It’s quarter to one when Mary and I enter the hallway. It seemed like we were talking for ages, much longer than fifteen minutes. My arms aching a little from where she was clutching hold of me, she mustn’t have realised how tight her grip was. The smell of jacket potatoes wafts into my nostrils as I slip into the kitchen. It immediately makes me think of long afternoons that stretched on forever in the summer, when I was on school holidays. Emma and I would sit in the living room in front of the television and have a jacket potato with cheese and beans, our favourite treat; she’d always make sure the cheese was like a mountain on my potato. 

‘Hi, Danielle,’ a woman with red curly hair approaches me, as I step into the kitchen, carrying a bowl of salad with pomegranates sprinkled over the top. ‘I’m Abigail.’

‘Nice to meet you,’ I say. Oh God, I’m the only one standing here not wearing the same clothing. I didn’t check in my wardrobe to see if Oliver had left any clothes for me. Abigail’s the woman I saw chatting to the man with the tattoos on his neck last time I was here at breakfast.

‘How’re you settling in?’ Abigail asks her eyes wide.

‘Yes, doing good, thanks,’ I say. ‘I’ve just had a chat with Mary actually.’

‘Oh, Mary’s lovely,’ she says. ‘If ever you’ve got a problem, or if you’d like to talk to someone, she’s your person to go to. She’s like a mother to everyone here.’

‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ I say, thinking to how tight Mary held onto my arm again, I think I might be staying out of her way. ‘Would you like me to put the salad on the table?’

She shakes her head. ‘No, no, no, I’ve got everything in hand; you go into the dining room and make yourself comfortable; we’ll be through with lunch in a second, you’re in for a treat, the meals are always fantastic here, better than anything I ever had before I started living here.’

Voices from the dining room reach me as I edge further into the kitchen; I push the living room door open. Callum’s sitting on the sofa, arms folded across his chest. My eyes widen. He’s wearing the same clothes as everyone else.  

‘Where’ve you been?’ he asks, getting up from the sofa.

‘Sorry, I ended up just having a rest on my bed earlier and Mary took me out for a quick walk.’ I say. Callum looks me up and down; he’ll be wondering why I’m not wearing the same as him. ‘How comes your wearing this?’ I ask. 

‘Jeremiah insisted,’ Callum says irritation in his voice. ‘God I feel like a right idiot.’

I want to say ‘you look it,’ but decide not to.

‘What he literally made you get changed?’

‘Well, he said I had a choice, but it was the way in which he suggested it that if I didn’t, he was going to end up making my life hell. I see you’re still wearing your clothes. How’s things out in the annexe with Oliver?’

‘Well, I’ve actually been given this massive room with its own bathroom. What’s even crazier than that is this dress was left out for me on my bed; Oliver sort of implied I should wear it to dinner tonight. He told me it used to belong to my mum.’

Callum raises his eyebrow. ‘Sounds like you won’t have to follow this stupid clothing rule, then.’

I’m about to reply when there’s a clink of a spoon against a glass.

‘Would everyone please take a seat?’ It’s Oliver.

Jeremiah follows him closely behind as they enter the room, they smile warmly at me. At least it doesn’t look as though Oliver’s going to ask me to sit next to him this time. I take a seat at the table next to Callum. Eve, the girl who seemed to be keeping an eye on Callum last time we were here sits opposite us. Plates of food are placed in front of us, again there’s no meat; I remember Oliver’s words to me about the environment when I first spoke to him. The smell of something minty reaches me from further down the table.

‘Looks like he’s gonna give another one of his speeches,’ Callum whispers, leaning into me. ‘Brace yourself.’

Oliver sits next to Jeremiah; everyone else sits near enough at the same time. It’s like they’re all in synch here and Callum and I are the odd ones out, well more me, as I’m the only one, apart from Oliver, not wearing white clothing.

‘Thank you, everyone,’ he says. He switches his gaze towards me and Callum, I look away, biting my lip. ‘I would like to take this opportunity to formally welcome Danielle and Callum. I hope you’ll both be very happy here and that you’ll become outstanding members of the community, we expect big things from the both of you. To Danielle and Callum.’ Everyone repeats his words in unison and raises their glasses of water. Eve’s eyes drift towards Callum as she speaks. A shiver races through me. What should it matter to me if she’s interested in Callum, it’s never bothered me when girls have been interested in Callum before? I can’t allow myself to get too close to Callum. ‘Please everyone help yourselves; let’s not let all of this wonderful food go cold.’

Callum lets out a slight snort, but covers it up by blowing his nose. ‘Jacket Potato, Danielle?’ he asks, in a rather posh voice.

I resist the urge to smirk. ‘Stop it,’ I say to him, feeling Oliver’s eyes on us.

‘So, Danielle, I’d be happy to show you some exercises we do here after lunch, we can practise together over in the annexe,’ Oliver says to me.

‘Sure, sounds OK, I guess. Oh, you were going to give me some items that belonged to my family.’

‘Yes, of course, why don’t we meet back in the annexe after lunch and I’ll happily show them to you.’

Show them to me, I thought he wanted to give them to me? Surely, if anything, they belong to me now.

I nod and go back to my jacket potato.