‘So, what brings you here?’ Jojo asks.

‘To the party or to the utility room?’

She smiles. ‘Both.’

‘Maxwell – you remember my mate Maxwell?’

Jojo nods.

‘Well, this is his auntie and uncle’s place. Who’s the kid having the party? Leo or something?’

‘Theo,’ Jojo says. ‘He’s in my year at school.’

‘OK. Well, he’s Maxwell’s cousin.’

‘I see. And where’s he now? Maxwell, I mean.’

‘The garage.’ I explain about the ping pong tournament.

‘You didn’t fancy playing?’ Jojo asks.

‘Not really. I don’t know, I’m just not really in a joining-in kind of mood tonight.’

‘Why don’t you just go home?’

‘You trying to get rid of me or something?’

She laughs. ‘Course not. Just why torture yourself if you’re not having fun?’ 222

‘Says the girl hiding in the utility room with the book.’

‘Touché,’ she says, playfully swatting me with it.

‘I think Maxwell would probably be annoyed if I went home now,’ I explain. ‘I’ll stay until after midnight. That’s respectable, right?’

‘I’d say so.’

‘What about you?’ I ask. ‘Having fun? Or is that a stupid question?’ I nod at the book, on closer inspection a battered Agatha Christie paperback.

‘In all honesty, I’m just a bit bored. It was fun at first, but everyone’s got to that point of drunk where they don’t make any sense and just keep repeating themselves. In fact, you’re probably the only sober person I’ve encountered all night.’

‘Same,’ I say. ‘Maxwell downed a load of tequila on the way here and has been off his face ever since.’

‘Is he a nice drunk, at least?’ Jojo asks.

‘He’s a loud drunk. He gets very bellowy.’

‘Oh, fun.’

I offer up the bowl of crisps. She takes a handful. I do the same.

As we munch, I sneak a sideways glance at her. Her hair is shorter than I remember, bobbed, like a film star from the 1920s. It suits her.

‘I like your hair,’ I say.

‘My hair?’

‘Yeah, you’ve cut it, right?’

‘Oh, yes. Just before Christmas. I’m still getting used to it.’

‘It’s cool.’

‘You reckon?’ she says, grabbing a chunk and tugging at it. ‘I’m still not sure. I mean, I had it long like for ever so it’s kind of a big change.’

‘No, it’s great. You look really stylish. Like, what’s-her-name? Louise something … er … Brooks! Yeah, Louise Brooks, you look like her.’ 223

Jojo frowns. ‘Louise Brooks? I don’t think I know her.’

‘She was a silent film star,’ I say. ‘From the 1920s … Hang on.’ I take out my phone and type ‘Louise Brooks’ into Google images. ‘That’s her,’ I say, passing the phone to Jojo.

She peers at the rows of photos. ‘Her hair’s a lot thicker than mine,’ Jojo says. ‘And much darker.’

‘Maybe,’ I say. ‘You still look like her, though.’

‘Thank you. I think you’re being overly generous, but it’s New Year’s Eve and I’m going to start as I mean to go on and take the compliment.’ She passes me my phone back. ‘I didn’t have you down as a film buff,’ she adds.

‘Oh, I’m not,’ I say. ‘I’m as low-rent as you can get. Seriously, my favourite film is Marley and Me.’

Jojo laughs.

‘It’s all my mum’s doing,’ I explain. ‘She’s really into her old-school Hollywood film history. She’s been making us watch all these classic old black and white films since we were little kids.’

‘And yet you still prefer Marley and Me?’

‘Guilty as charged.’

There’s a pause.

‘So, how have you been?’ we ask each other at exactly the same time.

We laugh.

‘You go first,’ Jojo says.

‘No, you. Ladies first and all that.’

She rolls her eyes. ‘Fine. Although there’s nothing much to tell really. I’ve just been busy with school and drama club stuff mainly. Frankie and I have just got audition dates through for the Arts Academy so we’ve started prepping for that.’

