‘Happy birthday,’ Suzanne said in reply, a tight smile on her face.
When we headed into the living room to find the alcohol, she turned to me and gripped my wrist momentarily. ‘Oh my God, I need a drink.’
‘Me too,’ I said, already feeling self-conscious and out of place. Suzanne had done a good job making me up on the outside, but it hadn’t had the transformative effect I’d hoped for on the inside. I was still me.
We took our drinks into another room which had a table covered in pizzas and a crowd of excitable teenagers and found a spot for the three of us on the bench that was built into the wall.
‘Cheers,’ Rosie said, angling her bottle towards me.
‘Cheers,’ I replied, more enthusiastically than I really meant, clinking my bottle against hers. Suzanne leaned over the two of us and jiggled her own bottle between ours.
‘I see Dylan,’ Rosie said quietly.
Suzanne took a sip from her bottle and made a face. ‘Can we pretend he’s not here?’
I was about to ask which one Dylan was, but there was no need. As soon as he spotted us his face changed and he started to make his way over.
‘Oh great,’ Rosie muttered to me. ‘Can’t we at least get a few drinks in first?’
When both Rosie and Suzanne had talked about Dylan, I’d expected a good-looking lad-type. Probably a bit obnoxious, aware of his appeal; hot in an obvious way. But Dylan was tall and lithe with messy dark hair and the unlikeliest blue eyes. He was wearing skinny jeans, a Bon Iver T-shirt and, most unexpectedly of all, a lip ring. This was not in any way a description I would have thought to put on a boy my two best friends both liked.
But then he smiled. And it made a lot more sense.
‘Don’t even think about it,’ Suzanne said.
He ignored this. ‘Hey,’ he said, looking right at her. ‘You all right?’
Suzanne just looked at him. A fierce, furious glare.
‘Want to come out for a smoke?’ Dylan asked, undeterred. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and waved them slightly, still with that smile on his face. The smile said, Of course you do.
Unexpected. That was the only word I could think of for him.
‘Dylan, just go,’ Rosie said, her voice exasperated.
‘Aw, Roz,’ Dylan said, surprising me again. He called her Roz. ‘I’m building bridges here.’
I glanced at Suzanne just in time to see something flash across her face. She did want to go with him. Even if it was just for a second, she did.
‘Run along, little boy,’ she said instead.
Dylan slid a cigarette between his lips, a smirk crooked behind it. ‘See you later then.’
After he’d gone, Suzanne’s tensed shoulders relaxed against mine. Leaning on me, she turned to Rosie. ‘Credit for that, please.’
Rosie grinned. ‘Well done, I’m so proud.’ She reached over and adjusted the strap of my top. ‘What did you think of him, Cads?’
‘Is there an acceptable answer to that?’ I asked.
‘Let’s not talk about him,’ Suzanne said. ‘Let’s just have fun.’
‘Yes,’ Rosie said emphatically. ‘The three of us getting drunk on a Saturday night. Yes. And you . . .’ She gestured her bottle towards Suzanne. ‘Are you going to disappear again?’
‘No!’ Suzanne said, looking hurt. ‘I’m here with you guys. I’ll stay with you. I promise.’
She didn’t.
To be fair, she lasted for over an hour, and by the time I turned and realized she’d disappeared I was having too much fun to really care. I was sitting around a ridiculously grand oak table with a plastic cup of beer in front of me, playing a complicated drinking game that involved numbers. Four rounds in and I still wasn’t certain of the rules. Levina’s boyfriend, Charlie, had taken charge, but most of the people I was playing with I didn’t actually know.
But that didn’t seem to matter, all of a sudden. We were just having fun.
‘Five!’ the girl next to me bellowed.
‘Six!’ I said.
‘Seven!’ Maya realized her mistake as soon as she spoke, but we all booed anyway. ‘Oh fuck. Shut up, OK.’ She took a swig of her drink. ‘ONE!’
We started around the table again, me trying to concentrate on the numbers people were saying over the fuzzy blur of the beer.
‘I’m going to get a drink,’ Rosie said into my ear. ‘Want anything?’
‘No, I’m good,’ I said, lifting my cup as proof. ‘NINE!’
Rosie rolled her eyes, but she was grinning. She put her hand on my shoulder to hoist herself out of her chair, squeezing affectionately.
I was so engrossed in the game that I almost didn’t notice her return, until I felt a prod on my shoulder and turned distractedly to see her standing there, holding a bottle of WKD. She gestured to me with her free hand. ‘You need to come and see this.’
I stood reluctantly and followed her through the living room. She stopped inside the patio doors and I looked out obediently. There were two figures kissing by the table outside. It took me a moment to realize it was Suzanne and Dylan.
Dylan was half sitting, half leaning against the table. Suzanne was standing between his partly open legs, her arms around his neck, his around her waist.