Page 88 of Do You Ship It

‘And?’ says Daphne.

Nikita rolls her eyes, but says, ‘And … if you want to bring Anissa along to Thursday morning Costa debriefs, I won’t make digs at her or … be mean. I’m not saying Iget it, and sheiskind of weird, but … Yeah, whatever. If you’re cool with her, I am.’

Chloe makes a funny squeaking sound.

Evie says, ‘Me too. I’m okay if she wants to hang out. As long as it’s not all fandom stuff.’

‘It’s not.’

‘Isshe a witch?’ Daphne whispers, wide-eyed and deadly serious.

‘I don’t know! Well … I never asked. No? That’s notreallya thing, is it?’

‘That’s not really a thing,’ Nikita says.

‘It totally is. Her nan – the Irish one – is a psychic,’ Evie says knowledgeably. ‘I remember her saying in primary school. Her nan’s still got a website and stuff, she does readings online and seances.’

Nikita snorts, but her scepticism seems a bit shakier now. She tells me, more softly now, ‘Hey, you do you, Cerys. If Anissa doesn’t want to hang out with us, no worries, that’s up to her. It’s not like you have to pick and choose, or anybody’s giving you an ultimatum.’

I must look surprised, because all four of them laugh.

‘Yes, God forbid you haveother friends,’ Evie deadpans. She waggles her fingers at me. ‘It’s us or nothing, or I’ll curse you.’

This time, it’s Nikita who gives her a light backhanded swipe on the arm, while Daphne shudders. ‘Don’t even joke about that sort of stuff, it creeps me out!’

‘I actually think it’s pretty cool,’ Chloe mumbles. She gives me a squeeze, her arms still wrapped aroundme from earlier. ‘And Anissa’s hair looksmuchbetter these days. Good for her.’

‘Listen,’ Daphne says. ‘I swear, any time I bring up boy drama, Ihear it, I do, but … can we just go back to the Jake stuff for a second? It was abig deal! This is your best friend we’re talking about, the love of your life, whoapparentlyfancies you back based on his wild overreaction to you snogging another guy … Although frankly, if he’s that pissed off, you’re better off without him. What a jealous, sad littleboy. I can’t believe he’s just cut you out of his life like that! He never seemed like that kind of guy when you talked about him. Even if heisbutt-hurt about you kissing his mate –’

‘Did youreallykiss the cosplay guy?’ Evie interrupts. ‘Have you got pictures?’

I nod and reach for my phone. As much as I appreciate where Daphne’s coming from with the Jake slander, I am – for once – more comfortable talking about Max instead. I still want to hope that maybe, somehow, there’s a chance to repair what Jake and I had.

This is just our Act Three conflict before the end of the movie. All good romcom heroines need to think they’ve lost the man before they get the grand gesture, don’t they? And this isJake. We’ve been too close for too long to let this go.

I find the Brayden Brown selfie from Comic Con and point Max out, explaining, ‘Except obviously he doesn’t have long white-blonde hair like that. Although his hair is abitlong. And –’

‘Is this him?’

Daphne’s shoving her phone in my face now, and I realize it’s a photo of the football team Max plays on, a shot of him kicking the ball. When I just stare, she says, ‘Jake tagged the team on his profile.’

Before I can confirm or deny, Evie’s snatched it, and pokes her tongue out over her teeth as her jaw drops.

‘Cerys, you’ve been holding out on us! Look at hislegs! Look at his bum!’

‘I can’t say I’ve ever noticed his bum …’

‘Too busy ogling his pointy ears,’ she teases, and I flush – not because she’s right this time, but because that’sexactlythe sort of thing I was worried about them saying.

But the general consensus is that, yes, Maxishot in that edgy, interesting, Adam Driver-esque way, even if they also find the cosplay thing strange, and stare at me a bit much when I say things like ‘pauldrons’ and ‘bandolier’.

‘So is it like …’ Chloe’s eyes go a bit wide, suggestive, and she’s blushing when she whispers, ‘Role play?’

‘Oh, no, that’s LARPing. Live Action Role Play.’

Again, they stare at me, and I realize I’ve become someone who knows what LARPing is.

‘Kinky,’ Nikita deadpans.

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