I look around to see a security guard watching us. I turn to Matt and he must see the alarm in my face because he grabs my used white towel from the ground and starts drying himself. If I thought I was fast – he’s double speed.

‘Yeah, thanks, we’re just heading inside now,’ says Matt.

I’m aware that the guard isn’t leaving and seems to be waiting for us. Matt did confess to me that he has had to make a run for it in the past, and one time the police were called. I can just imagine how my parents would react to having to collect me from the police station.

Matt has pulled on his shirt and is trying to get his thongs on, but the rubber is sticking to his skin and making it hard to wedge his toes fully in. Then he drapes the towel around his shoulders and I admire how casual he’s trying to make our getaway look, but I’m not feeling it.

Matt and I sling our bags onto our shoulders, push through the pool gate and walk past the security guard as fast as we can. Another shard of lightning flashes nearby and I think I let out a little scream just as the rain starts to fall harder.

‘Quick,’ says Matt, and I don’t wait around to find out if it’s because we’re trying to escape the weather, or the security.

We barge through the rooftop door and into the corridor. Matt jabs at the down button as fast as he can, like somehow it’ll make the lift arrive faster. The last thing we want is for the security guard to be in the lift with us because we need to go to the ground floor and he’ll work out that we aren’t staying here.

Matt’s still dripping water everywhere and I suddenly have nothing to say to him. We both hear the heavy rooftop door open and then bang shut as the guard walks into the corridor. He stands next to me and we all stare at the little lights indicating that the lift is coming up to collect us. I wait for the security guard to speak. I know he will. I’m sure that I’m about to get busted and there is nothing I can do. Then the lift doors open and he gestures for us to go in. My heart is pounding, threatening to smash out of my body. I step in and stand to the side, trying to make myself smaller than ever. Matt follows me in and is trying to catch my eye, but I refuse to look up.

‘Which floor?’ The guard is standing near the buttons, his hand hovering over the numbers.

I try to breathe.