with booze.
There was a knock at the door.
‘Come in! It’s not locked.’
Alex’s face tilted round the door, her curls falling over her shoulder and her make-up already perfectly applied.
‘I knew it would be you. What are you doing looking so cheerful? And … dressed?’
‘It’s ten past nine, you know.’
‘Shit, it’s not? Mullins will kill me if I miss another lecture.’ Misty scrambled upright, feeling her head thump uncomfortably as she did so.
‘Lectures? Pah. It’s supervisions that count. As long as you’re turning up to those and not talking nonsense, no one cares.’
‘Yeah, maybe in English. Not in medicine. We can’t get by on a thought-provoking interpretation you know; we’ve got to learn that shit. Actual facts – you know? Digestive system – facts about shit, in fact. Today.’
Alex was giggling and picked up a discarded T-shirt from the floor, throwing it at Misty. ‘Go on, far be it from me to keep you away from the shit. Nine o’clock lecture? Well, you might make the last ten minutes. Good luck.’
Misty tossed the T-shirt back across the room and flopped back against her pillows, massaging her forehead. Alex had stepped fully into the room now and was followed by Karen. Misty’s heart sank a little to see her looking, as ever, like a shadow that had gone a little awry. She wore a purple plaid skirt and matching top, which clashed with her coppery hair; Alex had been wearing the brown version the week before. Whereas Alex was bright and playful, despite their heavy night the night before, Karen looked dark-eyed and sulky. Probably, if Misty was honest, much closer to how she herself looked.
‘Anyway, I’ve got something to tell you both,’ announced Alex.
‘Well, make it quick because I really do need to get to my ten o’clock. And I need a coffee.’
‘Ooh. Good plan. We’ll make one. That way you can jump in the shower and then you can bring yourself to crack a smile when I tell you the good news. We’ll see you in ten minutes, okay?’
‘Why don’t we take the coffee back to your room, Alex?’ Karen’s tone was helpful, but she gazed around with her nose wrinkled and Misty felt a flush of anger at Karen for making her feel ashamed about her messy room scattered with stuff that Karen wouldn’t touch with a bargepole. At least Misty had her own taste, she thought hotly, and when she could afford to buy something, she didn’t just copy the latest thing that Alex had got.
‘Yeah, okay,’ agreed Alex. ‘Come and find us as soon as you’re done, Misty. Yeah?’
‘Yep.’
She gave it another couple of minutes before she forced herself out of bed, splashing some water on her face from the little sink the corner. Getting up was painful, but she was intrigued by what Alex’s news could be, and it wasn’t a lie that she needed to get to the ten o’clock lecture.
Ten minutes later she was nestled amongst the cushions of one of Alex’s peacock chairs, damp-haired and clutching a bowl of Weetabix.
‘Have you two had breakfast?’
Alex and Karen exchanged a glance.
‘We’re doing a forty-eight-hour challenge,’ said Karen, failing to keep a boastful tone from her voice.
‘A what challenge?’
‘Forty-eight hours, you can’t have anything other than chewing gum, black coffee or tea and water.’
Misty shrugged. ‘Sounds grim. So, what’s the news then, Alex?’
‘Well, this weekend, my parents are having a party at the house. And you are both invited.’
Alex beamed around at them. Misty caught the quizzical look on Karen’s face and they shared a rare moment of common purpose. Why on earth would Alex want them to go to a party thrown by her parents?
‘Err, thanks,’ said Karen. ‘But we’re meant to be going out with the boys from Selwyn College, remember? They’ve got that Entz thing on, with a proper DJ coming up from London. You wouldn’t want to miss that?’
Misty wasn’t part of the drinking society scene – the groups of male and female students that hosted each other at ‘formal halls’ across the colleges – but she had intended to go to the Entz at Selwyn. Karen and Alex had both been invited to go out with the college’s girls’ drinking society – the Valkyries. She knew Karen was desperate to become a full member and pulling out of something like this wasn’t going to help her chances.
But Alex gave a dismissive snort. ‘Well, Octavia Elsmore’s coming to my house, so I hardly think the Valkyries can complain if the society president’s hanging out with us.’
‘Octavia is going to your parents’ party?’ Karen’s mouth was still hanging open even after the words had left it.
Alex just nodded. ‘She had my mum for supervisions in something or other. All my mum’s students adore her. Octavia offered to help me with my history coursework when I was still in sixth form.’
Misty raised her coffee to her lips and a piece of the jigsaw fell into place. She’d always wondered how Alex had got to know people so quickly. They could never walk a hundred yards together without people nodding, waving or stopping to talk to her. But Alex must have known some of these people already. To Misty, Cambridge may as well have been an alien planet she’d been dropped onto from a passing spacecraft. She was as likely to run into someone she knew from before as she was to stroll past Isaac Newton. She flushed a little, feeling gauche not to have realised before.
‘So, what’s so great about your parents’ parties then?’ asked Misty.
‘Music, alcohol, guys … same as any other party. But bigger and better. They don’t do things by halves and they don’t have that student obsession of worrying endlessly about how much it’s all going to cost.’
*
When it came to it, Misty nearly didn’t go. She had a dose of flu, which had left her hot and shivery in bed when the rest of them were at the buttery’s Christmas dinner. Three days later, she was feeling much better but still weak and tired. She’d missed a supervision and had two essays to catch up on whilst everyone else had finished. A hot chocolate in the common room with some rubbish on the telly sounded like a more appealing way to end the day than trekking out to the suburbs for a party.
‘Don’t be pathetic, it’ll cheer you up.’
Karen and Alex had come banging on her door, already doused in LouLou perfume and glittery eye shadow.
They were right – she was being pathetic and feeling sorry for herself. A little bit homesick too if she was honest. But she’d have all the time in the world to lie on the sofa and drink hot chocolate when she went home next week.
‘All right, I’ll get ready.’ She eyed their miniskirts and shivered. ‘I’m wearing my jeans, though.’
‘Fine,’ said Alex. ‘Look what I’ve got.’ There