‘That’s the drama school, right?’ 224

‘Yeah.’

‘You feeling good about it?’

‘Oh God, I don’t know. It’s so competitive.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Yeah. Thousands of people apply for less than fifty places.’

‘Wow. Good luck!’

‘Thanks. Frankie’s convinced we’re both shoo-ins, but you know what Frankie’s like …’

I smile. ‘How is she?’ I ask. ‘She’s away, right?’

‘Yes. She’s in Tenerife until Wednesday. It’s her parents’ twentieth wedding anniversary. The whole family have flown out for it.’

‘Good old Nino and Angie,’ I say with a smile. I always got on well with Frankie’s mum and dad, and her older brother, Luca, much to Frankie’s annoyance.

‘She just called actually,’ Jojo adds.

‘She all right?’

‘Yeah, she’s really good. Back on form.’

‘Good. That’s good.’

I mean it. Frankie and I may have crashed and burned, but I’m glad she’s doing well. At the end of the day, she’s a good person. No, scratch that, she’s a great person. She’s just not my person. And I’m not hers.

‘How about you?’ Jojo asks.

‘Yeah, I’ve been OK. Same as you really, school stuff mostly. Thinking about university and UCAS and all that, which seems a bit mad.’

‘Wow. That’s come around fast.’

I grimace. ‘I know. It’s all the teachers want to talk about at the moment.’

‘Where do you want to go?’ 225

‘My first choice is probably Cambridge. But I’m also interested in LSE, UCL, Durham, Glasgow and Nottingham.’

‘I’m officially impressed.’

‘Well, I haven’t got in anywhere yet.’

‘You want to study law, right?’

‘Yeah,’ I say, flattered that she’s remembered.

‘Sometimes I wish I wanted to do something dignified and respectable,’ she says with a sigh.

‘Really?’

‘A bit, yeah. I mean, even if I do get into the Arts Academy, and that’s a big if, and a really good drama school after that, there are still no guarantees I’ll have any sort of career.’

‘Does that put you off? The uncertainty of it all?’ I’m pretty sure I couldn’t hack it.

‘In theory, yes. But the sad fact is, I just can’t imagine doing anything else with my life.’

I’m weirdly envious. My choice to study law is largely a practical one. It’s a good solid career, one that will enable me to look after Mum and Laleh and Roxy.

I pick up Jojo’s book. ‘Sparkling Cyanide,’ I read aloud. ‘That’s quite a title.’

‘I know, right?’

‘So, whodunnit?’

‘Hmmm, it’s a bit early to make an educated guess, but if I had to go for anyone at this stage, it’d be Victor.’

‘Victor, eh? And what’s this Victor like?’

‘In the words of Agatha Christie, “a bit of a rotter”.’ She says this in a flawlessly posh accent.

‘Will you read me some?’ I ask before I can stop myself.

I’ve always loved being read to. Before Laleh and Roxy came 226along, every night before bed, Dad and I used to snuggle up on the sofa together with a book. He’d do all the voices and sometimes make me laugh so much I thought I was going to be sick. It’s one of my very happiest memories of him, which inevitably also makes it one of the saddest.

‘Seriously?’ Jojo asks. ‘You want me to read to you? As in, right now?’

‘Yeah. I mean, only if you want to,’ I say, my cheeks heating up.

She pauses and I’m about to tell her to forget about it when she says, ‘It’s a slightly bizarre request, but yeah, OK then. Call it a New Year’s Eve treat.’

‘Really? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.’

‘No, why not. It’ll pass the time if anything else. We’ll have to switch the big light on, though. If I keep using the torch, my phone’s going to go dead.’

I turn on the light.

‘From the beginning?’ Jojo asks, opening the book.

‘No, no, wherever you’ve got to will be fine.’

‘OK, then. Here goes.’

She clears her throat and begins to read.

And she’s brilliant.

