Bright Young Things

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Book: Bright Young Things by Scarlett Thomas Read Free Book Online
Authors: Scarlett Thomas
Tags: Fiction, General
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the middle of nowhere. She’s as surprised as everyone else when the fridge turns out to be packed full of stuff, and that it’s actually cold. The fridge is plugged into some sort of rechargeable battery, which no one but Anne seems to notice.
    ‘Shit,’ says Paul. ‘Look at all this.’
    He starts poking around. Anne can see milk, cheese, meat, several bottles of white wine, mineral water, lemonade, orangeade, butter, eggs and salad cream. It’s all from Sainsbury’s. So they’re still in the UK then.
    Anne pours a glass of Evian.
    Paul starts going through the cupboards. There are tins of fruit, Spam, corned beef and soup. One large cupboard contains only baked beans – about three hundred cans. Another has only packets of rice and beans. There’s also a kitchen store full of bottled water, more beans, more canned food, matches, red wine – about a case full – and other miscellaneous items in multi-pack slabs. Whoever lives here won’t starve in a hurry, or run out of matches. There’s so much stuff in the kitchen store that it’s hard to see everything. Who knows what supplies are at the back or on the top shelves? It looks as if someone’s stocked up for the end of the world or something.
    ‘We have, like, been kidnapped, haven’t we?’ asks Bryn suddenly.
    ‘Yep,’ says Paul, handing out the coffees. He frowns, but doesn’t say anything else.
    ‘I think maybe we’re supposed to care,’ says Thea.
    Anne thinks Thea would probably try to save the non-puppies.
    Paul looks at Thea. ‘I do care. Anyway, it’s all right here. It’s cool.’
    ‘Cool?’ says Thea. ‘You
are
joking.’
    ‘There’s more food in the fridge here than in my flat,’ he replies.
    ‘Same here,’ says Bryn. ‘This is like a holiday place or something.’
    ‘Hello?’ says Emily. ‘This totally sucks. Get with the programme. Fucking hell.’
    ‘We were
drugged
, remember,’ says Thea.
    ‘We don’t even know where in the world we are,’ says Emily.
    ‘We’re still in the UK,’ says Anne quietly. ‘Or close, anyway.’
    ‘What?’ asks Jamie. ‘How do you know that?’
    ‘Sainsbury’s,’ she says. ‘Unless our kidnappers do an international weekly shop.’
    Paul laughs.
    ‘This is
so
not funny,’ says Emily.
    ‘It is, though,’ says Paul. ‘I can’t wait to see what happens next.’
    ‘I was just going to go home and argue with my mother,’ says Anne. ‘So I’d rather be executed, which, let’s face it, is probably what happens next.’
    There’s a pause. A cold feeling in the room.
    ‘Look, it’s probably just a mistake,’ says Bryn.
    ‘What, like a computer error?’ says Paul, laughing.
    ‘Maybe it’s a trick,’ says Jamie uncertainly. ‘We should just wait and see.’
    ‘It’s not like there’s any other choice,’ says Thea, getting up and going to the window.
    ‘I’ve got to be back in London,’ says Emily. ‘I’ve got stuff to do.’
    ‘This is totally out of order,’ sighs Thea. ‘We didn’t agree to this.’
    ‘We
so
didn’t agree to this,’ agrees Emily.
    ‘Shit!’ says Bryn suddenly, looking at everyone. ‘You were all at that interview.’
    ‘Well done,’ mutters Anne.
    ‘
That’s
where I’ve seen you all before,’ says Emily.
    ‘Didn’t you realise?’ says Jamie, sounding surprised.
    ‘I still feel all drugged,’ says Emily. ‘But yeah, obviously I realise now.’
    ‘That odd little office,’ says Paul.
    ‘That horrible coffee,’ says Bryn.
    ‘Shit. We have actually been kidnapped,’ says Thea, making it official.
    ‘You’re quick,’ says Anne.

Chapter Two
     
    Jamie can’t believe this girl’s being so cool. She’s intriguing.
    ‘So we all applied for that Bright Young Things job,’ he says.
    ‘Weird shit, man,’ says Bryn.
    ‘Is that office the last thing everyone remembers?’ asks Paul.
    Everyone nods. They all look tired and slightly confused.
    ‘The coffee,’ says Thea. ‘I took a sip of the coffee and then woke up

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