I pulled the plate towards me and quickly ate it, only looking around after I was finished. To my horror, Esha had spotted what I had done and was staring at me. I smiled at her foolishly, hoping she would understand that I didn’t want to waste food. She raised one eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

I wanted to leave too, but Esha’s father had organized a dance-off. Raghu had escaped all this and I was stuck.

I felt a hot flush of shame every time I made eye contact with Esha so I avoided looking at her. She looked bored and impatient, as though she was waiting for the party to get over.

Finally, when all the kids were leaving, Esha handed out the snazzy looking return gifts. She gave me two and said, ‘Please give the one to Raghu.’ I nodded and smiled.

I caught her whispering to Tara as I left, ‘I hope she does give it to him and does not keep it for herself.’

My face turned red. That was a mean thing to say, I thought as I walked away.

Outside the clubhouse, I breathed freely and was about to head back upstairs, hoping to put the evening in a box titled ‘we shall never think about this again’ when I spotted Raghu walking towards me, a frown on his face.

‘What happened?’ I asked.

‘I can’t seem to find Mom’s phone,’ he said. ‘I think I must have left it here.’

Before I could think of anything to say, he nodded. ‘Come, let’s go and look for it.’

What? Inside the clubhouse again?

‘You go,’ I told him.

‘Come on! I need all the help I can get. My mother will kill me if I lose it,’ he muttered, not even listening to me.

‘Have you tried calling the number?’ I asked, not wanting to follow him inside. He stopped and turned to look at me, exasperated.

‘Of course. I only get the “not reachable” message,’ he said.

The lights in the clubhouse switched off at that moment.

‘Shit,’ Raghu muttered under his breath. ‘They’re locking up already.’

‘No. It’s a power cut,’ I said, pointing to the buildings that had all gone dark. The generator would begin humming any moment now.

‘How are we going to look for the phone in the dark?’ I asked him. I couldn’t see his face but could sense him shrug.

‘I don’t want to take any chances. What if Esha’s father locks up the clubhouse? Mom and I are headed back early tomorrow morning. She’ll kill me if she knows I’ve misplaced her phone,’ he said.

With strong feelings of misgiving, I followed him inside, hoping Esha and her friends had left and I wouldn’t have to face anyone.