Chapter 16 - "Paris is the city of love."
"Oh my God," Jack gasped. "I couldn't name you one boy who'd buy an anniversary gift like that."
I stared at the tickets that I'd placed on Jack's desk. "I know... Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky."
"Why Paris though?" Jack frowned. "I thought Italy was your thing?"
"Well I assume he wanted it to be different," I replied. "We've been to Italy a few times and I guess the more different something is, the more special it is too."
"Paris is the city of love," Jack reminded me with a smirk.
Taking a seat on Jack's bed, I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check for messages. After opening the envelope last night to find two tickets to Paris for this weekend, I'd called Nathan immediately. We'd then talked for a good hour, which had consisted mainly of me gushing about how lucky I was. It was only now, having had time for everything to sink in, that I realized something.
"Last night over dinner," I began to tell Jack, "Nathan asked me if I had any plans for the weekend."
Jack snorted with laughter. "He was clearly going for maximum surprise by leading you astray."
"But what if I had had plans?" I frowned. "He'd already bought the tickets."
"Would you seriously cancel a trip to Paris because you already had plans?" Jack asked me. "Of course you wouldn't. No plans would be so important. And let's face it; your weekends tend to revolve around Nathan anyway."
"I guess."
"He was probably just trying to make sure you didn't suspect anything at all by tricking you into thinking he hadn't planned anything."
"Sneaky," I agreed.
"So, are you excited for tonight?" Jack asked brightly, his eyes lighting up.
"I'm more excited for the weekend actually," I answered. "Jack, I swear your whole life at the moment is revolving around this one social."
"It's gonna be fun though!" he exclaimed. "Look, I promise I won't let you get tied to any weirdo. And it's not like they can force you to be tied together. Nothing is stopping you from untying yourself and walking away."
"Apart from the fact I'll look like a spoil sport who's no fun?"
Jack gave me a sympathetic smile. "I know this is sort of outside your comfort zone. But you might click with the person you're tied to and you might end up having a really fun night."
"But at what point do I tell them I have a boyfriend?" I asked. "This is the main thing I'm worrying about. You've joked about it yourself when you were saying that it's the perfect opportunity to pull. Being tied to a girl rather than having to actually approach a girl is so much more convenient for a guy. And I bet everyone is expecting to get with their partners-"
"Izzy, stop stressing," Jack sighed. "Nobody is gonna force you to get with anyone. If the guy seems to be coming onto you, then just mention you've got a boyfriend."
"If I mention it too early on though, then he's gonna think I'm big-headed for assuming that he wants to get with me," I explained. "And if I mention it too late then I've effectively led him on."
"So casually drop it into conversation," Jack shrugged. "If you start talking about football, for example, you can just casually mention that your boyfriend is an Arsenal fan."
I nodded. That was good advice from Jack. "Yeah. That might work."
"See," Jack winked. "I'm not just a pretty face, am I?"
-
For the languages social, you were supposed to dress up in the colour of the language you were representing. Since I was representing Spain, I had to wear red. That was easy enough as I had plenty of red dresses. The hardest part was deciding which dress to wear. It was a choice between cleavage and legs. In the end I went for legs and put the shorter dress on, but I wore flat shoes so it wasn't as obvious. I even went as far as applying red lipstick to match my dress.
"I think the red lipstick actually makes you look even more Spanish," Jack commented as we walked to the bus stop together. He was practically bouncing with excitement.
"Oh really?" I asked with only mild interest. I was so nervous for this that I was almost shaking, not just from the cold.
"Yeah. Spanish people always wear red lipstick."
"That's a bit stereotypical."
He snorted. "Well that's the point of fancy dress. You're supposed to be stereotypical."
"Do you know where this bar is?" I asked Jack as we boarded the bus.
"Well it's gonna be near to the club, isn't it?" he frowned. "I thought the whole point was that we got a few drinks at the bar whilst they paired us up and then we moved onto the club."
I sighed. "I thought you said you knew where it was?"
"I know where the club is so the bar can't be far away. We'll find it. Just chill."
I shook my head to myself but didn't want to appear like I was stressing, so I just kept quiet and trusted Jack.
"Oh, shit," he suddenly gasped.
"What?" I asked quietly, my eyes widening in panic.
"I forgot to draw out money. Can we get off at Tesco and then I can use the cash point?"
