Hugh stiffens. ‘I’m not sure what I’ll do yet,’ he says casually. He glances over at me, but I keep my eyes focused on the horizon. I can’t risk being with Hugh when we’re back in service, when he could so easily google my sister and realise that there are slight differences between her and me. What if he finds her LinkedIn page and asks me about a specific job, what if he finds a recent photo and asks me why my eyes are greener, my nose rounder, my hair frizzier?

‘I’ve been meaning to ask you, Millie,’ Natalie says, emphasising ‘Millie’ so heavily that my stomach drops.

‘Dinner!’ I hear Vanessa call, interrupting Natalie mid-sentence.

Thank God, I think as the group immediately starts to mobilise.

‘Great! I’m starving!’ Pippa jumps up and heads straight to the stairs. I follow behind her quickly, pretending I didn’t hear Natalie’s question.

I squeeze next to Pippa in the booth and pick at my food – tonight’s dinner is rice bowls with marinated tofu – but my appetite has vanished. It doesn’t feel nice to avoid Natalie, and I know I’m being paranoid, but I can’t tell if she is malicious or curious. She seems to ask Hugh a lot of questions, I’ve spotted them talking at least twice each day. And while I’m juggling pretending to be somebody else, the less questions the better.

The conversation hums around me. Vanessa is asking people what else they are hoping to see on the reef. Andrew wants to see a manta ray now that he’s crossed octopus off his list. Pippa’s excited to see Fitzroy Island. As the boat lurches through another swell, and my plate comes sliding towards my lap, I can’t blame her. After a full day of diving tomorrow, I think I’ll be ready to rest my sea legs for a little too – and get off this tiny boat.

I don’t contribute to the conversation. Instead, I stare at my plate, feeling like I’m at a crossroads. I either come up with a plan for what to say whenever Natalie explicitly calls me out for going by two different names, that is, if she even remembers, or I can come clean. If I hadn’t messaged Hugh from our joint Instagram account, then I could have said my middle name was Millie. But it’s too late, I’ve already told him my middle name was Andi. I could say the airline used my middle name accidentally, and I heard my last name called so I went to the counter, but that excuse seems flimsy, especially on an international flight where they have my passport.