4am

two

Noah makes the mistake of glancing at the mirror whilst he buttons up his shirt. He's greeted by the unwelcome sight of his reflection, forcing him to acknowledge how exhausted he looks. Dark bags hang under his eyes, a constant reminder of the hours he spends lying awake each night.

Shaking his head, he turns away just as his mother's voice circulates around the downstairs of their house.

"Noah, get out here!" she calls and he is helpless to do anything but obey, well aware of the wrath of his mother when she's stressed. Which, because they've got guests, she obviously is.

It's pointless, he thinks as he makes his way to the kitchen. He gets why his parents throw these dinner parties - he's part of a family of social butterflies - but he doesn't understand why he always has to attend. It's not as if he adds anything to the conversation or the atmosphere, he's more of a nuisance when it comes to any kind of social event.

✰

"Saffron!" her Mum yells.

"Huh?" She puts down the paperback she'd been focused on and stands up, feeling slightly disorientated.

"Are you ready?" she asks, appearing seemingly out of nowhere into Saffron's doorway. She pauses for a moment, assessing Saffron's current outfit of scruffy pyjama bottoms and an oversized plaid shirt with an expression of disgust. "What do you call this?" She gestures towards her daughter's clothes as if she were wearing a bin bag.

Saffron frowns, why shouldn't she be wearing her pyjamas? Six o'clock isn't that early.

"We're going out, remember?" Saffron responds to her mother with a blank look. "Oh my God Saff, I told you about this a couple of days ago! We're going to dinner at the neighbours' house. Plus, the dress code is meant to be smart and you're wearing... whatever that's supposed to be. Honestly, I couldn't care less any other time, but this couple seem very sophisticated and we don't want to give a bad impression. Oh, I can't believe this; we were already running late and now-"

"Mum," Saffron interrupts, trying to avoid a lecture from her mother because she really isn't in the mood. Also, she couldn't feel less like she wanted to go round to some strangers house and socialise and eat their food - much less in a dress.

But she goes to her wardrobe and picks out a black dress she got for Christmas and has worn a total of once. Her eyelids are already drooping and she groans, no idea how she's supposed to survive an entire night.

Saffron doesn't realise until her Dad is knocking on the bright red front door that the house they're visiting is the one which had the light on in the early hours of the morning. Suddenly, for no real reason, she feels a whole lot more anxious. But she doesn't have time to do anything as the door swings open and they're greeted by a smiley woman with sparkling green eyes. She's shortly followed by a man, clearly her husband, and Saffron's parents start greeting them with cheek kisses and compliments.

"You must be Saffron," the man - Dave - says, shaking her hand firmly. She thinks this is slightly odd, it makes her feel like she should be an adult, but she smiles politely. "It's nice to meet you."

"And you." Saffron replies as she steps inside, eyes darting around the hall.

It's the exact same layout as her own house, only without the cardboard removal boxes that clutter hers. A thought strikes her that the bedroom opposite hers, the one which had the light on last night, must be similar to hers. She's filled with an odd curiosity to go and explore it, but of course she just follows her parents into the dining room, her mind wandering elsewhere.

Saffron is surprised when Dave and his wife sit down beside her parents at the table, leaving an empty space next to her and nobody to serve the food. Until the door swings open and a boy around her age enters, strategically balancing four plates up his arms.