Typography & design by
Richard Wolfströme

Exhibition and installation
by Standard 8

Website
Words William Shaw
Design Richard Wolfströme
Photography Kenny Laurenson

Publishing consultant Adrian Driscoll

An Unmadeup Production

"We’re not a couple!"

Ristorante Donatello, 1-3 Brighton Place

Jamie’s still waiting as Francesca puts on her make-up. She’s running late. They’re sort of seeing each other is how Francesca puts it.

They met at the call centre where they work. When they found they were on the same two-day-a-week access course, she joked that as they were students they should act like it, so they became drinking buddies. She’s always envied the student life.

They both say it’s nothing serious. "We’re not a couple!" Francesca’s flatmate Lucy says they’re in denial. They’re always going out together.

Francesca takes so long getting ready that by the time they make it to the restaurant they’d planned on, it’s closed. Instead they try Donatello’s. Starving, they order starters and a pasta dish and chips. Each. It’s more expensive, but Francesca has something to celebrate.

Disbelieving, she keeps checking over the letters to see if there’s some mistake. Is that really me? This week she was offered places at two universities. Oh my God! A school drop-out, left home at 16, lived in 15 different places, never held down a job for more than a few months until this last one, she’d failed at everything she’d done. Her concentration was terrible; she was forgetful. Some mornings she’d set off and then find herself driving back home four hours later without even having made it to work. She thought she was going mad.

And she’d gone on this course thinking it would be the same. She’d get into fights. Everyone would hate her. She’d crack up and quit.

It was only when a counsellor suggested she might have a learning difficulty she went on the internet and started reading about ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The professionals confirmed the diagnosis. All these years it had been holding her back.

At 24 she’s on medication. Everything has changed. For the first time in her life she’s getting straight "A"s.

Over pasta bake she says to Jamie, laughing, "Lucy says we’re in denial."