You're the One That I Want (14 page)

‘Shush, you,’ broke in Jennifer, interrupting my frantic thoughts. ‘She’s pulling your leg.’

‘Yep. I’ve seen a photo of your boyfriend … Phwoar!’ Pearl growled.

‘Thanks,’ I sighed.

‘Any brothers I should know about?’

‘Two!’

‘Like heaven to my ears!’ Pearl cackled.

‘Want a cuppa?’ asked Flo, moving towards our communal kitchen. ‘Kettle’s just boiled.’

‘Sounds fab. I’ll just go shower first, though.’ I felt stale and horrid from the previous night’s over-indulgence – I knew I still smelt of alcohol too, it hovered around me,
prompting unexpected waves of nausea every time I caught a whiff of it.

I showered quickly and threw on a new pair of stripy purple and white pyjamas (I’d bought them especially for uni), guessing the day was going to be written off in terms of exploring the city, and left my hair wet – I couldn’t bear the thought of drying it in my hungover state, and didn’t even care that it would dry frizzy and wild.

‘Here you go, tea, two sugars,’ Flo beamed, handing me a mug as soon as I walked out of my room, back into the hallway.

‘Feeling better?’ asked Pearl, still standing in the same spot I’d left her.

‘Much.’

‘Fancy a chocolate Hobnob?’ she asked, pulling a massive packet from the pocket of her dark-blue dressing gown.

‘That is just what I need!’ I sighed, happily taking one.

‘I’ve got two mega packs,’ she grinned, swinging out her hip and showing me another packet hiding in her other pocket.

‘We’ve decided a girlie flick is in order,’ smiled Flo.

‘Yes, come join us in my little boudoir. We’re watching that new one with Billy Buskin in –
Halo
,’ Jennifer said, opening her bedroom door to reveal the den she’d created. Radiant red and aubergine-coloured fabric was hanging from the walls, hiding the dull white-painted

surfaces behind, and incense was burning, making it look like an Arabian haven. It was beautiful.

‘How have you managed to make it look so cool?’ I asked, mentally comparing it to my own bleak hideout. I
thought I’d done a pretty good job personalizing it and making it my own, but Jennifer had shown me otherwise.

‘Mum made me pack a whole bunch of saris, just in case the perfect Indian boy turned up on campus …’ she chuckled. ‘I figured I might as well put them to good use instead, plus I was running out of space in my wardrobe.’

‘They look incredible!’

‘I’ll be frantically taking them down whenever she decides to come visit … and wearing them!’ she laughed. ‘Right, grab a space, girls,’ she said, gesturing towards the bed as she switched on her television and located the chosen DVD.

We scrambled onto her neatly made bed, which was lavishly covered in red silk sheets and embroidered cream pillows, and nestled ourselves into comfortable positions with our cups of tea cradled in our hands and Pearl’s chocolate Hobnobs temptingly placed out in front of us to nibble on.

That, at eighteen years old, was my first ever girlie afternoon. It’s bizarre to think that I’d gone that long without one. As we sighed at the romantic storyline between Sid Quest and Scarlett James (cooing over Billy Buskin’s charming ways), giggled awkwardly at the sex scenes (can anyone watch them in the company of others and not feel über weird?) and cried our eyes out uncontrollably at the ending (seriously, it’s so sad – how could they leave it there?), I realized how fun it was going to be living with the girls and being part of a girlie friendship group for once. Now, being with the boys had always been effortlessly comfortable, and I knew
nothing would ever replace or better that, but the new bond that I felt growing was a whole new experience for me, and I liked it.

Robert came to visit us for two nights the following weekend – we didn’t quite manage to last the two weeks apart we’d loosely planned – something I was rather pleased about. It was nice to know that he hadn’t forgotten about me as soon as he got to Nottingham and was out of reach. We’d all survived Freshers’ Week and avoided any disasters, other than gaining splitting headaches from our raging hangovers – students could drink!

‘Just what I thought,’ Robert said, wandering into my room, nodding as he inspected the place. ‘It’s basically the same as mine, but with your added girlie touch.’

