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Leigh wanted to die. ‘Jamie…’

Jamie ran from the door. ‘Guys! Leigh bagged one!’ she heard him say. A cheer went up.

Leigh turned to Alex. ‘I’m so sorry.’

But Alex only smiled that cheeky smile of hers. ‘What? He’s right.’

Leigh laughed and looked away shyly. ‘Come on.’

They entered the shabby house. ‘If we rush up the stairs, we might not have to interact with them,’ Leigh said.

Alex nodded. They headed down the hall, but the living room door was wide open. Jamie, Joe, Jacob, and three girls Leigh had never seen before were all lounging on the sofas, soft rock on in the background, beer cans in hand, waving her in. Apparently, everyone had been successful tonight. But Leigh’s night would be cocked up if she entered that room. She just knew it.

‘Guys, we’re just gonna…’

‘Hey, come and meet the girls,’ Jacob said.

Leigh wanted to say no. She wanted to say, ‘Hell no,’ actually. But she struggled with rudeness. Even though these bastards had ditched her tonight, she still didn’t quite have the will to give them exactly what they deserved.

She turned to Alex. ‘Quick drink?’

Alex smiled like she didn’t care either way. ‘Cool.’

In they went. Jamie tossed Leigh a lukewarm beer, which she duly opened. She took a sip. It tasted like cat piss.

‘Mmmm,’ Alex said, sipping hers. ‘How the hell do they get the cat to aim into the can?’

Leigh let out a delighted snort.

‘Hey, man. It’s free,’ Jamie complained.

‘You gonna introduce us?’ one of the girls said.

Jamie smiled. ‘Sure. This is Sarah.’

‘Sara,’ she corrected.

He pointed at a dark-haired girl. ‘Joan.’

‘Jade,’ she said.

Jamie looked at the third girl. ‘Umm…’

‘It’s Amy.’

‘Sorry, but that’s tough to remember,’ Jamie apologised.

Jacob laughed. ‘Dude, that’s half your name.’

Leigh needed to get out now. These dummies were gonna take her down with them if she wasn’t careful. And she wanted to be alone with Alex. It felt like a miracle they’d found each other. And miracles were fragile things.

While the boys swapped names with Alex, Leigh scrabbled for a reason to get her out of the room. She had nothing.

‘Right, drinking game,’ Jamie declared, clearly trying to shift the narrative from his idiocy. ‘Truth or drink?’

‘Yes!’ Jacob said. He ran off into the kitchen and came back with a half-empty litre of whisky and as many mismatched shot glasses as he could carry.

‘Really?’ Leigh said unsurely.