Trying to understand what he was thinking, Lottie’s eyes wandered over parts of him she didn’t usually notice, the fading scar on his eyebrow, his slightly crooked nose and then down to his ever-frowning lips. Like Pandora’s box, they quivered ever so slightly, a curious lock on whatever words were inside his head, and before she could stop herself she asked a question to try to open them up.

‘Why do you keep looking at me like that?’

The words slammed into him, his skin prickling, the stars in his eyes dimming.

‘Like what?’ Jamie countered, voice pitching, something she was not used to hearing from him.

‘I don’t know. You tell me?’ Lottie could hear the way she sounded, like a bratty child, but she couldn’t stop herself.

‘Lottie,’ he began, ironically raising an eyebrow in a way Lottie totally deserved, ‘I assure you I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

‘You and Ellie,’ she spluttered, her hands flying out in exasperation. ‘You both keep looking at me and it’s starting to, I don’t know –’ she sighed, knowing she’d never be able to explain it properly – ‘it’s starting to make me nervous in a weird way.’

For a split second Jamie’s mask dropped, and beneath was a pained look, not angry or fiery like before but sad. It was the kind of sadness you feel when you’re a child and you find yourself alone and lost, and it made Lottie’s heart lurch because she knew it all too well. And then it was gone, blinked away as fast as it appeared.

‘So let me get this straight,’ Jamie said, the curve of a smile sneaking on to his lips. ‘You want us to stop looking at you?’

‘I –’ Lottie felt at a loss, sure she’d seen something deeply personal pass over Jamie and not sure how to engage with it, so instead she breathed out sharply, sending the thought floating away. ‘No, that’s not what … Forget it, everything’s fine, me and Ellie will be fine, you and me are fine, and you two can both keep looking at me as much and however you want.’

She made for the door, but once more Jamie stopped her. ‘Wait, I didn’t mean that.’ He shook his head, disappointed in himself. ‘I’m being as bad as Haru and his ridiculous box.’

Lottie’s ears pricked. ‘Box?’

‘Yes, he has this box he says he keeps his –’ Jamie made little inverted commas with his fingers – ‘“secret diary” inside, and made this whole ridiculous spiel about how he’d show it to me but only after I’ve earned it.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘It’s entirely annoying and childish.’

‘What does the box look like?’ She tried not to sound frantic, but she was desperate, itching for anything she could use, anything that would help the Wolfsons and keep her useful.