‘I think we all need a night out,’ Lou said.
Apart from Paige, who was working at the dining table, they were all lying across both of the sofas. Scandal on the TV. A family bag of Kettle Chips on the coffee table. Lou had heard from the university that Kyle had been asked to leave with immediate effect, and his behaviour reported to the police. She hadn’t been contacted by the police yet, but it was only a matter of time.
‘Same,’ Ella said. ‘No money though.’
‘You know what we should do?’ Issey said. ‘Use the Fuck It List money. I mean, there must be, like …’ She screwed her face up as she worked it out in her head. ‘Eighty quid? At least.’
‘If everyone’s been putting in,’ Liane said. ‘Has everyone been putting in?’
‘I’ll go and get it,’ Lou said, jumping up from the sofa.
‘Wait,’ Paige said, pushing her chair back from the table. ‘I’ll get it. I need a break from –’
Lou was already at the door. ‘You’re OK. I’m going to grab a drink too.’
When Lou came back up, she had a bottle of Corona in one hand, the Illy coffee can in the other.
Paige had moved to sit on the sofa next to Liane. Lou put the can on the coffee table and reached out to unscrew it.
‘Dying to know how much there is,’ she said, grinning at the other girls. ‘Maybe we could get dinner as well?’
‘There’s not going to be enough for dinner,’ Ella said. ‘Unless you’ve all been getting way more than me.’
‘Not more,’ Issey said. ‘Just with more people.’
‘Wait,’ Paige said, leaning forward and grabbing Lou’s wrist. ‘Wait. Don’t open it.’
‘You think we should wait ’til the end of term?’ Ella asked.
Paige shook her head. ‘It’s empty. I borrowed the money.’ She closed her eyes for a second and when she opened them, looked around at the other girls. ‘I mean, I took the money. I was going to pay it back. I promise you. I’m behind on the bills. I’ve missed payments on my cards. My laptop’s knackered. I’m working all the shifts I possibly can.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m so sorry. It sounds total shit to say I never thought you’d find out, but that’s how I justified it to myself.’
‘Why didn’t you tell us how bad it was?’ Ella said.
Paige pushed her glasses up on her head and rubbed one eye with the heel of her hand. ‘My dad’s selling our house and he’s said I’ll get some money from that, so I thought even if I didn’t manage to pay it back sooner, I could pay it back then. I thought I still had some time. And I didn’t want to be the one who couldn’t pull her weight, you know? You’ve all got your shit together. And I’m eating twelve-p cup-a-noodles and fucking everything up.’
‘We absolutely have not got our shit together,’ Lou said. ‘Jesus. I’ve been stalked. I’m waiting for the police to call me for a statement. And even mostly perfect Ella’s been hiding her famous fucking brother like something from, I don’t know, Hollyoaks.’
‘I asked out the guy in Bean and he said no. So now I can’t go there any more,’ Liane said. ‘And it turns out that’s the least of my problems.’
She glanced at Issey before she could stop herself but, to Liane’s relief, Issey was looking at Paige and didn’t see.
‘I went on a date with a sixteen-year-old, Paige!’ Issey said. ‘I should be locked up.’
It was only when Paige laughed wetly that they realised she was crying. She rubbed her face again. ‘I’m so happy I met you all. I’m sorry I’m such a fucking mess.’
Lou was the first to put an arm around her, but the other three quickly followed, all piled on top of one another on the sofa, arms and legs tangling and feet bashing against the coffee table.
‘We’re meant to be a mess,’ Lou said, when they eventually detangled themselves. ‘It’s what uni’s for.’