‘Hannah, we’re not a couple,’ I said, as convincingly as I could. She looked at me, but I couldn’t tell if she believed me or not.

‘Well, you seem really cosy. I just …’

‘What?’

‘When you told me you and Josh weren’t together – you know on the first day – I was so glad we were roommates. I thought we’d be two single gals together in the Greek Islands – you know?’

‘I guess.’

‘But we haven’t really got to do that. You’re off with Josh a lot.’ She sipped her Nes. I liked Hannah, but it seemed she and I had different ideas about the trip. I was open to making friends but not to the exclusion of others. I didn’t think I was doing that with Josh. Maybe I was.

Regardless, it was Hannah’s holiday too, and I didn’t want her feeling left out. ‘I’m glad you told me about feeling left out. I’m sorry about that. I’ll be more conscious of it, I promise.’

She smiled and thanked me, and I got the feeling it mattered a lot to her that I’d said that. I wondered how Josh would take being told we were too cliquey. Speak of the devil, he chose that exact moment to come back to the table. I watched Hannah watch Josh. Was she comparing him to her ex again and, if she was, would she land on the side of Josh being a good guy?

I hoped so. My roommate and the boy next door were the closest people to me in our little group, and I needed there to be peace. I was relieved when Josh asked Hannah about her drink, forcing her to engage with him rather than just glaring at him.

When we’d all finished our drinks, Duncan gave us the not-so-subtle signal we were leaving by waving his arm around in the air and yelling, ‘We’re moving out!’ like we were a bikie gang or something. We settled the bill and filed out to the parking lot, thanking our host as we waved goodbye. I wondered when his next group would come or if he’d be on his own for the rest of the day. There wasn’t a lot of traffic where we were.

Josh climbed onto our scooter and rocked it back off the kickstand. I climbed on behind him and happen to glance over at Hannah as she got onto hers. ‘You okay?’ she mouthed. I nodded as though I wasn’t really, but that I was being brave by riding with Josh. Poor Josh. I was going to have to find a way to assure her that Josh’s riding skills had vastly improved since the start of the day.

‘Next stop, the beach!’ shouted Duncan over the screeching buzz of our scooters.