I nodded and went with it. There was no way I was gonna rock up to that bar alone so I had no choice but to stick with Jack. We hopped off the bus at Tesco, and I groaned upon seeing the huge queue at the cash point. I might have been slightly consoled if these people appeared to be going to the same social as us, but they were dressed up as animals, so clearly they were attending a different one.
Jack and I queued patiently, mainly in silence. I tried to remain calm as I watched the next bus pull up and then pull off. When Jack reached the front of the queue, I noticed how he was deliberately trying to be as quick as possible. It needn't have mattered though. No other bus came whilst we were waiting.
"What happens if we're late?" I asked Jack, after we'd been waiting back at the bus stop for ten minutes.
"We won't be late," he murmured, but he didn't sound so sure.
"They'll probably punish us or something," I said. "On Hayley's socials if they turn up late then they have to down three drinks or something ridiculous."
"Nobody can force you to down a drink."
"I don't wanna be labelled as the boring one."
"So say you're on antibiotics and that you can't drink alcohol tonight," he told me. "Nobody will know any different."
My worries about turning up late had taken my mind off my worries about being paired up with an idiot. When Jack and I finally boarded the bus, there was no doubt about it; we were definitely going to be late.
"I'm sorry, Izzy," he murmured, touching my hand briefly. "I should have got money out earlier on today. I won't let them force drinks down your throat or anything."
"It's fine," I murmured back. "I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm just on edge anyway."
"I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, okay?" he assured me. "And if you do end up getting tied to someone you hate then nothing is stopping you from untying yourself. It's meant to be fun and if you're not having fun then it defeats the whole objective."
I nodded and stood up as the bus came to a halt. The bar was only a few hundred yards or so from the club, so at least we didn't have trouble finding it in the end. However, when we walked in, the place was buzzing with people who didn't seem to be part of the social.
"Where is our lot?" I asked Jack.
"Are you here for the social?"
We both turned to see a small girl wearing the Language Society's polo shirt, with the words "Social Secretary" printed on the front.
"Yeah," Jack said. "Sorry, we're really late."
"No worries," she smiled. "Quite a few people haven't arrived yet. Everyone else has already headed to the club though so unless you want to wait I could tie you both to each other and you can head down?"
I glanced at Jack. Part of the reason he was so excited was because of the thought of being tied to a girl he could hit on.
"That's great," Jack grinned. "We'll do that."
"Cool," the girl grinned, and she pulled a length of pale blue ribbon from out of her pocket. "The guy's left hand and the girl's right hand."
She tied the ribbon loosely, and I understood what Jack had meant. It would be so easy to untie yourself.
"You didn't have to do that," I told Jack as we headed down to the club.
"Don't be daft," he sighed. "You're a safe bet."
"Oh charming," I smirked.
Despite it only being ten o'clock, the club was already pretty busy, and every other person seemed to be wearing a blue ribbon. Jack suggested getting a drink and we headed over to the bar together. As we queued, I surveyed the club. Some people who were tied together were already kissing. Some people were chatting, getting to know each other. Other people just seemed downright awkward, and were either standing in silence, or each of them chatting to someone else, as if the ribbon was an inconvenience. Frowning, I realised Pedro was part of those people. He was tied to a blonde girl but awkwardness radiated off the two of them. The girl was chatting away to another girl, and Pedro was standing there in silence.
"What do you want?" Jack asked me, drawing my attention away from Pedro and back to him.
"Oh, peach schnapps and lemonade," I told him.
He snorted. "Vodka it is then."
"Jack!" I objected.
"Come on, Izzy," he teased. "Peach schnapps is such a lame drink. I'll just get you a single."
I didn't argue because it was pointless. Jack bought the drinks and then I suggested we head over to talk to Pedro.
Upon seeing me, Pedro grinned and reached to give me a hug, something that was quite awkward to do since we each only had one hand.
"This is Jack," I introduced. "And Jack, this is Pedro. He's in my Spanish class, the one I did the project with."
Jack and Pedro shook hands and then immediately engaged in conversation. I smiled politely at the girl and she bent to my ear.
"You've done well for yourself," she said.
I laughed and shook my head. "No, Jack is my flatmate but we arrived late and so ended up being tied together because everyone else had left. Pedro's really nice though."
She shrugged. "You know when you just don't click with someone?"
Pedro was wearing blue, since he also did French, as well as my Spanish course. The girl was wearing yellow, probably for German. Jack was wearing blue for French...
"Wanna swap?" I offered. "We're all wearing different colours and I know Pedro quite well so it won't be awkward."
