Broken Frames

Chapter 6

"We're here, wake her up." I could hear Leah's voice from the front seat. Seconds later, I felt Charlotte shaking my shoulders, and Becky pinching my thighs.

"Alright, I'm up! Stop pinching Beck, it hurts." I whined.

We all got off the SUV and stood on the sidewalk. It took 10 minutes for the girls to make sure they were looking perfect. They used the jet black SUV's doors as flawless windows. I awkwardly stood at the back waiting for them to finish. I knew that no amount of staring at car doors would make me look any better and I decided not to waste my time trying.

"Alright, that's perfect." Leah said, finally satisfied with her look. The four of them walked straight into the club and I followed.

"Lord." I thought to myself. "Not even half an hour into it and I already feel left out." I knew this was going to be one super-long evening. But, I did sign up for it.

The inside of the club was almost pitch-dark and I could only see because of the light reflecting off Jessie's dress. My first impression was a sea of half-dressed people inside a miniscule room. They were all on the dance floor. Despite how there wasn't enough space to move from one side of the room to the other, the people there seemed pretty happy dancing. They were on top of one another and my friends were eager to join them.

"Let's go! C'mon Ella!" Charlotte squealed.

"Nah, you lot go on. I'm not really into dancing in clubs and my mum would kill me if she got to know that I did anything of the sort." I replied. The loud music drowned half of my words, but I guess she understood the gist of what I was saying.

She pulled a pout and said, "C'mon, it's not even a real club. The real one's upstairs. There's no booze or anything down here."

"I'm thankful there isn't. Now go." I gave her a slight push. She didn't need much encouragement. She took the nearest boy by the hand and ran of to the dance floor as fast as she could. The rest of the girls followed suit.

I sighed and sat on a stool near the buffet table. I got myself a plate of fries and some sauce, sat down and prepared to bore myself. I hadn't even brought my phone.

Most of the people were having a great time. Seeing me alone, a couple of bouncers came up to ask me if I was lost or looking for someone. I assured them that I wasn't and they left.

"I probably am dressed like a kid." I thought to myself. It seemed like I wasn't the only one feeling uncomfortable, though. There was a boy, about 16 or 17, I suppose and he was sitting a couple of feet away from me. He had fries with him as well. He looked at me and smiled, and I reciprocated. As he approached me, I noticed he was wearing a dress shirt and bow tie. Not properly dressed for the occasion. Another thing we had in common.

"Hey, you look bored." He said.

"You're right." I replied. "So do you." I shouted, afraid that the music would drown my words.

"I am. You don't have to shout though; I'm close enough to hear you. I'm Alex, by the way." He smiled. He held his hand out to me.

I shook it, told him my name and smiled back at him. "So," I asked, "what are you here to celebrate?"

He gave a wry smile and replied, "Ever heard of Jennet Azoff? She's a music producer and my elder sister. She just got an award or something and the party's upstairs. Lots of people are attending; some pretty big names too. Anyway, I'm too young to go up to the adult lounge so they left me down here. What about you?"

"It's my friend Leah's 18th birthday. She decided to celebrate downstairs because the rest of us are all underage." I responded.

"Cool."

Conversation stagnated and within minutes, a girl came up and asked Alex to dance. I could tell he wasn't interested but the girl insisted. He reluctantly agreed. He passed me an uncomfortable smile and with a swift "See you later.", he was gone.

It seemed like hours before Leah and the rest of the girls tired of dancing. I had no way to gauge the time but, I had devoured 7 plates of fries, and as I'm a slow eater, I knew it had been a while.

"Alright, let's grab some dinner." Charlotte yelled. Needless to say, the music was still booming.

Half an hour later, when all of us had eaten our fill, and were contemplating going back home, Jessie came up with what she thought was a wonderful idea. We were just at the door.

"Hey, guys." She started. "You know when we were dancing, at least eight of the bouncers came up to me and asked me whether I shouldn't be in the adult lounge. They probably thought I was old enough. How about I sneak upstairs with some people, grab a bottle of some of the posh champagne and come back down? If we get caught, we'll just say it was a joke and I'm sure Leah's dad will pay us out of any trouble."

"I won't deny that." Leah said. "Daddy will make sure nothing goes wrong today, not on my birthday."

"It's not your birthday, Leah. Your birthday was yesterday." I reminded her, in a bland voice.

"Whatever, 'mom'." She said. All the girls sniggered.

"Considering that in the span of 3 hours, you switch from calling me a 'little girl' to your 'mom', it's pretty obvious that you don't need a drink. You're well out of your wits anyway." I retorted.

"Shut up." She said. "Do something useful and stay inside the club with Jessie. Wait downstairs, while she brings the booze and come out with her. Pairs attract less attention, and if Jessie goes alone, she's bound to be asked questions."

I tried to refuse and send one of them instead, but they complained that they were all wearing heels, and that they couldn't move another inch without dying.

Against all my better judgment, I agreed.

"We'll wait outside." Becky simpered.

"Of course, you can't walk into the club but you can certainly walk out of it." I grumbled.

We walked into the club, and I performed my duty of escorting Jessie to the stairs.

"Now just wait here, angel. I'll be back before you know it." Saying so, she left me.

And, I stood there. Waiting. Waiting and hoping. Hoping that this wouldn't turn out to be something to regret. Just hoping.