Hideout - Grayson Dolan

1

"What? No. You're crazy" I pull my hand out of his.

"Let's do it. It's your birthday, you have to celebrate somehow."

"Yeah celebrate, not trespass"

"Look no one's here Freya. If you want to spend your 18th birthday alone doing nothing then fine, but when you're 30 you are going to look back and wish that you did something memorable"

I sigh and give in. He is right though. There's no one here just like nearly every other day. The halls in this town were only ever used to hold major events or birthday parties but this one was never used as much as the others, in fact I only recall seeing it being occupied twice in my whole lifespan.

We sprint over to the left side of the exterior and duck behind the bin where the rotting smell of food filled our nostrils. Grayson peeps up, checks the surrounding and rattles the window above us. It opens instantly causing us both to smile. He bends down telling me to put my feet on his hands so he can help me through the window, so I do as I'm told and then pull myself through.

I land on the ground with Grayson following me then closing the window. I see retro style checked tiles and an 80's styled kitchen whilst we wander through. The sight of a rat startles me but I keep my cool.

"What are we going to do now?" I question his great plan of breaking in. We walk into the main area of the centre where the space is completely empty leaving the wooden floorboards to glimmer at our eyes.

"Uh, there should be a bar here somewhere" his voice rises from his earlier whisper to something more audible. He pushes on a large swing door painted in a deep green and turns the light switch on, "Here it is."

Bottles of a variety of drinks line the shelves and transparent fridges against the wall, glasses and bottle openers are stacked in the components under the counter and even at the far end of the room is a control box to the speakers that outline the main centre.

"What drink would you like?" Grayson asks, I decline his offer and say I don't want to drink. "Double black Smirnoff it is then" he pops the can open and hands it to me. I take a gulp and rest it on the counter as he takes a swig of his beer. "You say you don't want to drink yet you are"

"Whatever. How did you know I liked this drink in particular?"

"I didn't. But I guess I do now. It's the only piece of information you've told me about yourself all night."

"Well I'm not particularly fond of telling anyone my life story, yet alone a stranger I met like an hour ago." I respond after I take another sip of my drink.

He consumes another lot of his beer, "Fine, at least tell me what your last name is?"

"Stenlow"

"Well, Freya Stenlow, my last name is Dolan" A smile covers his face as he walks over to the control box. He turns it on and presses play letting the sound of ballroom music play quietly in the main area. "Shall we dance?" he deepens his voice stupidly and holds his hand out in front of him.

I grasp his hand pulling him out to the middle of the room and place my other hand on his shoulder. He puts his free hand on my waist allowing us to begin to foolishly do some weird dance as we attempt to waltz. A series of ouch's and awe's were frequently echoed but that didn't seize our smiles. He spun me around like you would when you were 5 mucking around with other kids as you mimicked the elders action and pulled me back in a little to sudden. A loud thud echoed the hall as we both landed on the floor.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to fall" I apologise but he insists it was his fault. I shake my head and take a stab at changing the subject, "Have you ever broken into places before? Like you seem to have all this stuff down packed"

"Yeah, all the time. After a while you get to know all the tricks around it." he says. We are both still on the floor but instead are now on our backs glancing up the disco ball on the roof. This place really needed a renovation, the musky smell and dated areas were really getting to me.

"Have you like ever stolen from those places?" I stutter out hoping I didn't hit him with the wrong question.

"No. No, most definitely not. It's one thing to trespass and another to steal. I would never steal off a person"

"Well tha-"

"What are you two kids doing in here?" the voice of a security guard butts in.

He shines his torch on us and I can feel my feel stomach sink. Grayson stands on his feet pulling me up with him. "Run" he whispers grabbing hold of my hand and dragging me through the door under the emergency exit sign. We are facing the fields behind the hall when he continues to drag me across the grass and into a small abandoned shed. He shh's me as I try to catch my breath while the security guard continues to run past.

"That was close" I break the silence about 5 minutes later as we wanted to make sure he was long gone.

"Yeah and I'm taking you home now."

"Why? The fun is just beginning"

He turns his body to face mine and places his hands on my shoulders, "I have to be home by 10 to help Mum with something for tomorrow"

"But it's only 8" I say puzzled as to why he wants to be gone so early.

"I know but it's better to leave now" he says. I huff but follow him out of the shed.

For a girl who didn't want to celebrate her birthday, I was doing the exact opposite. And it felt nice.