There was no better feeling in the world. Maddie had decided that approximately five hours ago and it had yet to fade, still wearing the gown and cap that declared her a graduate. She had made it. Three years of torturous work that she had on multiple occasions thought would be the death of her, and now she had a degree. Not only that, but a first. After barely scraping a two-one in her second year, resulting in hours of tears and days of consoling from her father and her best friend Posy, she had buckled down in third year and it had paid off. A first. Only just, but that didn't matter.
"She's still grinning."
Maddie looked up at the sound of Posy's voice and her grin only widened. Of course she was still grinning, she thought to herself: it was over. Never mind the fact that she was fairly certain she would be doing a masters degree. Her bachelors was done, and it was time to celebrate. Posy, ever practical, had bought three bottles of Prosecco and plenty of raspberries.
After a disastrous group of flatmates in her first year, Maddie had been careful who she'd lived with for the final two years of her degree. Posy had been a definite, her coursemate and instant best friend when she had joined university, and the others had been cautiously hand picked. After six months of going to the screenings at the university's film society, Maddie had come across Sumaiya and after a few more months, they had grown close enough to call each other friends. Nick was Posy's choice, a tennis player she'd met during a sports night pub crawl and clicked with. The final member of their cosy house was in fact a mutual friend of Nick and Sumaiya, a quiet and inoffensive medical student called Henry.
All five had now graduated, with Maddie and Posy being the last to officially pass their courses.
"Here," Posy said. She held out a champagne flute filled a little too high with Prosecco, a couple of raspberries floating on top. "Here's to us."
Maddie raised her glass, giddy with pride and only a little bit tipsy. Immediately after the graduation proceedings had come to a halt, she and Posy had celebrated with a drink at the crowded bar down the road. After that, they had tripped over their gowns to join the housemates who had become their family. Or rather, housemate. Only Nick remained since Henry had flown out to Canada the day after his graduation a few days ago, and Sumaiya had skipped hers to travel round Australia.
"To us," Maddie said as she clinked her glass against Posy's and finally took off her cap. Her head was warm and itchy, her neck crying out for her to relieve it of the heat of her hair. With swift fingers, she tied it up in a knot and took that first refreshing sip of chilled wine, her tongue tingling with the electric fizz of the carbonation.
Nick popped a handful of raspberries into his mouth and took too large a glug of the bubbles. "So," he said. "We all made it, huh?" He ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up on end for a moment before it fell back down over his forehead. "I guess we're not a bunch of fuck-ups after all."
Posy dropped down onto the stool next to him, swigging from her glass as though it was water. "You got that right," she said. "We're fucked, but we're not fucked-up. We've just been primed for life to fuck us over."
Over the years, Maddie had grown used to Posy's penchant for expletives, and it had somewhat rubbed off on her. The first time she had sworn in front of her father, a little more than a year ago, had been a shock for both of them.
"Speaking of getting fucked," Nick said, "your birthday's next week, right?" He looked straight at Maddie with the question but it evaded her understanding. She tipped her head to one side and her eyebrows met above the bridge of her nose.
"Yeah," she said. "But what's that got to do with it?"
Nick wiggled his eyebrows, resting an elbow on the counter and sipping his Prosecco. "Your twenty-first..." he said, but Maddie was still clueless. He sighed and shook his head at Posy, with whom he shared a look to which Maddie was not privy.
YOU ARE READING
Twenty-One Night Stand ✓
ChickLitA Watty Award winner and a featured Wattpad novel. Five years ago, Maddie Hyun and her best friend Peter made a pact. Now it's time to follow through. 21.04.16 → 20.10.16