Her eyes lit up. "Really?"
I nodded. "Sure. I'd only be cock-blocking Jack anyway."
So five minutes later, I found myself tied to Pedro and Jack happily went off on his mission to pull the attractive blonde girl.
"So is Jack on the pull then?" Pedro asked me as we headed over to a quieter area of the club to chat.
"Jack is always on the pull," I laughed.
"I reckon he'll get lucky tonight," Pedro told me. "Alison seems pretty up for a bit of fun."
"Yeah," I agreed. "She certainly had her eye on him."
"I think that's part of the reason this social is so popular," Pedro continued. "It's easy to pull if both people are attracted to each other. She was a bit put off that I didn't seem interested in her."
"Not your type?"
Pedro shrugged. "I don't know. She is hot, I guess. But I've got my eye on someone else. I don't wanna get with her just for the sake of getting with someone."
I nodded. "Does she like you back, this other girl? Or don't you know?"
Pedro smiled. "I've no idea. I've not plucked up the courage to ask her out yet. I'm just gonna concentrate on getting to know her better first."
"That's a good idea," I said. "The best relationships are formed from friendships."
"Agreed," he replied, knocking his glass against mine. "Wanna finish these drinks and then dance?"
I nodded in agreement and downed the rest of my vodka, knowing that I needed to be at least a little bit drunk in order to dance.
As it happened, the dance floor was so busy that dancing wasn't necessary; there wasn't enough room. It was mainly moving in time to the music. Everywhere I looked, couples seemed to be kissing. I was hit with a wave of disappointment that Nathan wasn't here with me, and that only increased when I replayed the memory of our anniversary night.
"Well it seems like languages students are a friendly bunch," Pedro joked, leaning down to my ear so that I could hear him.
I laughed back and nodded. Our hands were tied together anyway, but Pedro's fingers were interlinked with mine, holding on tight so that I didn't get knocked around too much by the busy dance floor. He was creating a decent wall in front of me, protecting me from boisterous dancers, but I was still getting shoved in the back a lot, and pressed up against Pedro. I glanced up at him to offer an apology but he just laughed and shook his head, pulling me closer to him in an attempt to protect me. There was something comforting about being around Pedro, I felt safe, yet I couldn't help but wish it was Nathan's arms that were around me.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" he shouted down my ear so I could hear him over the music. A remix of Rihanna's 'We Found Love' was belting out of the speakers, making it near impossible to even think, never mind talk.
I nodded up at him then stood on my tiptoes to reach his ear to reply. Pedro's free hand slid lower down my back as he held me against him.
"I was really worried about who I'd get tied to," I admitted.
"And how do you feel about being tied to me?" he asked, his fingers tapping my back in rhythm with the music.
As I moved my mouth back to his ear, Pedro moved the other way and our lips almost brushed. I mentally chastised myself for getting so close. It'd be so awkward if Pedro thought I was coming onto him.
"I'm happy of course," I said in response. And I left the conversation at that, wanting to avoid any more accidental lip-brushings.
Pedro and I danced for a little while longer, but I couldn't stop thinking about how I'd almost accidentally kissed him. Maybe I was overthinking it, but I'd be an idiot if I thought Pedro wouldn't have noticed the fact our mouths touched. I didn't want him thinking I liked him in that way...that could really jeopardise our friendship, not to mention the fact it'd be so awkward if he ever brought it up because of Nathan. I hadn't minded the close dancing before, but now I felt like I was giving off the wrong signals every time our bodies touched.
Pedro's hand was still resting on my lower back and our fingers were still interlinked. Should I let go of him? Should I move away? I couldn't really move away – there wasn't any room.
Carefully, I leant back up to his ear. "Wanna get some fresh air?"
He nodded eagerly and then began to lead me through the crowds of people and into the smoking area. It soon became apparent that the smoking area was more of a making out area. I mentally grimaced. Great. And so continues my inadvertent flirting.
To make sure Pedro didn't get the wrong idea, I leant back against the wall, putting some distance between us.
"Do you smoke?" Pedro suddenly asked.
I shook my head feverishly. "No," I said.
"Me neither," he replied.
The air was bitterly cold, and even though I was shivering uncontrollably, I was reluctant to go back inside. Just as Pedro was about to say something, Jack and the blonde girl came bursting outside, laughing. They didn't notice us, probably because they were too caught up with each other. Pushing him playfully against the wall opposite, the blonde girl latched her mouth onto his. Jack eagerly returned her kiss as his spare hand disappeared under her dress. Definitely not appropriate for a public place in my opinion, yet she didn't seem to care.
