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What?

“Come sit.” She waved to a vacant spot on the ground, and Leon pulled me down beside him onto some cushions. Well, that was a first. I’d never been kissed on the lips by a girl. I took a long slug of my tutti-frutti drink.

“Here you go.” Caz gave Leon a small screwed up piece of paper and then handed one to me. “Come and enjoy.” She laughed with abandon.

Leon’s eyes brightened. “Cool. You game for some milly-molly-mandy, Emily?”

Shit! Drugs!

I took another sip of my mind-blasting drink. “Um… I’ve not really done this before,” I confessed, my fear of drugs stoking the anxiety in my belly.

“Hey. Caz’s gear is always good. What’s the worst that can happen?” Leon grinned, popped the little paper pellet in his mouth, and took a swig of his drink. He grimaced as he swallowed.

The worst that can happen?

The question bounced through my brain, and in an instant, I had my answer. The worst that could happen had already happened. It was a revelation. I’d lost everyone I loved. What could be worse than losing everyone who loved you?

Nothing.

Wow.

The knowledge was empowering.

“It’s already happened,” I said quietly, and courage surfaced courtesy of the evil cocktail I’d been drinking.

“Hey, attagirl. Bottoms up.”

I followed his lead and popped the paper ball into my mouth. I took a swig of the potent punch and swallowed it whole. “Tastes awful.”

“Yeah. Give it a while,” he said.

I took another nervous sip of my drink. “Okay. Do you live close?” I asked.

“Hammersmith.”

“Oh. Near the school.”

“Means I can stay in bed for the longest time.”

I laughed. “Good.”

We talked and I started to relax, happy to listen to him. Leon was kind and funny, but I still didn’t tell him about my parents. He’d led quite the life. Divorced parents. Both high achievers—his mother a lawyer, his dad owned a string of nightclubs. And Leon and his sister bounced between the two of them.

“That must be tough.”

“Yeah.”

It had been half an hour and the pill hadn’t affected me at all, but I was feeling a buzz from the tutti-frutti punch. So, there was that.

“You good? Feeling anything?” Leon asked.

I shook my head, and as I did, the sound changed and I could hear my hair against my ears.

“Yeah…” He stopped and stared at me for what felt like forever and the world shifted on its axis. A bright grin spread across my face.

Oh. This was it. Wow.

“You’re very pretty,” he said. “We need some water. Bring your cup. Come on.” He got to his feet, pulled me upright, and, keeping hold of my hand, led me back to the kitchen.