‘I will. See you later, guys!’ Bessie lifted her hand in a little wave and left the house, closely followed by Philip, who was off to meet Carmen. She wondered if the next social might see her and Lawrence arriving as a couple. A small squeal of excitement left her mouth as she ran her hand over her flat stomach, confident that she looked great, sexy even. She strode confidently down the pavement, flicking her hair over her shoulder; Philip had to jog to catch up.

‘Are you drunk?’ He looked a little worried.

‘Maybe just a little bit.’ She held her thumb and forefinger together. ‘I reckon it was those horrible cherry brandy chocolates,’ she laughed.

‘Yeah, that’ll be it, and not the Cinzano you necked. Did you drink it all?’

‘Uh-huh,’ she nodded.

‘God, Bessie! You were supposed to sip it and make it last all evening!’

‘Oh yeah! I can just see me on the dance floor with Mum’s old thermos in my hand. That wouldn’t look weird at all!’ She giggled again, quite sure he had not given her the specific instruction to sip it.

They came to the end of the road, where Philip had to branch off to make his way to Carmen’s house.

‘Are you sure you’re going to be okay? Do you want to come with me to Carmen’s and then we can all walk together? Or you can wait here, and we’ll come back this way and collect you?’

‘No! God, no!’ Bessie waved her hand in his direction. ‘I don’t want to be a gooseberry, plus I need to get to the rugby club.’ She could only picture Lawrence’s face and recall the feeling of his hands on her skin; she ran her fingertips lightly over her stomach.

‘Well . . .’ Philip looked up and down the street, as if making a judgement call, before flicking his long fringe. ‘We won’t be far behind you. I’ll see you there.’

‘Cool, and Philip?’ she called over her shoulder as he walked away.

‘What?’ he asked, turning towards her and walking backwards.

‘Nice eyeliner.’

He beamed and jogged out of sight.

Bessie liked being a little sloshed, liked the way it took the edge off her upset, although the aftertaste of dark chocolate and the sting of cherry brandy at the back of her throat, not so much. She might have been a little wobbly on her feet, but she was energised and ready to dance! She and Michelle had standard moves that they performed for every song, speeding it up or slowing it down accordingly. They largely copied the sideward arm across body movement of Marc Almond singing ‘Tainted Love’, alternately tapping each foot, with a little finger click thrown in occasionally.