"Jack seems to be having a good time," Pedro commented.
"Indeed he does," I agreed.
"Shall we give them some privacy?" Pedro suggested, nodding back towards the door into the club.
I had no choice really but to agree, and suggested we head to get another drink. Maybe if I was drunk then I'd stop worrying so much. Pedro bought the drinks and then he dragged me over to a group of people standing at the other end of the bar.
"These people are in my classes," he told me. "I'll introduce you."
He then proceeded to introduce me to six people, three boys and three girls, whose names I instantly forgot. I'd never considered myself to be good in social situations, hence why I'd been stressing about this evening for so long. However, I did vaguely recognize one of the girls from my Spanish class.
"So have you got with him yet?" she asked me, pretty much instantly.
Pedro was talking to one of the guys, and due to the loud music neither of us could hear the other one.
I shook my head at the girl. "No. We're just friends."
"You should definitely go there," she told me. "He's well fit."
I was just about to tell her that I had a boyfriend, when another girl suddenly joined the conversation. She was the one who was 'tied' to the guy Pedro was chatting to.
"Didn't you come in here with Jack Evans?"
"Yeah," I confirmed.
"Yet you managed to get away from him," she nodded in approval. "I don't blame you at all."
I frowned. "Sorry, what are you on about?"
"You've not heard about Jack Evans? He's a notorious player. Fucking awful."
"He's my flatmate," I said, immediately getting defensive. "And he's not a player."
Both girls laughed, not believing this. "Whatever," the original girl said. "I saw him leave about five minutes ago with Alison."
"You know Alison?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from Jack.
"Yeah she's our flatmate," the girl replied. "She's been saying all week that she wanted to get tied to Jack Evans to find out if the rumours are true. She's gonna dish all the dirt on whether the notorious playboy is really all he's cracked up to be in bed."
It was Phillippa all over again. For the second time, Jack was gonna get played. He'd be on his way home tonight, hoping for a casual night of sex, unaware that Alison was gonna be scrutinising his every move, judging him and then telling the whole world about his bedroom skills. I couldn't let him go through that twice. Going through it once had pretty much destroyed him. I'd be an awful friend if I didn't warn him, even if it did mean denying him a bit of bedroom action.
Leaning across to Pedro, I put my mouth to his ear. "I need to make a call. I'll be right back."
Then I tugged at the blue ribbon until it floated to the ground, freeing my wrist. As I headed to the toilets, I dialled Jack's number. I half expected him not to pick up, but after the fourth ring his cheery voice came singing down the line.
"Hey, Izzy. I was just typing out a text to you," he said.
"Where are you?" I asked him.
"I'm in a taxi," he replied. "But I'm fine. Are you okay? Are you gonna be alright to get home?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," I said quickly. "Listen, I was just talking to a few people who know the girl you're with. I'm so happy that you're finally gonna get some action, but she's not just after a casual fling."
He laughed nervously and I could tell he didn't feel comfortable talking about it when Alison was most likely right by his side.
"Well either is cool with me, Izzy," he said. "You know that..."
"That's not what I mean. I know this will sound weird but she had it planned. She's going to report back to her friends or something."
"What?" he laughed nervously. "Are you for real?"
"Yeah I'm for real. I can explain tomorrow, okay? Just trust me."
Silence. I waited for him to call me crazy. Still silence.
"Jack?" I prompted.
When I was met with silence again, I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the screen. The call had ended. He'd put the phone down on me.
I sighed to myself. At least I'd warned him. That wouldn't make me feel better if Jack got hurt, but at least then he'd realise my intentions were good.
When I re-joined the group, it was more than obvious that they'd all been talking about me. Pedro's friend was dangling the length of ribbon in front of me.
"Not quite a fan of bondage then, Izzy?" he asked with a playful smirk.
"Not in public places," I shot back, without even thinking. Then I caught myself. That was the sort of thing I'd joke about with Jack, not with a stranger. Clearly my conversation with Jack had wound me up and overtaken my nerves.
All the boys seemed to appreciate the comeback as they laughed and nudged Pedro suggestively. Pedro simply smiled back shyly at them. Great. Literally everyone assumed Pedro and I had a thing. Nathan definitely needed to visit more often.
"So how's Pedro when he's all tied up then?" the guy asked.
