‘Here you go,’ I say. Even braless and in distress, Amber looks pretty and put-together. I am acutely aware that I am still in the chicken suit.

‘Thanks, sweetie,’ she says, taking the glass and drinking the water. I try to keep my face impassive even though it makes my eye twitch to be called sweetie by people my own age.

‘Oh my god, this is one of the most traumatising nights of my life,’ Amber says, picking grapes off the plate I am holding. ‘I am never going in your plague house again.’

Harper looks offended and I give her a sympathetic smile, and escape back into the house. I clean the kitchen, wash my face, and get changed into my pyjamas. On my way to bed, I pass Jesse, now wearing a T-shirt, peering under the couch with his phone torchlight.

‘Still worried about the mouse?’ I say.

‘Just checking where it might be.’

‘You made quite the scene,’ I say.

‘You can talk, in your chicken outfit,’ he says, glancing up at me and holding eye contact for a beat too long.

Later, trying to sleep, having stuffed a towel under my door just in case the mouse comes back to my room, Jesse’s shirtless body pops into my head, and I squash it down. No. Do not think of that. Do not think of his shoulders, or his chest, or any part of him. Even if we didn’t have any history, he’s not my type. Not anymore. My type is, well, I don’t know exactly. I thought it was Tristan, my ex-boyfriend, but I think I only thought he was my type because he liked me, and ‘person who likes me’ seemed like a useful type to have.

Tristan was cute. He photographed well, he always smelled nice, he smelled clean, he was the kind of guy who always washed his hands before eating, he wore button-down shirts, he got regular haircuts, he had excellent manners. Both his parents are psychologists, and he is their only child, the focus of their lives. He rarely swore. He helped me at school. When I had a lot on, when I overcommitted to things, he would say, ‘What can I do?’ And he wasn’t just saying it, he really meant it. He was organised, and smart, and he challenged me. He was the best study partner I ever had.