The Girl with the Plan

1

Baby I love your way echos throughout the speakers. Everyone around me dances away happily, fags in one hand, beers in the other. The house is full- so full in fact that I can barely move amongst the sweaty, sticky bodies around me. I love it though, the feeling of disgust. The dirty reminder that I'm young- young enough to act so irresponsibly.

The music is always so loud and enticing, whoever has the music choice today has chosen well. None of that awful modern day crap that gets played in clubs, no. The old classics. Maybe some people here weren't expecting that, maybe they'd rather be dancing away to the likes of Rihanna or Drake. But if they did, they'd hardly notice with how drunk everyone here is.

I find myself smiling, ear to ear, thinking about the image I'm going to render from this exact moment. Keeping it locked away in my mind for a time when I want to reminisce. When I'm telling my kids about the good old days, back when I was wilder, younger, free.

You'd think in a boring old town like this nothing would ever be going on. But the fact that everyone here knows each other even just a little bit- just makes it all that more special. We're all crazy- exploring a faze of our lives guaranteed to be memorable. We're all in it together.

I soon come back down to Earth, my main character moment over as I notice my best friend Grace waving at me through the crowd. Smoke crowds the room, making it hard for me to see what she's initiating but even from here I can see her roll her eyes at my stupidity. I laugh, and she breaks a small smile before holding up a cigarette and nodding towards the back door.

I start trying to wriggle through the crowd, my body rubbing intimately against every person. I feel sexy, watching as certain men lap up the feel and grab at my waist. I just ignore them, though I love the feeling. The feeling of being wanted.

"It was starting to get way hot in there," Grace says, her welsh accent thick as she shoves the fag in her mouth and lights it.

She offers me her pack and I smile, pulling one out and collapsing tiredly on the cold of the stone tiles in whoever's back garden this is. Grace follows after me, breathing a sigh of relief out at the cool air that engulfs her. I feel the same, relieved to get some air. Though eager to get back in and be breathless again, drunk and sultry.

Some boys call out to us, and when I look up I notice they are sat around a glass table surrounded by comfy outdoor chairs. I was enjoying the cold against my bum, but still the offer for us to join them is nice and Grace and I soon take it up.

It's not random boys, only that of the big boys in town. Everyone loves them. Billy, Bob, Benj. Even Larry, with his warm smile and infectious laughter. But especially Van.

I'd never thought much of him really. We went to the same school, where he was just a bit of a twat, constantly getting in trouble for talking too much. Always going on about being different, unique, something special. After that, he actually did become something special, he became a band member of the notorious band in town Catfish and the Bottlemen. They hadn't made it big yet, but they'd manage to get the word around all of Llandudno, not just our little shitty town. I'd heard them play a few times, Van was good but he knew it. It put me off, I'd never attempted to really speak to him after that other than a quick 'hi' in passing at our local.

All the girls fan over Van, gaining around him like flies around shit. He loves it too- lapping up the attention- filling his ever growing ego. Many girls have ventured into his bed only to come out a new woman, with a new type of confidence. I had wondered what he did to them to make them glow so differently. But they were soon brought down back to earth when learning that's all they were to him- a quick shag.

I couldn't understand it really, none of the others were like it. In fact Billy, a special guy with a big heart. Girls love him too, because he's talented and he loves to educate. Bobs quiet, but he has that mysterious niceness to him- that could easily pull a girl in to pouring her secrets out no end- regretting it a second later. Benji- well Benji is just easy going and fun. He's always pissed to the max whenever I walk into the pub, only just starting my night. He's always ending up in situations where he forgets a certain note on stage, and laughs when he notices Van glare to him in anger. Everyone laughs though, every time- glancing around to each other and saying the "classic Benj" line. Larry is the most popular of all because he's the kindest, sweetest boy among them even though he isn't even in the band. He doesn't feed off of their popularity either- you could see how proud he is of his best mate Van. Standing at the sidelines like a loyal girlfriend- clapping along to the beat and staring in awe. He is a sweet one, is Larry.