‘Nice of you to join us,’ Bec says as Kellen comes running to catch up with us. I was honestly starting to think he wouldn’t show. ‘Did you forget which team you were on?’

‘Course not,’ he says, holding up his blue bandana. ‘I’ll always be Sycamore. I just got caught up chatting and didn’t realize you were leaving.’

Bec smiles at that. ‘Here,’ she says, stopping to tie it for him. ‘Blue suits you better than red. You know that, right?’

‘Shame about the nails then.’ He lifts his hand to show his ruby tips.

‘You did not paint your nails in Hawthorn colours!’

‘Of course not,’ Kellen says, laughing. ‘They’re to match my masquerade outfit. I did them last night.’

‘Well, they look great,’ she says, admiring them a little closer. ‘Can’t wait to see what you’re wearing. If it’s anything like that look you pulled at Christmas …’

Everyone else had dressed up like elves and reindeer while Kellen went for this ‘ice prince’ look. His cheekbones cut with silver highlight, his sparkling corset studded with fake diamonds. He’d glued them himself, and, although they were made of plastic, you’d have honestly never known. With £20 and a glue gun, he’d looked like the most expensive person in the room.

‘For what it’s worth,’ Chase says, ‘I know you’re all buddy-buddy with Hawthorn now, but I’m really glad you’re here. As long as you swear you’re not on secret espionage?’

Kellen grins. ‘Always did fancy myself a bit of a spy. Imagine me as a Bond girl. Shirley Bassey wailing as I do high kicks. Fur coat. Red lipstick. I’d be stealing secrets and stealing glances, with Chase on speed dial for when I need to hack the mainframe.’

‘What mainframe?’ Chase laughs.

‘I don’t know. It’s what they say in the movies.’

‘He’s right,’ I say. ‘That is what they say in the movies. I’m glad you took something away from that Bond marathon.’

‘Oh my God, don’t remind me.’ Chase groans. He stops in his tracks for a moment as if remembering the worst of all horrors. ‘You made us stay up all night!’

‘I didn’t make you do anything!’ I protest.

‘You gave us espresso at two a.m., Zach.’

‘Yeah, I didn’t drink that,’ Kellen says with a laugh. ‘That’s why I fell asleep. I tipped it out the window when you weren’t looking.’

‘You tipped hot coffee out the window?’ I gasp. ‘What if you’d hit someone?’

‘Because there were just so many people taking a stroll at two a.m ….’

‘And where was my invite?’ Bec pretends to be insulted. ‘Maybe I wanted to stay up all night watching poorly written movies.’

‘It was a boys’ thing.’ Chase shrugs.

‘Oh, hello, misogyny,’ she replies sourly. ‘Because girls can’t enjoy action movies?’

‘You just said they were poorly written!’ I say.

Chase is laughing now. ‘I promise you didn’t miss anything.’