𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇 Dylan agrees to meet up with her childhood best friend's band, and they discover she's just what they need to be complete. But the band isn't the only thing that Dylan makes whole.
I look up to see someone talking to me. An older guy, probably around my dad's age. He has slight stubble and black hair, with a few greys running through it. He smells like beer and cigarettes, and not in the good way.
I didn't really wanna tell this creepy, old guy why I'm stood outside a strip club, but there aren't many lies I can think of.
"Trying to build the courage to go in and ask what I'd have to do to get a job."
"Wanting to be a stripper?"
His face expression suddenly changed to a very obvious arousal. I didn't dare to look down, knowing what I'd be met with. Silently, I prayed he wouldn't step any closer to me.
"No. A waitress. I just know they make good tips in these kinds of clubs."
"You're right. I'm sure people would give a girl like you all sorts of tips."
I wanted to give this guy a piece of my mind, to tell him he's being a creep, but given the fact I was stood outside a strip club wanting a job, I'd probably just be met with the 'you're asking for it' excuse. I wasn't asking to be perved on, I just needed to make some money.
The scent of his breath filled my nostrils as he took another step towards me, before the sound of a car horn beeping made us both jump. I looked over the man's shoulder to see Matty, stepping out of his car and approaching us. The guy rolled his eyes.
"This your boyfriend?" He asked.
"He's my-" I began, but Matty interrupted me.
"Yeah, I am, so stop looming over her. The only people able to stand that close to her are me and her shadow, now fuck off."
The man scoffed, but walked (more like stumbled) away, knowing that he wouldn't be able to beat Matty, or any sober person, in a fight given his drunken state.
"Why'd you say you're my boyfriend?" I asked.
"Sad world, Dyl. Saying you've got a boyfriend is the only way to get a man to leave you alone. How come you're stood outside a strip club?"
"I wanna ask for a job."
Matty choked on air. "As a stripper?"
"As a waitress. They make good tips apparently."
"Jesus, Dyl, I'm sure there are other places you can work."
"Can't find any."
"Well do you have to work? I mean, you've got your parents-"
"Not everyone's parents can just get them whatever they want, Matty. My parents aren't on the telly."
"Right. Yeah, sorry. But I'm sure you don't really wanna be creeped on by a bunch of old guys."
"I don't care who creeps on me as long as it pays my bills."
"I think you do."
He was right, I did. I didn't wanna be looked at like some object, like a piece of meat, and I knew that's exactly how I'd be looked at working in a place like that.
"Come on, mate, get in the car."
"But Matty... if I don't get a job here I don't know where else to go, nowhere's hiring."
Matty sighed. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to pity me, let alone someone I'd know less than a month, and here he was, Matty Healy, feeling all sorry for the broke girl who needs to put herself at risk for a bit of pocket change.
"You'll figure it out. If you really need it, I can-"
"Don't offer me money."
"Right. Just keep me in mind, though. I'm going George's if you wanna come?"
"I think I'll just go home. Maybe mum's got some ideas of where I can restart the job search."
"Let me take you."
"I can't ask you for a lift."
"You're my friend. You can ask me for anything."
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MATTY'S POV 15th December, 2009
"I just can't believe she'd be so stupid. She's eighteen and basically trying to sell herself. She knows me and my mum are here if she needs it, she's trying way too hard to be independent."
It was probably a bad idea for me to tell the guys where I'd just found Dylan, but I couldn't hide it from George. He was worried about her all the time, he was afraid something like this would happen when she quit school.
His rant felt like it was going on forever, and I was getting bored. At this point, my eyes were closed, finger tapping repeatedly on my knee.
"Leave her alone, G," I said, "Nowhere else is hiring, it was a last resort, and it's not like she's doing it."
"How do you know? She could go right back there and ask for a job."
"She won't. She promised me in the car that she wouldn't."
"Oh, so you two are just best friends now?"
"Well no-"
"Then a promise to you means nothing! You think she's bothered about what you think of her? You accused her boyfriend of being abusive."
"How do you-"
"She told me, Matty!"
I sighed. I knew that would cause a rift between George and I, but I didn't think he'd be screaming it in front of the whole band, berating me in front of them in my own home.
"George, we're okay now. If she breaks her promise then you can by all means have a word, but sitting her and ranting about it isn't gonna change anything. She's sat at home right now, probably talking to her mum about here to look next."
"Forgot you could read her mind now."
"George," Ross warned. George looked over at Adam to see if maybe he was on his side, but he just shook his head.
George was kind of right, though. I was acting as if I knew this girl inside out, when realistically she was just a friend of a friend. Still, she was George's best friend. I felt some sort of duty to stop her from doing stupid shit.
