September 1992

I step away from the collage of photos I’ve finished putting together, marvelling at my handiwork. I’ve covered the last eighteen years of my life; there are pictures from when I was a toddler, playing in a paddling pool in the garden, right through to this past summer, when my parents took me away to Greece. I stare at the photo of me beaming into the camera, sunlight glinting on my sunglasses, as I stroll along the promenade with Mum, ice cream in hand.

‘Aw looks nice,’ Lauren, one of my best friends, and who I’m now sharing a dorm with at uni, wraps her arms around me. ‘God look out how young we are all there.’

I grin as she points to a picture of us on a log shoot ride at some water park we went to when we were twelve.

‘Amazing how time flies,’ I say.

Lauren pulls away from me. ‘Right, I’m going to head out of here and see what’s about on campus. Hayley will be waiting for us, you coming?’

She stares at me expectantly, hand reaching for the door handle of our room. She’s wearing a loose fitted white top and jeans. Mum would always tense if ever she saw us going out dressed like that, but she’s got a little more relaxed about it as we’ve neared adulthood. Perhaps she’s finally reached the point when she’s realised there’s little she can do, if that’s what we want to wear.

‘You go on ahead, I’ll join you in five minutes,’ I say.

Lauren rolls her eyes. ‘What more have you got to do, Angela? You’ve finished unpacking everything, haven’t you?’

‘Just need to sort one last thing and I’ll be down. Go on ahead, I’ll be alright. Don’t get chatting to any hot guys though without me.’

Lauren hovers in the doorway for a moment, for a second I think she’s about to say something to me, but instead she heads out into the corridor, her sunflower hair trailing behind her.

I head over to my suitcase, which is lying on the floor by my bed, and sort through the rest of my clothes I haven’t got round to sorting out yet. I pull out a yellow summer top Mum bought me last year in the sales. I grimace, not exactly in fashion now, but I suppose it’ll do for days I’m just lounging around. I move it out of the way and grasp a small book in the corner. Mum suggested I keep a diary while I’m here; saying it would be a good keep sake to have. It’s one thing she told me she’d regretted not keeping when she was young. I flick through the empty pages, waiting for me to fill in the days. I consider writing the first day in now but what am I going to say, got the train down to Exeter, had a sandwich from the local convenience store, and unpacked? Boring, why would I want to remember that? I throw the diary back into the suitcase. Lauren might still be in the corridor. I pick myself up from my crouched position and head for the door, making sure to lock it.

I’m about to break into a run, just as another girl, carrying a stack of books, slips out of her dorm next to mine. She has just enough time to register me before I collide into her. The books she’s carrying fly to the floor.

‘Oh gosh, I’m so, so sorry,’ I say, stumbling back.

She backs away from me, and bends down to collect her books, her ponytail flicking over her shoulder. ‘It’s alright,’ she mumbles, not making eye contact with me.

I bend down. ‘Here let me help. I’m Angela by the way.’ 

I pick up the last two remaining books and hand them to her. She brushes a strand of her black hair away from her eyes. My eyes clap on the freckles on her cheeks, she looks like she’s caught the sun recently; perhaps she’s been away for the summer, like me.

‘I’m Michelle.’ She hugs her books tight to her chest. She looks like she wants to run in the opposite direction. She’s about a head shorter than me. She’s making me feel like a giant standing next to her, and that hasn’t always been the case.

God I feel bad for running into her like that. I can’t just leave her standing here. ‘You’re studying law?’ I ask, noticing the title of one of her books.

She nods, meets me in the eye, and then flicks her hazel eyes away from me again. ‘My parents, they wanted me to,’ she says.

I frown at her. ‘Didn’t they let you choose?’

She shrugs. ‘I’m happy to go with the flow. They let me do history though, which was one of my choices.’

I smile. ‘Well, I’m just about to head out to see what’s happening, just off to meet a couple of my friends. D’you want to come?’

She begins to back away, scrunching her arms against her body tight. ‘Um, I really should be . . .’

‘Oh come on, you’ll love Hayley and Lauren, and they’ll love you as well.’

I imagine her weighing up her options inside her head. She strikes me as someone, who perhaps, didn’t have many friends growing up.

‘Erm, OK, yeah, I’d love to join you.’

‘Excellent,’ I say, beaming. I link arms with her, almost knocking her books to the floor again. ‘Hayley and Lauren are great fun, you’ll see.’

In my head, I’m thinking there’s no way my friends will welcome Michelle, but I push the thought to the back of my mind. I bumped into Michelle, and now I need to make it up to her, I’m sure, after a couple of days, we’ll find our tribes. That's what happens at uni. We won't need to see her again. 

***************

Character List:

Angela Watkins - Protagonist 

Paul Watkins - Angela's husband

Rebecca Watkins - Angela's daughter 

Michelle Blake - Angela's former best friend 

Kirsty - Receptionist (Angela's friend) 

Olivia - Angela's boss

William Harris - Angela's former friend 

Caroline (Caz) - Angela's friend 

Hayley - Angela's former friend

Lauren - Angela's former friend