‘Sounds like quite a night.’
‘It was – she’s crazy.’
‘What’s the plan?’ I asked Ben, changing the subject as I ignored the look Robert was throwing in my direction, clearly finding it funny that I’d been caught out. Yes, Pearl was a little on the wild side, but she was fun. It wasn’t like I was going to go off and do something stupid just because someone jeered me on – I wasn’t nine years old any more. Plus, I knew he’d have been getting up to the same drunken behaviour in Nottingham, the only difference being that I didn’t have a trusted friend there who’d spill the beans on him. Although, I’d no doubt that, with his new gang, he certainly would be the leader, just like he had always been with Ben and me. With us, it really had been a case of he jumped and we followed. Usually without hesitation.
‘You tell me,’ shrugged Ben, in his usual carefree manner. ‘I’m up for anything.’
‘I thought we could go on a bike ride, give Rob a tour,’ I suggested. ‘We have ours here and Flo said there’s a place you can rent one up the road. Fancy it?’
‘Sounds good,’ Robert nodded, still smirking at me.
‘I’m in!’ agreed Ben, jumping up off the bed and heading out into the hallway, keen to get going straight away.
Getting up from the bed I gave Robert a playful shove, making him fall backwards into my flowery pillows.
‘What was that for?’ he laughed.
‘For being so smug!’
‘Come here,’ he smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed and grabbing hold of my waist, looking up at me as he pulled me close. ‘I’m glad you’ve got a nice bunch of people around you.’
‘Good.’
‘I just worry.’
‘About what?’
‘That you’ll forget about me.’
‘Like that’s gonna happen.’
‘Or that you’ll end up like one of those girls.’
‘What girls?’
‘You know, the ones with boobs up to here,’ he smiled, bringing his hand up to below his neck.
‘Have you met many?’
‘Several. It’s been awful.’
‘You poor thing.’
‘I know,’ he pouted. ‘I’m mentally scarred.’
‘I’ll tell you what,’ I purred, running my fingers through his hair. ‘I’ll keep mine under lock and key tonight, to save you from further trauma.’
‘What?’ he practically squeaked.
‘I think it’s for the best.’
‘Huh?’
‘It’s a shame really, I had a whole night of fun planned – special outfits and everything,’ I teased with a smile. ‘But, well, I don’t want you to think I’m one of those girls …’
I winked and cackled wickedly, as I freed myself from his embrace and walked out the door.
The majority of trips to see each other during our uni years were Robert driving to us, rather than us going to him. We did go to Nottingham a few times, but seeing as there were two of us in Bristol, it seemed to make sense to do it that way round. As a result I never really got to know the people he lived with, the life he led there or Nottingham itself. I did like it there, though, it felt steeped in history and the main part of the city was absolutely gorgeous with all its old buildings and the big water feature in the square.
I quite liked the fact that he was always coming to me. It felt like he really wanted to see me. Whenever I went there I felt a bit of a nuisance; it was very much a boys’ place – as I’d predicted, the only things out on show in his room were his weights. Oh, and a framed picture of us from our sixth form ball which had been neatly placed on his nightstand. I couldn’t help but smile when I first saw it.
We spoke to each other all the time – a few times every day in fact. He was the first person I spoke to in the mornings, and the last person I spoke to at night. There was not one part of me that queried his loyalty to me. Not one part that worried about him being out and getting drunk with other girls around. Not one part of me that feared he’d go off and cheat. Would it have changed anything if I had? Probably not.
I took for granted the fact that he was my one and that, one day, we’d get married, have babies and grow old together. I didn’t think anything would come along and jeopardize that. I’d never seriously worried about him being around those girls. Perhaps I should have.
Instead I was content with life. I loved my photography degree and happily snapped away whenever I could (not just when I was given coursework), had my wonderful boyfriend who visited me whenever he could (and was only a phone call away at other times), and a best friend who made me feel like I was back at home whenever he was around (which was most of the time). I knew my uni experience would have been very different if I hadn’t had Ben there to share it with.