Page 5 of Sad Girl Hours
“Well,” Saffron announces, snaking an arm round Casper’s waist and hugging him to her side, “should we head home now?”
I look to Jenna. “Yes, we’ve boogied, we’ve seen the New Year in, we’ve successfully marked the pretend constructed shift in our constructed calendar.”
“All right, misery guts.” Jenna tosses smiles to Casper and Vivvie and hugs Saffron goodbye. Saffron stands on her tiptoes to squeeze her even tighter. “You can’t pretend you didn’t enjoy it, though. I saw you having the time of your life. I have eyes.”
“Many congratulations,” I say, “although there’s no need to rub it in for those poor sea urchins.”
Jenna’s nose wrinkles. “What?”
“They don’t have eyes,” Casper supplies helpfully.
“Thank you.” I like this boy already.
Casper gives me a dutiful nod and we say our goodbyes, scattered with promises to meet up again when we get back after the holidays, before heading off to our different halls of residence.
Jenna loops her arm through mine as we walk and rambles on about how fun the evening was, how cute Casper is (interesting…), how cool Vivvie seems and howamazingSaffron is. “Right?”
I make all the appropriate noises, glancing at their three retreating backs. Saffron’s in the middle, clearly talkinganimatedly, her body cloaked in constellations, the moonlight reflecting off every last one of her gold sequins.
The lines between what’s real and what’s pretend blur in my head, and I catch myself wishing that the New Year brings everyone exactly what they need.
Chapter Three
Saffron
Next September…
There is a girl in my bed. Well, technically there’s two of them. And potentially a boy as well if the golden curls peeking out from the top of the duvet are anything to go by.
“Hmm,” I say, putting the box I’ve just carried up the stairs on my desk so that my hands are free to be placed on my hips. “I sure am feeling tired from all this box carrying. I think I’ll just have a quick lie-down on my bed to recover.”
The duvet quivers as I walk over to it. I smile, listening to an errant muffled giggle, before…
“Gosh!” I exclaim, lowering myself down front first on to the bed and its inhabitants as gently as I can. “This new bed is awfully lumpy! I’m going to have to complain to the landlord.”
The muffled giggles grow louder. I spread out my limbs and give a hearty wriggle for good measure.
“OK, OK, OK, you win.” Jenna’s head pops out first, cropped curls looking remarkably undishevelled compared to the other two. Nell’s mid-length hair is reaching up to me in staticky tendrils, Casper’s blond locks…
“Oh, Casp,” Jenna says, her discerning eye flicking over to his hair. “It’s giving Boris.”
Casper’s eyes flare in alarm. “Christ, no thank you.” He shakes himself out and I can’t help but add to the teasing.
“And now you look like Kenneth when he gets his ears wet swimming in the local pond.”
Nell rolls her eyes as she attempts to flatten the static with one hand, adjusting her gold-rimmed glasses with the other. “I don’t know how we became friends. Honestly. I have my scruffy little shit of a cat, Bean Burger, and you have a golden doodle calledKenneth, for the love of God. And I bet Kenneth has neveronceattempted to eat a chicken nugget directly out of your mouth.”
“Well, I’m vegetarian, so no, he hasn’t. But he wouldn’t dare anyway. He’s a good boy.”
“Like me.” Casper grins up at me, placing his hands under his chin to pose like a hamster doing a cover shoot.
“Sure,” I say at the same time as Jenna says, “You’re anOKboy.”
“It’s like a dagger to the heart, Miss Adebayo.” Casper mimes plunging said dagger into his chest.
Jenna remains unimpressed by the fact that in Simile Land, Casper would currently be bleeding out all over my new wildflower-print bedding. “I thoughtIwas meant to be the drama student. Stick to the rocks, Volcano Boy.”
“ANYWAY,” I say, “I would like to make a proposal that we all get out of bed so I can give you a proper hug.”
