It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne

Author:Holly Bourne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd

Alice had managed to bagsy the squashy sofas at the back – the prime Nero seats. She had a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows in front of her and was reading her Media notes. I ordered a cup of tea and then brought it over, feeling nervous for some reason.

“Hey,” I said, and she looked up. “Thanks for agreeing to meet me.”

She frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Because I’ve been a judgemental bitch and essentially cut you and the other girls out since summer…

I put my drink down and fell into the sofa. It immediately swallowed me whole, sinking me towards Alice so our thighs were touching. “Well, I know I’ve been a bit off these past few months.”

The wings of her eyeliner twitched. “You’ve been through a lot, Audrey. We understand.”

She said we. Implying that she and the girls had discussed it, discussed me, made a joint decision on how to handle my sudden iciness.

“It’s not an excuse though,” I said. And it wasn’t. I was realizing so many things that day. Headbutting Harry had been like dousing myself with ice-cold water. The embarrassment of it had awoken all the senses (and sense) I’d buried – made me look back at my numbness, and bad decision-making and think: What the actual hell?

Alice smiled and took a sip of her drink – the cream sticking to her nose. I tapped my nose to let her know.

“Whoops, thank you.” She rubbed it off. “So, what did you want to talk about? Is everything okay?”

I nodded my head, then shook it again. “No, not really.”

“What is it?”

I leaned forward, trying to figure out where to start. “You know that guy, Harry? The one I work with?”

“Yes,” Alice replied seriously.

“Well…umm, last night, he kind of did this really nice thing for me. After work. And, well, he walked me home after and…” I squeezed my eyes shut – the memory smacking me round the head like it was made of steel. “I… I tried to kiss him.”

“You tried? What does that mean? Did he push you off?”

I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, digging my thumbs into them, like I could claw the memory out. “No. Well, he didn’t have the chance to. Cos I…well… I, just, like, lunged at him…but I missed.” I opened my eyes, to find Alice staring at me intently. “I headbutted him, Alice.”

“Right…”

“Like, my jaw went for his, but he moved his head, so I just careered into him.” I covered my hands with my eyes, but rather than crying, I let out a laugh.

“Did you hurt him?”

I giggled again. “Maybe.”

I heard a snort and removed my hands to see Alice struggling to contain herself. “It’s not funny!”

“I know. I know it isn’t…” But she snorted, covering her mouth to catch it. “It’s just…well…” She really lost it then, and I did too. We crumpled into hysterics, sinking into each other, each of our giggles setting the other one off. I’m not sure why I could laugh with her but not with Leroy.

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