Somehow, I'd ended up in a coffee shop with this Harry person. I didn't really want to spend any more time than I needed to with the person responsible – no, for the person whose boat was responsible for my parents' death. Same thing. But I was curious to hear what lies Dylan had invented about Alice, so when Harry suggested we go for a coffee, I had reluctantly agreed. So here I was, my hands wrapped around a warm latte, while Harry sat opposite me with a cappuccino. He drummed his fingers on the table, looking slightly uncomfortable. It was clear he understood that I was not a fan of Dylan, and he was friends with him, so that made it a little awkward.

"So," I started. "How do you know Dylan?"

"Well, our parents were always good friends, so I guess we've just known each other since birth. We never went to the same school, though – he stayed in town but I went to a different school, about an hour away." Harry took a sip of his drink. "Stayed in touch, of course. We're still good friends. And trust me, he was heartbroken after Alice."

"I just..." I shook my head to myself. "I just find it difficult to believe, because Alice was really heartbroken. Turns out he never loved her. Alice told me it was all for a bet."

"A bet?" Harry said incredulously. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Alice cheated on him."

My mouth dropped open. "Alice did not cheat on Dylan! No way. I don't believe that for a second."

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, one of them is lying. Guess we just need to find out which one."

"It's Dylan," I said matter-of-factly. "Of course it's Dylan. You know what he's like, he's a player."

"Yeah, he was, until he met Alice. And then she cheated on him."

I just shook my head incredulously. "I'm sorry, I'm just finding this kind of hard to believe. Given Dylan's history, it's way more likely that Alice is telling the truth."

"Okay, I guess we're both biased," Harry said with a smile.

"Probably," I agreed. "Although I'm still right."

"Sure, sure. So, Ana. Tell me your plans. Your hopes, your dreams." He was still smiling at me.

What hopes and dreams? "Uh, still figuring stuff out. I don't really know." I shifted uncomfortably. I wasn't that keen on extending this conversation, but it seemed rude not to reciprocate the question. "You?"

He shrugged. "Honestly, I'm still figuring it out too. My parents are pushing me to go straight to university, to study a subject I don't even want to do, so there's that."

"Right," I acknowledged, "But you're not going to do that?"

"I don't know," Harry said vaguely. "It would get me a good job."

I raised an eyebrow. "But you'd be a miserable in a job that you didn't enjoy."

He just smiled. "Well, we'll see."

I pressed my lips together but said nothing and glanced at my watch. "Listen, I've got to go catch a bus." I stood up, finishing the rest of my coffee, and Harry stood up too. "I'll, uh, see you around."

"Well, to make sure you do see me around, why don't you give me your number?" he suggested boldly.

I hesitated, but then thought, why not? "Uh, okay." I put my number in his phone and said a last goodbye before leaving the coffee shop.

As I was sat in the bus on the way back, I was replaying my meeting with Harry in my head. The way we'd met was strange. I couldn't believe it was his family that had rented out the boat which had caused my parents' death, and that he'd asked for my number. Although he was attractive, confident and had a sense of humour, there was something... suspicious about him. But I thought to myself that it was probably just my misdirected anger towards him and his family. Seeing the boat had just really thrown me. My thoughts were seriously muddled, and I was even more confused by his accusations against Alice. There was no way I believed him, but just one small part of me thought, 'What if it's true? What if Alice has been lying to you?' But Alice was my best friend. She wouldn't do that, and she was an absolute wreck after Dylan.

When I got back, Alice's parents' car was gone, and so was Alice. Joseph was sitting on the sofa, sketching something. He would never be downstairs drawing if the rest of his family were here. Seeing him sitting there, relaxed, kind of made me relax, too. I'd been all worked up about Harry and Alice and Dylan, and now I just wanted to forget about it all.

"Where are Alice and your parents?" I asked, dumping all my stuff I'd taken into town on the table.

"Mum and dad had to meet with Alice's dance teacher or something," Joseph replied, not looking up from his sketch.

I frowned slightly. "About what?"

He just shrugged.

I narrowed my eyes at him and wandered over to the sofa, standing behind him and leaning over his shoulder. "What are you drawing?"

Joseph slammed his sketchbook shut. "Nothing."

I sighed loudly. "Come on, I thought I was allowed to see your drawings now."

"No, not all of them." Joseph stood up and put his sketchbook down on the kitchen table.

"Why?" I complained before saying slyly, "Ooh, is it a drawing of me?"

"Yes, Lily, that's exactly what it is," he said flatly. "I drew you and you look hideous in it."

I rolled my eyes. "Great, thanks."

"You're welcome. So listen, mum, dad and Alice aren't going to be back for supper, so we have to cook for ourselves."

I groaned slightly. "Fantastic. I cannot cook. We will burn the house down."

"You're forgetting you don't know much about me." Joseph picked up a sharp knife and waved it casually as he said, "I actually can cook."

"What are you doing with that knife there," I teased, stepping backwards. "You sure you know how to use that?"

He pointed the knife at me. "Don't tempt me. So do you want to help, or just stand there? You can chop some...vegetables or something."

I wrinkled my nose. "Vegetables? Are we going to have anything to go with those vegetables?"

"I don't know. You pick."

"I don't know either," I said stubbornly. "I'm not even that hungry."

Joseph glanced at me. "You're not?" I shook my head. "Lily, how much have you been eating lately?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know. I sort of forget to eat."

"You forget," he repeated. "That's probably not healthy."

"I guess not."

