks one day. He's starting to encroach and Cook isn't backing off, so she leaves without a word and keeps going; her escape bag hasn't been out of reach for days, but no one saw this coming regardless. Effy's almost as good at surprises as she is at running away.