I sit there in awe as she jumps from character to character, one second playing the flighty heiress, the next the dowdy secretary, before suddenly transforming into the louche cad who sponges off his aunt.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen Jojo act and I’m bowled over.

She reaches the end of the chapter and looks up. ‘What?’ she says, worry clouding her eyes. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

‘You’re really good,’ I say.

She shakes her head and laughs, clearly embarrassed by my praise.

‘No, I mean it,’ I say. ‘That was insane. Full disclosure, I don’t know 227much about acting, but the way you became all those characters, it was … well, it was amazing.’

‘Really?’ she says, looking doubtful. ‘I was just reading out loud.’

‘Really. It was so fucking good, Jojo.’

She smiles. ‘Well, thank you. That’s nice of you to say.’

There’s a pause.

‘I reckon you’re right, by the way,’ I add.

‘About what?’

‘That Victor bloke. He’s definitely got something to do with it.’

‘Right?’

‘Guilty as sin.’ My phone buzzes. ‘Sorry,’ I say, removing it from my pocket.

It’s a text from Maxwell.

I tap out a quick reply.

‘Not that I was reading over your shoulder or anything, but you really don’t have to keep me company,’ Jojo says. ‘Honestly, I can entertain myself.’

‘I know,’ I reply. ‘I want to keep hanging out with you. I mean, if that’s cool.’

She pauses before answering. ‘It’s cool,’ she says lightly.

‘Cool,’ I echo.

On the other side of the door, people are chanting and stamping their feet. ‘Down it, down it, down it!’ 228

Jojo grimaces. ‘I liked parties a lot better when I was younger,’ she says.

‘Yeah?’

‘Absolutely. Pass-the-parcel, jelly and ice cream, party bags … And best of all, they always had a strict cut-off time.’

‘That’s true. If this was a kids’ party, it would have been over hours ago.’

‘Exactly. Now, speaking of party games …’ Jojo shuts the book and jumps down from the washing machine. She studies the shelves in front of us. They’re rammed with board games – Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly and Kerplunk and Guess Who? and Mousetrap – all of them well played if the faded and falling-apart boxes are anything to go by. She turns back round to face me. ‘Wanna play something?’ she asks.

‘Yeah, go on then,’ I say, smiling.

We inspect the games together, rejecting anything with too many pieces or too much setting up involved.

‘Cards Against Humanity?’ I suggest.

‘Minimum of four players,’ Jojo says, reading off the box. ‘Plus, you really don’t want to play that with me.’

‘How come?’

‘I’d slaughter you,’ she replies simply.

I put my hands on my hips. ‘Would you now?’

‘I’ll have you know I’m a demon at Cards Against Humanity.’

‘You? I don’t believe you for one second.’

‘Why not?’

‘You’re far too sweet and lovely.’

She tuts. ‘But that’s what makes me so great at it. The element of surprise.’

‘OK, now I really want to play it with you.’ 229

‘Do you want to recruit two more players?’

‘Not especially.’ The idea of venturing back out into the party holds no appeal whatsoever. ‘Why, do you?’

‘Nope.’

I’m kind of thrown by just how relieved I am by her answer.

‘Back to the drawing board, I guess,’ Jojo says.

We end up going for Bananagrams.

As we play, sitting cross-legged on the lino, we relax into being around each other again, laughing and joking and teasing like we were never apart. It’s one of the few times I’ve ever been alone with her and I’m surprised by how natural it feels. We always hung out as a threesome, only really getting one-on-one time if Frankie was in the loo or getting ready. I’d also forgotten how funny Jojo can be, how sharp and witty and observant. Plus there’s something extra fun about hiding away from the rest of the party, like we’re playing truant from school or something.

‘Ten! Nine! Eight!’

The counting is coming from the other side of the door.

‘It can’t be midnight yet, can it?’ Jojo asks.

I remove my phone from my pocket. 23:59. I hold it up so she can see.

‘Wow, that hour went by fast,’ she says.

