Lolly invited everyone inside and warned them not to aggravate the cats or they’d risk being scratched. Then she directed them to the living room because there wasn’t enough room to be hanging around in the hallway. Misha, Jake, Tahira and Augie made their way down. Sol was taking his shoes off on the doormat. Corey pushed past him.

Harper mouthed to Cleo: ‘Did you invite him?’

Cleo whispered, ‘It’s complicated. I’m sorry.’

‘I came on my electric scooter,’ Corey told Lolly. ‘It’s brand new. Will it be safe downstairs?’

Lolly frowned. ‘What do you mean, pet?’

‘Is this, like, a good area?’ He spoke to her as if she were his valet.

‘You’re never more than a couple of metres away from a snake when you live this close to the river, but I think you’ll survive.’

Harper could tell that Lolly didn’t like him.

‘Now, you didn’t have to do that,’ Lolly told Sol as he entered in his socks.

‘Sorry, just a habit,’ said a smiling Sol. ‘Thanks for inviting me. I’m Sol.’

‘Very nice to meet you, Sol,’ said Lolly. ‘Come in.’

That bit had gone well, Harper thought. But a normal party seemed out of the question: ghost outside, enemy inside.

Lolly herded everyone to the balcony and told Harper she’d hide out in her bedroom.

The others didn’t seem as bothered by Corey being there as Harper was. Maybe the mountains of food distracted them: meringues and pastizzis and Rosa the jelly rabbit. Corey gave Rosa’s plate a shake but to Harper’s relief he didn’t poke a finger in. He grabbed a handful of popcorn and threw it piece by piece into the air, catching it in his mouth, making sure he had an audience.

‘What are we actually doing at this party?’ said Corey, plucking a leaf off the lemon tree and dropping it off the balcony. He was sitting on the only chair with his feet on the railing. ‘Have you got a PS4, Harper?’

‘I’ve got a Switch,’ she replied, when what she really wanted to say was: Why are you here? ‘I thought we could just hang out, eat some food. I’ve got a few games.’

Corey sneered. ‘What? Actual games? We’re not four years old.’

‘Sounds perfect, Harps,’ Cleo said. ‘What are we playing first?’

Harper pointed out the hanging doughnuts. ‘We have to eat them with our hands behind our backs. And there’s the chocolate game where you roll the dice and cut a block of chocolate with a knife and fork while you’re wearing gloves and extra clothes. And the biscuit game where you put a biscuit on your forehead and you have to get it into your mouth using the muscles in your face.’

‘Sounds crap,’ said Corey, and kicked a flowerpot. ‘A bunch of food games.’

‘Corey, shut up,’ said Cleo. Then she turned to the rest of the group. ‘We could play limbo too?’

‘And Name that Tune,’ said Ro. ‘But let’s use the music on Tahira’s phone because, no offence, Harper, your taste is…’

‘Is what?’ Harper said, smiling because she already knew.

Cleo put her arms around her. ‘Depressing,’ she said. The others giggled.

Tahira took her phone out of her back pocket. ‘Yeah, your music’s not really for limbo, Harps. More for curling up in a ball.’

‘Ouch!’ said Harper, laughing, finally relaxing.

Then, as everyone chipped in about Harper’s taste in songs and which of her games they wanted to play first, and how good the pastizzis were, it was only Corey who was sulking on the outer. For the first time in ages Harper felt part of things. She studied them all: Misha, who kept nervously touching the back of her neck, maybe because she was still getting used to her pixie cut. Augie, who always laughed the longest. Tahira, who was born cool. Jake’s ability to charm any animal instantly (Annie and Murph were standing either side of him, looking up). Sol, who was still the new boy but had a way of making other people feel comfortable. Ro, who would be famous one day, probably. And Cleo, who was somehow soft and strong at the same time.

They’d all had the same year as Harper: locked down and kept apart. Now they were here, together.

For all she knew, they could all have a ghost.