Loveless(11)

I’d already told them a little bit about Rooney – that she liked theatre and was generally quite nice – but her side of the room was a much better summary of her personality.

Jason surveyed it, then looked over my side. ‘Why does her side look like an Instagram influencer’s bedroom and yours looks like a prison cell? You brought so many bags with you!’

‘It’s not that bad. And a lot of the bags had books in them.’

‘Georgia, my dude,’ said Pip, who had slumped on to my bed. ‘Her side looks like Disneyland. Yours looks like a stock photo.’

‘I didn’t bring any posters,’ I said. ‘Or fairy lights.’

‘You – Georgia, how the hell did you forget fairy lights? They’re an essential element of university room décor.’

‘I don’t know!’

‘You’ll be sad without fairy lights. Everyone’s sad without fairy lights.’

‘I think Rooney’s got more than enough for both of us. She’s already letting me share a rug.’

Pip looked down at the aqua and nodded approvingly.

‘Yes. It’s a good rug.’

‘It’s just a rug.’

‘It’s a shaggy one. That’s sexy.’

‘Pip.’

Pip suddenly leapt out of the bed, staring at Rooney’s fern in the corner of the room. ‘Hang on – wait one fucking second. That plant …’

Jason and I turned to look at Roderick.

‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Yeah. That’s Roderick.’

And it was at that moment that Rooney Bach returned to our room.

She swung the door wide open, kicked her Norton Anthology in front of it to act as a doorstop, and turned to face us with a Starbucks in her hand.

‘Guests!’ she said, beaming at the three of us.

‘Um, yeah,’ I said. ‘These are my friends from home, Pip and Jason.’ I pointed at each of them. ‘And this is my roommate, Rooney.’ I pointed at Rooney.

Rooney’s eyes widened. ‘Oh my God. This is them.’

‘It’s us,’ said Pip, one eyebrow raised.

‘And we’ve met already!’ Rooney gave Pip a once-over, her eyes flicking briefly up and down from her tortoiseshell glasses down to the stripy socks visible beneath her rolled-up jeans, before striding towards her and holding out her hand with such force that Pip looked, for the briefest second, afraid.

She shook the hand. She gave Rooney a once-over in return – from her Adidas Originals all the way up to the hairband just visible at the top of her ponytail. ‘Yes. I see Roderick has settled in.’

Rooney’s eyebrow quivered, like she was surprised and pleased that Pip’s immediate reaction was banter. ‘He has. He’s been enjoying the northern air.’

She turned to Jason and held out her hand again, which he took. ‘We haven’t met, but I like your jacket.’

Jason glanced down at himself. He was wearing the fluffy brown teddy jacket he’d owned for years. I truly believed it was the most comfortable item of clothing to exist on this planet. ‘Oh, right. Yeah, thanks.’

Rooney smiled and clapped her hands together. ‘It’s so nice to meet you both. We’re going to have to become friends, now that me and Georgia are friends.’

Pip gave me a look as if to say, friends? Already?

‘As long as you don’t steal her away from us,’ Jason joked, though Pip whipped her head round to him, seemingly taking the statement very seriously indeed.

Rooney noticed this happen, and a small curl of a smile appeared at the side of her mouth.

‘Of course not,’ she said.

‘I’ve heard you’re interested in theatre,’ Pip said. There was a nervous tone to her voice.

‘Yes! Are you?’

‘Yeah! We all went to the same youth theatre group. And we did school plays together.’

Rooney seemed genuinely excited by this prospect. Her love for theatre was definitely not fake, even if some of her smiles were. ‘So you’ll be auditioning for a DST play?’

‘Obviously.’

‘A lead role?’

‘Obviously.’

Rooney grinned, and after taking a sip from her Starbucks cup she said, ‘Good. We’ll be competing, then.’

‘I … I guess we will,’ said Pip, flustered, surprised and confused all at the same time.

Rooney suddenly made a concerned face and checked her phone. ‘Oh, sorry, I have to head out again. Got to meet this girl I’ve been chatting to on the English Soc Facebook group down at Vennels. I’ll meet you back here at six for the Freshers’ Barbecue?’

And then she was gone, while I was wondering what Vennels was, and why I didn’t know what Vennels was, and how Rooney already knew what Vennels was when she’d only been here for less than one day, just like me.

When I turned back to my friends, Pip was standing very still with a startled expression on her face that made her look a bit like a cartoon scientist, post-explosion.

‘What?’ I asked.

Pip swallowed and shook her head a little. ‘Nothing.’

‘What?’

‘Nothing. She seems nice.’

I knew that look. It was a Pip look I knew well. I’d seen it when she had to be gymnastics partners with Alicia Reece – one of her most intense crushes – in Year 11 PE. I’d seen it when we went to a Little Mix meet and greet and Pip got to hug Leigh-Anne Pinnock.