He nods. ‘You didn’t want to hear the truth. She probably understands.’
‘You’re not bad at giving advice, you know?’
‘Turns out you’re not the only person good with words. I’ll be giving you a run for your money soon.’
‘What do you want to do anyway? Photography?’
‘No, this . . .’ he says, holding up the camera, ‘this is a hobby to me, I don’t want to study it in case it becomes less fun. I want to study Chemistry.’
‘Chemistry?’ I say. ‘You’ve never mentioned anything about Chemistry before.’
‘Well organic compound reactions don’t really come into daily conversation, which is a great shame.’
‘British sarcasm really is growing on you.’
‘I would say I’m fluent now.’ He laughs. ‘I like understanding how the world works. And Chemistry does that. When you boil everything down, it’s tiny atoms making everything up. I think it’s fascinating.’
‘And do you want to be a chemist?’
‘I don’t think so,’ he says. ‘But like you, I don’t know exactly what I want to do. But I know I’ve got to start, and that’ll help me figure it out.’
I look ahead. Makes sense to me. I just need to start.
Probably with apologising to Mum about yelling first.
Twenty
You remind me of a summer ago
Sipping wine in a chateau
Little did I know
Where we’d end up
‘What Happened Next’ fromRoses
I really need to talk about this to Ollie, who has become more and more distant since the ticket incident. Shockingly, I manage to get hold of him on FaceTime on a Friday night.
‘I can’t believe it’s now October. Time has gone by so quick,’ says Ollie.
And it has, we’ve barely spoken in the last week. It’s hard to believe, since we used to talk to each other every day.
‘I know,’ I say. ‘It’s so dark now.’ I’m trying to not watch myself in the tiny corner screen and focus on Ollie’s face.
‘How have you been?’ he says, the camera suddenly moving as he rolls to his side on the bed.
I inhale deeply. If anyone knows me the best, it’s Ollie.
‘Right now, focusing on uni,’ I say. ‘I should apply after Christmas.’
‘I’ve sent mine off,’ he says. ‘Getting a headstart and all that.’
‘Lawyer Ollie incoming,’ I say.
‘Oh yeah,’ he says. ‘Have you picked yet?’
This is what I like about Ollie. No assumptions, he knows me.
