Jason – who I realised suddenly had built up a lot of muscle strength since joining the rowing club – rowed the five of us down the river. It wasn’t far from John’s to Elvet Bridge, but we started to draw a lot of attention as we approached the town centre, rowing along in our suits and ties with musical instruments stored cautiously at our feet.
There was absolutely no need to do this from a boat other than for dramatic effect. And I was regretting it a little. But, overall, I knew that Pip would love this. Pip loved anything that was a little ridiculous and theatrical.
The others were all laughing and gabbling excitedly, which I was glad for, because I was so nervous I couldn’t even talk. It was freezing too, but at least the adrenaline was keeping me warm.
The bridge slowly approached from the distance. Sunil kept checking his watch to make sure we were on time.
‘Nearly there,’ Jason murmured from behind me.
I turned to him, feeling comforted by his presence.
‘It’s gonna be amazing,’ he said.
‘Yeah?’
‘Yeah.’
I tried out a little smile. ‘Thanks for helping.’
Jason shrugged. ‘We’re friends.’
I grinned. ‘Let me know if you need any help with any elaborate platonic gestures of your own.’
‘I will.’
And when I turned back and looked up at the bridge, Pip was there.
Her eyes were wide behind her glasses. The winter wind was whipping her hair into a mess of dark curls. She was bundled in a thick Puffa jacket, standing next to her friend who, thankfully, had brought her here on time.
She was looking down at me, mouth open, absolutely baffled.
I just grinned. I couldn’t help it.
‘Hi!’ I called up to her.
And then she grinned back and shouted, ‘What the fuck?’
I turned to everyone on the boat. Sunil, Jess and Rooney had picked up their instruments, ready to begin. They were waiting for me.
‘Ready?’ I said.
They nodded. I counted them in.
And then, with three accompanists, I stood on a boat on the River Wear and sang ‘Your Song’ – the version specifically from Moulin Rouge – to Pip Quintana, who didn’t yet know me as well as I wished she did, but despite that, was one of my favourite people I had ever met.
We didn’t actually perform the full three minutes thirty-nine seconds of ‘Your Song’， instead keeping it to a safe ninety seconds so the whole thing didn’t become too embarrassing and awkward for anyone involved. But I was probably still going to look back on this and cringe for the rest of my life.
When the song ended, we’d drawn quite a large crowd of onlookers from Durham’s town centre, and Pip’s smile was so wide and bright that all I could think about was that she looked like the sun. Our performance had done its job.
Jason nudged me in the side.
I looked at him, feeling how much my face was burning. ‘What?’
‘You need to ask the question.’
Oh yeah.
I grabbed the megaphone we’d brought with us from the bottom of the rowing boat – carefully, so I didn’t just fall into the water, which was becoming an ever-increasing danger by this point – and held it up.
‘Pip Quintana,’ I said, and it came out so loud through the megaphone that I made myself jump.
Pip looked incredibly flustered and still did not seem to know what was going on. ‘Yes?’
‘Will you be my college wife?’
The look on her face told me that she was not expecting that question.
Then she smacked her palm on to her forehead. She realised.
‘YES!’ she shrieked at me. ‘AND I HATE YOU!’
And then people just started applauding. All the random people who’d paused on the bridge and by the river to watch – a lot of students, but also local residents of Durham too – clapped, and a few of them cheered. It was a whole thing. Like in a movie. I prayed none of them had filmed it.
And then Pip started to cry.
‘Oh fuck,’ I said. ‘Jason?’
‘Yes?’
‘She’s crying.’
‘Yes, she is.’
I started patting Jason on the arm. ‘We need to get to shore.’
Jason grabbed the oars. ‘On it.’
When we got to shore, Pip had already run down the steps from the bridge, made her way down the path and on to the grassy riverbank, and when I got out of the boat, she ran into me and hugged me so aggressively that I stumbled backwards, fell, and suddenly both of us were sitting waist-deep in the River Wear.