"He's absolutely right. Get changed right now or we'll be carrying you down those stairs - and you know we can do it..."
I started laughing at the two guys in front of me holding my front door open. I'd told Bob that he could nip round to borrow my class notes, but I hadn't expected an ambush from him and his flatmate Gary. Glancing down at my fuzzy dressing gown and slippers, I sighed. Somehow, my cosy night with my Toblerone, hot water bottle and the latest Brandon Sanderson book seemed to be disappearing faster than the Wicked Witch of the West in a swimming pool.
"Fine, fine - sounds like I don't have a choice against you two nutcases. Give me ten mins and I'll meet you outside your flat?"
Following muttered threats about what would happen if I wasn't there, the boys finally let me shut the door. Luckily for me, I'd never been one of those girls who took hours to get ready - my 'shoe collection' consisted far more of various football boots, trainers and jazz shoes. Throwing on my only pair of black jeans, one of my nicer tops and my boots, I made it outside to their flat with two minutes to spare. Shaking my head at myself as I sat on their wall, I wondered what I was doing. I didn't 'get' alcohol - I hated the dizzy out-of-control feeling it gave me, and if I was being really honest there were very few nights out I'd genuinely enjoyed. Give me a flat party with my mates and our stupid conversations anytime! However, since Bob had moved into a flat the street over from mine, he'd decided it was his "duty" to teach me the true joys of alcohol. Since there had always been that nagging voice in the back of my head that somehow I wasn't seeing what everyone else seemed to enjoy so much about getting drunk, I figured why not? And it wasn't like we were heading to one of the more upmarket clubs with their awful beats music (yes, I know I'm essentially an old woman already), we were off to the union's famed cheesiest music night in existence. Whilst normally my dance moves involve me scheming how quickest to get off the dance floor without anyone noticing, give me some YMCA or macarena and I'm right in there!
"Theeeere she is!" Bob and Gary came bounding out of their flat. "So, where first?" I smiled up at them. At five foot four on a course that is 85% guys (all of whom are giants), I've got pretty used to being the midget of the group. Bob checked his phone. "Well, the girls are already at Benny's, so let's go!". By 'the girls', Bob meant the girls rugby team he and Gary coached. I'd never actually met them before, but after playing football for years I knew most sports teams were a friendly bunch. Taking a deep breath and wistfully thinking of my duvet, I headed off with the boys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As much as I hated to admit it, I was actually having a pretty good time. Despite still not particularly enjoying the cider and black that seemed to be the staple for our group (which also included being teased a fair amount for repeatedly asking the bartender to put more blackcurrant into the cider - what can I say, I've got a sweet tooth), it had disappeared pretty quickly between Gary and Bob egging me on in the various drinking games. The girls were a great bunch too - they'd completely accepted me into their group and we were singing away to each other on the dance floor. Glancing at my phone, I saw it was about half one in the morning. Still pretty early, but I could tell I needed to get to my bed soon if I didn't want to be napping in a corner of the bar. Squeezing round to Bob, I yelled in his ear that I was heading off. He nodded, so I turned and made my way to the exit. As I was leaving through the door, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Whirling around, I saw Bob there with his jacket.
"What, you thought I'd let you walk home alone at this hour?"
I smiled a little uncomfortably. I knew it was just because he was a nice guy, but the whole 'girls need to be looked after' thing grated on me. It's a difficult one, and maybe it was a result of having a very safe upbringing and having a fierce independent streak, but when my flat was ten minutes away it seemed a tad unnecessary.
"Are you sure? Seriously, don't let me drag you away from having a good night out..."
"Nah, I was kind of done anyway. Besides, I'm looking after my parents' dog for the weekend and she'll be desperate to get out the flat by now."
Feeling a bit silly, I followed him outside. And honestly, it would be nice to have company walking home. The night had been fun but you rarely get a chance to properly talk at a club, which is probably why I've never really enjoyed them. Plus, Bob was great chat. Despite being on the same degree, I'd only really got to know him in the last few months, but it had been one of those meetings where you just know you're going to get on like a house on fire. There hadn't even been that worry about any awkward attraction getting in the way - we were both in two year relationships, and happy (or so I had thought). He'd also been there for me through everything in the last week when I finally decided to dump my ex, Lee. By which I mean, he'd bought me mountains of chocolate which, for me, engenders life long appreciation and respect.
"So, are you actually going to turn up to class this week or...?" I teased Bob, grinning at him.
"Shhhh! I will, it's just this stupid plumber taking so long to sort the bathroom and Gary is completely useless..."
"Suuure, always an excuse! What will it be next time? Ceiling fallen in? Oven exploding?"
Bob was renowned in our class for always having some domestic emergency happening. To be fair, I think his flat is actually cursed and Gary is the least helpful person in a crisis, but that definitely didn't get him off the hook for a whole lot of teasing.
"Yeah yeah, like I'm actually missing much anyway. What was it today - thermodynamics?"
He suddenly jumped on a bench and took a dramatic pose, mimicking our Italian genius-but-clueless lecturer. "Eeet goes hot, eeet goes cold! Eees trivial!"
I burst out giggling - Bob has the worst 'generic foreign accent' ever, but always seems to think he's some kind of accent expert. "Get down you nutcase! If you fall off and break something then you're being left here, OK?"
He held a hand to his heart, looking shocked. "You... You mean... You'd abandon me? You'd abandon such a kind, generous, funny, talented, and incredibly handsome specimen such as myself?"
I gave him The Look. "Don't flatter yourself, I see you first thing in the morning heading to class every day. The gloss wore off a long time ago!"
Pretending to stalk off without him, I realised we were at the end of my road.
"So, I should head u-"
"Do you want to come watch a film?"
"What?"
"Well, I've got Phantom of the Opera on DVD, and since you go on about it all the time, I figured I should probably see what you've been nattering on about. Plus, you can come meet the dog?"
If anyone ever wants to know how best to wrap me round their finger, that was probably it. Musicals -and not just any musical, the best musical ever written - and a new dog to meet? All I'm saying is that I should never be left in charge of any government secrets because that is all it would take...
I glanced up at my flat. To be honest, I'm not really a late night person but not even the lure of my cosy bed could beat the deadly singing and canine combination.
"Fine, fine. Lead the way!"
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