Chapter 18
The party was going great, but my matchmaking? Not so much. I didn’t know how to start. Should I just go up to Max and tell him about Paloma’s true feelings? Or drop him hints? Or would he interpret that wrong and think I was flirting with him and taking Jake for a ride?
God it’d sounded better when I’d said it.
I decided to forget about it and have a good old dance with Bree. She seemed to be enjoying the party just as much as everyone else and I was glad of that. Paloma came and danced too. I noticed she was still pretty happy; either she was thinking about what had happened with Max, or she’d spent the last half hour over by the drinks table. Whatever, we were all having a good time, and I didn’t really care. Maybe she’d strike up the courage under the influence.
The band played until 10 and then the stereo came out with some rock CDs or whatever.
Paloma came up to me around 10.15, looking extremely pale. “Are you ok?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t throw up on my shoes.
She shook her head. “I feel ill. Can we go inside? Grab the bowl from the kitchen sink, I might need it.” she said.
“How much have you drunk?” I asked, wondering if she’d had one too many.
“A WKD, that’s it.”
I shrugged. Maybe she was just feeling too hot. “Ok, come on then, let’s get inside.” From the corner of my eye, I could see Max watching us, looking worried as ever.
I led her inside away from the noise and upstairs to the familiar bathroom. I’d probably be able to memorise it by the end of the night.
She sat down and leaned her head against the wall, breathing deeply.
I waited for a few minutes. “You feeling better?” I asked.
She laughed weakly. “A bit.” she had some colour back in her cheeks. I think she’d got too hot dancing, or maybe swooning over Max.
“Got a bit over heated about Max I see?”
She flushed total pink then. “Maybe. Yes.” she laughed, looking ten times better than before.
“Thought so.” I laughed.
“Wow, I actually feel so much better now.” she said, opening her eyes and lifting her head slightly from the wall.
“Good. Hopefully still up for the matchmaking?” I said, suddenly remembering I had that to accomplish.
She shrugged. “Nah, it doesn’t matter now. I’m sure Max wouldn’t want a girl friend that almost passes out at the sight of him.” she laughed.
“I guess not.” I answered; slightly thankful I didn’t have to do that anymore. I’d try secretly though. It would be easier doing it with no kind of proper motive.
“Does my make up look ok? If not, I’ll make you go back down and get it from your coat pocket.” she grinned wickedly.
I’d left my coat on the speaker next to Jake; it was the closest thing I could get to him looking after it.
“Ha, no. Go get it yourself. Max looked worried again.” I winked.
“Oh god, I hope he gets totally drunk and forgets about all this.” she moaned.
“Yeah, unlikely. Max doesn’t seem the kind of guy to get completely legless on a night out.” I said. “Besides, he’ll only not remember the stuff he did when he was drunk. You went funny on him when he was sober.” I laughed. It felt nice to talk about boys; Paloma never really did this sort of thing.
“Oh yeah. God, I’m so blonde.” She put her head in her hands. “Romance sucks actual eggs. I wish Max wasn’t so cute and available.” she moaned.
“Don’t lie. You’re pleased he’s cute and single.” I said.
“Ugh, shut up Tabby! He could be listening. Urrrrrgggghhhhh! Leave me to try not to throw up in peace!”
We sat for a few minutes, me watching Paloma regaining colour and Paloma muttering about cute drummers.
I could hear the music downstairs, but I’d also heard some muttering going on since we came into the bathroom. I smiled to myself. I’d bet anything it was Max.
“I just need to step outside. I’m kinda sick of these four walls.” I said, getting up.
Paloma just nodded, not looking up. “Don’t go back down without me, ok?” she said.
“I won’t.”
I stepped out. “Yeah, ok. You can come out now.” I said.
No one came out. Great, just made a dick of myself. Maybe the voices were Mai and Kayleigh.
“How did you know?” Max said from behind Jack’s parent’s door. Matt followed. “I swear I tried to stop him.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I know. But why are you here?”
“Paloma looked pretty bad, so I wanted to see if she was ok.” He mumbled, ruffling his hair nervously.
“Well, she’s fine now. Don’t worry. She’ll be down in a minute.” I said, trying to stifle a giggle at his obvious efforts to try and flirt with her.
“See? I told you so. Let’s go.” Matt said, dragging Max back down the stairs.
I cracked up as soon as I’d seen them disappear through the door.
“Good news. Max likes you. Just saw him and Matt out there spying on you. I’m sure I could get you two together easily.” I said, feeling good about this whole match making thing again.
Paloma literally jumped up, screeching. “YES, YES, YES. Go Tabby, go! Get me a date with that cute drummer!” she said, dancing on the spot, clearly feeling better.
She really had perked up quickly.
***
“Hey, thought I’d lost you.” Jake said, giving the top of my head a quick kiss when I’d emerged from that bloody bathroom again.
I laughed. “No. Just Paloma feeling ill. She’s fine now. Gonna get her a date.” I grinned at him.
“Oh really? Who with?” he asked, grinning back.
I looked over my shoulder at Max, who was currently twirling his drumsticks in between his fingers.
