The Awakening (14 page)

“Regardless of what you say, I think Gabriella has a soft spot for you.”

The idea made me smile, even if it was one that I didn’t truly believe. I got the impression it was more of a wounded puppy scenario; she felt that I needed looking after. Still it was an amazing thought. Just thinking about the possibility made my stomach do somersaults.

“Maybe,” I shrugged in an effort to appease him.

After Tim had smoked his cigarette, he dropped it to the ground and crushed it under his boot heel. As we headed inside, I noticed with a sigh of relief that there were no bouncers to deny me entry.

The interior looked like any other English pub. A long wooden bar lined one side, manned by bar staff in black shirts. The opposite was home to tables and chairs as well cracked leather sofas. Gambling machines stood huddled in the far corner, winking and whistling like shady con artists hoping to dazzle patrons into giving away their money. The pub had no music, instead dozens of voices mixed together, producing a hum of friendly sound. Richard, Elliot and a good chunk of the football team were already drinking at the bar. Richard saw us enter and walked over. He draped his beer-arm around my shoulders.

There was a roar of cheering from the football guys and beers were held skyward. I felt my face flush.
Guess they heard then
.

Richard ushered me towards the bar. “Two of your finest lagers please mate,” he said to the barman, who rolled his eyes in response and poured two Fosters.

The conversation flowed as freely as the alcohol. Word had spread like an epidemic about my fight with Terry. Everyone wanted the inside scoop. The guys crowded around as I recounted the story, making sure to downplay the part where I had crushed his hand with mine. They made approving noises and cheered at each key point. It appeared that no one actually
liked
Terry. Instead it seemed most people had been too scared to stand up to him. My actions had burst the fear bubble.

My encounter was a cue for others to recount stories of idiotic things Terry and his gang had done. I laughed so hard, I had to grip the bar to stop myself falling over. The beers kept pouring and the good atmosphere carried on.

On my way to the toilet, I noticed the one person not enjoying himself. Andrew Pearson glowered at me from a table near the back corner. His girlfriend, Leila Riches was busy talking to him, but he didn’t alter his focus. When I emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, he still hadn’t changed position. He simply rolled his half-empty pint on its axis and glared.

Looks like he heard about Terry
, I thought as I made my way back to the group. I couldn’t have cared less.

After four more beers and a couple of shots, none of which I paid for, we left the Pheasant and headed for Bakoo. Richard suggested we stagger our arrival. Apparently bouncers often turned away large groups of guys. I had no clue about nightclub etiquette.

Tim and I joined the back of the queue first. I leaned against the wall. My head was starting to feel woolly. All my thoughts had to wade through water.

A group of girls tottered past us. One of them leaned towards me. “Wake up darlin’ I’ll be expecting a snog later!” Her words were followed by a cackle of drunken laughter as the group moved on.

“You okay?” asked Tim, inspecting me with a squinted eye as he drained another cigarette.

I sighed. “Yeah I’m fine. I’m a bit of a lightweight if I’m honest.”

Understatement of the decade.

I’d only ever been drunk once before in my life. At a barbeque Mum and John had hosted in Birmingham. I’d sat in a corner of the garden alone all night, nursing my contemporary woes with several bottles of cider. Nowadays the very smell of the stuff made me want to chuck.

“Total lightweight,” laughed Tim. “Well you better suck it up or we won’t be getting in.”

I waved a heavy hand. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

We moved up the steps to the front of the queue and I scanned the doormen. One, a stocky black guy looked like he won UFC championships in his spare time. The other, a fat bald man, had a bright orange beard and a metal rod speared through the middle of his nose. To top off the look, he had the word hate tattooed across both knuckles. If these were the guys Tim’s friends Baz and Kel had picked a fight with, then they were two very stupid people indeed.

We reached the front and the biker bouncer frowned at me. I waited for him to turn me away, the typical result of every attempt I’d ever made to enter any drinking establishment before tonight. I sucked in a mouthful of air and stared back. For a moment, we were two predatory animals, sizing each other up in the wild, deciding who was the alpha. Then he gave a slight nod, lifted the red rope barrier and ushered me and Tim inside.

“It’s a fiver,” he grunted. “Pay on the left.”

I let my breath out with a whoosh as we paid. A pretty Asian girl in the cloakroom stamped my hand, letting her fingers linger on mine for a beat too long. She smiled as I turned to move into the club.

As we opened the door into the main club, the bassline hit me like a punch to the stomach. Lasers shone a kaleidoscope of colours in a dozen directions. Ahead a walkway led to a sunken dance floor where a DJ stood in a suspended box, like a musical judge. Granite topped bars ran either side of us. On the far right, giant glass doors opened into a smoking area, where circular wooden tables glowed red underneath suspended electrical heaters. Tall umbrellas protected the huddled smokers from the elements.

The club was busy but not packed. Everywhere I looked girls were laughing and dancing. Their sequined dresses and bright jewellery winked in the lasers like shards of sunlight. In every direction I turned, people had smiles on their faces. Girls screamed as their friends arrived. Guys did manly hugs or hi-fived and navigated towards the bar.

So this is what I’ve been missing.

To me it seemed both incredible and ridiculous at the same time. Either way, I was going to embrace it tonight at the very least.

