Nine Liars (Truly Devious, #5)(55)

“It was a huge story that summer,” Peter said. “Blur and the other major band of the moment, Oasis, had had a public dispute and were challenging one another. Everyone took a side and had an opinion on which band was better . . .”

“Oasis,” Sooz said. “Most of the others thought otherwise. I was the only one standing up for the Gallagher brothers.”

“. . . they released a single on the same day, and there was a huge furor about which band would come up on top,” Peter went on. “They called it the Battle of Britpop. So funny to think of that—it was such a bright summer and the big controversy was whose band was best.”

“We arrived well into the evening,” Sooz said. “Remember? We left late because most of us had hangovers and we’d been packing up the house. We got there right as it was getting dark and the rain started. We ran around and picked our rooms—that was always fun.”

Her brow furrowed. She’d hit a memory.

“Something was odd,” she said. “Rosie was in a strange mood the whole way there, I remember. Something to do with Julian. Rosie had been dating Julian, and things with Julian were always . . .”

She shook her head.

“Drama,” Peter said. “There was always some drama about Julian.”

“Not just Julian!” Sooz said. “We were all big, passionate, messy. But yes, that day was about Julian. I knew what that could be like. I dated him twice, and for most of our second year. Julian and Rosie were together for most of our last year, and they split up right near the end. At least Rosie was in the process of leaving him for Noel. That last week we were at Cambridge, I saw them going off together. We had this tatty tent—someone bought it for a festival and put it up in the back garden afterward, and we never took it down. We’d go in there sometimes. It was disgusting, muddy, moldy, but private. I saw Rosie and Noel slipping in there during finals week.”

“Did Rosie and Julian fight?” Stevie asked.

“No idea. Probably. Not a serious fight—not anything . . . not violent! Stupid things. Julian was, and still is, very, very attractive. Everyone flirted with him, and he flirted right back. When you were with Julian, things got messy. He wasn’t always faithful—and by that, I mean he was never faithful. Who is, at that age? I had my moments as well. But Julian was the worst of us when it came to that.”

“But he could have been angry with Rosie and Noel, right?” Stevie said.

Sooz wrapped her hands around her teacup and tucked her knees together as she considered her reply.

“No,” she said.

“No?”

“That’s not how it was with us.”

“And Julian had no right to complain about anyone,” Peter added.

“Oh God,” Yash said. “We’re always talking about Julian.”

“What I mean,” Sooz said, “is that we were . . . sort of a commune, almost? We always shared things with each other. Anything you brought into the house, you knew it belonged to everyone. By the end, I don’t think any of us knew which clothes were ours. If you found it on the drying rack, it was fair game. Clothes. Bicycles. Hairbrushes. Books. Food. There were no possessions in our house, and in a way, no possessiveness? I think we all dated each other at some point. There were so many showmances. Even though we all dated and broke up, we were friends. I mean, Yash, you and I got together in our first year, and Peter, you and I had a good year in there. Right?”

The two shrugged and indicated this was so.

“We might be heartbroken or furious, but the others would get you through it. We were constantly annoyed with each other—constantly, always—but we were always loyal as well. If Rosie stopped dating Julian and started dating Noel, that was within the bounds of how we did things. There was always a frisson of tension—it was quite exciting, actually.”

“More than a frisson,” Yash said. “The atmosphere could be thick.”

“But that was the fun of it,” Sooz said. “The undercurrent. Anything could happen.”

“And usually did,” Peter replied. “Loudly. At all hours. Frequently against the wall we shared with Julian’s bedroom.”

“That’s why I can sleep anywhere now.” Yash stretched and cracked his neck. “I once fell asleep during a performance of Stomp, during the part where they’re banging the dustbin lids. Lulled me right off.”

“Anyway.” Sooz waved her hand, moving the topic along. “Rosie was up in her room with Angela having a chat, and I dragged them downstairs for champagne. We had quite a lot of champagne that night, and some other things as well. It started to pour down with rain, and then we were going to play our game. It was team hide-and-seek. Sebastian was the seeker. The rest of us hid. There weren’t many rules, just you couldn’t go back inside once you went out, and the outbuildings were out of bounds.”

“Sebastian shoved his keys down the front of his trousers,” Peter said. “Remember that?”

“Oh yes,” Yash said.

“The last any of us saw of Rosie and Noel was as we ran out into the rain in the dark. They never came back in. What we figured is that they were off shagging somewhere. The next morning, they still hadn’t come back in. Sebastian and Theo went out to look for them . . .”

She trailed off.