Loveless (Osemanverse #10)(108)

‘I’m sure it’s nicer on the inside,’ said Rooney, stepping forward and knocking on the door.

‘You said that about the last three,’ said Pip, arms folded.

‘And I’ll be right, eventually.’

‘Just to say,’ said Sunil, ‘maybe we should reconsider how bothered we are about having a living room.’

Although Sunil was in his third year, he’d decided at the last minute to return next year to do a master’s degree in music. He still had no idea what he wanted to do with his life, which I thought was very relatable and understandable, and he said he loved being at Durham and wanted to stay for a little while longer.

But Jess was leaving at the end of the year. In fact, most of Sunil’s third-year friends were. As soon as we discovered this, we asked him to live with us, and he said yes.

The door opened and a tired student let us in, explaining that everyone was out at lectures except her so we could walk around and look in any of the rooms we wanted. We all headed into the kitchen first, which doubled up as the living room with a sofa on one side and the kitchen counters on the other. It was all very old and well used, but seemed functional and clean, which was all we needed. We were students. We couldn’t be picky.

‘It’s actually not bad,’ said Sunil.

‘See?’ said Rooney, gesturing around. ‘I told you this would be the one.’

Jason folded his arms. ‘It’s quite … small.’ The top of his head was very close to the ceiling.

‘But no black mould,’ Pip pointed out.

‘And there’s enough room to have everyone here,’ I said. By ‘everyone’, I meant the five of us, plus the others who’d been coming along to our rehearsals – well, they weren’t really rehearsals any more. It wasn’t like we had another play to prepare for this year, and we were all getting busy with exams and coursework, so we usually just met up to chat, watch movies, and get takeaway food. Every Friday night in my and Rooney’s room.

Sometimes Sunil would bring Jess along, or Pip would bring her friends Lizzie and Leo. Sometimes half the Castle men’s rowing team showed up – loud boys who scared me at first, but were actually quite nice when you got to know them. Sometimes it’d just be the original five, or fewer if we were busy.

It had become a ritual. My favourite university ritual.

‘And this is the perfect place for Roderick!’ said Rooney brightly, pointing at an empty corner next to the sofa arm.

We headed towards the two downstairs bedrooms, which were both pretty ordinary. Jason and I peered into the second one. It was almost as messy as Pip’s current bedroom.

‘I always wanted a downstairs bedroom,’ said Jason. ‘I don’t know why. It just seemed cool.’

‘You’d be right next to the road.’

‘I think I’d like it. Ambient noise. And look!’ He pointed at a patch of empty wall above the bed – enough room for a framed photograph. ‘The perfect place for Mystery Inc.’

It’d been Jason’s birthday the week before. One of his presents from me: a framed photograph of the whole Scooby-Doo gang. All five of them.

‘I’d like a downstairs room,’ said Sunil, who’d appeared behind us. ‘I like being close to the kitchen. Easy snack access.’

Jason glanced at him warily. ‘As long as you’re not practising cello late at night.’

‘You mean you don’t want to listen to my beautiful music in the early hours of the morning?’

Jason laughed and headed upstairs, leaving Sunil and me to wander into the first bedroom, careful not to touch any of the current occupant’s stuff.

And then Sunil said, ‘I wanted to run an idea by you, Georgia.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Well, I’m only going to be Pride Soc president for a couple more months, and before I have to step down … I wanted to set up a new group within Pride Soc. A society for aromantic and asexual students. And I suppose I wondered … whether you’d want to be involved. Not necessarily as president of it, but … well, I don’t know. I just wanted to ask. No pressure, though.’

‘Oh. Um …’ I immediately felt nervous about the idea. I still had days where I wasn’t brimming with confidence about my sexuality, despite all the days where I felt proud and grateful that I knew who I was and what I wanted. Maybe the bad days would become less and less common, but … I didn’t know. I couldn’t know.

Maybe a lot of people felt like that about their identity. Maybe it would just take time.

‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘I’m not even out to my parents.’

Sunil nodded understandingly. ‘That’s OK. Just let me know after you’ve thought about it.’

I nodded back. ‘I will.’

He gazed into the bedroom at the way the evening light was hitting the floor. ‘It’s been a good year, but I’m looking forward to stepping down. I think I deserve a more restful year, next year.’ He smiled to himself. ‘It’d be nice. To have a rest.’

There were three more bedrooms upstairs, and Pip and Rooney immediately beelined for the most obviously large one.

‘I’m having this one,’ said Pip and Rooney simultaneously, then glared at each other.