Later that day there was a knock on the door. It was Bryan.

‘Hi.’

‘Hi Bry. What’s up?’

‘Is Jenny there? I need to talk to her.’

‘Sure.’ ‘JENNY!! Bryan is here.’

Jenny was there before I could finish the sentence.

‘Anna, could you…’

‘Sure. I’m already gone. Bye.’ I went out through the door.

‘Last night…’ Bryan said. I think we need to talk about what happened. That wasn’t really me, you know.’

‘Come in, let’s sit and talk instead of telling all in the corridor about what was going on last night.’

They sat down, Bryan on one bed and Jenny on the other. It was an awkward silence for a couple of minutes.

‘Bryan…’

‘Yes.’

‘You should know, I’m not looking for a relationship right now. I’ve just split up with my boyfriend and it wasn’t pretty. You see he cheated on me…’

‘You don’t have to tell me. Anna already did.’

‘Oh, so you know.’

‘You know I’m not like him, but I’m not looking for a relationship now either. Friends?’

‘Friends.’

In the meantime down the hall

When I walked slowly down the hall thinking about what to do while Jenny and Bryan talked. A door opened. It was Shane.

‘Anna. Hi. Can you talk?’ He opened the door so I could get in. I looked around for somewhere to sit. I chose one of the beds. Shane sat down next to me.

‘You should know that since last night I haven’t been able to get you off my mind,’ Shane said.

He took me by surprise. I didn’t know what to say so I just sat there stunned.

‘I haven’t met a girl like you in a long time, your pretty, sweet, funny….’

‘Stop, finally I got control over my voice. Are you sure about what you’re saying?’

‘Completely’, he said and before I know what happened he kissed me. Not gently like Mark but demanding and passionate. He pressed his body against mine. He completely took my breath away. I won’t deny it, I liked it, I liked it a lot. Then I thought about Mark and pulled away.

‘We shouldn’t be doing this.’

‘Why not? You can’t tell me that you didn’t like that as much as I did’, Shane said and leaned over to kiss me again. I put my hands on his chest and kept him away from me.

‘OK, I liked it but you see I’m already sort of involved….’

‘Sort of you say, that means it’s not that serious and therefore I have a chance.’

His eyes light up with hope.

‘No, we’re just getting started, but I really like him. I want to give it a shot and not screw it up even before it has started. Do you understand what I’m saying?’

‘Sure.’ I could tell he was disappointed.

‘But that doesn’t stop us from being friends, does it? I’d really like to be friends with you.’

‘OK, but I’ll still hope that you’d change your mind.’

There was a knock on the door.

‘Shaney are you ready? Kian shouted. Ready or not I’m coming in to get you!’

‘I’m ready! Wait just one minute and I’ll come out! Don’t come in!’

‘Anna, Shane whispered. Do you think you could stay in here till we’ve gone and then leave? It would be too hard to explain why you’re in my room alone with me.’

‘Sure, catch you later?’

‘We’ll probably be in the bar all of us tonight so… I really have to go now. Bye for now then.’ He kissed me on the cheek and went carefully out the door.

‘Ki, what’s up…’

Their voices faded away as they made their way through the corridor. When I couldn’t hear them anymore I carefully opened the door and went back to Jen’s and my room.