Strum

"You're a touch over-powered on the piano."

"We can swap if you like."

"What, and you show me up because you're like this guitar maestro or something as well?"

"You'll never know if you don't swap."

"I don't think so," she said, strumming a few more chords.

I played along and mixed it up, adding my own tune, not knowing where to take it. "Have you decided yet?"

"Not yet." She selected a different chord progression. I went with it, my ears and fingers finding the way, a familiar progression of chords, then she took them elsewhere. Cocking my head, I asked a question with my eyes and she answered with a grin.

I shrugged, seeing where she'd go, but my fingers played away again, searching for something else, and Tanya followed, her strumming matching me.

"That's beautiful," she whispered.

"Do you know it?"

Her strumming pattern suggested she did indeed know the song, and she began to hum, and she looked me in the eye and said, "I'm such a fool for you..."

"You've got me wrapped around your finger..."

She laughed and we both sang the Cranberries' Linger from the start, and Wes and Kevin returned, Wes coming over to watch while Kevin crossed the room to the bar. He caught Tanya's eye and extravagantly rolled his hand in the air to say, Wrap it up, you have work to do, bringing her playing to an abrupt end.

"Fucking bravo," Wes said, clapping, then taking the guitar from his apparently suddenly pissed off sister. He smiled at her as she strode to the bar, thick black hair falling past her shoulders, swaying when she walked. Turning back to me, he said, "You have talent."

"Is the drunk fella okay?"

"He's fine. The police called him an ambulance. He was muttering stuff out there, incoherent stuff. Another drunk in old London Town. But inside, you and Tanya were making beautiful music. You said your mother taught you to play?"

"She taught me to play the guitar, but I learnt the piano from her friends."

"Sure sounds like some amazing piano learning."

"I've played since I was a little kid."

"I can tell, no one picks up the piano and learns it like you play in a couple of years, not to mention picking up a tune by ear. Anyway, it looks like we'll be leaving soon, so if you don't mind telling us where home is for you right now and we'll drive you there."

"You don't have to..."

He brushed my protest aside with a wave of his hand. "Of course we don't have to, but we want to. You're not wandering the mean streets of London at this hour while all the drunks emerge from their pubs."

I couldn't argue with his logic and we packed the instruments and finished our drinks while Kevin and Tanya went about the business of shutting the place down. Sitting on the stage together, Wes and I chatted, where he asked how I knew Tanya.

"I left the train at the wrong stop and found her in the park, singing and playing her guitar."

"This morning? And you started hanging out? Wow, you're brave because my sister can be crazy!"

"Oh, I know, but she's brave because I'm crazy too. We went on an adventure and ended up sneaking into Wembley Stadium. We rocked the joint, playing We Will Rock You to a massive audience of two security guards!"

I showed him the footage and he laughed. "I shouldn't condone you breaking in to Wembley, but last year me and a friend from university drove out to Stonehenge and snuck in during the middle of the night so she could take photographs. Fortunately security didn't show up, but it was crazy cold, at least until we put our clothes back on."

Laughing, I said, "Hang on, you said she, but aren't you..."

"Gay? Yes. Bisexual? Maybe. It was my friend's suggestion and I have this rule where if I'm offered an adventure and I feel safe, go for it. A bit like how we played our music before."

"I guess," I said, thinking of the ideas and similar rule I gave myself before this trip, but also suddenly thinking of my friend Ash, and then her brother David, the boy who told me he'd wait for me to return, to see if I still had feelings for him. I don't know why they came to mind, maybe because I was attracted to Wesley, and sometimes I wonder if I was ever genuinely attracted to David in a sexual way, because most of the time I didn't think of him at all, at least not in the way he thought of me. I do think of Ashleigh, however, but thinking of her made me think of Claudine at the hostel, because, I don't know, I wondered if there was something I didn't understand between us, because I thought of her as flirty. Then I thought of Tanya, because she approached us, pulling her hoodie on.

Cocking her head, she asked, "What do you guess?"

With a shrug, I said, "Nothing. Wes was telling me a story."

"Which crazy story would that be?" she asked, a grin forming on her lips.

"I haven't told you this story before," he replied.

"Go on, tell me."

"I'll tell you another time."

"So you tell Kim who you hardly know a story that you won't tell me?"

"It was nothing, I visited Stonehenge last year."

