Skins: Endgame

Chapter 19

A little earlier on in the evening, before the drama in the Rhino's Horn, the guests were arriving at Freddie's party. Thomas stood outside, a bit nervous. Panda was in there, in unknown territory. He had never been inside Freddie's shed before.

Suddenly, he heard movement behind him. Katie and Emily had arrived.

"Hi, Thomas," Said Emily.

"Hey girls! I've never been here before, to Freddie's shed."

"Yeah, Same here," Replied Emily. "First time for everything, yeah?"

"Right," Interjected Katie, Let's get this party started!"

The three of them entered the shed, expecting full on madness. Instead, they found that both Effy and Panda were almost asleep on the couch, with JJ, Karen and Cook sitting around a table, playing some kind of game. "What the fuck kind of lame-o rave is this?!" Katie almost shouted. "I dressed up."

"Yeah, well, you took long enough getting here," Retorted Cook.

"We're playing Ace of Truth," Said JJ excitedly. "And I can tell you we've learned a few things tonight. - Haven't we, Karen?"

"You said it had to be shocking," Protested Karen. "Yeah..." Muttered JJ. "Please don't say it. I'm still feeling queasy... Who's going to start?"

"I will." Everybody towards the still open shed door, where Naomi stood. She stepped inside, closed the door and directly faced Emily. It was the last chance for their relationship, deduced Naomi, so she was going all out.

"Look... I've loved you from the first time I saw you. I think I was 12. It took me three years to pluck up the courage to speak to you, and I was so scared of the way I felt, you know, loving a girl, that I learned how to become a sarcastic bitch just to make it feel normal. I screwed guys to make it go away, but it didn't work. When we got together, it scared the shit out of me, because you were the one person who could ruin my life. I pushed you away and made you think things were your fault, but really I was just terrified of pain. I screwed that girl Sophia to kind of spite you for having a hold on me and I'm a total fucking coward, because I got these these tickets to Goa for us three months ago but I, I - I couldn't stand - I didn't want to be a slave to the way I feel about you. Can you understand? You were trying to punish me back, and it's horrible. It's so horrible because Really, I'd die for you. I love you. I love you so much it's killing me."

The entire room was nearly in tears at Naomi's speech, but nobody more so than Emily, who embraced Naomi and kissed her fiercely.

It was the spark they all needed. The Party was in full swing once again. Shots flowed, vodka was downed from the bottle and everybody was happy for a time. Even Cook, despite a hectic day, had some time for peace. But he knew he was just playing for time. It was a miracle he'd survived this long on the run. Sooner or later, he knew he'd be cornered. He remembered Tony again, how Tony had almost got him arrested. The thought of him put a huge downer on Cook's mood, which quickly turned to anger.

Effy was quite out of it. One shot too many, thought Cook. She'd left her phone on the floor. Good. If he was going to go down in the long term, he at least wanted to settle the score with Tony, despite how close both of them were to Effy.

He picked up the phone and quickly found Tony's number. With haste, he began to text.

As he did, Panda went and sat down next to Thomas in the corner. "I'm going away, Panda," he said. "Even though I have no exams, I have a chance to study. They have a scholarship for athletes. A friend is going to help me."

"Right," Replied Panda. If they were revealing surprised to each other, no time was better than now to reveal hers, "I was going to tell-"

"It's a long way away," Continued Thomas. "The USA. It's called Harvard. I think I have a chance there. I can make a new start. And you know I run like a dog."