It's Never Just Goodbye // Ed Sheeran

We're Young and We're Reckless

Ed

“Goodnight.” My mum calls from the hallway. Our lights are off and Nina's laying on Matt’s bed, staring over at me. Head against her hand, and elbow to her knee.

“I’m bored.” She states.

“Me, too. I’m tired.” The wine at dinner made me long for sleep.

“Well, wake up. You aren’t sleeping right now. It’s New Year’s Eve, Ed. We’re staying up to midnight.”

I sigh, open my eyes to her, and say, “I’m too tired.”

“Oh, get up! You’re such an idiot!”

“Okay…” I sat up. Thinking it would wake me up. It didn’t.

I would offer for Nina and I to go to the pub to bring in the new year, but Kim and the others might be there. I didn’t want to risk it. And all the other bars were too expensive and awful.

“Ask me something.” She demands. “Keep it interesting.”

“What was school like for you?” 

She groans thinking about it and gives a half-nod, half-shudder. “Stupid question.” But with a flick of her wrist, Nina says, “I was shy and it absolutely sucked. The only part that was the least bit good was my friends half the time.”

“School sucked for me until I was older. I decided college was a waste and never went…”

“Is that when you met Alice?” I nodded. She kind of laughs dryly with a hint of sleep in the middle. She says, “I guess I had my own Alice, man. Not as serious though. He was the only boy I dated before you.”

“I’m always talking about my past, what about you Nesbitt? Tell me about this boyfriend. Tell me about your friends.” I didn’t want to egg this on, but I wanted to show her that this was all right. That talking about exes was okay and the past.

“Why would you want to know? It’s not like I wanted to know about Alice.” She says, but I know she did.

“Enlighten me, blondie.”

“You’re insane. That’s why it’s the past.”

“Nina, come on.” I pushed.

She laughs and throws a pillow from her bed at me. “All right. Ask me questions. Let’s get this ball rolling shall we. What do you want to know?”

“Well, you’ve told me about your friends… Um, okay. Tell me about that guy. About days spent in Edinburgh and where you worked and how school was.”

“God, too much. You’re like the aunts that get too personal at Christmas dinner when they drink too much wine.”

“Tell me.”

“Well, start off with something simpler… One topic.”

“Okay. Just tell me anything.”

“The guy. You want to know about the guy?” I nodded. She sighed. “I don’t see why, but okay. His name was Sam and I met him during school…”

They met in school. The hallway to be more specific, she told me, when they bumped into each other and she smelt the alcohol on his breath. “I wanted to be more spontaneous, okay? Me and my friends would go out and drink and have fun on the weekends, but I wanted more. And there he was.”

She followed him down the hallway, books pressed to her chest, and passed her class by. He was heading for the field outside of the school and she followed him all the way. “He knew I was following him because he’d look back and smile his wicked smile and I’d smile as I kept walking. I felt like I was in a trance.”