Loveless(22)

Sunil laughed gently. He definitely gave off an air of modesty, but self-confidence too. Like he was very good at his job but didn’t want to boast about it.

‘This is Jess, one of the vice-presidents,’ he said. ‘And this is Georgia, one of my college children.’

I looked at the third-year girl. She had hip-length braids, a big smile, and was wearing a colourful dress that had lollipops on it. She had a little badge that said ‘she/her’ on it.

‘Aw!’ she said. ‘This is your college child?’

Sunil nodded. ‘They sure are.’

Jess clapped her hands together. ‘And you’re joining Pride Soc. This was actually meant to be.’

I forced a smile.

‘Anyway,’ said Sunil, shaking his head at her with a sort of fondness, ‘we’re here for any freshers who wanna get involved in queer stuff at Durham, basically. Club nights, meet-ups, formals, film nights. Stuff like that.’

‘Cool!’ I said, trying to sound enthusiastic. Maybe I should try and get involved. Maybe I’d go to the Pride Society, see a girl, have a big lesbian awakening, and finally feel some romantic feelings for another human being. I was sure I’d read a fanfic with that exact plot.

I handed the clipboard back.

‘Our welcome gathering is happening in a couple of weeks,’ said Sunil with a smile. ‘Maybe we’ll see you there?’

I nodded, feeling a little bit embarrassed, like I’d been exposed somehow, which was dumb, because there was really nothing interesting about me to expose, and I already knew that I wasn’t going to go to any of Sunil’s Pride Soc events.





Our final stop of the Freshers’ Fair was Durham Student Theatre, which had the largest stall in the entire Student Union, and Pip and Jason were standing right in front of it.

Rooney had already stormed ahead to the stall, which was decorated with a big red curtain and papier-machéd comedy–tragedy masks. The DST seemed to be a sort of umbrella organisation that supported and funded lots of smaller theatre groups – the Musical Theatre Soc, the Opera Soc, the Freshers’ Drama Soc, Student Comedy, and more.

The students behind the stall, even from afar, all seemed loud and confident – it had none of the calming vibe of the Pride Soc stall. But that didn’t put me off. Theatre was something familiar. It had been a part of my life for over seven years and, despite my stage fright, I didn’t want to give it up.

Plus, Pip and Jason would be doing it with me. So I’d be OK.

‘Pip? Jason?’

Their heads turned to reveal a confused-looking Pip Quintana, holding a flyer and pushing her tortoiseshell glasses up her nose, and a definitely hungover Jason Farley-Shaw, who had bags under his eyes and looked like he was trying to burrow and make a nest inside his teddy-bear jacket.

‘GEORGIA!’ Pip shrieked, running up to me and bundling me into a hug.

I hugged her back until she stepped away. She was smiling wide. So little had changed; she was still Pip, dark hair fluffed up in all different directions and drowning in an oversized sweatshirt. But, of course, we’d only been in Durham for five days. It already felt like a lifetime. Like I was already a different person.

‘Hey,’ said Jason. His voice sounded gravelly.

‘You OK?’ I asked him.

He made a grunting noise and pulled his jacket round him. ‘Hungover. And we couldn’t find you. Check your phone.’

I quickly glanced at the screen. There were several unread messages in the group chat asking where I was.

Pip folded her arms and gave me a discerning look. ‘I assume you haven’t been checking your phone because you’ve been really busy putting yourself out there and joining loads of societies?

‘Um …’ I tried not to look too guilty. ‘I joined English Soc?’

I didn’t confess to Pip that I’d signed up to Pride Soc’s mailing list. Probably because I didn’t feel like I actually belonged there.

Pip made a face. ‘Georgia. That’s one society.’

I shrugged. ‘I could join some later.’

‘Georgia.’

‘What have you joined?’

She counted them on her fingers. ‘I’ve joined Durham Student Theatre, obviously, and also Science Soc, Latin American Soc, Pride Soc, Chess, Ultimate Frisbee and I think I signed up for, like, Quidditch?’

Of course Pip had joined Pride Soc too. I wondered what she’d say if I randomly showed up to a Pride Soc event.

‘Quidditch?’ I asked.

‘Yeah, and if the brooms don’t actually fly, we’re going to be really fucking disappointed.’

‘We?’ I looked at Jason. ‘You also joined Quidditch? You don’t even like Harry Potter.’

Jason nodded. ‘The Quidditch president was incredibly persuasive.’

‘What else did you join?’

‘DST, History Soc, Film Soc and Rowing.’

I frowned. ‘Rowing?’

Jason shrugged. ‘Loads of people are doing it, so. Thought I’d give it a go –’ He stopped speaking abruptly, peering past my shoulder. ‘What is Rooney doing?’

I turned. Rooney seemed to be having a heated conversation with the girl behind the stall.

‘I don’t understand,’ Rooney was saying. ‘What d’you mean it closed?’