Free You, Me and Him by Alice Peterson Page A

what all the fuss is about.’
    *
    Mikey was standing outside the door, taking the money. For the opening night he was wearing a red spotted tie and had cut his long hair. ‘Wow, Josie, you get in for free,’ he said when we reached the top of the queue. I was wearing a black sequined top with jeans and heels. ‘Your friend has to pay, though.’
    ‘Oh, Mikey,’ I said, hitting his arm. ‘Go on, let him in.’
    ‘All right then.’ He stamped the backs of our hands with the mirror-ball logo before we were pushed forward by impatient people standing in the queue behind us.
    I spotted Finn behind his decks. He was wearing headphones, a grey T-shirt and jeans, and the blond streak that fell across his eyes had now been dyed a dark red. He had a twelve-inch in one hand, cigarette in the other. There must have been about eighty people squashed into the room. A girl approached him with a request.
    ‘I imagine that’s him?’ Clarky enquired, leaning closer to me. ‘I’m not sure about the hair. What’s this music?’
    ‘Don’t know,’ I answered distractedly.
    ‘Isn’t there a bar here?’
    ‘You have to go upstairs.’
    Clarky looked around the dark space. It smelled of joints and sweat.
    ‘Who’s that guy in the mini-skirt?’ he whispered, followed by, ‘Why does that bloke have a shepherd’s crook? Weird!’ Before glancing sideways at the man next to us who looked like a forty-five-year-old trainspotter.
    Women surrounded Finn. ‘You’ve got competition,’ Clarky murmured. A busty blonde started to jig in front of him. She was wearing large silver hoop earrings that bobbed up and down as she danced. She pulled him towards her. ‘Are you OK?’ he asked me over his shoulder.
    ‘You carry on,’ I told him.
    I made my way over to Finn, pushing through the crowd. ‘Hi!’ I said, an octave too high. ‘How’s it going?’
    ‘Josie! Great!’ he shouted above the music. ‘I can’t believe it, so many people!’
    ‘I know! I told you it’d be great. Hi, Christo.’
    He waved.
    ‘This is my twin, Ed,’ Finn said proudly. Ed shook my hand. ‘Hello! Thought I’d pay my brother a surprise visit, see what he was up to. This is fantastic.’ He looked around the dark room. ‘I hear you designed the fliers? They’re great!’ He was tall, just like Finn, but there was an ease and openness about him that Finn didn’t have. I could picture him acting in a Walt Disney movie.
    Finn got pulled to one side with another request. I saw him flirting with the girl. What was I thinking? He wasn’t interested in me.
    *
    Clarky and I danced. He clasped his hands around my waist and pulled me close. Was Finn watching?
    ‘You’re good, Clarky,’ I shouted above the music.
    ‘I am?’
    ‘Yes!’
    ‘Josie?’
    ‘Yep?’ I could see Finn coming towards us.
    ‘Forget about him.’
    ‘What?’ He was behind Clarky now.
    ‘FORGET … ABOUT … HIM.’
    The music faded and Clarky’s words echoed around us. The room seemed to go silent; there was laughter. Then a new track came on, helping to evaporate the tension.
    ‘Clarky!’ I whispered. ‘You don’t even know him.’ Why was he behaving like this? He couldn’t have feelings for me, could he? He was my best friend. I thought we both knew we didn’t cross that line. ‘He’s nice, OK?’
    ‘Finn Greenwood,’ he introduced himself, shaking Clarky’s hand. ‘I’m guessing I’m the “him” she should forget about?’
    ‘I’m getting a drink of water,’ Clarky mumbled.
    Finn led me to the edge of the dark room. I leant against the wall. He stood in front, arms flanking me on both sides so I was trapped. ‘You see, the thing is, I can’t forget about you,’ he said. My heart was thumping. ‘That’s not your boyfriend, is it?’
    ‘No. I’m just sharing a house with him, we’re going travelling together in Europe later.’ I stopped talking, fed up of tiptoeing around the issue. There were all these smooth chat-up lines and near-kisses