Kim

 

Pulp – Disco 2000

 

Rachel swapped over the CD. We’d gleefully listened to wonderwall twice, Singing along tunelessly. CD players were so much better than the cassette player I had at home. I hoped I’d get one for Christmas. The music moved on.

“What on earth will we be doing in the year 2000, can you even imagine?”  I asked as Jarvis Cocker reminisced about a girl called Deborah. The year 2000 sounded so full of promise and futuristic. Despite only being a few years away it felt like a significant time when everything would be different.

“We’re going to be …. “ Claire paused as she did a quick mental calculation… “…Old!” she concluded.

“We’ll all be finishing at University by then” said Laura.

We all paused and fell somber, lost in our own thoughts. I was sitting with my legs tucked up under me on the sofa. I began picking at the cushion on my lap which had earlier been my drum. It seemed so surreal, we hadn’t even finished our A-levels yet. I could feel the familiar nausea rising in my stomach.  What on earth was I going to choose to do at Uni? Where was I going to go? It was such a massive decision and so important to get right. I didn’t want to think what would happen to the people who got it wrong. It would be devastating and you’d never get a job!

I looked around the neat living room taking in the coffee table laden with crisps and chocolate, the dust-free china ornaments on display and at the pictures on the wall. A younger version of Rachel and her sister smiled back – I remembered that girl. I looked at the present-day Rachel and the other familiar faces in the room. My friends and support group. We’d known each other since the infants. What on earth would life be like in the year 2000, We would all inevitably be going to different universities, reflecting our own individual strengths and interests,

“You know what!” I said putting another malteser in my mouth and speaking with my mouth full, “We should totally do this!”

“Do what?” asked Claire looking up from where she was sitting on the floor.

“We all need to promise to meet up in the year 2000. If we lose touch at Uni, which we might because it takes so long to write letters and queue at the phone box. We should plan to meet at Swan Walk fountain at 2pm!”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“When though?” asked Laura, “Year 2000 is a whole year!”

I glanced down at her bright orange jeans as I pondered this important detail. “We need something easy to remember! How about the 2nd day of the 2nd month at 2pm?”

The others agreed excitedly. It felt like another important decision. I imagined the joyful reunion, the hugs, the catching up after years apart.

The CD moved on to ‘Parklife’ and the singing kicked off again. We moved on to the next thing.