Unfortunately for him, the conversation was already over as far as I was concerned. Grabbing Pedro's wrist, I pulled him to the side.
"Don't worry, he doesn't actually tell us anything about you two in bed!" the guy quickly shouted, apparently assuming that I was going to berate Pedro for spilling our non-existent bedroom secrets.
"I'm gonna head home," I told Pedro, ignoring everyone else.
"I'll come," he offered.
"It's fine. The cabs are right outside. I don't want to ruin your night."
"No, Izzy. They're gonna go home with those girls anyway, so I'd only end up alone even if I stayed. I'll come with you. Are you alright?"
"Yeah," I said. "Just really tired."
Pedro nodded. "Me too. I'll say bye and we'll head off, okay?"
Nodding, I agreed and then followed him back over to the group of people who'd effectively ruined my night. First they'd implanted worries about Jack in my mind, and then they'd made suggestions about Pedro and me. The night was too uncomfortable to be enjoyable now.
"Heading home?" the guy asked.
"Yeah," Pedro replied. "We're getting tired."
"Of course you are," he winked in reply. "See you tomorrow? Ten am. Bright and early."
"I'll be there," Pedro assured him.
The guy glanced at me. "Don't let him stop over. We've got a group presentation tomorrow and his attendance is vital."
I simply frowned, which only caused him to wink once more at me. When Pedro and I finally made it into a cab, he could do nothing but apologise.
"I'm so sorry. They can be such dicks."
"It's fine," I said wearily, resting my head against the glass. "People were bound to talk."
"He didn't upset you, did he?" Pedro checked. "Because I swear I never said anything about you-"
"I know you wouldn't have," I assured him. "Don't worry."
"You seem distracted," he commented.
"I'm just worried about Jack," I admitted.
Pedro was quiet for a couple of moments. "Is there something going on between you and Jack?"
"No," I said. "Nothing. Nothing at all. I've got a boyfriend. He's just a bit vulnerable at the moment."
There. Casually slipped in the boyfriend. Earlier accidental-mouth-brush crisis potentially averted.
"Sex is probably a good distraction then." Pedro said it as a joke, obviously trying to lighten the mood, but he didn't realise just how unfunny the joke was.
We made other small talk for the rest of the cab journey, and then Pedro walked me to my block. I didn't invite him inside. In all honesty, I just wanted to go straight to bed and curl up under my duvet. I'd drunk that awkward amount of alcohol – too much to be sober, not enough to be drunk. It was just enough to make me sleepy and contemplative.
"Thanks for a good night," I said, reaching to hug him.
He embraced me back, squeezing slightly. "No problem. I had a great time. I hope it wasn't as awful as you were imagining."
I smiled. "No of course not. I'll see you in Spanish."
"Looking forward to it," he said. "Night."
"Night," I smiled.
The several flights of stairs seemed to go on forever and when I finally reached the flat door, it was ajar slightly. Jack clearly hadn't let it shut properly. I paused outside his room, listening carefully, but I couldn't hear a sound. Shaking my head to myself, I accepted that I'd done enough. Without majorly interfering, I couldn't stop him making his own decisions.
My bed was welcoming when I crawled into it ten minutes later. Taking out my phone, I checked the time. It was quarter past one. Too late to talk to Nathan really, so instead I send him a text message.
- I love you.
Short and sweet, I'd talk to him tomorrow. For now, I just wanted sleep. But when sleep arrived, I had a distressing dream where I was alone at Uni with no friends. Pedro and I didn't talk anymore, and I didn't know why. Jack hated me because I'd stopped him from having sex. Hayley thought I was really uncool because I'd cock-blocked Jack, and Gemma sided with everything Hayley did. Even Shaun was disapproving of me, but I couldn't work out why. He just kept saying he was disappointed in me and that Nathan deserved better. When I woke up, I was hit with instant relief that it'd all been a dream and that, at least for the time being, I still had friends. My phone was flashing with a few text messages.
The first was from Pedro: Enjoyed myself tonight. Hope you did too. See you soon xxx [sent at 1.44]
The second was from Jack: Need to talk to you. [sent at 1.33]
The third was from Nathan: I love you too. [sent at 1.27]
The time read 4.17, which was too late, or rather early, to reply to any of the messages. I put my phone down and snuggled back into bed. Tomorrow was another day. And hopefully everything would be normal and my friends would still be my friends. After all, I'd done nothing wrong.
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Thank you for reading :)xx