Brew Books

Chapter 21

At some stage, Ed grabs me by the hand and pulls me towards him. 'I'm going to go,' he tells me. He has to lean into me to speak into my ear, and over his shoulder I see Harper, dancing with Charlotte but watching me. I know I should go with Ed, but I like dancing with the group and don't want to leave.

'I might stay,' I tell Ed.

Ed shakes his head. 'No way,' he tells me. 'You've gotta work tomorrow.'

I take some convincing, but eventually Ed gets me to agree to leave with him. Kitty on the other hand, is impossible to convince.

'Come on, Kit, you said you would come,' Ed says, but Kitty has decided she wants to dance.

Will wants a hug goodbye. I go to hug Kitty, too, but she's never been one for physical affection, and even when she's drunk she pulls away. I say bye to the rest of them, and Ed and I walk out onto the street. I wrap my arms over my chest and we half-jog to the tube station because we're so cold.

When we're sitting on the night tube, I realise how drunk and tired I am, and how glad I am that Ed is taking me home. I like how responsible he is, and how he leads the way effortlessly when we change tubes.

When we get in, Ed showers but I go straight to bed. It feels like only a few minutes later that my alarm wakes me up. The hangover hasn't hit yet, but I'm numbingly tired. I force myself into the shower and downstairs, where of course, Ed is already waiting and setting up the coffee machine for the day.

'How you feeling?' Ed asks me.

'I'm okay,' I say. 'It's going to be a rough morning. How about you?'

'Yeah, same,' Ed says. He makes us both extra strong coffees, with vanilla syrup in mine, and we allow ourselves five minutes to sit on the sofa, nursing our coffees and our hangovers.

The morning shift goes unbearably slowly, and I swear there are more customers than normal. Will finally relieves me and I go upstairs to chill out.

I nap, and then watch Netflix all afternoon. When it's almost dinnertime I emerge from my room and make a cup of tea, and check in the fridge to see what food I have. I hope one of the others is planning on making dinner for everyone. No one's in my flat, so I go over to the other flat, expecting to find everyone.

Kitty, Charlotte and Sylvie are on the sofa. Kitty's painting her nails sunflower yellow. Sylvie's lying upside down, with her natural, curly hair spilling on the floor and her dark legs raised in the air. Charlotte is sitting with her hands wrapped around her knees, a blanket over her shoulders. She looks vulnerable.

'Hey,' I say. 'How was the rest of last night? Anyone want a tea?'

I put the kettle on to boil and lean against the kitchen surface, looking back towards the girls.

'We went to an after party at one of the guy's houses, stayed there until like six,' Kitty says. 'Did you see Sylvie's Instagram story?'

I feel a stab of envy that the three girls had a huge night without me. Even though I'm glad I came home earlier with Ed, I am jealous.

'Is anyone making dinner?' I say, as the kettle boils. I pour water into the four cups I've put out. 'I can run to Tesco if you guys feel too ill.'

'The boys have gone to get pizza,' Kitty says.

'Okay,' I say. I let the tea brew, add milk (except, for Charlotte's, which I leave black), and bring them over two at a time.

'So, tell me about last night,' I say, sitting down next to Charlotte. Even this evening, with messy hair and no makeup, Charlotte is unbelievably beautiful. Albeit fake, her bronzed skin highlights her perfect collarbones and defined, pointed jaw and chin. Her cheekbones and brow bones don't even need makeup; they're sharp enough. And her hair as it is now – wrapped into a messy half ponytail – is still lovely, with its rich, fake, cherry red colour. She's wearing an effortless grey t-shirt dress and long white socks.

Charlotte sips at her tea, Sylvie remains upside-down, and Kitty continues to paint her nails without looking at me.

'Any drama?' I ask, desperate for the three of them to give me a glimpse into what their night was like.

'Pizza's here!' The flat door opens with a slam. I'm relieved. At least with the boys around I feel like I'm on more of a level playing field. When it's just the girls, I'm the odd one out. But the boys include me. Boys always seem to like me more than girls do.

Will enters with four pizza boxes in his arms. He's wearing a black cap, which I've learnt means he hasn't gelled his hair. Behind him is Ed, in a bright orange t-shirt, holding two bottles of Coke, and then Harper, wearing a black hoodie, with the hood up, and his hands in his pocket. He looks rough.

We open the pizza boxes on the table, each grab a plate and help ourselves, then sit back down on the sofas and the floor cushions to eat. No one can decide on what to watch on Netflix, but after arguing over whether we want an easy rom com movie or a drama, Will eventually says, 'That's it, we're watching The Office,' and no one complains.

I eat two slices of the cheap pizza, and contemplate a third but decide against it. I know it's the hangover talking when I crave greasy, fatty food after a night out. And I don't want Harper to see me stuff my face with pizza.

But maybe I shouldn't be worried about Harper tonight. He's taken his pizza to the sofa and he's sitting there, hood still up, looking at his pizza as if he's contemplating its very existence.

The conversation is stale tonight, and I feel gross after eating the pizza, so I force myself to go and get changed into my Lululemon and go for a quick run. I know it'll clear the last lingering bit of hangover and make me feel fresher after the pizza.

I jog up towards Westbourne Park, to admire the nicer houses there, and then back. I'm thinking as I approach our street that I'll go and shower and then spend the rest of the night watching Netflix, being antisocial. As I approach our flat, I see Charlotte coming out the front door, with the pizza boxes in a recycling bag.

I stop, breathing heavily, and say hi to Charlotte, who takes a moment to look me up and down.

'A shame you couldn't stay longer last night,' Charlotte says. I hold the door open for her and she walks past me.

'Yeah, it sucks,' I say. 'Next time, definitely.'

'It was a pretty wild night,' Charlotte says, walking up the stairs ahead of me. 'Kitty hooked up with that DJ, Will hooked up with a drag queen...'

We reach the doors separating our flats. I'm wrapping my earphones around my hand, but look up when Charlotte says, 'but don't worry about Harper and me.'

I blink at her.

'You and Harper?' I ask.

Charlotte laughs. 'I know, right? I was so drunk. Never again!' she says, and she opens the door to her flat, closes it behind her, and leaves me standing in the hallway.

• Author's Note •

Uh oh... Harper and Charlotte? What are your thoughts about this?

And as usual, my question for the chapter...

What's your favourite pizza topping? And um... does pineapple go on pizza??

elle xx