‘It’s not girlie!’

‘No, you’re right,’ he said, picking up one of my floral pillowcases from my bed as he sat on it – just to prove his point.

I wouldn’t have normally gone in for the floral thing, I was the least girlie person in the world, but I’d become obsessed with all the colourful sheets and towels when working in Magpies that summer. I don’t know what had come over me.

‘Compared to your boyish lair, which no doubt has nothing out other than your weights, I think you mean it’s more welcoming and homely,’ I said, jumping on top of him and wrapping my arms around his neck – I was so excited to have him there.

‘Ah, yeah … that’s totally what I meant,’ he said with a wink before kissing me. ‘Your housemates seem fun.’

‘They’re great. Love you already, I can tell.’

‘They seem like a nice bunch.’

‘They are.’

‘Make sure that Pearl doesn’t lead you astray.’

‘What? How do you mean?’ I asked, instantly feeling defensive over my new friend.

‘She’s a wild one,’ he shrugged. ‘I bet she’ll be getting you lot into all sorts of trouble.’

I thought back to the previous night – us girls and Ben had all gone to Castle Park to sit and relax on the green while taking in the gorgeous views of the castle and the river. We hadn’t been there long before Pearl whipped out five plastic cups, a family-sized carton of Tropicana orange juice (with the bits) and a litre bottle of vodka. Remembering the sore head I’d woken up with that morning, I realized Robert might have had a point – not that I was going to tell him that.

‘What makes you think I’m so easily led?’ I bluffed. ‘You never know, I could be the ringleader.’

Robert raised both eyebrows at me.

‘Yeah, fair point,’ I giggled.

‘I’m sure if you got your camera out right now there’d be all sorts of incriminating evidence.’

I smiled and gave him an innocent shrug, remembering that, as was usually the case, the evening had been well documented – I was always snap happy, but more so when I’d had a bit to drink. I made a mental note to leave my camera at home on nights that might take a turn to the drunk-photos-are-never-a-good-idea zone.

‘So, you’ve managed to find your way back here okay since your first-night adventures?’

‘Yes!’ I groaned. ‘Ben now has my room number memorized, so he’s able to point me in the right direction and get me back safely.’

‘Ha! Just as well he’s here with you. Can you imagine what would’ve happened if you were alone?’

‘I’d have been fine … Well, I would have found my way eventually, I’m sure.’

‘Hmmm …’

‘Although Ben’s bed is actually far more comfortable than mine.’

‘Should I be worried?’

I rolled my eyes. ‘Yes, Robert. You should totally be worried that, due to the fact that he has a comfier bed, I’m going to run off with our mutual best friend.’

‘Why, you little …’ he laughed at my cheekiness, squinting his eyes at me before placing his fingers on my ribs and tickling me, making me jerk around with laughter. He lifted me from his lap and swung me around so that we were lying next to each other, leaning in for a kiss with that look in his eyes that left no doubt as to where the moment was leading. His hand expertly found its way under my t-shirt to my skin, where it roamed around in a playfully teasing manner. God I missed having him with me every day, I thought.

‘MATE!’ Ben screamed, opening my unlocked door without knocking, and jumping on top of us with a diving hug, squandering our hopes of a quick fumble. ‘We’ve missed you, buddy!’

‘So I see,’ Robert laughed, returning the hug.

‘We’re just so boring without you – it’s like we’ve lost the ability to have fun,’ I joked.

‘I bet.’

‘We’re like Samson when he chopped off all his hair!’

‘Well, unless Pearl’s around,’ argued Ben. ‘Did you tell him about last night?’

I groaned.

Robert turned to me with a smile – what was it he’d been saying about Pearl? ‘No, she hasn’t … spill!’

‘She got us roaringly drunk. I only signed up for a chilled night with a couple of cans – but somehow we ended up skipping through the city centre at four a.m. pretending we were animals from
Snow White
– no idea why.’

‘Sounds like quite a night.’

‘It was – she’s crazy.’

