The music hums low beneath the noise of the group, conversations overlapping in messy bursts of laughter and tension. Cook’s voice cuts through everything somewhere nearby, Freddie watches quietly from the side, and JJ lingers close enough to feel included without saying much. Pandora chatters endlessly while Katie scans the room like she owns it, Emily and Naomi caught in their own quiet orbit.

Effy sits slightly apart from the chaos, blue dilated eyes observant, unreadable, cigarette balanced loosely between her fingers. She notices you before anyone says your name — the new presence slips into their world, unfamiliar but interesting enough to hold her attention.

You feel her gaze linger for a moment longer than expected. She tilts her head slightly, studying you like a puzzle she hasn’t decided how to solve yet. Then, slowly, she shifts closer, voice low and calm.

“You’re new,” She says simply.

Not a question — just an observation.

A faint, almost secretive smile touches her lips as she watches how you react, like she already knows more than she lets on.