Page 9 of People Change

She pivots, her arm still resting against the bar, until she is face-to-face with the speaker. He is tall, South Asian, with beautiful black thick hair. She remembers, then, that he is one of Kian’s housemates – Dylan.

‘Hello,’ she says slowly, her eyes shifting automatically from side to side.

‘You excited for the show to start?’ he asks, a hint of a smile on his lips, like he is not excited for it, but rather the opposite.

‘Obviously – can’t you tell?’ she says.

He laughs and leans against the bar, before running his fingers through his hair, which comes just past his ears. She is not sure it is a look many people can pull off. His dark hair is so shiny that the light overhead reflects from it.

‘Yeah, you look dead excited,’ he says. ‘You were at our party the other week, weren’t you?’

‘I was, yeah.’

‘Did you have fun?’

She nods. ‘Your house is really nice.’

He smiles. ‘I mean, that doesn’t really answer the question, but sure.’

She thinks he’ll order his drink and leave now, but he continues to lean against the bar, looking at her, saying nothing, waiting for her. Impatience – because she has no interest in small talk – makes her ask, ‘How do you know Kian then?’

His brows furrow, ever so slightly. ‘We went to uni together in Glasgow. I pretty much came back to London as soon as I graduated though. Glasgow was nice and all, but it doesn’t really compare to here, you know.’

She nods, like she can relate, even though she has never been to Glasgow.

‘How do you know him?’ he asks.

She bites her bottom lip, though not in an alluring way, more like she is chewing it off. She angles her body slightly away from him, looking out at the pub, which is now filling with more people, before answering. ‘I don’t really,’ she lies, her voice breezy. ‘We went to school together, ages ago.’

Henry makes his way towards them and she can’t help but mutter, ‘Oh, fucking great.’ Dylan looks surprised, but then Henry is before them, wearing an ill-fitting T-shirt, pint in hand.

‘I wouldn’t bother trying to get with her, mate – Shirin is picky,’ Henry says, winking at Shirin.

Dylan clears his throat, visibly embarrassed, and says, ‘We were just talking.’

Henry slaps his hand on Shirin’s shoulder, jolting her. His hand stays there and she hates it. It is like, with his touch, he is weighing her down, tarnishing her in some way. She knows from the outside, though, it looks like they are friends. That is what Millie always sees, anyway.

‘Piss off, Henry,’ she says lightly.

He laughs like she is joking, and Millie comes over to them and asks them what they’re talking about.

‘Shirin’s love life,’ Henry says. ‘Or lack thereof.’

‘She’s just picky,’ Mille says, echoing Henry. ‘She could have someone, if she wanted. Couldn’t you, Shirin?’.

She notices Dylan looking at her and thinks: Are normal people humiliated daily by their friends? ‘I’m not picky. I’m just not desperate,’ she says. ‘Men are often disappointing. No offence.’ She looks at Dylan for the last part.

‘Notallmen,’ Dylan says. ‘Surely not all of them.’

Shirin opens her mouth to counter his comment, but Millie puts her hand between them. ‘I can’t be arsed for the inevitable debate that is about to happen here. Before they come on, I wanted to check you’re all on for the barbecue at mine on Saturday? For the England-versus-Switzerland match.’

Dylan says he and Kian are down to go, and Shirin’s ears prick up at Kian’s name. She is about to say she can’t come any more, even though she has been planning on it. Then she feels this twitch of irritation, like she is being shooed out of her own friendship group. Yes, a friendship group she often finds annoying, but it is hers, nonetheless.

‘Yeah, I’ll be there,’ she says.

The lights begin to dim and a woman appears onstage, announcing that the gig is about to begin. They go and sit down, apart from one another. As she watches Jasper play the guitar onstage with his band, red spotlights overhead, their indie-rock beats radiate around the room. It is loud and it swells, and people are swaying. The music is good; much better than she expected. They sing about the first time they met some girl, and it gets Shirin thinking about the first time she saw Kian when he moved to her school.

North Oak