Skins the Novel - "Review" by Marie Davis - Week 4

Skins – the Novel Review

Marie Davis

August Week 4

Monday 24 August, Cook – Grapes and Favour bar

After the catastrophe that was Polly’s house, Cook, Freddy and JJ head to a more up market club than usual and they stick out like sore thumbs. Cook thinks that because they are in a better club the girls will be the same and fall into his hands like usual however Freddy and JJ disagree. Trying his luck Cook approaches some ladies in the corner and turns on the charm but to his surprise the woman are not interested in the slightest. JJ is sitting making origami out of the cocktail menus when two girls of a similar age approach him and they talk about making different things. Cook tries his charm on the two girls but once again they aren’t interested in him but more interested in the things that JJ is making.

Freddy – Grapes and Favour

Whilst JJ was making origami and Cook making a tit out of himself as usual Freddy takes a moment to think about the message he sent to Effy and the thought of never seeing her again. Deep down he knows that if she comes back the whole thing will start again and he’ll lose his best friend but he still regrets sending it from the moment he did. Seeing Freddy in thought, Cook comes across and asks his friend what is wrong with him however not wanting to make it obvious Freddy says nothing. Knowing Freddy to well and exactually what is wrong with him, Cook downs a shot and the pair decide to forget about Effy once and for all.

JJ – Grapes and Favour

While Freddy and Cook have gone outside for a smoke, JJ is still talking to the girls about the origami. The girls ask about his best friends and why he is actually friends with them to which JJ tells the girls that there ok really when you get to know them. One of the girls gives JJ a hug and they leave as Freddy and Cook return. The boys give JJ the thumbs up for talking to the girls and the three musketeers are once again.

Tuesday 25 August, Effy – Via San Angelo

With Florence’s funeral arrangements being sorted by Anthea, Effy has avoided any communication with her mother since the day she found out about her and Aldo. Thinking about how she trusted Aldo and how she thought that he liked her as much as she liked him, Effy decides to get ready and finally face her mother. After having a bath she makes her way to the kitchen where Anthea is waiting with a cup of tea and her favourite sandwich. Sitting at the table, Effy decides to break the silence with her mother and talk about sorting Florence’s funeral out however it isn’t long before questions are turned to Aldo and Anthea. Unable to talk about anything Effy gets up to leave but Anthea pleads with her to sit down and talk to her. Anthea tells Effy about how she feels so bad for neglecting her and what happened with her dad and Aldo was a big mistake. They decide to leave Venice after everything is sorted with Florence and go to Rome just the two of them.

Wednesday 26 August, Emily – The priory

Fitting right back into couple life, Emily and Naomi are deciding what to do with their day. With Kieran cooking them a celebratory meal at night the girls can’t decide what else to do. Naomi receives a text from Kieran however she doesn’t tell Emily what it’s about as she still hasn’t told her about her plans to go to the Yale open day and pretends it’s about dinner. Emily decides she’d like to go shopping to get something to wear for that night and they leave the priory hand in hand however when they get around the corner things get steamy and they decide on a quick circuit around the shops and back to Naomi’s.

Naomi – Campbell Dinner

Sitting at the table, Naomi and Emily tuck into the meal that Kieran has prepared. Talking about when Emily was away, Naomi’s mother and Kieran take it upon themselves to embarrass her and tell Emily how much of a nightmare she was. The conversation then moves on to the subject that Naomi has been dreading and the four start to discuss university however Naomi is sharp to move the conversation on which makes Kieran realise she hasn’t discussed it with Emily. Feeling nervous, Naomi says that they’re going to bed but Emily asks what the hell is going on. Trying to distract the conversation Naomi tells Emily she wants her naked which does the job and the pair go to bed. Lying awake, Naomi knows what she needs to do but it isn’t going to be easy.

Thursday 27 August, Everyone – Uncle Keith’s pub quiz

Katie

Back in Bristol with the gang at last, Katie sees Freddy at the bar and approaches him. Saying hello, Freddy is taken back by the fact that Katie actually wants to talk to him after everything that has happened and being clumsy knocks the glasses off the bar. He asks Katie if she’d like a drink but she buys her own and goes to join the rest of the gang. With the only seat available next to Naomi, Katie sits next to her sister and her girlfriend and things are finally at a truce. Cook does the honours of handing the drugs out to the gang and the pub quiz gets underway.

Naomi

With the constant niggling of the Yale open day in her head, Naomi decides that it’s time to tell Emily about her decision. Easing her way in, Naomi tells Emily that she loves her and Emily tells her the same back but with the pub quiz in full swing it’s difficult to keep the conversation flowing and Naomi struggles to tell her. With answers to questions being shouted around the room, the banter begins to arise and soon Naomi and Cook are engaged in an argument. Making jibes at the future for Cook, Naomi soon finds herself being insulted with the usual homophobic rubbish but cook steps too far and Naomi blurts out to the whole gang about her Yale open day leaving Emily hurt.

Emily

Feeling humiliated and hurt that her girlfriend hadn’t told her about the open day, Emily begins to get herself upset. Naomi tells her that she still wants to be with Emily no matter what and that there strong enough to get through anything however Emily doesn’t see it like this and thought that they would be going to the same university and sharing the experience together. With a sudden between the two Naomi tells Emily that she won’t go if she doesn’t want her to, part of Emily tells her she should let her girlfriend go but the relief was too much and she tells her she won’t regret it.

Cook

Feeling left out and stupid, Cook decides to get the shots going around the table and lighten up the mood but cook being himself begins to get on everyone’s nerves. Getting worked up about not knowing any of the answers to the questions Cook beings to take his temper out on JJ who seems to know the answer to every question but Freddy steps in to calm him down telling him that he doesn’t know the answers himself and that everything is going to be ok. With that he gets back to irritating his friends and drinking.

Freddie

When Emily gets up to go to the toilet, Freddie sits next to Katie and asks to have a chat with her. Katie, surprised by Freddie agrees and he asks her about what she’s been doing these holidays. When she tells him that she’d been to Venice, Freddie begins to ask her questions about Effy and the feelings start all over again. Katie tells him that she’s still not over what happened with the three of them but she isn’t seeing anyone or she wasn’t when she was there. Feeling relief but not showing it they get on with the quiz until the question of whether she was coming back springs into Freddie’s head, to which Katie tells him that she doesn’t know. The pair share a mutual smile and then Freddie writes the answer down to the newest question.

JJ

Being the boffin that he is JJ takes it upon himself to answer almost every question in the quiz with the occasional input from Thomas. The pair get competitive but to everyone else it’s just a laugh. With Uncle Keith well and truly Mortal drunk, Cook takes over as quiz master and carries on reading the questions. With everyone else drinking apart from JJ he enjoys the fact that he continues to excel every fortnight at the pub and feels proud of himself. Feeling the love, Cook clambers over the table to embrace JJ and makes him promise that he won’t ever leave him. Promising him this, he tells cook to get off and they carry on with the quiz.

Friday 28 August, Effy – Italy, Somewhere in the sky

With Effy and Anthea on their way out of Italy and on their way to Rome, they order their drinks from the list and sit back and relax. Now that she was at peace with her mother and they reached an understanding since Aldo and everything else that happened back in Venice, Effy beings to think about going home and seeing Freddie again for the first time. Also thinking about that fact that she had come between two best friends and they both had chosen each other over her makes thinking about going home even worse.