Page 155 of Lessons in Chemistry

I feel a pang of longing in my gut. “Maybe, but then I wouldn’t have met Emory and Casey.” I feel like a stuck record.

Philipa smiles as she glances between us. Her gaze dips to our joined hands. “You obviously care about each other a lot.”

“It’s obvious they’re in love,” Neil says in a voice loud enough to make the twins and Emory’s mum take notice of our conversation.

“Can you be in love after six weeks?” Patrick asks.

“Yes,” Neil and Philipa say in unison.

They give each other the sappiest look I’ve ever seen. Damn. Casey’s parents must be hopelessly in love with each other. Something tells me they fell in love hard and fast.

“Do you have any plans for the summer?” Patrick asks me.

“I’ll probably stay in Leeds.”

He frowns. “You won’t go spend some time with your parents?”

My chest becomes tight. “A little. My parents are busy.”

“What do they do?”

I push up onto my toes and then sink down again. “Dad owns a pharmaceutical company.”

“Ah,” Philipa says as if everything suddenly makes sense to her. Maybe it does.

“Mum is an interpreter. She spends a lot of time abroad.”

“You’d be welcome to come and stay with us if you want. We were thinking of renting a villa somewhere warm for a week or two. You should come.” Neil looks at Emory. “You’re invited too, obviously. You’d only need to pay for flights. We’ll cover the cost of the villa.”

Emory grins. “Thanks.”

I stare at Casey’s dad. He met me two days ago, and he’s already inviting me on a family holiday. Wow. “That’s very generous of you, thank you.”

“Hardly. It won’t cost us any extra, assuming you three are happy sharing a room.”

Just like we did last night at Casey’s. His parents didn’t have any problem at all with Emory staying over too, nor did they mind the three of us crashing in Casey’s room. Their only concern was that there wouldn’t be room for us all in Casey’s bed, so his dad inflated a camping mattress for us. It was comfier than I was expecting and, most importantly, big enough for three.

“That would be fine with me. Thank you.” Damn, if only Dad was more like Neil.

“I guess the three of you will be thinking about moving in together next academic year,” he says. “I bet the three of you could afford somewhere nicer than that pokey little flat Casey and Emory are in this year.”

“Are you in a shared house?” Patrick asks me.

Jean joins us. “Are you three giving this poor boy the third degree?”

“More like the Spanish Inquisition,” Neil jokes.

“Dad.” Casey groans and puts his hand over his face.

“No, I live alone,” I say, answering Patrick’s question.

Jean raises her eyebrows. “Alone? That must be lonely.”

I rub the side of my neck. It was lonely, which is why I threw parties half the nights of the week and hooked up with random guys as often as possible and had so-called friends who didn’t even know my name. Greg hasn’t texted in weeks. He’s probably found someone else to throw parties for him. Not that it matters. I have Emory and Casey now. Meeting them changed everything.

Although the house my parents bought is big enough for the three of us, it’s not a good idea to invite them to move in with me. We could all end up homeless if my parents decided to rip it out from under me. But they wouldn’t support me in finding somewhere to live with my boyfriends either.

Ash tugs at my jumper. “Auggie, do you want to come and play my new console game with me?”