I beam at her. ‘For the record, I actually really love my hot pink mirror. I just didn’t want to admit it.’
‘You do?!’ She looks thrilled. ‘Maybe thereissome mileage in upcycling then…’
‘Oh god,’ I laugh, then I stop. Squeezing her hand, I ask the big question. ‘What are you going to do about Brandon?’
Clara looks away. ‘I don’t know yet.’ She inhales deeply. ‘And I want to tell you everything – the whole story – but I just need a minute. Can we just… can I just…’
Her eyes are wild and fearful, so I cut her off. ‘There’s no rush. Let’s go find Harry and start exploring. We’re in New York for god’s sake! And we’re only here until tomorrow night, so you have to show us around. Harry says we have to get trashed and dry hump the Statue of Liberty.’ I shake my head. ‘I don’t know what these fancy private schools are teaching our young men these days.’
Chapter Thirty-NineCLARA
‘So where’s the coffee shop?’ Harry is turning on his heel in circles, searching for something.
I frown. ‘There are loads of them.’
He looks exasperated. ‘Central Perk!’ He waves his hands like I’m stupid. ‘We’re right next to Central Park, there is surely aFriendscoffee shop called Central Perk?’
I shrug. ‘I think someone said there is a coffee place in that location, but god knows where that building was even filmed.’ I pause. ‘You know there’s like 843 acres of this park?’
Jemma’s eyes widen at my knowledge. ‘How do you know that? Did Angela tell you that?’
I give her a smug look. ‘The Sponsored Snog. A couple of years ago a group of us decided to try to snog someone in every acre of this place.’ I grimace. ‘It was gruelling but I knew I couldn’t give up. I covered more than my fair share, but still only managed to snog fifty-six people that year.’
‘Wow!’ Jemma looks intrigued. ‘How much did you raise for charity?’
I shoot her a confused look. ‘Huh? Ohhh right, when I saysponsored, I just mean we were, like, in it together and, y’know,supportedeach other. I bought sooo many drinks for people.’
‘That’s not what sponsored means on any level,’ Jemma points out, but Harry looks super impressed. And then a bit grossed out.
‘So anyway, how much of this park do you actually want to see?’ I ask, hoping they’ll say this is enough. Central Park was on the list of touristy places Jemma and Harry wanted to visit, but a park is still just a park. And I’ve been sleeping on a really crappy sofa for a few nights, I’m not sure how much more walking I’m capable of.
‘Shall we go see the Met now?’ Jemma says eagerly and I squint at her.
‘The… Met?’ I enquire. ‘What the hell is that? Like the Met Office? You want to know about the weather? Or do you mean the Met Police?’
Harry jumps in. ‘No, she means the New York Mets! Baseball, right, Jem?’
Jemma looks horrified. ‘No! God no! To all of those suggestions. Why are there so many things called the Met?’ She looks at me penetratingly. ‘Clara, are you telling me you lived here for five years and you’ve never evenheardof the Metropolitan Museum of Art?’
‘Erm,’ I hedge, ‘oh yeah, that’s totally a thing I’ve heardof.’ I pause. ‘And have been to, of course! It’s full of, like… paintings?’ Jemma snorts at my expression and I giggle. ‘OK, fine, I don’t know it.’ I give her a hard look. ‘And I’m pretty sure you don’t care about art either. I know you love books, but I’ve literally never heard you mention art or artists in your life. And you don’t even have any pictures on the walls in your house!’
‘Only because the letting agents would have us boiled alive!’ she protests.
‘No way!’ I smirk. ‘You’re just trying to sound clever.’
For a second I think she will get annoyed, but then she bursts out laughing. ‘Fine, you got me. I don’t really care about the Met. But at least I’d heard of it!’
‘Yes, fine,’ Harry interrupts us. ‘We’re all dumb-dumb philistines, and let’s agree to strike any museums or galleries off the to-do list.’ His eyes light up. ‘I’m starving, let’s go to a really traditional, renowned American restaurant.’
Twenty minutes later and we’re sitting in a Five Guys eating burgers.
‘How is this so much more delicious than the Five Guys we have around London?’ Jemma asks, drooling sauce down her chin.
‘It’s the smoggy New York air!’ I tell her happily, through half-chewed fries. ‘It makes everything taste better.’
Jemma stops eating, looking serious for a moment. ‘You really love it here, huh?’ She swallows hard, though there is no food in her mouth. ‘Are you going to stay?’
Harry stares down at the table before us as I wonder howto answer this. I’ve been waiting for this conversation, but I still don’t feel ready for it. There is a long, expectant silence around the table.
