then. You can come round to mine to get ready beforehand, and then we can meet Nat at the station. Maybe we should get a couple of cans to drink on the way? Shit … what am I gonna wear? What are you gonna wear? We’ll have to make sure we look completely awesome. I bet there will be lots of fit boys there. Maybe you’ll—’
‘Grace …’ The warning in her voice was clear.
‘But—’
‘But nothing! You’d better promise right now, or I’m not going.’
I sighed in melodramatic fashion. ‘I promise. But I can’t say the same for Nat – he might have a lonely, unbelievably gorgeous friend in mind for you.’
‘He won’t,’ she said quietly.
‘Nah, course he won’t! All the friends I’ve heard him talk about are girls anyway, so the odds aren’t in your favour.’ I laughed. Sal did not.
When Sal arrived on Monday, my bed was buried underneath a mountain of clothes and I was standing there in my jeans and bra, hands on hips.
‘What’s up?’
‘I have NOTHING to wear. Nothing! Not one thing! This is hopeless.’
‘Calm down. You’ve got loads of clothes.’
‘Yeah, but nothing’s right!’
Sal started sorting through the pile I’d discarded, carefully folding things and putting them back in the wardrobe as she went. Before long she’d pulled out a black top and held it up against me. ‘Yup, that’s the one.’
‘That? But it’s so old! And so boring. Don’t you think it’s a bit too casual?’
‘Nope. We’re going to a proper studenty club, remember? Dressing down is the only way to go.’ She rummaged in the drawer of my dressing table and pulled out the purple necklace she’d given me a few months ago. ‘Here. Try it with this.’
Of course she was right – as usual.
‘Thank God you’re here. You’re a lifesaver!’ I said, as I struggled to fasten the necklace in the mirror.
‘Here, let me.’
I checked her out in the mirror as she concentrated on the fastening. She was wearing a lot less make-up than I was, and her hair was in a simple ponytail, which made her look young and sort of innocent. I was slightly worried she might get ID’d, but knew better than to say anything now. She was wearing jeans and a black top too, but we could not have looked more different.
Nat was leaning against the railings at the station when we arrived. This ‘being on time’ thing was becoming a habit. He watched our approach and made a big show of checking his watch.
‘What time do you call this?!’
‘Yeah, yeah, you can blame Sal. She’s almost as incapable of being on time as you are … well, were.’ I kissed him.
Nat said hello to Sal and they shared an awkward hug. I was pleased they didn’t shake hands or anything lame like that. The train was just pulling into the station, so we legged it over the footbridge and made it onto the train just in time. Sal sat opposite me and Nat, and we cracked open the beers Nat had brought. We chatted about this and that and the conversation flowed easily without too much effort from me. I was pleased that despite their initial lack of enthusiasm for the evening, they seemed to be enjoying each other’s company.
‘I like your necklace, Grace. Is it new?’
I beamed at Nat, and then at Sal. ‘Nah, I’ve had it for a while. Sal bought it for me – she has impeccable taste, doesn’t she?’
Nat nodded vaguely and was about to say something when Sal piped up with a change of subject. ‘Grace told me that one of your friends works behind the bar at this place we’re going. Will she be there tonight?’
Nat nodded and swigged his beer. ‘Yeah, Anna will probably be working. We might get a couple of free drinks from her, if we’re lucky.’
‘So, what’s Anna like? Is she on your course’ I wanted to know what I was up against.
Nat shrugged. ‘Yeah, she is. Unbelievably clever – she helped me out a lot with anatomy last year.’
‘Anatomy?’ I couldn’t help but giggle.
‘Grace … how old are you?’ he chided.
‘Sorry. So … does she have a boyfriend?’
Nat shook his head. ‘Nah, she was seeing someone for a bit just before the holidays, but I think she dumped him. Anna isn’t really into relationships – she thinks they’re a waste of time.’ Hmm, don’t like the sound of this one at all. In fact, she sounded suspiciously like the Old Me.
‘Is she pretty?’ I just couldn’t help