“That’s your problem, you think too much. Just because Tariq doesn’t live in the same part as us, you automatically think he’s going to hurt me, news flash, my dad is rich and lives in the best part yet he’s the one who hurts me the most.”
Her words sting and I slam my mouth shut. What do I say to that? She’s not wrong about her dad, but I’m not convinced she’s completely right about her boyfriend.
“Anyway, it’s my best friend’s eighteenth birthday, what are our plans, little Miss Porsche owner.”
I chuckle and the tension of Dog City melts away.
“Anything you want, my dad told me he’s leaving town on business for a few days so we have the house to ourselves.”
“You’re messing with me, right? Please tell me you’re not.”
“I’m not and he’s given Catherine a few days off so it will just be the two of us.”
A wicked gleam covers her face when I quickly look at her before settling back on the road.
“What are you thinking?” I ask, not really wanting to hear the answer.
I love her, God knows I do, but where I like to hang back out of the crowd, she loves to be the centre of it. On paper, we shouldn’t be friends, we’re so different but I guess that’s why we’ve been friends for the last ten years since she moved schools and onto my street.
“We’re going out.”
“Where to? I’m eighteen, not twenty-one,” I remind her.
“According to these we are.”
From inside her jacket pocket, she pulls out two ID cards. She pushes them closer so I can take a better look, and I see a picture of myself staring back at me.
“You got us fake ID’s?”
“I sure did, Tariq said they’re as good as the real thing.”
Of course he did.
“And where do you plan on us using these cards?”
“At Bar Ten tonight. Now your dad won’t be around to see you finally act your age, we’re going to get dressed up and have fun.”
“Just us?”
Tilting her head, she looks at me like I’m stupid and then grins. “Tonight is going to change our lives forever, just you wait and see.”
My excitement is bitter-sweet, her words should be nothing more than words, they shouldn’t ring true to the following events that were about to take a turn in my life.
4
Amelia
It takes two drinks to calm my nerves as we stand at the bar in the club. I was certain the doormen were going to sniff out our fake id’s and tell us to move along, but with Clare’s flirty ways and our obviously good fakes, they stepped to the side and let us in. The bar is crammed with people, and the music is so loud I can barely hear myself think, but it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I’m actually having fun.
The glass of rum and coke in my hand is pushed toward my mouth and Clare urges me to drink. Her mission is to get me wasted. She wants me to live and experience a real hangover while no one is at the house to catch me out.
“Finish that one and we’ll get another before we hit the dancefloor.”
I’m looking forward to the dancing. The impending hangover, not so much. However, I finish my drink, and the glass disappears from my hand. I smile as Clare gets the barman’s attention. This time around she orders shots, and they hit me a lot harder and faster than the two rum and cokes.
The dancefloor is body to body, and we squeeze through until we find ourselves a space in the middle. Our bodies begin tosway to the beat and before long I’m fully relaxed and laughing, enjoying myself. For once, my mind is clear of everything. Shaking our asses, and throwing our hands in the air, I relent and thank her for insisting I come out tonight. This is what I needed, to relax and have fun.
Only, a pair of arms circles around Clare’s waist and as I drag my eyes up to see who they belong to, she’s spun around and she’s giggling in Tariq’s arms.
