When I reach my room, the whole corridor is still quiet. A few minutes later, I hear noises next door, so Tori must be back too. A moment later, my door is opened. I pretend to sleep as Ms.Barnett looks in, and only dare to breathe again when the door closes.
My phone lights up. It’s a message from Tori.
T:Where are you??? Ms.Barnett’s checking rooms
I roll onto my side and start to type.
E:I know, I’m here
T:Oh, OK. Phew!
E:Did you get caught?
T:I think everyone ran in time. Henry warned us. He went to look for you
I type back.
E:I know. He found me
Tori sends an emoji of a moon with a knowing grin, but I don’t reply because I hear a sound at my door. I immediately jump up and open it. Henry slips into my room. I hold back until he’s shut the door, then wrap my arms around him and kiss him.
“Everything OK?” he murmurs into my lips.
I nod.
He kisses me again. “God, that was close.”
Stop talking...
I press my body against his, and it works. Henry puts a hand on my head. He’s got the wall against his back, and as he pulls me to him, a floorboard creaks under our feet. He leans forward slightly, wraps himself around my thighs, and I wrap my legs around his hips as he lifts me up. As he carries me through the darkened room, we kiss more slowly because he has to watch where he’s putting his feet.
He lays me on the bed and lingers over me. I know we won’t go any further tonight when a tiny smile twitches his lips and he presses a kiss on my nose.
“We kissed,” I say as he pulls off his shoes and I slide under the duvet.
“Yes, I think we did.”
I raise the covers slightly so that he can come to me. It feels so familiar and yet so new as we lie on our sides next to each other, looking at each other. It’s still a squeeze—our knees bump into one another. Henry lifts his leg so that I can wrap mine around it.
“And you split up,” I repeat. Because of me. So now I’m the arsehole who stole Grace’s way-too-perfect school-captain boyfriend.
“Things hadn’t been good between us for ages, Emma,” says Henry, as if he could read my mind.
“So why didn’t you split up ages ago, then?”
“Because there was no reason to.”
“But now there suddenly was?”
Silence.
“I don’t want to be the reason,” I whisper.
“I know. But there are two separate things. The breakup, which is between me and Grace, and this... This is only between us.”
“Are you sure you’ll still see it the same way by daylight tomorrow?” I wonder. “When you’re sober again and everyone’s talking?”
“I don’t give a shit if the others talk.”