‘What’s the plan?’ I asked Ben, changing the subject as I ignored the look Robert was throwing in my direction, clearly finding it funny that I’d been caught out. Yes, Pearl was a little on the wild side, but she was fun. It wasn’t like I was going to go off and do something stupid just because someone jeered me on – I wasn’t nine years old any more. Plus, I knew he’d have been getting up to the same drunken behaviour in Nottingham, the only difference being that I didn’t have a trusted friend there who’d spill the beans on him. Although, I’d no doubt that, with his new gang, he certainly would be the leader, just like he had always been with Ben and me. With us, it really had been a case of he jumped and we followed. Usually without hesitation.

‘You tell me,’ shrugged Ben, in his usual carefree manner. ‘I’m up for anything.’

‘I thought we could go on a bike ride, give Rob a tour,’ I suggested. ‘We have ours here and Flo said there’s a place you can rent one up the road. Fancy it?’

‘Sounds good,’ Robert nodded, still smirking at me.

‘I’m in!’ agreed Ben, jumping up off the bed and heading out into the hallway, keen to get going straight away.

Getting up from the bed I gave Robert a playful shove, making him fall backwards into my flowery pillows.

‘What was that for?’ he laughed.

‘For being so smug!’

‘Come here,’ he smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed and grabbing hold of my waist, looking up at me as he pulled me close. ‘I’m glad you’ve got a nice bunch of people around you.’

‘Good.’

‘I just worry.’

‘About what?’

‘That you’ll forget about me.’

‘Like that’s gonna happen.’

‘Or that you’ll end up like one of
those
girls.’

‘What girls?’

‘You know, the ones with boobs up to here,’ he smiled, bringing his hand up to below his neck.

‘Have you met many?’

‘Several. It’s been awful.’

‘You poor thing.’

‘I know,’ he pouted. ‘I’m mentally scarred.’

‘I’ll tell you what,’ I purred, running my fingers through his hair. ‘I’ll keep mine under lock and key tonight, to save you from further trauma.’

‘What?’ he practically squeaked.

‘I think it’s for the best.’

‘Huh?’

‘It’s a shame really, I had a whole night of fun planned –
special outfits and everything,’ I teased with a smile. ‘But, well, I don’t want you to think I’m one of
those
girls …’

I winked and cackled wickedly, as I freed myself from his embrace and walked out the door.

The majority of trips to see each other during our uni years were Robert driving to us, rather than us going to him. We did go to Nottingham a few times, but seeing as there were two of us in Bristol, it seemed to make sense to do it that way round. As a result I never really got to know the people he lived with, the life he led there or Nottingham itself. I did like it there, though, it felt steeped in history and the main part of the city was absolutely gorgeous with all its old buildings and the big water feature in the square.

I quite liked the fact that he was always coming to me. It felt like he really wanted to see me. Whenever I went there I felt a bit of a nuisance; it was very much a boys’ place – as I’d predicted, the only things out on show in his room were his weights. Oh, and a framed picture of us from our sixth form ball which had been neatly placed on his nightstand. I couldn’t help but smile when I first saw it.

We spoke to each other all the time – a few times every day in fact. He was the first person I spoke to in the mornings, and the last person I spoke to at night. There was not one part of me that queried his loyalty to me. Not one part that worried about him being out and getting drunk with other girls around. Not one part of me that feared he’d go off and cheat. Would it have changed anything if I had? Probably not.

I took for granted the fact that he was my one and that, one day, we’d get married, have babies and grow old together. I didn’t think anything would come along and jeopardize that. I’d never seriously worried about him being around
those
girls. Perhaps I should have.

Instead I was content with life. I loved my photography degree and happily snapped away whenever I could (not just when I was given coursework), had my wonderful boyfriend who visited me whenever he could (and was only a phone call away at other times), and a best friend who made me feel like I was back at home whenever he was around (which was most of the time). I knew my uni experience would have been very different if I hadn’t had Ben there to share it with.

I loved how my life was shaping up. Everything seemed to be falling into place.

I should have realized it was all too good to be true.