Goodbye Katy
Chapter One
"AGHHHHH!" Kris bellowed as he dropped the couch he and Zak were lifting on his foot. "That weighs a bloody tonne!"
"Sorry, mate, I should have warned you that box was behind you!" Zak lowered the couch carefully to the floor and took a look around the room. "Spick and span now."
They had spent the entire morning cleaning the flat ready for the inspectors to view and the arrival of their new flatmate. It had been almost six months since Katy had left and now the new academic year beginning again in a few weeks.
"It's gonna be weird having someone new around again…" Kris pondered. "If it's a girl I hope she's a hottie."
"Somehow I doubt it, mate, there's no way you and I are that lucky!"
There was a knock at the door and they both rushed for it. They were excited at the prospect of meeting their new friend. Kris got there first and brushing his scarf back over his shoulder he opened the door to see the flat inspector and a young girl with pink hair standing at his side. She beamed with enthusiasm that made her bright blue eyes sparkle.
"Hello, gorgeous!" Kris cried out and grabbed her hand to kiss it. "I'm Kris, and it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh, give over lad!" Zak laughed.
"If you don't mind can we come in?" The inspector said impatiently, pushing past Kris and entering the newly cleaned flat. "You can carry on your misogyny now; I'm going to have a look around. You can get acquainted with your new friend."
He skulked off towards the bedrooms hastily and the three flatmates looked to and from each other. They began to familiarise with each other. It turned out her name was Lucy. She was from just outside of Chester and it was her first year at university after taking a gap year. As she was answering the questions they asked robotically, the two boys were surveying her closely. Both liked what they saw instantly and suddenly the advantages of living with a girl re-entered their minds, namely a shared shower.
"I'm done."
The two boys snapped out of their sordid fantasies they had each conjured up secretly.
"Wha--?"
"I'm done with the inspection. This time it is satisfactory, make sure it is for next time, too."
"Will do, of course we will make sure! We're always the cleanest of clean; you should know that by now!" Kris said with a cheeky twinkle in his eye. The inspector snorted and left.
"Well, Lucy, I hope you've got your glad rags with you because tonight babe we're gonna show you how to party Hollyoaks style!"
After the general chit chat, mainly instigated by Kris, it came time when he eventually had to leave.
"Sadly I have to go to work, and I'm already ten minutes late! So I will leave you in the capable hands of Zak and I'll see you later beautiful," he shot a wink at.
"Can't wait!" She winked back and laughed.
Zak rolled his eyes and wished that he was like Kris for a moment.
Left alone, the two of them looked nervously from each other.
"Um…er, so…" Zak stuttered for something to say. "…you like, er… watch the footy?"
"Of course! I'm red 'til I die!" She said enthusiastically.
Zak's heart skipped a beat. Okay, wow… this girl was sent from heaven!
They proceeded to talk about Liverpool FC for a very long time. Both of them connected with each other instantly and something clicked.
"Lucy, darling, are you decent?" Kris shouted through her bedroom door later that night. She had been getting ready to go out now for a while.
"Yeah, I am!" She exclaimed at the same time that Kris opened the door.
"That's a shame!" He shot her a flirty smirk and a wink and she giggled. He looked her over. She was wearing a white camo covered in cherries, a black miniskirt and pink high-heels that almost matched her hot-pink hair. "You look jaw-droppingly gorgeous!"
"Thanks," Lucy said sheepishly. "I wasn't sure how dressy this place is if I'm honest."
Zak sat in front of the television but he was not watching. He could not get his mind off Lucy. Sure, he's not the type to go for someone who dresses in bright clothes and dyes her hair pink, that was much more Kris's type. There was no denying it, though, she was beautiful. The fact that she supported Liverpool was merely a bonus, although a great one at that! His thoughts were interrupted as Kris and Lucy walked into the lounge talking and laughing. It suddenly occurred to him that if he could see that she was Kris's type then so could Kris. He caught her eye and she smiled, somewhat apologetically Zak felt.
The three of them entered The Loft which was fuller than usual. Clearly other students were moving into halls today also. As they reached the bar some girls rushed over to them. It was Sarah, Zoe, and Hannah, who were all glad to see that another girl had finally moved into the village.
After a while of talking to Zoe, Zak noticed that both Kris and Lucy were out of sight. His mind began concocting visions of the two of them together was making him feel miserable, but mostly confused. He had only just met the girl and yet she was already driving him crazy.