I was introduced to the disastrous combination of Vodka and Red Bull, which hit my head like a brick. It was followed by more shots and beers.

I was just finishing my third and discussing with Tim why my History teacher got on my nerves, when a girl sidled up to me. Tim nodded behind me and I spun around, almost knocking my drink into her. It was Grace. She’d curled her hair; it hung in cute ringlets around her pretty, heart shaped face. She gave me a hug and a gloss-coated kiss on the cheek.

With a pink and white tipped finger, she pointed towards the dance floor. I turned to see her friends - the ones who’d giggled when she’d spoken to me for the first time. They were all grinding their bodies in time to the music and sneaking occasional glances in our direction.

Before I could protest, she took my hand in hers and dragged me towards the dance floor. I shot Tim a pleading look. He gave an understanding nod and rounded up the others. Drinks in hand, they abandoned the bar like a flock of birds, heading to the dance floor. Grace led me to the middle and her friends closed in around us. My heart hammered at the thought of making an idiot of myself - that or the Red Bull. I couldn’t tell.

“Let’s see your stuff Alex,” she laughed, as she moved easily and fluidly to the deep thump of a Dubstep song. I tried to watch how other guys were doing it.

I shut my eyes and went for it.

Trying to feel the music, I waited until each drop of base. When it hit, I moved a body part in a particular direction. I kept my movements jerky at the start and then rolled them into a smoother action as the base lifted.

I opened my eyes. No one was laughing at me. In fact, I noticed that I was probably better than a lot of the other guys.

“Not bad,” Grace chuckled in my ear.

The two groups mixed together and we all made a large circle, moving to the music.And then something I didn’t expect at all happened.

Grace kissed me.

She grabbed my waist as I was dancing and pulled me towards her. Our lips connected and she raked her fingers through my hair. Her tongue pushed gently into my mouth and wrapped around mine. It was a strange sensation, but one I could happily get used to. Around me, I could hear the lads cheering. After a minute she pulled away and gave me a foxy smile.

“That was nice,” she whispered. Running a finger along my lip she nodded towards the bar. “I need a drink. I’ll be back in a minute okay?”

I stared dumbly at her.

“Okay,” she laughed and squeezed my waist. Then Grace and her entourage tottered off the dance floor, leaving me with my mouth open, having received my first real kiss. The lads slapped my back and Tim held out his drink. Coming around, I laughed and chinked my bottle with his, then carried on dancing. With Grace gone, other girls closed in. All of a sudden I was a trophy to be won at any cost. Girls I had never met passed me around like a toy, draping their feminine arms around my shoulders and pressing their made up faces against my cheeks, as the bright flashes of cameras made spots appear in my eyes.

*

Drunk. Very drunk.
Head pounding
.

When I shut my eyes everything spun around very fast. I’d been sick in the toilet three times. Grace had gone home after I’d made a special promise to text her. I was propped up against the bar, drinking water from a big glass. Tim was with me. I liked Tim. Tim was a good friend. He’d given me a cigarette, when I asked.
Strange, I don’t normally smoke.

I gave Tim a hug to show him how much I liked him. He patted my back.

“I think it’s time you went home now mate. You need to sleep it off.”

What a silly thing to say! I’m having fun! Silly Tim.

I tried to tell him he was wrong, but my legs flopped and I fell over. My friend Tim caught me and propped me back up.

What a good friend! Tim is such a good friend! Maybe I should go home.

“I like them. But -you -are - my - best - friend,” I said poking his chest, “I love you mate.” I hugged him again to show him that I loved him and he patted my back again.

“No,” I interrupted. I will be fine Timothy Clement Matheson. That is a lot of M’s and T’s. I will get a chicken and taxi. I’m not ten, I’ll be fine.” I patted his chest and pointed over there. “Go, fun!”

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure you’ll go straight home after eating?”

I nodded, which made me feel sick. “Yes I am giving you my widest promise.”

I gave Tim one more hug and left him. I staggered through the door. I got my coat from the Asian coat lady who was pretty and smelled of soap. She gave me her number, even though I didn’t ask, which was friendly. It took me a long time to get my arms in the holes of my jacket. I kept hitting the wall.

I wandered up the street and saw people I wanted to talk to. They told me to go away because I was drunk. So I fell over.

I saw a place that sold kebabs. Lots of people were outside, eating food from paper bags.

“Chicken?” I asked a girl who looked as if a clown had put on her makeup. She stared at me blankly. I pointed towards the door and repeated the question louder.

“Yeah sure,” she shrugged.

I told her she looked as if a clown had put on her makeup. She slapped me. It didn’t hurt. I was strong now.

I bought chicken wings, which tasted nice. Then not so nice. I threw up against a post box. Afterwards, I staggered to an alleyway and gulped down two bottles of water whilst leaning against the wall. Shutting my eyes, I prayed for the drunkenness to go away.

It’s not fun anymore.

For a long while I stayed in that position. Gradually things began to grow clearer. Like an island appearing in the foggy sea, sobriety appeared on the horizon. I drained the remnants of my water into my parched mouth.

“What do you want Thomas?” I asked, trying to remain calm, but already the familiar rage was rising, overtaking the surprise of seeing him. It boiled under the surface.

Not twice in one day...it’s too much.
I’d only wanted to have fun with my new friends.
This isn’t fair.