Joseph looked at me for a second, and then put the knife down. "Let's not cook."

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, what are we going to eat then?"

He opened a drawer and held up his keys. "Fast food?"

My mouth was already watering at the thought. "Yes, please."

"Let's go then."

On our drive over, my phone suddenly lit up with a text, and I glanced down. My eyes scanned the message. It was from Harry.

"Why are you looking at your phone all weirdly like that?" Joseph teased, but there wasn't much humour behind his voice.

I sighed loudly. "I'm not." I paused. "It's just... I met someone today."

"Oh god, do I really want to know this?" he quickly responded, grimacing.

I elbowed him. "It wasn't – that's not what I meant. He – his family owned the boat that, um, my parents took out that night."

Joseph was quiet for a moment before simply saying, "Oh."

"Yeah." I swallowed. "I thought I saw it, their boat, in the harbour, but it turns out it was a... sister boat or something. It just kind of freaked me out for a bit."

Joseph didn't reply at first. Then he said quietly, "What was the name of the family?"

"Um, I think he said their last name was Nelson. He was called Harry. Why?"

He simply shrugged. "No reason."

I narrowed my eyes at him before groaning slightly. "Why do you have to be so mysterious all the time?"

"You know what, Lily? That is just one of the many quirks of my personality." Joseph tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the song. I merely watched him for a moment, thinking.

"Is that a thing?" I asked, twiddling my hair around my finger almost nervously.

He glanced over. "Is what a thing?"

"Sister boats."

Joseph shrugged. "I mean, yeah. Usually sister ship, though. Describes a ship whose design is identical to another ship."

I let out a low huff of amusement. "Nerd."

He rolled his eyes and flicked me. "You asked."

I bit my lip and kept twisting my hair around my finger. So many thoughts were going through my mind, and I wanted to tell them to Joseph, but I couldn't seem to untangle them.

"Lily?" I was jolted out of my trance to find out that we'd arrived. Joseph was looking at me, an unreadable expression on his face. "What do you want?"

"Oh. Um, chicken nuggets and a medium fries."

He placed our order and I got out my purse as we drove round to the window to pay and collect our food. Spotting my purse, Joseph said flatly, "No."

I scowled. "You can't just say 'no' and expect me to–"

"Lily, it's McDonald's," he said in exasperation. "It's cheap. I think I can spare the money."

"But you paid for that breakfast," I protested. "I'm living in your house, surely that means I should pay for some stuff–"

But Joseph had already paid, and the food was suddenly on my lap, hot and greasy and mouth-watering. He started driving back home, and I sat in the front, frowning to myself. Joseph noticed my still soured expression but just chuckled. "Oh, come on. You can pay next time, if it really means that much to you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Next time?"

"Sure. Next time we're feeling too lazy to cook."

When we got back, we slumped on the sofa, digging in to our food. After I'd finished my chicken nuggets and chips, I actually felt full, and I hadn't felt full in a while. I turned on the TV, putting on some random show without paying attention to it. My mind was distracted, and I fiddled with my fingers as thoughts raced through my head.

"Lily?" There was Joseph again, breaking off my stream of thoughts. I turned to face him to find him examining me. "What are you thinking about?"

"I don't really know," I answered honestly. Today had been a weird day. Millie had been a pain at Melissa's, trying to get me to admit that I liked Joseph – when I didn't – I'd met the boy whose family rented out the boat my parents died on. Now, I didn't really want to think about anything. My eyes met Joseph's. Except maybe him. "I feel like I need some kind of distraction. My head's a bit messed up." As I was saying this, my gaze darted to Joseph's lips for a second before I quickly looked away, back to the television. That was completely off limits. And I didn't even see Joseph that way. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Joseph watching me, and when I turned to meet his gaze again, I didn't look away. Joseph sighed slightly and leaned back, turning his attention to the television. I couldn't tell if I felt a sense of relief or disappointment.

The front door suddenly opened loudly, and I turned to see Alice and her parents come in.

"Hey, how was your dance meeting thing?" I asked, standing up and walking over to them, folding my arms. Behind us, I heard Joseph turn off the television. Alice looked exceptionally cheerful.

"It was so good. I got promoted!" she said excitedly.

Confused, I raised an eyebrow. "Promoted?"

"Well, not promoted, but like, advanced. They're moving me up a level in my dance class!"

"That's amazing, Alice!" I gave her a big hug. I knew how much her dance meant to her, and I'd seen her – she was really good. It made me wish I had something that I was just as passionate about. But I wasn't really passionate about anything these days.

"We should celebrate," Catherine announced, going over to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of champagne before popping it open. "Joseph, would you get some glasses?"

I glanced over at Joseph who was still sitting on the sofa. He avoided my eyes and slowly got up to get out five glasses.

"Has someone been eating McDonald's?" Alice was sniffing the air. "Please tell me there's some leftover?"

I gave her a sheepish look. "Afraid we ate it all."

"I thought you guys were going to cook?" Mark gave Joseph a pointed, almost accusatory look.

I frowned. Just as Joseph was opening his mouth to reply, I quickly said, "It was my idea. I felt like a bit of comfort food."

"Oh, of course," Catherine said sympathetically. I pressed my lips together. I hadn't wanted that reaction; I just didn't want Catherine and Mark to get annoyed at Joseph. I was beginning to realise that although Joseph didn't like his parents that much, the feeling seemed to be almost mutual. Something had happened between them to cause this rift, and now Joseph was an outsider.

The Moore family was definitely not as perfect as they seemed.