Jake laughed. “I thought something was up. He only twirls his sticks like that when he’s nervous.”
I laughed. Perfect, both of them were near the point of throwing up with nerves. I’d just add a beer or two in there and we were heading towards double dates next weekend. “You got my coat?” I asked, shivering slightly.
“I like that shirt though.” Jake said all disappointed.
“Well I’d like to get home not half frozen to death.” I said.
“Here, I have something better.” he said, swooping in for a hug. I was close against his chest, so close I could smell the aftershave and deodorant he was wearing. I giggled.
“Aww, young love.” I heard someone familiar say behind me. It was Lilly.
“Lilly! I didn’t know you were invited!” I grinned as she prised Jake away from me and gave me a hug.
“Yeah. My dad used to give Jack guitar lessons and we went to playgroup for a while together. It goes way back.” she laughed. “So, who’s this cute guy? We haven’t been introduced.” she flashed a cheeky grin.
I elbowed her in the ribs. “You saw him play at my party Lil’. This is Jake.” I said.
“Hey.” Jake said.
“Hi Jake, I’m Lilly. One of Tabby’s awesome friends. You seemed pretty cosy with him Tabby, you sure he’s ‘just Jake.’?” she laughed.
“Lilly, he’s my boyfriend ok? Happy now.” I said. I could feel my ears burning. I was internally grateful it wasn’t my face as it always was.
“Oh yeah. He’s that guy! I know you now. You have excellent taste.” she whispered the last part.
“I know.” I grinned back.
I wasn’t so shivery now, but I was still cold. Jake took me back into his arms and I felt better.
We went round the party, talking to people from school, Bree was with us too. All the girls cooed at me and Jake together and the guys poked and nudged Jake with grins. I think most of them were tipsy, but most said hi to me nicely.
“Hey, I’m gonna go find Paloma.” I said to Jake as he started talking about the gigs the band were going to play next year.
“Ok Tabby. Don’t be too long.” he smiled, kissing me goodbye. The guys he was talking to gave a few wolf whistles as I waved. Boys will be boys right?! Bree was over with Lilly, chatting up a group of guys. I was glad Bree was slowly getting over Calvin. I smiled to myself as I scanned the crowd.
It didn’t take me long to find Paloma, she was sitting in a corner, drinking a beer, looking wistfully over at Max, who was chatting to a group of girls, though he was still twirling a drumstick in his hand.
“Hey. Why the long face?” I asked, sitting on the chair next to her.
She motioned to Max over the other side of the party. “That’s why Tabby. I mean, look. I wait for my moment and a group of girls pounce on him.” she said, taking a slurp of her beer through a straw. She sounded slightly tipsy.
“How many have you had?” I asked, hoping she wasn’t going to go funny on me.
“Two. Both through a straw. Beer is my only love now, so screw Max!” she shouted. Thankfully the music was loud and Max didn’t hear.
I shook my head. “That’s it. I’m going to go talk to him.” I said, getting up.
“Fine. Oh and tell those girls they’re welcome to him.” she said, hiccupping at the end of her sentence.
I bustled through the mass of people and finally got to Max, who was now just talking to one guy I recognised from school. The girls had obviously gone off to fix their hair, I hoped they had anyway, for Paloma’s sake.
“Max, can I talk to you?” I asked slightly awkwardly.
He turned from the guy who walked off. They were obviously done. “Oh, hey. Uh, sure.” he answered, finally stopping the twirl of the stick.
I lowered my voice and moved closer to him. I hoped this didn’t look like flirting. “Look, you see Paloma over there?” I asked, pointing through the crowd.
He nodded. “Yeah. Is she alright? She looks unhappy.”
“She is unhappy. She’s unhappy because she thought you were flirting with all those girls a while ago. She really likes you, you know. So go over and see if she really is alright.” I said. I was glad I’d finally got that out of my system.
Max looked shocked. “I…uh…I never knew…” he stammered.
“Well you can go over there and find out more! Go! She thinks you don’t even like her, so go set that straight!” I exclaimed, pushing him through the crowd.
He didn’t stop, he seemed willing to carry on by himself. I was hoping he really did like her.
Now that worry was off my mind, I set off to go and find Bree again. I searched all the way through the crowd, but couldn’t find her anywhere. I saw Lilly, but she was on her own, texting.
I was worried, so I decided to step out of the garden to get some air. I went through the gate and sat in the porch. I stared out at the black horizon, wishing I knew where Bree was.
I suddenly heard some muttering. “Would you just sod off! I don’t want anything to do with you, you junkie creep!” a familiar voice said.
“Shut up Bree. You know you need me.” some creepy git said.
“Calvin! I said, enough! I’m not gonna go out and do drugs with you anymore! I have better people to hang around with than you, you loser!”
“I’m warning you Bree.” the male voice threatened.
I got up and ran straight to the source of the voices, behind the bushes.
“Bree!” I shouted.
“Tabby!” Bree, shouted back, running into my arms, away from the boy. He stepped out of the shadows, it was Calvin.
“You.” I said acidly.
