HEDOSCHISM: WATTY AWARD WINNER

2 // END

Give 'em the night of their miserable fucking lives, Davey always said, and that's it, you've got 'em hooked, get 'em hooked and they'll love you more than they love their own bloody mothers.

He was right too. They always came back. They didn't really have a choice, after all, and I knew that more than anyone. I was practically an expert in coming back for more.

Hands grasped at my waist tugging me backwards and spinning me around and I grabbed at them, trying to wriggle free, when Addi's face came into focus. Davey's best mate – and our mutual friend – grinned, a fine sheen of perspiration on his forehead, as he threw his arms around me and pulled me into one of his infamous bear-hugs.

'Casey,' he shouted close to my ear, striving to be heard over the music. 'Fucking Hell, this night is huge. I swear, it'll be the night to end all nights. How are we ever gonna top this? I mean, seriously babe, fucking how?'

I laughed again, pulling back slightly to see the spark in his eyes, part-fuelled by coke and pills, part-sheer exhilaration. I loved seeing the buzz in his eyes, that kind of mutual we-feel-the-same vibe you only get when you're both on it to the max, both feeling the same high raging through your veins.

'It's major, Ads,' I shouted back, hugging him again. 'Totally bloody major. We'll be fucked for days after this, you know that, right?'

This night was huge. Maybe even the best one ever. I could feel it. Hell, everyone could feel it. The fallout was going to be insane.

It was his turn to laugh now. 'Inevitable, babe. Listen, you okay, yeah? You've been dancing for non-stop for ages. Make sure you get some water.'

I shrugged him off, pulling out of his grasp, and keeping in time to the music as I flipped him the bird and poked out my tongue. He shook his head, smiling, before catching Davey looking our way and throwing him a mock-salute, which Davey returned.

Addi snaked a hand around the back of my neck and leant his forehead against mine. 'Babe, I gotta get going. People to see, money to make.' He planted a kiss on my cheek. 'Get some water, that's an order.'

'Whatever,' I said, barely stopping as I watched him disappear into the crowd.

The beat was hypnotic, addictive, the heat of the people around me rising, swelling, filling the air above our heads. I wasn't sure how long I had been dancing for, but I knew it must have been almost time to hit midnight. Davey's underground club nights didn't usually start till twelve, but tonight was different. We'd listen to the chimes roll in from Big Ben, then party till dawn. Well, those of us still standing would anyway.

I lifted my wrist to check my watch, frowning as the dial blurred, melted, swimming in and out of focus. Rubbing at my eyes to clear the fog, I saw it was barely fifteen minutes to go. Enough time to keep dancing for a little longer before I made my way up to the podium, where I could see the New Year in with Davey by my side and show all the little skanks at the front drooling over him that I was his girl. I was the one. They'd been hanging around all night of course, just like they always did, but I didn't care. They knew me, knew who I was, and that was enough for me. They could put it on display as much as they wanted, but come midnight, I'd be the one up there with him.

The heat was becoming stifling now and somewhere in the coked-up, thrill-seeking chaos of my brain a little voice told me it was no longer a comfortable heat, that the dial was turning into the danger zone, that I should go get that water, but I carried on regardless. Nothing was going to slow me down, especially not tonight. It seemed sacrilegious somehow, like I'd be breaking The Rules According To Casey Brogan. Casey Brogan never left mid-tune. Casey Brogan fired up the party. Fuck, Casey Brogan was the party. I never stopped. Not until the very end and sometimes even then I wasn't done.