Bookends | Jody & Tyler | The Dumping Ground

Fire | One

Tyler sighed. He knew that he'd become less outgoing and down to party compared to last year, but truth be told, he just wasn't all that interested in all those things anymore.

And as for girls... well, he just couldn't really relate to them. Not girls from around here anyway, no matter how beautiful and stunning they were.

"What you boys doing?"

He started a little as Misha slipped down next to him, her face mirroring a similar bothered expression to his. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder at the 'Victor' guy, before turning back around determined.

"He's... a bit much," came her eventual conclusion.

"He's Stephanie's cousin apparently," Tyler recalled from earlier conversations.

"... that makes a lot of sense!" Misha replied amused. Jamal rested his head on Tyler's shoulder as he attempted to shrug him off. The sun was hanging low and Tyler could feel his back scorching.

"I'm going for a swim. Coming?" he asked his two friends, eventually getting up. 

As he strode across to the sea alone, he tried to not think about how around 4000 miles away, his best mate was having the time of her life, probably not giving a moment's thought to him.

****************

She closed her eyes wearily; one hand woven in the tangle of blonde that was Lola, the other pressed against the cubicle keeping her drunk self upright.

Except, she'd well and truly sobered up now.

"It's okay..." she muttered under her breath, casting a sharp glance back at the huddle of girls who were giggling by the doorway.

Once Lola seemed to have recovered from her projectile vomiting spell, Jody stood up, her legs aching from squatting on the floor. 

She walked over to the mirror, her eyes smudged in kohl and her hair tangled and sticking to her back. Washing her hands, she bit her tongue as Lola's sorry gaze caught hers. 

This was the third time she'd been sick in three weeks. Jody was beginning to hate clubbing.

She dried her hands off on her trousers as her phone buzzed repeatedly. 

"Taxi's here. We should get going," she told Lola.

Orange street lights blended into one single burning streak as Lola gazed out the window. Her throat was raw and she felt about as rubbish as the plastic bag floating along the pavement, being picked up and tousled by the wind. She couldn't stop crying.

Tears flowed down her cheeks and although her sobbing had stopped, she was still hiccupping and trying to contain herself. 

As they climbed the stairs to Jody's flat, Lola held onto Max and Jody heavily as she willed her feet along. She wanted to sleep. Forever.

By the time they reached the front door, she was passed out.

A few moments later, Max set down a mug of tea next to Jody. One look at her face, said it all. He hadn't known her long, but from all the college lectures and parties, it'd almost felt like they'd known each other a lifetime.

"You two had a fight?" he asked slowly, after a while.

"No."

"So what's been going on? 'Cause there's partying and then there's... whatever this is."

Jody sighed. If she could answer Max's question, she would. But she didn't know herself. Every time she'd ask Lola about it, she'd just dance around the question pretending that everything was fine but now, it was getting worrying.