“Yes, it’s me Tabby. Nice to see you again. Come to get your friend? No need, I’m taking her with me.”
“Get away from her.” I hissed. I was trying to act tough, but I really needed some back up. And fast.
“Shut up Tabby.” Bree whispered. “He’s a psycho.”
“I know, we just need to get away from here.” I whispered back. I was shaking now.
“Come on Tabby. Just let her go and you can carry on with your party.” Calvin was edging closer to us. What if he hit me? I was petrified.
“Leave them alone.” a male voice I was so relieved to hear. We turned to see Jake and Matt, along with some other guys I couldn’t see too well.
“Jake. Long time no see. Gonna come back to the gang?”
“Come back?!” Jake asked incredulously. “I was never part of your skanky gang.”
“Oh yeah, of course not. You went back to being a goody two shoes with your girlfriends.” Calvin laughed harshly.
“I’d rather hang around with my real friends than you. So just back off and leave my girlfriend and Bree alone.” Jake said, stepping between us and Calvin. Matt and the others took the back.
“Oh, you and Tabby are an item? How sweet.” Calvin said in a pretend caring voice.
“No shit. Just go take your drugs somewhere else before I call the police.” Jake said, squaring up to Calvin. I hoped this wouldn’t end in a fight.
“Woah, ok. No need to get the cops involved. I’ll just leave quietly shall I?” He held his hands up in a protective way. “I’ll see you later Bree.” he blew a kiss and left.
“What a slimy git.” Matt commented. I turned to him. I thought there were more guys, but it was only Jack and him. I wondered where Max was. I’d think about that later.
“Are you two ok?” Jake asked, a worried expression etched across his face.
We both nodded. “Yeah thanks. I told him to leave me alone, but he just won’t. I might need a restraining order.” Bree sighed.
“He’s a knob. You sure you’re ok?” Jake asked again.
Bree nodded. “Yeah, don’t worry. I’ve had worse. Let’s go back inside. I need a drink. Alcoholic.” she said, turning and following Matt and Jack.
“Hey, are YOU ok?” Jake asked, putting his arm around my shoulder. I’d suddenly gotten really warm again and was no longer shivering.
“Yeah. Just a little freaked. I was so scared. I thought he was going to kill me.” I answered. Even when I said that out loud, it sounded a little over the top.
Jake laughed drily. “Well, good thing I was there to save the day, eh?” he grinned.
“Yeah. Thank god. You know what I find weird though?” I said.
“What?” Jake asked intrigued.
“That Jack and Matt came with you, but Max is no where to be seen.” I gave him a knowing little smile.
He laughed. “I’m worried now! Shall we go find him?” he asked, leading us back into the garden.
Nobody had noticed our absence thankfully, so when we got back in everyone went off to their separate conversations. Bree stayed close to me, I guessed she was still a little shaken from the incident.
“Hey, I need to go find Max, want to come and see what he’s up to?” I winked at her.
She knew about the whole situation and nodded “Sure! I want to see what’s happened with Paloma too. I wonder where she could be?!”
I laughed and we set off through the crowd again. Most people were dancing now, clearly drunk. It was struggle to get through them all, and we had to push most of them out of the way.
Bree started giggling hysterically as we neared the drinks table where I’d left Max and Paloma for their cosy little chat. “What’s up?” I asked. I couldn’t see behind her and was currently trying to avoid a tall boy treading on my toes.
She just carried on giggling. I finally looked up to see what was so hilarious that she could barely speak.
I instantly started laughing too.
Paloma was currently in the arms of Max, and let’s just say they were getting quite friendly with each other’s mouths and, from what it looked like from where I was standing, tongues.
“Oh god Tabby, what have you done?!” Bree giggled louder, choking on her laughter.
“I only asked Max to talk to her, not stick his tongue down her bloody throat!” I exclaimed.
“Well, I think their chat is going very well.” Bree nudged me in the ribs.
“Do you think they’re sober?” I asked.
Bree shook her head “No, I think sucking beer through a straw made Paloma a bit out of it.”
I laughed. “You think?! Shall we go over and get her?”
“Nah, leave them to it, she looks like she’s having too much fun.” Me and Bree cracked up again.
We turned to go and find Jake, who was hanging out with Matt and Jack again. “Hey, where’ve you two been?” he asked.
“Oh, just trying to find the two new love birds. Look.” I said, pointing to the spot where Max and Paloma were.
Jake looked and so did Matt and Jack. “Wow, get in there Max!” Jack exclaimed.
Jake laughed. “So you weren’t kidding about hooking them up?” he asked.
“Of course not! I was deadly serious! You don’t have to hear Paloma gabble about how awesome and cute Max is 24/7!”
He laughed again. “I guess not. But I don’t think they’d do that sober. How drunk are they? Do you think they’ll even remember all this?!”
I thought for a second, then shook my head, laughing again. “I’m not sure how drunk they really are, but hopefully not too much.” I said.
“Why?” Matt asked, still looking over at them with a kind of awe.
“Because Paloma will be absolutely gutted not to remember her first snog with Max, won’t she?!”
We all cracked up laughing again at that one.