I fuss around, putting food out, tidying the kitchen, refilling drinks, trying to look busy while I anxiously wait for Ruby, Sophie and Justin to arrive. I’m sweaty and flustered. I stand in front of the open fridge for a second trying to cool down.

In the lounge room, Jesse is sitting on the couch next to one of Harper’s friends, a pretty girl with waist-length caramelcoloured hair and a nose ring. They’re deep in conversation, leaning towards each other, knees almost touching. It makes me feel a little bit sick. And betrayed. Here I was thinking we were both nervous and tentative in this new life, that we were equals, both in between, but he has so many friends here, old and new, and now he’s casually flirting, and he’s never looked more relaxed in his life. He cannot integrate into Harper and Penny’s friendship group before me.

I approach them with a tray of food.

‘Hi, I’m Brooke,’ I say to the girl.

‘Amber,’ she says in return. She looks at the platter of food I’m offering and exclaims with delight. ‘Oh my god, the detail! This looks like the kind of thing my mother spends all day making for her book club.’

‘Oh, um, thanks?’ I say. I don’t really know how to respond to that.

Amber smiles at me cheerfully as she piles food onto a napkin. ‘You know what? I think my mum actually owns that dress too!’ she says, gesturing to my clothes.

I am really hoping her mother is very young and very fashionable.

Jesse has just put a chip in his mouth while listening to our interaction, and he wrinkles his nose.

‘What am I eating?’ he asks.

‘A turmeric-flavoured lentil crisp,’ I tell him.

‘Ugh,’ he says. ‘It is not good.’

‘It’s an acquired taste. For a sophisticated palate,’ I say, trying to sound worldly and disdainful. In truth, I bought them because they were on special at the supermarket.

‘How long does it take to acquire a taste for it?’ he says.

‘For you? It’ll take a while,’ I say.

‘Brooke!’ a voice calls.

I turn, and squint. I don’t immediately recognise the girl walking towards me. But I can’t really concentrate on her face because she’s wearing an animal onesie. One of those all-in-one animal-patterned onesies that have hoods and are sometimes sold as costumes and sometimes as novelty pyjamas. I think this one is a cow because it’s white with big black patches and, I think, yes, definitely, there are pink udders hanging off her stomach, and a little cow face on the hood, and a tail trailing at the back. Is that Ruby? Why is she wearing that? Oh god.

‘Hey, Brooke,’ Ruby says, walking over to me.