Angel Kiss - Laura Jane Cassidy [30]
‘So they’re finished then?’ I asked, maybe a little too eagerly. I felt bad for Nick, because I knew what it felt like to be cheated on. But I also felt unbelievably happy.
‘I reckon so,’ said Chris. This was shaping up to be the best night in a long time.
Chris handed me a can of cider and cracked one open for himself. I pulled Colin’s shirt tighter around me. I was cold but I didn’t care. Nick and Sarah were finished. And there was even a possibility that he might like me. I couldn’t believe my luck. And this was my first time out past midnight since we’d moved to Avarna. It was great just to be somewhere other than the caravan. Mum had a habit of going to bed annoyingly early, so the past few weeks I’d only had my iPod for company after eleven. I loved just sitting here talking. We chatted about random things, our conversation spattered with shouts of disagreement and blasts of laughter.
‘Damn, you look good,’ Colin told his reflection in my owl-shaped pocket mirror.
‘Give me that!’ I said. My eyeliner had completely rubbed away and the spot on my forehead that I’d so carefully concealed earlier was starting to show again. I wanted to look my best, just in case Nick arrived.
‘Don’t worry, Jacki, you look great,’ said Colin, flipping the mirror closed and throwing it into my lap. ‘Sure you’ve already impressed Simon over there. What more could you want?’
Simon still couldn’t look me in the eye, and he went really red when I tried to make conversation with him. I gulped down the remainder of the can. I was starting to feel kind of nauseous after the vodka and Coke in Clancy’s. What was I thinking, mixing my drinks? That never ended well.
Chris lit a cigarette and offered me one.
‘No, thanks,’ I said.
‘Jacki doesn’t smoke – she’s a singer,’ explained Colin.
‘Wow, cool!’ said Emily. ‘I wish I could sing. I’ve never sung in front of anyone.’
‘I can sing,’ claimed Fitz. It was the first thing he’d said in about twenty minutes.
‘Ha, no, you can’t,’ said Simon with a snort.
Fitz took a deep breath, and then sang a few bars of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ impressively well.
‘Fitz, you legend,’ said Colin. ‘Apologize to the man, Simon.’
‘I stand corrected,’ admitted Simon.
‘I know,’ said Chris, ‘Let’s play I Never!’
‘What’s that?’ asked Emily, running her fingers through the pine needles beside me.
‘Well, basically you say something you’ve never done, like “Never have I ever … been caught by my parents getting stoned.” Then whoever has actually done the thing you said, has to drink. Like, if you had said that, Fitz would have drunk.’
‘Never have I ever … stolen something,’ said Chris. I’d never stolen anything ever. Nothing. Not even a jellybean when everyone else was stealing them from the sweet stand in the cinema. There was no way I could do it. Weird? Maybe.
Chris drank, Simon drank, Emily didn’t drink, Colin didn’t.
‘Never have I ever … got so drunk that I passed out,’ said Simon.
I didn’t drink. I’d never let myself go that far.
Colin drank, Chris drank, Emily didn’t.
‘Never have I ever had sex in the back of a car,’ said Fitz.
I didn’t drink for that one either. Not only had I never had sex in a car, I’d never had sex anywhere. Hopefully nobody would say that one.
Simon was the only one who took a mouthful from his can. I had a feeling he was bluffing.
‘Never have I ever kissed more than one person on the same night,’ offered Emily.
I drank. It was at a school disco when I was thirteen. I kissed my boyfriend at the time, then some random guy when my boyfriend went off with another girl. Those discos were never as good as we hyped them up to be.
Then it was my turn to think up something. ‘Never have I ever … had a crush on one of my teachers.’
Nobody drank, except for Emily.
‘What?’ she said. ‘Am I the only one? We have a really hot English teacher!’
One can of cider later and I was way past my limit. Usually I didn’t drink much at all. I was talking too loudly, and stuff that wasn’t even remotely funny seemed absolutely hilarious.
Chris twisted the tab of his beer can until it came off, then he