The Gap Year

Chapter 33

My eyes hung weighted towards the sticky disco floor as I desperately searched to avoid any confirmation that Liam had seen us. Something which I knew had occurred judging by the twisted look of pain and confusion etched upon his face, which I had momentarily glanced at  as his voice spoke solemnly behind us. It somehow reminded me of the same look which Mother had fashioned only a week earlier when she had discovered Harry and me within the bushes. Except Liam's pain level was much greater and substituting what for Mother had largely been exasperation and despair.

'How can I help it if she came to me?' Adonis's leering tones broke through the tension, reminding me that there were even more sensitive matters occurring within the room. Matters which even now, as Dave the Head Reps fist zoomed angrily towards Adonis's face like a resolute torpedo, remained a mystery. Yet whatever he's done to Dave the Head Rep to make him so emotional, Adonis remained defiant in his smugness.

'Maybe if you'd been there for her then she wouldn't have needed to come to me? But who am I to turn down a beautiful lady, eh?' Beautiful lady? Suddenly forgetful of my own emerging love triangle I was consumed with fascination at the melodrama unravelling before us. Can it really be Katie who they are fighting over? It has to be to get Dave the Head Rep this enraged, but since when has Adonis got anything to do with Katie?

'Maybe if you hadn't been so distracted by your blonde girl, she wouldn't need to come find a real man in me?' He continued taunting.

'What blonde girl?' Dave the Head Rep echoed my own confusion at who Adonis was eluding to. 'Don't play coy young man,' he laughed, 'like your lady doesn't know about that hot young Philly you are also toying with these day; she was in here only fifteen minutes ago with my brother here.' He pointed to Harry who sensing my confusion at any hint of his involvement was shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders in innocence.

'Are you talking about Rebecca?' Dave the Head Rep looked dumbfounded.

'Of course he is.' A quiet yet hoarse voice joined the now established circle.

'Don't blame Rebecca for this!' Dave the Head Rep snapped at Katie angrily. 'Was it her who told you to go bonk that slime ball the minute I'm on an all-nighter?' There was a collective intake of breath. Were his words true? Has Katie actually engaged in something as diabolical as some sort of intimate contact with, dare I even think it, Adonis? I can feel my stomach roll just contemplating the idea; Dave the Head Rep is bad enough, but now Adonis too, he's the epitome of certified low life. How can she have been so desperate? Maybe she's actually demented, or depressed even? I could have helped her if only I'd been there, she could have turned to me instead of this. I'm such a terrible friend and now she'll have to bear the scars of such a trauma forever.

'Did she tell you to do this?' Dave the Head Rep was still ranting, clearly not satisfied that he'd aired enough of everyone's dirty laundry for one evening, 'did she tell you to bring this muck in to our relationship?'

'Dave, don't do this.' Katie begged.

'What, you don't want people to know how he, this germ carrying rodent, gave you the clap and now you've passed it on to me?'

Another gasp, but this time we all took a collective step away from each other, suddenly eyeing each other accusingly, questioning what unwanted pathogen each of us may be harbouring.

'What are you trying to say, young man?' Adonis stepped forward, no longer cocky but his own nostrils now flaring in anger at the accusations being made of him.

'That you're a disease carrier. Gonorrhoea I think they call it? And who knows what else?'

'Not true,' Adonis shook his head repeatedly in defence, if only to convince himself that the revelation wasn't true. 'You could eat off this body I am so clean!' He prodded at his puffed out chest proudly.

'Stop it! Both of you!' Katie's strained voice pierced between the battling egos, again seizing everyone's attention in this bat and ball tennis match. 'Adonis is right,' she glared at Dave the Head Rep, 'none of this would have happened if you hadn't been so quick to run up the knicker leg of that tart. What was I supposed to do, just let you have your fun whilst I sit at home like a good wife?'

'So you're saying that sleeping with him was fun?' Dave the Head Rep had turned purple, his chin protruding more than usual.

'Are you saying that sleeping with Rebecca was?'

'I've never even been within an inch of her, it never crossed my mind,' he was now pacing back and forth rabidly with his head in his hands like he was trying to protect himself from what was happening, 'I don't know where you've dreamt this up from, you must have been reading too many gossips mags. You've only ever been the only girl for me, and now you've gone and ruined it.' Dave the Head Rep, as if with all his faux bravado suddenly sucked out of him, let out a haunting wail, the metal of a car bonnet slowly being crumpled before us.

'I think you should get Adonis out of here,' Liam's voice broke the tragic scene as he nodded at Harry. 'Why should I do that?'

'Because you're his friend, and he's obviously causing Dave a lot of pain by being here.'

As Harry begrudgingly complied with Liam's order, I searched to make a connection with his eyes.

'Do you want to come with me, Emma?' At last he stepped forward, granting me the acknowledgement that he didn't regret what had happened between us.

'She should look after Katie,' Liam butted in, 'she obviously needs a friend right now too. I'll take care of Dave.'

'Emma?' Harry's wide eye's indulged me, providing me with the encouragement I yearned for, but then Mother's voice of doom, Liam's look of disgust,

'I...' Speak brain, articulate what your heart is feeling. But I just stood there, unable to publicly admit that I might have some sort of feeling towards him, and especially in front of Liam.

'I guess I'll see you around then.' His voice trailed.

'I need to sit down.' I slumped down to the floor, my back leaning against the wall of the bar, my knees clamped to my chest as I let out an unconscious sigh, a sign representative of both the physical and emotional toll that the evening had taken on me.

'Do you mind if I join you?' Liam crouched down next to me. As terrible as I feel for what he saw between Harry and I, the current moment wasn't appropriate for any sort of lecturing from him. Not that I should feel guilty to justify my actions to him, he's not my boyfriend and I've never in anyway indicated that he might be.

'Look, it's pretty obvious that something's, um, going on between you and Harry?' He coughed, his eyes becoming sad, 'but I'm not going to let you start something with him without even trying,' he suddenly brightened with determination, as if remembering some important inner monologue, 'that's not the person I am, I'm not a quitter. You can't be a quitter in medicine, you know that Emma?'

'So what are you saying?' I hesitated.

'I'm saying,' he drew a deep breath, 'please will you let me take you to dinner, and I mean a proper date, just the two of us, at a restaurant in the mountains, no more interruptions at Zorbs Bar; you deserve better than that. I want to get you know you Emma, because from what I've seen so far you're pretty awesome, even if you've got a pretty weird interest in the menstrual cycle,' he grinned encouragingly, 'although I guess you are biased.'

'It's interesting!' I defended, nudging him playfully and enjoying the feeling of relief from my own smile.

'So if you will join me,' Liam steered the conversation back to its original objective, 'then I'm hoping that you might begin to feel some of the positivity that I do for you, but about me, if that makes sense,' he giggled at the clumsiness of his own sentence, 'so what do you say?'