Page 62 of Tricky Girls

‘Hey!’ I glare at her.

‘Not that asshole.’ She shakes her head.

I watch him jog up the steps our way. ‘Why is he an asshole? You’ve not had a problem with him before.’

‘Well, I have a problem with him now, so by default so do you since you’re in our club.’

‘Yeah, I don’t think it works like that.’ I shake my hand free of hers. ‘I can think for myself, thanks.’

I smile at Tommy as he reaches our row, squeezing between the chairs towards us.

‘Hey, guys,’ he greets.

‘Back up.’ Haz sticks out a leg. ‘Go find your fresher friends.’

‘Haz!’ I lean over her, beckoning the boy on. ‘Ignore her Tommy, she’s just mean. Come sit over on this side.’

‘Nope,’ Elly says. ‘This one’s taken too.’

I look between them. ‘What the fuck guys?’

‘It’s cool, Tilda.’ Tommy holds up his hands as he backs away. ‘Place has it in for me, I swear. Been fucked with here since day one.’

‘Is there something I need to know?’ I ask, unable to think of the reason for them being such utter dicks.

‘Shush, Tilda.’ Haz settles back in her chair and folds her arms. ‘Lecture’s about to start.’

There’s nothing in this lecture I can concentrate on now. They’ve pissed me off, reminding me too much of Nic in their behaviour. Not a fan of this hating on innocent people for no reason thing. Not a fan at all.

Poor Tommy. I look at the light bouncing off his shiny brown curls, his sorry head bowed. He’s not typing notes on his tablet, not paying attention to anything at all. He reminds me of a sad little kid sitting down there all on his own.

I glare over at Elly. ‘Expected better from you.’

She purses her lips, eyes sliding back to the projector screen. She’s just going along with Haz, I can see that as much. A shame. I thought she was better than that.

Halfway through the hour, she leans over to whisper, ‘We have our reasons. Just trust.’

‘Tell me and I’ll make up my own mind.’

But I know she won’t. Those lot, all three of them, are thick as fucking thieves.

‘Don’t be disappointed,’ she goes on. ‘Breaks my fucking heart.’

I send her a look, unfortunately all out of pity.

When the lecture concludes, we all file down to the stage where there’s a sign-up sheet for the Christmas meal. Natasha’s up ahead, filling it out. When she’s done, she offers me a small smile before leaving the theatre.

No doubt thinking about last year’s Christmas meal where we sat together getting drunk off bubbly and joking about how weactually hated the richest, poshest chocolate pudding we’d ever been served in our lives.

I feel Haz nudge me along the line, her solid bulk warm against my back.

So weird how things turn out.

‘Gonna play piggy in the middle with me and Elly?’ she says as I scribble down my name.

‘Seems to be my place, doesn’t it?’

‘Hell yeah,’ Elly says, deliberately ignoring my nettled tone. ‘Gonna wear my best suit for you.’

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