‘Four! Three!’

We scramble to our feet.

‘Two! One!’

In the kitchen, everyone whoops and cheers.

‘Happy New Year,’ I say.

‘Happy New Year.’

I hesitate before leaning down and kissing her on the cheek.

She smells nice. 230

Really nice.

Jojo raises her eyes to meet mine and for a few seconds we just look at each, our gaze fixed. She has such great eyes. Green with a circle of hazel around the pupil. How have I never noticed how cool they are before? The air feels thick with something I can’t quite put my finger on. An energy. A force invisible to the naked eye.

Jojo looks away first, pulling out her mobile phone.

In the kitchen, someone has started a clumsy rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Within seconds, the entire party seems to be singing.

‘I should probably go find Bex,’ Jojo says, not looking up from her phone. ‘Make sure she’s OK.’

I clear my throat. ‘And I should probably hunt down Maxwell.’

Together we silently pack away the Bananagram tiles and put the yellow case back where we found it.

By the time we emerge from the utility room, ‘Auld Lang Syne’ has petered out, replaced with a slow, sexy R&B number. We squeeze past snogging couples and make our way into the living room.

Jojo stands on her tiptoes as she looks around for Bex. ‘Ah,’ she says.

‘What?’

She points through the tangle of entwined bodies. ‘Over there,’ she says. ‘The blonde girl in the green dress.’

‘You mean the one with her tongue halfway down my mate Maxwell’s throat?’

‘Wait, that’s Maxwell?’

‘Yep.’

‘Oh my God.’

We both laugh, Jojo’s amazing eyes sparkling as she shakes her head.

‘So, you gonna head?’ Jojo asks. 231

‘Head?’

‘It’s after midnight. And, call me presumptuous, but I have a feeling Maxwell isn’t exactly going to mind if you skip off without him.’

‘Ha. Yeah, maybe you’re right. What about you? You going to hang out for a bit longer?’

‘I dunno. I was supposed to be getting a lift home with Bex, but that’s not going to be until two …’

‘In that case, look, I don’t know about you but I’m kind of partied out. You wanna hang out at my house for a bit?’

‘At your house?’ Jojo asks slowly.

‘Yeah,’ I say, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. ‘I mean, if you want to. It’s not that far. I have Bananagrams and loads of other board games. And a fridge full of food left over from Christmas. Do you like chicken drumsticks? We have like a million of them.’

‘I’m a vegetarian.’

Shit. I knew that.

‘Er, crisps then? We have a shitload of crisps. And biscuits. And pickled onions, weirdly. Like five jars. They must have been on offer at Aldi or something …’

Jojo smiles. ‘I’m not doing to deny it, the promise of unlimited pickled onions does sound extremely tempting.’

‘I’m sensing a “but” coming.’

‘I don’t know, I just …’ Her voice trails off.

‘What is it?’

‘I don’t know,’ she says, fiddling with the hem of her top. ‘Frankie, I guess.’

‘Frankie?’

‘Yeah.’

‘What about Frankie?’

‘I just don’t know how she’d feel about it.’232

‘It’s just two mates hanging out,’ I say. Even as the words leave my mouth, I’m not entirely sure I believe them. I wonder if Jojo does.

‘I know,’ she says. ‘I just … I don’t know.’

‘OK. Well, I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with.’

There’s a pause.

‘Maybe if I called her,’ Jojo says.

‘Called her?’

‘Yeah. Just to run it by her.’

‘Oh. OK.’

‘I’ll be back in a sec.’

While she’s gone, I retrieve my coat, then sit on the stairs to wait. I’m scrolling through my Instagram feed when Jojo returns, her own coat draped over her arm.

‘Frankie says “hi”.’

‘It’s OK then?’ I ask, scrambling to my feet.

‘Yeah. She was totally cool about it. Overwhelmingly so, actually.’

‘That’s great. You ready to go then?’

‘Ready.’