"Zo, did you notice where Kris and Luce went?"
"Um…" She looked around. "No idea, maybe they needed to sit down?" She suggested.
After looking for them for a while he had no luck and decided to go outside for a breather. He made his way over to the railings and leaned over and looked off into the distance, thinking of the chance he missed with Katy and wondering when another opportunity would present itself like that. It then occurred to him that Lucy was perhaps nothing special but merely a new female distraction for him to take his mind of his lost love. Having experienced this new epiphany he smiled and decided to go back into the club and have fun. Turning around though he saw a sight that he was not prepared for, and realised that Kris was not the only blonde threat that he should have been prepared for.
Lucy was leaning on the wall outside chatting to Justin Burton and suddenly Zak was feeling rather threatened. Justin looked up and caught Zak's eye. Noticing this, Lucy turned around.
"Zak!" She smiled. "Hey, why don't you come and join us?"
Zak looked about awkwardly. "I think I best not, hun, um… I'll maybe see you later, come and find me when you're ready to go and me and Kris will walk you back."
Lucy opened her mouth but Justin got there first: "Don't worry, mate, I'll make sure she gets to bed safe." He said with a wink.
Zak skulked off awkwardly back inside the The Loft.
Lucy scoffed. "I hope that was a joke?"
"Maybe, maybe not…" He said and leaned into kiss her. She kissed him back. After being single for a bit she enjoyed sharing this with Justin, who was found attractive and who had the charm of the man who had previously broken her heart. A sudden rush of emotion made her end their kiss. She looked into his beautiful blue eyes and moved away as he leaned into kiss her again.
"It was really nice to meet you, Justin," she smiled and tried to hold back her tears. "But I'm going to find the lads."
"But… I though we could, you know," he pulled her closer, "go back to yours."
"I did too, but I've changed my mind." She moved away from him again. "Sorry, I'll see you around." She disappeared back inside leaving Justin slightly annoyed and disappointed.
Zak picked up his pint from the bar and turned around only to come face-to-face with Lucy.
"Hey, babe, you okay?" He was surprised and really happy to see she had left Justin. She smiled back at him. "I though you'd made a new friend?"
Lucy looked embarrassed. "No, we were just talking that's all…"
Zak didn't believe her. He took her arm and pulled her to the side of the bar out of view for a second. "Between friends, Justin Burton is bad news."
"Honestly, Zak," she smiled back, flattered that he wanted to look after her. "I'm not interested."
He didn't quite believe her but decided to let it go.
"I see someone without a drink!" Kris hollered from behind them. "Let's get some tequila slammers on the go!"
They hung about the bar talking and doing shots until they were all very giggily and very drunk.
"Apparenly you were spotted kissing Justin Trousersnake outside, Missy!" Kris suddenly threw at Lucy. "Didn't take you long to pull, that's my girl!" He laughed and threw his arm around her. She laughed along awkwardly.
"Haha, yeah. Listen, I think I'm going to go back," she told them, suddenly feeling quite drunk and confused. "But you two stay here, honestly, I'll be fine."
"I don't think so," Zak objected, slurring his words. "It's not safe, even in the village and you're smashed, I'll walk you back."
"The two of you will be lucky if you don't pass out in a gutter before you reach home!" Kris laughed. "See you in a bit, guys!"
Both Lucy and Zak were relieved not to bump into Justin on the way out of the club. They stumbled home, making more small talk until they reached the flat. As soon as they entered Lucy swung off her shoes and collapsed on the sofa.
"Oh my God, my feet!" She mockingly whined.
Zak collapsed next to her and the two fell silent.
"We did kiss," she admitted, not sure why exactly but feeling she should. "And I almost brought him back here. It's something I would have done before... But this is a new start. I'm not like that anymore."
Noticing her fragility he reached for her hand.
"You deserve better than Justin, believe me," he looked into her wet eyes.
She laughed. "You've only known me a day!"
"I still know."
She smiled and cuddled up to him on the couch.
Half an hour later Kris walked through the door and kicked off his shoes.
"Oh my God, my feet are killing me!" He moaned before noticing Lucy and Zak fast asleep on the sofa, her head on his chest and his arms around her.
Kris smiled and shook his head.
"Goodbye, Katy."