In Halls

Salsa

"That's two for Thailand!" cheered Tara, smashing her glass against Josh's and taking a drink. "Oh my God, the rest of you have got to go there one day, it is literally the most beautiful country on the planet. Okay, next! Ellen, did you, or did you not, gap year?"

The table was strewn with mismatched plates and cutlery smeared with the remainders of Ed's amazing moussaka. Everyone had eaten well and group dinner was merging into pre-drinks, apparently in the form of an intense quiz show with Tara as the host. I had not been looking forward to my turn.

"Yes, I had a gap year," I admitted. There was a collective noise from the group encouraging me to drink, and I took a swig. It wasn't exactly clear when getting to know each other had turned into a drinking game, and there seemed no logical foundation to it, but I didn't want to be the prude of the group too early on.

"So... where did you go?" Tara asked.

"I didn't go anywhere. I just... worked." I tucked a wave of hair behind my ear as I spoke. Elizabeth had told me that Tara had said we should all dress up, so while the food had been in the oven I'd rushed to get changed. I'd quickly switched into a casual green skater dress and flicked on mascara and lip gloss, pulling my hair out of plaits at the last minute so that it fell almost to my shoulders in a kinky mess.

"What, in England? For the whole year?" Elizabeth looked at me in disbelief, as though staying in England for a full year was next to impossible to comprehend. She'd spent most of the year at an Italian ski resort. I'd been to Italy on holiday during the year, and to France as well, but somehow I didn't think trips with my family would really cut it with this group's definition of gap year travel.

"Yeah, just in England."

"You must be loaded!" said Josh. He hadn't taken a gap year, but he'd spent the summer holidays touring Thailand with a group of mates. I had a feeling that none of them had worked to pay for their own flights.

"As if!" I tried to laugh. "Earning minimum wage?"

"Why didn't you go somewhere though?" he persisted.

I had my reasons, but I didn't feel like here and now was exactly the forum for discussing my decision making process. I just shrugged.

"What can I say, I'm a boring person. Ed next." I gestured away from myself, passing the conversational baton, and Tara was not reluctant to turn her quizmaster gaze on my neighbour.

"Ed, king of the vegetarian moussaka!" Tara waved her arm across the emptied dishes, and Ed took a mocking half-bow. "Did you gap year?"

"I did indeed gap year," he replied, raising his glass to the room and taking a long swig.

"And where did you go?"

"Guatemala."

"Ooh, Guatemala," said Tara.

"Where even is Guatemala?" asked Elizabeth.

Ed inclined his head, as though he had been anticipating the question.

"Central America, just south of Mexico."

"Wow, Central America! Did you learn to salsa?" asked Tara, wiggling her boobs and arms in what was apparently supposed to indicate some kind of salsa move. She'd put on a black body-con dress with layers of tassels that now flicked from side to side. Ed chuckled.

"As a matter of fact I did."

"Show us!"

Ed held up his hands as though to refuse, but Elizabeth's call was echoed by Tara and the rest of the guys.