"Oh," Tanya said, "Sounds like a thrilling story. People tell me it's not as spectacular in real life as we're led to believe."

"I'm sure it is spectacular," I laughed, "Like the metre high Stonehenge in Spinal Tap."

"Huh?" Sister and Brother both wore the same expression.

"Spinal Tap? Tiny Stonehenge? No?"

Comically they shook their heads in unison. Kevin saved the day, calling out, "You uncultured muppets, does this mean we have to have a movie night where I introduce you to the glorious Spinal Tap?"

Wes took his phone from his pocket, tapping away and said, "Sorry, I wasn't born in the seventies."

"Or eighties," Tanya said, looking over her brother's arm. "And I don't think we'll find an old video player to watch it on, either."

They mocked, but soon Tanya chuckled, still watching her brother's phone, and Wes said, "Oh, yeah, I know this band, they aren't even real."

"Yet they make better music than most bands today," Kevin said, joining us.

"And they sing about the completely accurate history of Stonehenge," I laughed. "Which is one of the first places I'm going to on my bus tour."

"And which you'll find is amazingly spectacular in real life and not two foot tall," Wes added.

"Especially in the middle of the night without..."

Wes smiled but shook his head, and I said no more. He filled the silence, reminding me, "You never told me where home is."

"Home is wherever I'm with you," Tanya sang.

I smiled, then to Wes I asked, "Do you mean my home here or back home?"

"Well, we're not going to drive you back home, but we certainly can drive you to your here home."

"I said you don't have to..."

"Shhh," he shooshed, putting a finger on my lips. I think if any other man hushed me in this manner, I'd have probably considered kicking them in the nuts. But Wes looked so fit and gentle, and gay. Despite this knowledge, I knew he could still have me wrapped around his finger.

Kevin wrapped his arm around Wes' waist and said, "And we said we're not letting you battle your way through the streets and the Tube with all the drunks and baddies."

They chuckled, probably at the word baddies, and Tanya hefted her guitar case and said, "Come on you lot, I have my beauty sleep to catch."

We barely fit into Wes' hatchback, and Tanya proudly said, "He's working at the hospital and is eyeing off a BMW to replace this piece of junk."

"Oi," Wes called from the driver's seat, "Do not call my beautiful Vauxhall a piece of junk, you'll hurt her feelings."

"You've gotta admit, she sure is Astra-nomical," Kevin said, laughing at his own joke. "Cost you a pretty penny when her transmission broke."

Wes reached across and gave Kevin a gentle slap on the shoulder with the back of his hand. "Not you too, this fine steed of mine is perfect for what I need her for."

Tanya giggled. "How do you know she's a she? Did you lift her skirt up to check or something? I mean, the way you're caressing the gear knob, I'd say she's actually a he."

"You two are unbelievable. Kimberly, I'm so sorry you have to hear my sister and my so-called boyfriend harassing my car."

"Looks like you're the one harassing your car, the way you fondle its stick," Kevin said, earning himself a more forceful back hand slap, and we all laughed.

"If you are hoping for a proper harassing when we get home," Wes replied, "You better not say another thing about my wonderful car."

I didn't quite know if anything I said would be appropriate, so I remained quiet, watching night-time London go by the window. Buildings bright with lights and leafless trees, many of which were also covered in lights, all sparkling in slight drizzle.

"Kim?"

The manner in which Tanya said my name, I knew she was asking a question. Turning to her in the dark and cramped rear seat, I replied, "Yes, Tannie."

"Are you busy tomorrow?"

"I was sort of going to wander around London. Maybe visit Big Ben next."

"You would. But if you find yourself out my way, which you probably won't because you're boring, I'll be in the park again. For a bit, anyway."

"I'll follow you into the park..."

Kevin turned to me in the back. "I'd run as far from her as you can, Kim."

Tanya pushed the back of Kevin's seat, and Wes put on an authoritative voice, telling us, "Hey, stop it, kids in back seat cause accidents."

"I thought it was accidents in the back seat that cause kids," I laughed.

"There will be no accidents of either kind in my car!"

When our laughter died, Tanya said, "You said you were in the UK for a couple of weeks, but how long will you be in London?"

"I'm booked on two week bus tour of Britain and Ireland in two days, but we could hang out again tomorrow if you have nothing better to do."

"And after your tour you're going across to the Continent?"

"I am..." I said with a nod.

"Oh..."

