Page 22 of The Reboot
Roly led the way to a greasy spoon and they dissected the Debs over vast fried breakfasts and copious mugs of coffee.
‘So, good night?’ Roly asked.
She shrugged. ‘Schmeh.’
‘Schmeh?’ He laughed. ‘So eloquent. I can see why you got top marks in English.’
‘How about you?’
‘Brilliant night,’ he said happily. ‘Deadly.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Had a good feed, got rat-arsed, swore undying love to some randomers I’ll never see again … what more could you ask?’
‘Good feed?’ She gave him a sceptical look.
‘What, watery veg soup and chicken à la sawdust didn’t do it for you? You must be one of those food snobs I’ve heard about.’
‘You didn’t mention the dessert. What even was that?’
‘Custardy … thing.’
‘Yeah, I got the custard bit. But as for the rest—’
‘Yeah, I’ve no idea what they were aiming for there.’
Ella laughed. ‘I’m surprised you came back for the Debs, to be honest.’ Roly had moved to London straight after school to play some gigs with Oh Boy!
‘Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.’
‘Are you home for long?’
He shook his head. ‘I’m going back to London tomorrow. We’re starting recording our first album next week.’
‘That’s exciting!’
‘Yeah, it is. Are you not eating that sausage?’ He pointed a knife at her plate.
‘No, I’m stuffed. It’s all yours.’
He leaned over and pronged it with his fork. So what’s next for you?’
‘College. I’m starting at Trinity next week.’
‘I suppose you got amazing results in the Leaving?’
‘I did pretty well.’ She’d achieved the highest possible marks, but she decided not to mention that. ‘I got the points I needed for my first choice at uni anyway.’
‘Congratulations!’
‘Thanks.’
‘And what is it you’ll be studying?’
‘PPES. It’s a multidisciplinary course – Philosophy, Political Science, Economics and Sociology.’
‘Gosh, that sounds like … a lot.’
