Lobsters by Lucy Ivison

didn’t even know that was a thing.’ He turned to me. ‘Is hot Ribena a thing?’
    I was still desperately trying to catch Hannah’s eye but shewouldn’t give up her red-faced stare-off with the carpet. She looked as if she might start crying. I suddenly realized how embarrassing this must be for her. As amazing as the moment was, I wanted it to end.
    â€˜Not many people know about hot Ribena,’ I said, quietly. ‘But, yes, it is a thing.’
    The waiter arrived and plonked our drinks down. Stella’s phone beeped and she pulled it out of her bag to read the message. As she examined the screen, her eyes twinkled, and she glanced eagerly back up at the popcorn counter.
    She took one sip of her latte, and stood up abruptly. ‘I’m just going to the loo. Han, do you want to come?’ Hannah stood up automatically. ‘We’ll just be a sec,’ smiled Stella, sweetly.
    As they marched off, Robin leaned across and clamped a hand on my shoulder.
    â€˜Look, this clearly isn’t going anywhere. My one’s quite hot but if she’s already obsessed with this wet room Ribena nerd, then I’m wasting my time, aren’t I? I say we just fuck it off; make our excuses, and go to Ben’s.’
    All I could think of was getting Hannah alone. Freddie was out of the picture, and I was Toilet Boy Cinderella. Against all odds, it seemed that a girl I liked actually liked me back.
    â€˜Why don’t you head off to Ben’s?’ I suggested. ‘I’ll come and meet you afterwards. If these two want to come, I’ll bring them along.’
    Robin frowned. ‘You sure you don’t mind?’
    â€˜No, mate, of course not.’
    He shrugged. ‘OK, cool. See you in a bit.’
    He sloped off. Halfway across the cafe he stopped and turned back.
    â€˜Sam!’ he yelled. ‘If it turns out Hannah was interested, though, you can give her my number.’
    I gave him a thumbs-up. He turned around and started walking again. Two steps later he turned back.
    â€˜Sam! Same goes for Stella.’
    I shooed him away and watched him disappear down the escalator.
    Hannah

    I have never been so relieved to walk into a public toilet. I sat on the loo seat for ages, just staring at the cubicle door. I didn’t really want to process what had actually just happened. My cheeks ached from burning so much. It felt like I was getting the flu. This was the worst. Worse than Freddie’s sick running down my legs. Even worse than the time I got my period on the back of my skirt during the Year 9 production of Fiddler on the Roof . There was no getting away from this being the worst thing that had ever happened to me. Literally no getting away. I stayed in the toilet until Stella shouted.
    â€˜Are you having a baby in there, or what?’
    When I came out I washed my face to try and cool it down.
    â€˜Are you sick?’ Stella did sound a tiny bit concerned.
    â€˜Maybe.’
    â€˜Well you must be because you were acting like a fuckinglunatic out there.’ She looked at me for some kind of explanation and then started to rummage through her bag. She found her phone and started texting.
    â€˜I wish you hadn’t told them about Toilet Boy.’ I tried to make it sound casual.
    â€˜Why not? You clearly aren’t into that Robin boy, who by the way is actually quite hot. Anyway, how are we going to find Toilet Boy if we don’t actually try and look for him? He’s not just going to appear in front of us, you know.’
    She got her lipgloss out of her bag and carried on talking as she applied it.
    â€˜I’m totally behind the mission to find him. But you know, we have to be practical. He could be foreign or have a girlfriend or …’
    â€˜He wasn’t foreign.’
    â€˜Anyway, I’m just saying in case we don’t find him, you should still keep chatting to blokes, or at least not act like you’re a