Radio Silence

The story opens with a flashback to when Frances and Carys Last were fifteen, watching smoke rise from their grammar school, set ablaze by anonymous pranksters. Frances is distraught, while Carys seems indifferent. The fire forces Frances to transfer to the Academy, where she builds her identity as a model student.

Two years later, Frances is seventeen and serves as head girl, the senior female student leader, at the Academy. Her identity centers on being clever and gaining admission to Cambridge University, and she has no hobbies beyond studying. Her one secret passion is Universe City, an anonymous YouTube podcast about a suit-wearing, agender student detective named Radio Silence trapped in a sci-fi university. Frances posts fan art under the alias "Touloser" on Tumblr and Twitter. When the show's anonymous Creator messages her handle asking her to produce official artwork, her mother encourages her to accept.

On the last night before study leave, when regular classes pause for exams, Frances goes out with school friends who see her only as "School Frances," boring and studious. She receives a drunken phone call from Aled Last, Carys's twin brother, who lives across the street. Aled quotes the opening line of every Universe City episode: "Hello. I hope somebody is listening." Frances finds him passed out in a club, and Daniel Jun, the school's senior male student leader and Aled's best friend, asks her to take Aled home. On the walk back, Aled reveals he is the Creator. He is Radio Silence.

A flashback establishes Frances's past friendship with Carys, who was bold and intimidating. Frances never noticed warning signs about Carys's home life. Carys ran away from home the year before final exams, and Frances hints she bears responsibility.

The next morning, Aled wakes with no memory of his revelation. Frances confirms she knows but conceals that she is Toulouse, the fan artist he contacted online. They bond rapidly. When Frances panics before her maths exam, Aled climbs through his window after midnight to teach her. Moved, she confesses she is Toulouse. Aled briefly suspects she befriended him to exploit the connection, but she insists their friendship is genuine, and he invites her to create the show's art. Frances clarifies to the reader that she and Aled do not fall in love. A flashback reveals her only crush was on Carys, that she is bisexual, and that she kissed Carys impulsively on the night they received national secondary-school exam results. Carys screamed at her and ran away from home the next day.

Over the summer, their friendship deepens. They discover shared tastes in colorful clothes they both hide from others. Aled shows Frances his bedroom with its fairy lights and galaxy ceiling; she shows him her private sketchbooks. Being with Aled is the first time Frances has felt like herself. She also notices troubling signs about his home life. His mother, Carol, is outwardly pleasant but controlling: during one visit, she forcibly cuts Aled's hair with scissors despite his protests, accidentally cutting his palm. Aled insists this is normal.

Frances's first Universe City episode goes live on August 10. On Aled's eighteenth birthday, which coincides with pre-university exam results day, a famous YouTuber promotes Universe City, causing its audience to surge, but Aled is distressed. Frances witnesses Aled and Daniel kiss, confirming their secret relationship, and realizes Daniel is February Friday, the mysterious figure in the show's recurring romantic segments. Aled breaks down crying and whispers that he does not want to go to university.

In autumn, Frances's identity as Toulouse is exposed online. The head teacher removes her as head girl for associating the school with a viral episode, devastating Frances, since the title was central to her Cambridge application. Fans then identify Aled as the Creator through evidence Frances inadvertently posted. Aled accuses her of betrayal. Their argument escalates at a pub gathering: Aled calls her obsessed and accuses her of using him for fame. Frances is left sobbing, comforted by Raine Sengupta, a classmate who becomes her one genuine friend.

Aled leaves for university and stops responding to messages. Frances spirals into stress and isolation. She and Daniel travel to Cambridge for interviews; midway through, Frances realizes she does not want to study English literature and freezes. Daniel breaks down afterward, confiding his full history with Aled and his fear that Aled stayed in their relationship out of habit. Universe City episodes grow incoherent and Aled's tweets turn dark. In January, Frances receives her Cambridge rejection.

Visiting Aled's house in late December, Frances discovers Carol has gutted his bedroom, painting over the galaxy ceiling and replacing everything with sterile décor. She calls Aled at 3:54 a.m.; he answers in tears, admitting he is struggling. She invites him for Christmas, but when he arrives, Carol reveals she had Aled's beloved dog, Brian, put down while he was away. Aled refuses to stay near his mother and returns to university alone.

On the last Friday of January, Aled posts a final episode titled "Good-Bye," twenty minutes of white noise. Frances re-examines the series and determines that February Friday is not Daniel but Carys, whose middle name is February. The show has been a cry for help from a brother to his lost sister. With Raine's help and an address her mother obtains from Carol's contacts, Frances locates Carys in London. Carys, now going by February, is thriving and working at the National Theatre. She reveals Carol systematically destroyed her childhood while Aled was the "golden child" spared from abuse. After Frances presses her, Carys agrees to help.

That night, Carys listens to the first Universe City episode and cries, recognizing Aled was calling to her. Carys kisses Frances as an apology for screaming at her years ago; Frances pulls away, realizing she is no longer attracted to Carys and that her long-held guilt is finally lifting.

Frances, Carys, Raine, and Daniel drive to Aled's university. Frances enters his room and finds it in disarray: empty bottles, near-blank notes, and hate mail from fans. Aled appears in the doorway, visibly emaciated, and bolts. Frances chases him into a nightclub, where they find each other and hold on, both crying. Outside, Aled confesses he hates university and feels trapped. He avoided Frances and Daniel not from anger but from paralyzing fear of rejection.

Frances brings Aled back, where he and Carys reunite in tears. Carol arrives unexpectedly, having followed them. Despite protests, Aled speaks with Carol privately, then gets into a taxi with her. The friends race to the station. Frances leaps over the ticket barrier and offers Aled her hand, telling him he can live with her and they will make Universe City together. Aled wrenches free of his mother's grip and steps off the train.

That night, Frances tells Aled she does not want to study English literature. He suggests art college. She overhears Aled explain to Daniel that he is demisexual, experiencing sexual attraction only after forming a deep emotional bond, and that Daniel is the only person he has ever been attracted to. They reconcile. In the morning, Frances dyes Aled's hair pastel pink, the color described for Radio in Universe City. On the train home, they begin planning new episodes. Frances tells her mother she does not want to go to university for English; her mother says it is okay.

In the epilogue, set the following summer, Aled performs Universe City live at a YouTube convention in London, stepping onstage in a three-piece suit before a roaring crowd. Frances watches from backstage with an art college acceptance letter in her pocket. As Aled grasps the microphone, Frances whispers the words along with him: "Hello. I hope somebody is listening."