‘No, not really. I thought it would be funny to invite you to a picnic then drop a bucket of pig’s blood on your head and point at you with all my friends.’
That gets a smirk out of me at least.
‘Okay, Carrie, got it.’
‘Technically, you’d be the Carrie in that situation,’ Alice points out. ‘But I’m serious. Come, it’ll be fun, there will be cake.’
‘Are you baking?’
She gags and shakes her head.
‘No. I like Mia, I don’t want to ruin her birthday. Maybe not as much as you like her but still.’
She winks, redistributing the weight of the crate in her arms, and I leap forward to take it from her when it slips. Damn. She really is strong. Leading the way across the empty dancefloor towards the bar, Alice motions for me to follow and I trot behind like a dutiful dog. It’s not as though I have a choice, I can’t exactly dump the crate of bottles and run, but my heart rate picks up as we approach and Mia looks my way. Why does this feel like I’m back in third grade? Why am I so sure Alice is going to tell her friend I like her and they’re both going to laugh?
She points to the open hatch at the end of the bar and I pass through, bobbing my head in Mia’s direction. She seems surprised to see me, as though I haven’t been sat staring at her all night long. There’s a huge dumpster full of empty bottles through the open back door and I toss the contents of my crate with a satisfying medley of breaking glass. When I walk back into the bar, Alice is sliding Mia’s purse onto her shoulder and pushing her through the hatch.
‘No, because Oliver said—’ I hear her say but Alice isn’t interested.
‘Oliver saidifhe was still here and he isn’t. He left with Bryn ages ago.’ She points to me and I suddenly feel as though I’m completely naked in the middle of the bar. ‘As my first official act in honour of your birthday, I am sending you home seven minutes early with your official escort. That’s you,’ she adds with a theatrical hiss.
Taking my cue, I bow low, then hold out my arm.
‘M’lady.’
Mia purses her lips and it’s so close to a pout, something stirs in my shorts. I’m twenty years old, I can get hard from bumping into a doorknob, but the way this girl gets to me is unreal.
‘What about you?’ she says to her friend as I subtly shuffle my junk.
‘Firstly, the Hemden campus is so safe it’s almost embarrassing,’ Alice replies, ‘and secondly, I’ve got Anders, Michael and Jenna to walk with me and I need to talk to them about your birthday surprise so it would be incredibly helpful if the two of you would, and I say this with nothing but love, knob off.’
‘You heard the lady,’ I say when Alice jerks her thumb towards the door. ‘We gotta knob off.’
‘Well, when it’s been put so eloquently.’ Mia’s cherry-red lips pull up and there’s that unexpected sense of anticipation again. ‘Let’s go. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘One o’clock!’ Alice calls as we say a quick goodnight to her friends in the last booth. ‘I’ll come and knock for you. Be ready!’
It’s so much colder than it was when I arrived at the bar. The English nights turn so fast, and Mia is shivering from the moment we step outside. Without saying anything, I peel off my jacket and drape it over her shoulders.
‘Thanks.’
If nothing else, I would truly love it if she could stop looking so surprised every time that I do something that could be considered nice.
‘Happy birthday,’ I try, as she pulls the jacket closed around her. ‘Twenty, right?’
‘How’d you know?’
‘Alice mentioned it on Friday, in The Snug.’
She considers the information and continues walking, following the winding leaf-strewn path that leads back to our dorm.
‘Reckon you’re the first person I met who skipped a grade,’ I say, pushing the conversation forward.
‘Really?’
‘Think so. Didn’t happen to anyone in my school.’
‘Really.’
