Henry smiles his proud-boyfriend smile as I glance back at him.
‘I think so,’ he says, with shining eyes – it’s almost unbearable, but he really deserves his dumb luck. I don’t switch my smile back on in time as he eyes me again.
He gestures to the door. ‘Want some fresh air?’
By which he means ‘Want to talk privately?’
No, not really, but every other time I’ve poured out my stupid problems to him, it’s been a major relief. I nod hesitantly and follow him out.
The night is fresh but it’s not as bitterly cold as the evening of the New Year Ball. It’s early March now, and the days are mild enough that the afternoons are starting to feel like spring.
Henry pulls up the hood on his Dunbridge hoodie all the same, and shivers as he wraps his arms around his chest.
‘Want to tell me about it?’
‘Tell you about what?’ I ask.
Henry shrugs. ‘You tell me.’
I sigh.
‘Tori?’ he asks. I shut my eyes. ‘Tori,’ he says, as if to himself. ‘Thought as much.’
‘Answer me one question,’ I demand. ‘How did you and Emma get it together?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Things were seriously complicated between you. You were still with Grace. Emma wasn’t planning to spend more than a year here. And yet you managed it.’
‘Do you want the romantic answer or the realistic one?’ Henry asks.
‘Neither.’
‘Then you shouldn’t have asked. So . . . there were more reasons to be with her than not to be with her. Stop rolling your eyes, you know what I’m talking about.’
‘Was that the romantic version or the realistic one?’
‘Whichever you prefer,’ says Henry, drily.
‘Not helping, man . . .’
‘Communication,’ Henry says, more seriously now. ‘Communication’s the key.’
I groan with frustration.
‘What did you think I was going to suggest? Staying passive and waiting for a miracle isn’t the most promising approach. I know it’s crap, but there you are. Some problems just disappear the moment you talk about them. Crazy, but true.’
‘Bennington, don’t fuck with me, I can do that for myself.’
‘OK, no. Sorry, I get it, you’re in despair.’
‘No, I don’t think you do.’ I straighten up. ‘We kissed.’
‘Back in the second form, I know.’
‘No, I . . . Hold the bus.’ I stop. ‘How do you know that?’
‘I saw you when I was going to the bogs.’
