Unsticky by Sarah Manning Read Free Book Online Page B

grabbed Liam’s arm. ‘Did you dump me because you’re hitting that fashion-backwards teenybopper? It didn’t stop you from trying to get into my pants last week, did it?’ Being drunk really brought out her inner vicious bitch.
     
    Liam obviously thought so too because he shook free from her grasp and gave Grace a thoughtful look. It was strange to see something pensive flash across his face for once. ‘I’ve been trying to figure it out all week,’ he said. ‘’Cause you’re cool and stuff, but you know what? You really want to know why I broke it off?’
     
    ‘Go on! Enlighten me with your amazing insights, Dr Freud.’
     
    ‘It’s because you’re not any fun, Grace.’
     
    ‘Grace is fun,’ Lily protested loyally. ‘She dressed up as a chav last Halloween, and that was hysterical.’
     
    Dan was forced to agree, even though he wasn’t Grace’s biggest fan, because her shellsuit and Croydon facelift had been a comedic tour de force .
     
    ‘We did loads of fun stuff,’ Grace insisted as they crossed over Brecknock Road. ‘I came round and baked you brownies. And, hello,
     
    I invented the Ugly Betty drinking game. And what about the time you played that gig in Brighton and we dropped some E and I made you go on the waltzers . . .’
     
    Liam nodded dumbly as Grace gave him example after example of what a fun-loving girlfriend she’d been. ‘Yeah, yeah, I know all that,’ he conceded. ‘But that’s it. You’re funny, but you’re not happy.’ He nodded again, a short, decisive dip of his head. ‘You have no happiness in you, Grace. You just fake it.’
     
    The four of them had come to a halt by a zebra crossing so they could watch the bus they should have caught sail past, making a faint breeze out of the hot summer’s night so Grace’s dress fluttered against her legs as she felt the warm gust of the exhaust envelop her. The faint shrieks from a gaggle of drunken girls stumbling home echoed in her ears and she looked over Liam’s shoulder at the City stretching out in the distance. She’d never get used to looking up at the London sky and not being able to see the stars, but the neon and the streetlights would do instead.
     
    ‘You’re the fake,’ Grace said bitterly. ‘You’re just a lame, tenth-generation copy of Kurt Cobain in your dreams.’
     
    ‘Why can’t you two just kiss and make up?’ Lily begged. ‘You wouldn’t be getting so mad if you didn’t still care about each other.’
     
    ‘The only thing I care about is the three months I wasted on him,’ Grace sulked, taking a sharp left. ‘Fuck this!’
     
    Lily’s hand was in hers before she could take another step. ‘Come back to ours for tea and toast. You shouldn’t walk home on your own.’
     
    ‘I’ll be fine,’ Grace hissed so Liam and Dan wouldn’t hear. She tried to pull free of Lily’s hand but Lily just tightened her grip. ‘I can’t do this. I can’t pretend that everything is OK and I’m not bothered about Liam being here, because I am. He dumped me so he doesn’t get to flaunt his new girlfriend in my face then act surprised when I call him on it.’
     
    ‘He could have handled it better but maybe he was just trying to make you jealous,’ Lily whispered. ‘Or he wants to be friends. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?’
     
    ‘It would be beyond bad.’ Grace succeeded in tugging her hand free and tried to smile to soften the blow. ‘I just want to go home and be by myself for a bit. I still have at least a week’s worth of wallowing time.’
     
    ‘Are you sure? It’s not really safe . . .’
     
    Grace rummaged in her bag. ‘Look, I’ll have my keys in one hand and the rape alarm my gran bought me in the other.’ She took a step away from the concerned expression on Lily’s face. ‘I’ll call you later and I’ll take a break from wallowing so we can go out for a fry-up.’
     
    Another step, then another until there was a huge expanse of pavement between them.