‘Finish it, quickly,’ said Rav. Chloe looked down at the spliff, which was still just glowing at the tip, then up at the girl, then at Rav. He hopped down off the wall. ‘Don’t think so, Corinne. That one’s mine, and Chloe only just got here.’

The girl looked disbelieving. She threw Chloe a dirty look then turned her back on them. Chloe took another deep drag from the spliff as Rav offered her his hand so she could jump down from the wall. Her head spun. Cold blood rushed from her feet to the back of her neck. ‘Rav, I don’t feel—’ she started, but before she could stop her words were interrupted by a stream of vomit, which splattered all over Rav’s feet and legs.

Zadie

Sometimes Zadie liked to wait until a party was in full flow and then retreat. Max called it her ‘Gatsby act’, though she was absolutely sure that he hadn’t read the book. It wasn’t that she didn’t like parties. She loved them. But they were like paintings. Something lovely to create, and then to step back and look at.

Max was having fun. Laughing, joking, drinking. And he had told her how glad he was to see Chloe there. She had ticked a box. Made a friend. Now he didn’t have to feel guilty that she had come here to be with him. It was still completely true, but he could enjoy plausible deniability. And, to her surprise, she liked Chloe. It had been a very long time since she had got ready with another girl. And while she knew that it was probably awful, she liked how impressed Chloe was with the house, with her clothes, with all of it. It made her feel less like a pathetic little hanger-on. Chloe didn’t seem to regard her as Max’s girlfriend, someone who just followed him around. And she was so brave. She had just walked off into the party, apparently without a second thought. It must be wonderful to be able to do that.

She pushed open the door to find a boy in her bedroom. A beautiful, tall boy with dark skin and dark hair, and no trousers on. He was crouched down, going through Max’s chest of drawers. She smiled as she watched him catch sight of her and panic. ‘I’m not stealing!’ he said. ‘The guy whose party this is said I could borrow some trousers.’

Zadie laughed. ‘Ah. That was nice of him. What’s wrong with your own ones?’

‘A girl was sick on me.’

‘Oh. Gross.’

‘I was trying to find some jeans.’