Essex Girls. Laura Ziepe

grown to love the carefree nature of the city. She didn’t have to make as much effort when she went out, just a light layer of make-up and a brush of the hair like everyone else. Simple, quick and a nice change from the two-hour preparations she would have gone through back in Essex. Tom was always saying he loved the natural look and fancied her most when she was bare-faced, though deep down Jade just assumed he wanted her to believe this so she wouldn’t go out dressed to the nines and catch the eye of another bloke. In her opinion she looked like Worzel Gummidge first thing, especially after a night out.

      Yes, Bath was a lovely place to live and Jade had fallen in love with it. Before she moved in with Tom though, she needed a job, and for the past two weeks she’d done nothing but send her CV off to agencies and various companies. So far, she hadn’t heard a thing, so she guessed what she’d been told was true; getting a job after university wasn’t always easy. It was likely she was going to get a 2:1 grade in Psychology, as her results from her second year had only been a few marks away from a First and she felt she’d done just as well on this year’s exams; the main problem was that she didn’t actually know what she wanted to do with her degree. If she was honest with herself, she was worried that she’d cave in and end up getting a job as a teacher, which everyone else she knew seemed to do. But deep in her heart she knew she didn’t want to do that. The thought of trying to teach a class of pubescent teens terrified her – she’d had a bad enough time at school herself, and there was no way she could go back there. Her senior school in Essex had been so bitchy; it was all about what shoes, bag and coat you had, with girls constantly bragging and showing off. If it hadn’t been for Kelly and Lisa, she would have hated it. When the three of them were together they felt invincible and it helped that everyone had loved Kelly, because she was so ditzy. She often had the class in stitches with her ridiculous answers to the teacher’s questions. Jade had always enjoyed her school work, not that she’d admitted it; saying you liked writing essays on Pride and Prejudice would have been social suicide. She could always teach younger kids, but the thought of snotty noses was enough to make her gag.

      At first, she’d loved having the free time to think about what she wanted to do with her life, whilst waitressing part time in Café Rouge. With no alarm to wake her up after late nights and no coursework it seemed perfect, but only a few weeks later Jade was starting to get bored of doing nothing. Sitting in her pyjamas until three in the afternoon searching for jobs online had definitely lost its appeal.

      Jade got out of bed and grabbed Tom’s cosy dressing gown. Now would be a good time to really think about different job roles she could take on. She searched his bedside drawers for some paper and a pen. There was no time like the present and she was adamant to work out what she wanted to do with her life today. She had no luck finding any paper in the drawers on her side of the bed, so she moved across to the other side where Tom slept. In the second drawer she found a large notepad and some pens and lifted them out. She froze. Underneath the notepad was a mobile phone she had never seen before. Jade couldn’t describe why, but she had a sudden feeling of dread. Why did Tom have another phone? Telling herself it must be an old handset, she tried to calm her suddenly fast heartbeat. She picked it up, hoping with all her might that it would have a flat battery and wouldn’t switch on. When it did, her hands began to shake and her heart began to hammer so hard that she felt the blood rush through her ears. It’s nothing, she told herself when the welcome message appeared; an old phone that she shouldn’t even be looking at. Breathe. She opened the messages folder and felt physically sick when she saw countless texts from a girl called Louisa. Hands shaking, she clicked to read the latest one. Please be a really old message, she thought, please.

       So nice being with you last night baby. Miss you xx

      She clicked down, shocked at what she was reading. When was this? Please say it was way before he met me? All her happiness, hopes and dreams with Tom came crashing down when she saw the date: June 16th 2011. That was a month ago! How dare he? Her heart raced even faster, and she had to force herself to breathe slowly and deeply. Tears formed in her eyes. She wanted to stop herself from reading the texts, but it felt like someone else had taken over her body and she simply had to see more.

       Glad you like the pic of my boobs, loved your one too! Makes me want you again, badly. When will I get to see you again Tom? ;) Love your kisses. I’m at uni on Tuesday for my theatre class, so any day apart from then is good for me.

      June 15th 2011

       Hey sexy, thanks for the flowers. Got them this morning. You’re so cute xx

      June 11th 2011

       Baby, one afternoon with you isn’t enough! My bed is too big and cold without you :( Wish you were still here

      June 11th 2011

      Jade couldn’t read them all; it was far too painful. She’d seen enough. She sat with her head in her hands and tried to breathe. Her heart was still pounding and she realised her happy life as she knew it was now going to change forever. Why? Why was this happening to her? She hadn’t so much as looked at another man since she’d been with Tom. They were happy. She wasn’t deluded; it wasn’t one-sided, she knew he was happy too. She started to pace up and down his room, thinking about what she should do next. All of a sudden, anger rushed through her veins and out through every pore of her skin. The two-timing, lying scumbag! How long had he been seeing this other stupid bitch for? What an arsehole! Just who the hell did he think he was? How could she have been such a fool? But she had been. She sat down on the bed and began to sob. She’d believed everything he’d said, no questions asked. She loved him. He was her first boyfriend; her first true love. She’d understood what love truly meant when she met Tom. Now though, he had broken her heart. Jade put her hand to her heart and collapsed back on the bed, her heart honestly feeling as though it had been torn in two. It was a physical, deep aching pain inside. Without even thinking about what she was doing, she picked up her own phone and called Kelly.

      ‘Hello?’ Kelly answered after the fourth ring, in a sleepy voice.

      ‘Hi Kel,’ Jade sniffed. ‘Sorry to wake you. It’s only me.’

      ‘What’s wrong babe? Are you crying?’

      ‘Mmm …’ The huge lump in Jade’s throat prevented her from being able to talk.

      ‘Oh no. What’s up hun?’

      ‘I’m at Tom’s. He’s gone football coaching, like he does every Saturday and I went to get something from his drawer and found another phone.’

      ‘I don’t like the sound of this,’ Kelly said concerned. ‘Go on.’

      ‘There are all these messages from another girl called Louisa, who I think goes to my uni because she mentioned something about theatre class,’ she sniffed again. ‘They’re really bad; he’s been seeing her behind my back.’

      ‘Oh my God, shut up! You’re joking?’

      ‘I wish I was,’ Jade answered sadly.

      Never afraid to speak her mind, Kelly answered, ‘What a fucking bastard!’

      ‘I know. I’m still at his place now. What shall I do? I’m so upset and shocked. I feel sick.’

      ‘He’s an arsehole, babe. What did the messages say?’

      ‘There were loads. I couldn’t even face reading all of them. She was texting him things like “my bed is cold without you”, so clearly he’s been sleeping with her. This was only a month ago. She texted him on the 11th June about the bed thing and now I keep racking my brains, wondering what I was doing at that time.’

      ‘Wasn’t that when you had your last exam, hun? I asked you to come home a few times, but you were always studying.’

      ‘Yes, you’re right. I kept apologising because I couldn’t spend as much time with him as normal. He was probably glad, so he could see her. I bet he was with that bitch when he was off work and supposedly ill; she said something about being “with him” in the afternoon. And there was me feeling sorry for him, what a mug! He’s a disgusting little rat. I’m