"Oh, come on you two," Kevin said from the front. "It's twenty-nineteen, not bloody nineteen-twenty. You two can Skype and FaceTime and email and even bloody well fly across the world to see one another if you love each other that much."

But I felt the pang of hollowness making itself known to my heart. After tomorrow Tanya and I may never cross paths again. Attempting humour, I said, "I could hide you in my luggage. Take you with me."

"Oh, yeah, I've always wanted to be squashed in the baggage hold of a coach."

"Don't knock it till you try it," Kevin said.

"Kevin likes stuffing things in tight places." Wes' joke had me snorting with laughter, and soon Wes declared, "Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived."

We certainly had, my hostel lit brightly, a couple of people rugged up out front and puffing away on cigarettes. I gave a silent nod and said, "Thanks so much for the lift, Wes. And Kevin, and you too Tanya. This actually is the best most memorable day of my trip."

Tanya smiled in the dark. "You're only a couple of days in to your trip, Kimmy. I know you'll have many wonderful experiences after today."

"Yeah, like tomorrow when you're going to call me up and ask me to hang with you."

"Nah, you're going to call me."

"I'll make her think about it, Kim," Wes said. "Now it's been a real pleasure meeting you, and have a lovely sleep."

"Hey," Kevin said, "I'll even be at the pub tomorrow evening, same time, if you want to hang out. You and Wes and Tanya can be the entertainment for the evening. Be a damn sight out of this world improvement over the usual."

"I'll think about it," I laughed. "But, Tanya, you call me. Promise."

"I'll think about it," she said, still smiling.

~0~

Mercifully the heaters were more than perfectly adequate and I removed my coat, slinging it over my arm. A few people were sitting in the lounge, chatting, but I moved to the hall, finding the door to my room. Creeping from the bright hall into the dark room while trying not to wake my room mates was challenging. My eyes struggled to adjust and every footstep connected with someone's bag or other belongings, or I knocked an item of clothing on the floor. Slipping off my shoes at the end of the bed, I was aware of the rhythmic breathing rising from the bottom bunk to my left. I assumed it was Kristyna, the Czech girl with blond hair and beautiful smile, because the bottom left bunk was the one she ended up with.

"Salut. Did you enjoy your evening?" Looking into Claudine's bottom bunk, I noticed her face dimly illuminated by her phone's screen.

"Hey," I whispered. "I did. How did you all go with dancing?"

She placed her phone down, the room darkening further, and she moved towards the wall. I heard her hand pat the bed in the space she'd created. "Sit with me. We danced and Kristyna drank...more than she can handle. She's not going to wake anytime soon. And Luisa, she keeps telling us to avoid English men, but she is good at doing the exact opposite. She enjoys attracting them and she even went home with an English boy."

"And you didn't meet anyone?"

"There was no one who interested me...but you should have joined us! It was fun! But I know you were having fun with this girl you visited, did you not?"

"I enjoyed catching up with her, and her brother turned up too. He's super hot but super gay as well, but still, I'd go there. And his boyfriend too, he looks like Robbie Williams when he was younger. And we made music and sang and it was such a good night."

She giggled. "You made beautiful music together?"

"We did..."

"And you like your friend's gay brother? And his boyfriend?"

"Um, not like like, but they're good guys. Fun. Of course I like them. They drove me home."

"Nice. What about your friend?"

"What about her?"

"Do you like like her?"

"Ahh, okay. Um, I don't know. Why do you ask?"

Something touched my hand, Claudine's fingertips, and my heart beat a little faster. She whispered, "I...would have liked for you to have joined us tonight..."

Swallowing, my mind raced, thinking all the thoughts, about how the purpose of this big adventure I was on was to have new experiences and break out of my shell, and how Claudine made my heart race, and I traced my fingertips over hers, my voice whispering, "I...I think I would have liked it too...to join you."

Like the touch of a feather, her finger swirled over my hand, and I felt the heat rising in me. She whispered, "Maybe we could spend time together?"

"Now?"

"I meant tomorrow, silly," she giggled. "We could go around London. See where we end up?"

Claudine's minty breath caressed my face and her hand was on mine, fingers moving gently across my skin, and my heart raced quicker than my mind. She's going to kiss me! And you must kiss her back! You promised!

Kiss me, Claudine! My attempt at telepathy was falling on deaf hearts and minds, and I wondered how she'd react if I leant a little closer to touch my lips to hers, so soft and gentle, and I wondered if she'd return my kiss with equal tenderness.

