Wren, who is sitting in the armchair facing the sofa, lifts his head and looks at Ruby, but she just shrugs as if she’s past caring about anything.
“Mortimer has kicked Lydia out,” Wren says.
Kesh looks up in surprise. “What?”
“I was giving Ruby a lift to James’s,” Wren explains. “But when we got there, the car boot was full to the brim, and Lydia was crying. Then they all got in and drove away.”
“Fuck,” I breathe. “What the hell did Lydia do?”
Ruby and Wren exchange glances, then stare down at their plates. Clearly, they know something that nobody else is meant to hear about.
“I’ve told James we’re here,” Wren says after a long pause, dodging my question. “He’s coming round the moment he gets back.”
“OK.” I finish my pasta, even though the thought of how Lydia must be feeling has spoiled my appetite. I put the plate down on the low, glass table and glance back at Ruby. She’s hardly touched her food, is just stirring it around with her fork.
“I heard what happened at school,” I say quietly.
Ruby looks up. There’s no mistaking how hard she’s trying not to lose it.
“I was there when those photos were taken, Ruby,” I admit. Anger flashes in her eyes, but I go on before she has a chance to say anything. “James didn’t know you then. The only reason he took them was as insurance. But then he fell head over heels for you. I don’t think what happened today is down to him.”
“I need to hear that from him.”
I nod. “I get that.”
Silence grows between us. After a while, Ruby puts her plate down and looks around my room. Her gaze rests on a framed photo of James, Cyril, Kesh, and me. We’re wearing our lacrosse uniforms, and we’re caked in mud from top to toe. But we’re beaming, and James is standing in the middle, holding the league cup, which we’d just won for the first time. I still remember the feeling. The euphoria.
My eyes dart over to my desk and meet Keshav’s, like he was just waiting for me to look at him.
Abruptly, I lever myself out of the sofa.
“I need a drink,” I announce, walking over to the cupboard where I keep my booze. I pull out half a bottle of whisky and pour three glasses. I put one down in front of Wren, then take another over to Kesh, but he shakes his head and points to the water bottle on the desk beside him.
I stare uncertainly at the two glasses in my hand. Then I walk back to the sofa and offer one to Ruby.
She eyes the glass in my hand. I’m expecting her to refuse, but, to my great surprise, she reaches for it. Even before I canclink her glass, she throws back her head and downs it, almost in one.
I whistle appreciatively. Ruby holds the glass out again and looks expectantly up at me.
I only hesitate a second, then I refill it.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Wren asks, looking from Ruby to me.
At that moment, Kesh starts playing a song with a fast, thumping beat.
“No,” Ruby and I say at the same time.
I drop onto the sofa, and this time I do clink glasses with her. “To bad ideas.”
For the first time this afternoon, the hint of a smile spreads over Ruby’s lips.
4
Ruby
The music is flowing through my veins. It’s filling me from head to toe and making me want to move. I dance without thinking. I just let myself fall.
The feeling is glorious.
