"Why not make him a hot chocolate?"
"Too sugary."
"So, what, you're going to bring it up to him like a mother? What if he's asleep already?"
"I doubt that's true," Kennedy says, eyes flicking to the clock.
I follow her gaze. It's a little before ten, so he's probably reading his finance book.
"Well, if he wanted tea, he could get it himself. You're spoiling him." I finish my hot chocolate and rinse the cup out in the sink.
"It's a nice gesture," Kennedy says, tossing out the teabag in the bin. "And I'm not bringing it to him. You are."
I stare at her. "God, the things you make me do," I say after a moment.
"It's not a big deal. You're going upstairs to sleep anyway, so just bring it to him. It's a gesture of friendship."
"I'm going to look like a goddamn waiter. A postman. Here, Curtis, is a gift from your girlfriend —"
"No," Kennedy interrupts, pushing the mug into my hand. "You won't say it's from me."
"Kennedy…" My fingers burn from the heat of the mug.
She finishes her hot chocolate and puts it in the sink beside mine, then crosses her arms as she looks at me. "Just say, Kennedy mentioned you liked tea at night. I thought I'd bring you some."
"He is so not going to believe that. He's going to think I poisoned it!"
"He is not," Kennedy says. "Fine, don't explain it at all. Just do it." She pushes me through the kitchen door. "This is the first step in your friendship."
I snort at that. "We will never be friends."
"I think you're more alike than you think," Kennedy mutters, nudging me up the staircase.
"Okay, okay," I say, pulling myself away from her grip. "I'm doing it. If it ends badly, I'm blaming it on you."
"Sounds good," Kennedy says, and waves. "I'm off to bed. Have fun bonding."
I roll my eyes and trudge up the stairs, careful not to spill the tea.
In the attic bedroom, all the lights off except for the lamp on Curtis's bedside table, emitting a circle of gold. As I guessed, he's sitting up in his bed in those ridiculous striped pyjamas, reading his investing book. He's already up to the last quarter.
His eyes flick up and meet mine.
"Hi," I say, walking up to him. "I brought you some tea."
Instead of reaching for it, he stares at me.
"Alright, I'll just put it here," I say, setting it on the bedside table. "It's green tea, by the way. That healthy stuff you bought."
"Did you poison it?" Curtis says after a few seconds.
"I thought you'd say that. But no. And if you die, you can rest easy knowing my fingerprints are all over the mug."
I wiggle my fingers at him, then depart for the bathroom to have a shower. While I undress and get the hot water running, I wonder what Curtis is doing with the tea. Maybe he's opened the window and chucked it out. Maybe he suspects an alien has abducted me and is now wearing my skin.
Under the hot water, I massage my skin with soap. There's no time better for a hot shower than a chilly day. Afterwards, I dry myself with a fluffy white towel and wrap it around my hips before leaving the bathroom. Curtis is in the middle of taking a sip of the tea when he sees me.
"I see you're not dead yet," I say, before walking over to my bed to grab my pyjamas. "Told you I didn't poison it."