Claudine whispered, "What do you think?"

"Yes...I want to..."

"So you and me, we go together to explore London?"

"Of course," I replied. I suppose it was my lack of experience, and perhaps my racing heart, but I was hoping Claudine might take control and kiss me, and the needing ache inside me grew.

A groan filled the room and I knew it wasn't me, and it wasn't Claudine, because it came from behind me, and there was a moan too, and I whispered, "It's Kristyna."

"She drank many wines and spirits. She even wanted us to all have absinthe! We said no and I persuaded her not to drink it. I don't think she did, but she may have?"

Mumbling sounds which might have been Czech came from the other bunk, and I asked, "Are you okay Kristyna?"

She replied with a groan, and I was aware she rolled from her bunk and the next moment she made the most unholy noise and the room immediately filled with an unmistakable acidic stench.

With a sharp intake of breath, Claudine recoiled, falling against the wall, breathing the word, "Merde!"

"Fuck!" I said, standing, pain shooting through my head when I banged it on edge of the bunk above.

"Are you hurt?"

"No," I lied, "I'm fine."

"The smell is so disgusting!"

The foul stench assaulted my nose, my stomach queasy, and it was clear from the noises coming from Kristyna that she was further adding to her the mess she'd already spilled on the floor. "Kristyna?"

I received more groans for a reply, and the cracks of light under the door went black, so I knew she was there. The floor was wet, chunks between my toes, and my stomach was in knots and threatening to add to the mess, but I kept it down and made way towards the door, bumping into Kristyna as I flicked on the switch, my eyes assaulted by the brightness, and Claudine let out a little gasp, while Kristyna was collapsed at my feet. All around the door was multi-coloured splatter of projectile vomit like a water cannon sprayed it there. "Oh my God, quick, Claudine, help me please. Kristyna, are you alright?"

She replied in Czech and I don't think even a native Czech speaker would have understood her anyhow because she was mostly groaning, and Claudine stood beside me in her camisole, her voice shrill when she said, "Disgusting! What a mess. There's vomir on my shoes and my luggage and everywhere!"

"Shhhh, help me," I hissed. "Help me get her up!"

"She's so drunk..."

"Get the night manager!"

"Oh mon Dieu, the floor is covered."

"Go," I hissed. Somehow I moved Kristyna aside, and Claudine somehow made it past us through the door. There was vomit in Kristyna's long hair, which I discovered because I brushed her hair aside and ended up with half a handful of her stomach contents.

Ick!

"Let's get you to the shower," I whispered, and received more groans in reply.

A young man arrived with Claudine, and she told him, "Look at this filthy mess. I cannot sleep here!"

"Help me, would you," I said to the man.

"You have boke on you," the man said, his accent thickly Irish. "Her sick is on your arm."

"I know, I don't care right now, help me, please."

"Yes, you're right," he said, action replacing hesitation, and we lifted Kristyna between us, our shoulders becoming her crutch.

Doors were opening and sleepy eyes adjusted to the light while Claudine said, "What am I going to do?"

"Clean the mess?" I suggested.

"This is not my mess!"

I ignored her, and a couple of people emerged from their room to help, and soon another young woman and I were sitting with Kristyna at a bench in the bathroom while James, the young manager, took off to call an ambulance.

Kristyna lurched towards a toilet cubicle and vomited again and we held her hair back while she drove the porcelain bus.

"What a night...," I whispered, exhausted and exasperated.

The woman asked, "Is she your friend?"

Her English was excellent, but with a slight accent, and with blond hair and blue eyes I suspected perhaps she was Scandinavian. "She was my roommate here. We met yesterday. She was out drinking with the others and I guess she drank too much."

"We've all drunk too much," the woman said, almost dismissively. "I know I do sometimes."

Another woman entered the room, heavily tattooed, her head shaved to a buzz cut, and she spoke with an accent from somewhere in the north of England. "I'm Amelia, I'll sit with her till the ambulance arrives. You two clean yourselves up."

Let's just say it was a long night. I returned to my room to gather my clothes, towel and toiletries, where I found James the night manager cleaning the vomit splatter. He told me Claudine demanded another room, which was the next thing he needed to deal with, and despite his protests I helped him clean. "I'm already covered in her mess so what does a little more matter?"