Wasted by Nicola Morgan Page A

we’ve already been over this. Exams are finished, and there’s no school tomorrow, and no one else will be going home any earlier. You don’t want me to walk home alone, do you?”
    Sylvia shrinks into herself and picks up the TV zapper. “Just be safe, darling, OK? You got your key?”
    â€œDo I ever not have my key?”
    â€œNo. You’re a good girl, Jess.”
Oh God, not now, please. Not the weepy bit, please not now
.
    â€œSee you later, Mum. Love you.”
    And she does, love her. But she will have to leave her. Both now and later, properly. She knows this now more clearly than she ever did. Somehow, she will do it.
    So, Jess is approaching the bar where she is meeting Jack and the others. She hopes he is outside waiting for her so that she doesn’t have to hang around like a loser. He is. His body is very close to hers as they squeeze past people. She smells his scent.
    Ella, Chris and Tommy are all there at a table in a booth and they greet her, making room for her. Everything is black and chrome and not at all comfortable. But Jack squeezes in after her and the fact of things not being comfortable ceases to matter. On the table, there’s a pitcher of vodka mixed with something pinky orange and lots of ice and a few bits of leaf. Someone pours her a glass and she sips from it, but in her head she tells herself that she is going to be careful tonight.
    Which is sensible, but sensible may not be enough.
    She notices that Jack has a glass of the vodka+whatever drink, so the not-drinking-thing is more of a drinking-sometimes-thing. This is something of a relief, because he won’t be judging her.
    â€œCheers!” they all say, clinking glasses together. “Here’s to Schrödinger’s Cats!” The conversation eases and flows. She finds out a bit about them. Tommy – who has a drummer’s jangled hairstyle – is at the same college as Jack, and his dad is in the army and has just gone to Afghanistan. Ella works in a clothes shop and is saving for her own flat. Chris is looking for a job – he lives at home and is not getting on with his parents, who don’t like him spending all his time with the band when he should be settling down. It’s all normal stuff.
    And then Jack swears under his breath. He turns his head away from the bar, as though trying to avoid looking at someone. He
is
trying to avoid looking at someone. Jess can’t see who.
    â€œKelly,” mutters Jack. “Don’t look now.”
    â€œKelly who?” asks Jess.
    â€œKelly Jones. You must know her. She goes to your school.”
    â€œOh God, her. Yes, I know her. I can’t stand her.”
    â€œWhy did she have to come here? Isn’t it a bit classy for her?” asks Ella.
    â€œEverywhere’s a bit classy for her,” says Jack. There’s a real edge to his voice.
    â€œNot your best memory from Northseas High, then?” asks Jess.
    Tommy looks at her and then realizes. “Oh, you weren’t there when Jack was there, were you?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œAhhhh. So you don’t know why Jack and Kelly don’t
exactly
get on?” No one is smiling.
    â€œNo, but I don’t think you should tell me now – she’s coming over.”
    Jack looks at Jess with a plaintive
Get me out of here!
look, which is quite amusing. Jess is intrigued. She does not know that a moment is about to happen when it really will matter what she says.
    â€œJack Redman. The oh-so-wonderful Jack Redman. And his merry band.” Kelly is now standing right beside them. Jack has not looked up.
    â€œIgnore her,” he says quietly.
    Kelly is not alone. She is with Samantha and Charlie, as usual. She is looking as tartily gorgeous as always. People look at them, and don’t they know it? Kelly herself is tall – well, they all are, but whatever each of the others is, Kelly is just a little bit more. Which is why she’s