Remix by Non Pratt

time I really am baffled. I lift my arm and wave at the nearest line of burger vans before I collapse onto the floor next to Lee.
    “They probably wanted to escape the smell. You stink, Rubbuteo.”
    He might have a point. I close my eyes and enjoy not moving.
    “Don’t fall asleep.” Lee prods me in the cheek and I open my eyes to see a wicked smile that promises nothing but pain. “I know something that’ll sort you out.”
KAZ
    The shower is on its hottest setting and my skin’s blotchy from the heat as I stand under the stream and cry.
    It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve tried to tell myself that I lost my virginity to the boy I love, what I’ve really done is have sex with another girl’s boyfriend.
    I should have asked him
.
    It’s too late now. The memories of what we did burst across my brain – all the excitement and desire now tempered with shame.
    And misery. Because for all I feel appallingly, devastatingly guilty for what I’ve done, I feel sadder still that the boy I have always loved replaced me so quickly. He didn’t even care enough to be honest with me.
    “Kaz? Are you in there?” It’s Anna.
    “Yes, sorry. Coming!” I lift my face into the stream of scorching water and wash away the evidence of my misery before I switch the shower off and dry myself with the free gym towel. God bless Parvati for her expensive gym membership and willingness to give one of her promotional guest passes to me despite the fact that she doesn’t even know my real name. My pass says CAROLINE on it.
    The other two are dressed and waiting as I dart into a cubicle. My clothes stick to my still-damp skin as I pull them on, not wanting to delay the girls more than I have to. By the time I emerge, my top lip is coated in perspiration.
    “You all right?” Anna asks, looking at me closely, and I catch sight of my mottled reflection.
    “I’m fine!” I smile and nod as if moving will make it harder for her to see that I’m lying. “Just a bit hot in here…”
    Parvati nods. “It’s always baking in the changing room and I’m still steaming from the booze. Let’s get out of here.”
    I wish I could stay.
RUBY
    No doubt inspired by the summer that Ed instigated the Drench Ruby Rule – when I couldn’t set foot in the back garden without someone throwing a bucket of water at me – Lee’s idea is for me to stand by the water point in my bikini whilst he uses a saucepan to chuck water at me.
    It has the desired effect.
    The second the water hits my skin, my hangover’s forgotten. What starts out as a “shower” soon turns into a full-on water fight, involving everyone within splashing distance of the taps, and by the time the attendant manning the water point comes over to break it up, I can barely breathe for laughing/screaming/shouting.
    Mood lifted, skin cleansed, I walk back with Lee.
    “Were you planning on telling me what happened last night, or were you just going to pretend everything’s fine?” Lee’s voice is quiet and he steps close enough that I can almost feel the water evaporating from his skin.
    “I could ask the same of you.” I glance up, but Lee’s eyes are on the ground. He can poker-face it better than Gaga when he wants to.
    “I’m serious, Pubes.” Lee bumps my arm. “Parvati told me that there was a spin-the-bottle incident involving Stu. She told me you were angry that you had to kiss him.”
    That’s one way of putting it, I suppose. The easy way.
    “I thought it was over,” I say, closing my eyes, permitting myself a heartbeat of remembering.
    “And it isn’t?” Lee asks.
    “It has to be,” I answer.
KAZ
    Owen and Dongle are waiting outside with hot(ish) McDonald’s. Parvati tells us we’re not allowed to eat it in her mum’s car, so we all end up sitting in a line on the wall around the corner from the exclusive gym. A group of toned and tanned ladies dressed in expensive leggings and branded T-shirts give us looks that range from disapproval to sympathy