The spirit of elation in the house had hardened into a more deadened beat, the air now tinged with the acidic smell of vomit. She didn’t even look for Alicia, fleeing to the safety of the street.

Once outside, the nausea in her stomach eased, but there was a wobbly sensation in her limbs as she found the number. After making the call, she waited by the side of the road, her muscles turning to jelly. The clouds in her head wouldn’t clear, and she had the strangest sensation that her lips were blubbery, her face flaccid like she’d just had a stroke. Her heart was beating too fast and by the time she saw the car swing around the corner, her dress was drenched in sweat.

She’d expected the little red Toyota, but he’d come in the Merc.

‘What happened? Are you okay?’ he asked, once she was sitting in the passenger seat.

Instantly, she burst into tears.

She tried to speak but the words were mush in her mouth, and she felt his alarm while trying to regain control of her emotions.

‘Just tell me this much,’ Ross said. ‘Are you hurt?’

She shook her head, no.

‘I was at a party,’ she croaked.

‘Right. And you’ve been drinking, obviously.’

She snuffled in response.

‘Anything else? Did you take anything?’

She nodded quickly, unable to meet his eye.

‘Okay. What was it?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘What do you mean, you don’t know?’

And then she’d explained about Callum passing the tab into her mouth while they were kissing.

‘He said it was just half a tab,’ she said.

‘Yeah, but of what? Ecstasy? Acid?’

She sniffled and wiped at her cheek with the back of her hand. He leaned forward and popped open the glove compartment, taking a packet of tissues out.

‘Here,’ he said, handing her one and watching while she wiped beneath her eyes and then blew her nose.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, embarrassed at him seeing her like this. ‘I’m a complete mess.’

‘Let’s just worry about what went on back there.’

‘Okay.’

‘Did something happen between you and this boy?’

She looked down at her knees, pulled the hem of her skirt down to cover her thighs.

‘Eva, did this guy try to have sex with you?’

She bit the inside of her cheek, tasted the metallic taint of blood.

‘I can’t talk about it,’ she said at last.

She knew that the word ‘rape’ was bouncing around in his head and she wanted to dispel it but didn’t quite know how to explain what she felt – her reluctance, her fear.