It almost looked like Pip was having fun, were it not for the Mr Darcy-like grimace on her face every time Rooney got too close to her. Lights flashed around them, and every few seconds they would be hidden from view by other dancing bodies and smiling faces – but then they’d return, and they’d be a little closer to each other, moving to the music. Rooney towered over Pip, mostly because of her giant heeled boots, but she was a few inches taller normally anyway, and when Rooney put her arms round her, I felt suddenly worried that they’d both just fall over, and then Pip started to protest, but must have found herself ignored, realising she’d got herself into this situation and now had to deal with it.
For a moment I thought Rooney was going to lean in and kiss her, but she didn’t.
Pip shot a glance at me, and I just smiled at her, then stopped watching them. They weren’t going to murder each other. Hopefully.
Jason and I ate a packet of crisps Jason had procured from the bar and we talked, and it reminded me of what we’d do on the school play dress-rehearsal days when we weren’t needed in a scene. Pip was always a lead role so she was busy the whole day, but Jason and I would get to sneak off and sit behind a curtain somewhere, eating snacks and watching TikTok compilations on my phone, trying not to laugh too loud.
‘D’you miss home?’ Jason asked.
I thought about it. ‘I don’t know. Do you?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. ‘I mean, I’m a bit homesick, I guess.’ He chuckled. ‘I miss my dads, even though they’ve called me every day. And I’ve already watched the Scooby-Doo movie four times. For comfort. But school was hell. I don’t miss school.’
‘Mm.’ Uni wasn’t any better so far. For me, anyway.
‘What?’
‘I like being here,’ I said.
‘At uni?’
‘No, here. With you.’
Jason opened his eyes again and turned to me. He smiled. ‘Me too.’
‘GEORGIA!’ screeched Rooney, stumbling over to us from the dance floor. ‘You’ve found a MAN.’
‘No,’ I said. ‘This is my friend Jason. Remember?’
‘I know who he is,’ she said, crouching down in front of us. ‘I know exactly what’s going on here.’ She pointed a finger at me. ‘You.’ She pointed at Jason. ‘And him.’ She clapped her hands together. ‘Big. Messy. Feelings.’
I just shook my head, and I felt Jason shift a tiny bit away from me while he laughed awkwardly. What was Rooney talking about?
Rooney patted Jason on the shoulder. ‘S’nice. You should just tell Georgia, though.’
Jason didn’t say anything. I checked to see if he knew what Rooney was talking about, but his face didn’t give anything away.
‘I don’t get it,’ I said.
‘You’re very interesting,’ said Rooney to Jason, ‘and very boring at the same time because you never do anything.’
‘I’m going to the loo,’ said Jason, standing up with an expression on his face I only saw on him when he was drunk – deep irritation. But he wasn’t drunk. He was genuinely pissed off. He walked away from us.
‘That was really rude,’ I said to Rooney. I think I was genuinely pissed off too.
‘Are you aware that Jason is into you?’
The words hit me like lightning.
Are you aware that Jason is into you?
Jason. One of my best friends in the entire world. We’d known each other for over four years, we’d hung out more times than I could count, I knew his face as well as my own. We could tell each other anything.
But he hadn’t told me that.
‘What?’ I croaked, my breath gone.
Rooney laughed. ‘Are you joking? His crush on you is so obvious it’s actually painful to watch.’
How was this possible? I was excellent at recognising romantic feelings. I could always tell when people were flirting with me, or each other. I always knew when Pip and Jason had crushes on people.
How had I missed this?
‘He’s a really lovely guy,’ said Rooney, her voice softer, as she sat on the sofa beside me. ‘Have you really not considered him?’
‘I …’ I started to tell Rooney that I didn’t like him like that, but … did I even know what romantic feelings felt like? I thought I’d had a crush on Tommy for seven years and that turned out to be nothing.
Jason was a really lovely guy. I mean, I loved him.