Chapter 13 ~ Liam
Alex called Ethan so we’re hanging with him tonight, too. And as we do every time we come to Manchester, we’re at the same club he brought us the first time we met him. It’s a nice place, we can really have fun here without having to worry about fans mobbing us or paparazzi sneaking into. We can let ourselves be here. The girls of Prodigy seem to approve the place, they look around with smiles on their faces, catching every little detail they can and they look excited. I stay near them, even more when I realise they start to relax around us. I also notice they hand Skyler many drinks.
“She is so fun when she is drunk. She changes completely! She turns into this outgoing, talkative, loud and horny girl when she is drunk. It’s so fun to see! Once she ended up dancing on her bra and trousers on the table. We had to join her, you know?” Leanne tells me when I see Tammy and Emma handing Sky another drink. “You know, we’re a band after all, we have to support her.” I laugh with her, imagining the situation.
Sky is so into her world, it’s like she comes to life only when it’s about music, but I can see the change now. She is laughing, she is joking with the girls and I see how Tammy and Emma enjoy this. Savannah, Moni, Ed —who also came to see us— and Mila are with them, having fun too. Zayn is also with them, having fun apparently. To be honest, everyone seems to be having fun.
Alex and Niall are in their world, dancing and drinking. As usual, Alex tries to teach some moves to the leprechaun. Hannah and Harry are playing darts. Poor Harry, he is obsessed with winning, but Hannah has a better aim than him. Belle is with Phebs, as Lucas and Dan couldn’t make it. Kay is dancing with a random guy, ignoring Louis who’s at the bar, drinking even more than Niall on St. Patrick’s Day. Ethan is with his girlfriend as well. Leanne has stayed with me, explaining me why Emma and Tammy seem so happy to have Sky with us.
I like seeing this Tammy, laughing out loud, with her nose crinkling as she smiles mischievously, jumping when Sky does a bottom up. She almost looks like a teenager in her first party and that’s kind of cute. Really cute, to be honest.
“Leanne,” I ask the blonde girl next to me. I don’t know why she hasn’t left my side yet, although Grimmy is around… I think. “Why is Tammy like that?”
The blonde girl looks at me a bit confused. “You mean like this loud?” She inquires and cue to her words, Tammy laughs out loud. Even louder than the music.
“No, I mean so… rude. I know she goes for the rebel look, but she can be so mean but then she is so kind with the kids. And she doesn’t like compliments. You know her, you’ve been with her for a long time. Why is she like that?” I clarify and Leanne sighs. I don’t hear her over the music, but I see.
“Let’s go to the bar.” I follow her and wait until we ask for some drinks. “We’ve been working together for over three years now, and she is still a mystery for us. We all have boundaries that we do not cross, Tammy’s past is that boundary. You just can’t ask her about that. When I met her, she was so cold and suspicious. It’s was like she was waiting for you to attack her and she was ready to fight.” Leanne tells me. “It took some time for her to start joking and teasing us; at the beginning she was only business.” I pay careful attention, trying to learn as much as I can. “She has never tell us anything about her life. We don’t even know where she is from and she has never mentioned friends or family. It’s like all what exists of her is what you can see now.”
So Tammy is not an enigma only for me.
“We asked her a lot at the beginning, but we learnt it was useless. So don’t even dream you’ll get her to tell you why she is the way she is. It’s hopeless. You just have to accept that this,” —she points with her thumb at Tammy who is cheering at Sky with Emma— “is all what we will ever get from her.”
I know I should listen to Leanne, she’s been around Tammy for over three years, so I shouldn’t try to think I can find out about Tammy’s past when her band mates haven’t, but I just can’t give up. I look over my shoulder at the rebel girl who is drinking as well. People are gathering around the three girls already, Mila, Zayn, Ed and Moni are not around anymore, maybe they went to another place.
As I see Tammy, I only want to know more. Why is her past so closed? Why doesn’t she share a single aspect of her life? I’ve told her about my family, even against her will, of my friends, who I was before the X Factor but she has told me nothing. I don’t even know her first name. Is Tammy short of Tamara or another name?
“I can try,” I tell Leanne not looking at her and leaving my glass half full.
I hear Leanne laughing and next I feel her hand on my shoulder. “Good luck then, Liam. You’re gonna need it.” Then she leaves, probably looking for Grimmy or someone else while my eyes are still on Tammy.
I don’t realise when I start walking towards her and I only stop when I’m next to her, grabbing her arm. She turns around still laughing and looks at me confused.
“What do you want, Noob?” she asks half-shouting so I can hear her.
“Come dance with me,” I ask her leaning in closer to whisper in her ear.
“With you?” She inquires raising both eyebrows. “Hell no! Go with your blonde friend, the one that’s just like you. What was her name?” For a moment I think she is talking about Leanne, but then it hits me.
“Phoebe,” I answer and she laughs.
“I wasn’t really asking.” She shakes her head. “But anyways, go with her. She is your style, go bother her.”
“I wanna dance with you,” I insist. Phebs is my best girl friend but she is mad at me right now.
She didn’t personally know Tammy until today and she didn’t like her. I’ve talked about the singer to my friend, but once they met, I could tell Phebs didn’t approve of her. And she told me. She told me she didn’t think Tammy was good for me and that I should leave her alone, that I would find someone better suited for me. I told her I couldn’t just leave Tammy alone, not when she intrigues me so much, not when she pulls me towards her like gravity. So Phebs got mad because I’m just walking into a disaster and I’m doing it knowingly.
“You’re weird, Noob,” she says but I slide my hand down her arm and grab her hand.
“C’mon, dance with me,” I plead, pulling her a bit closer and she doesn’t pull back. “I’m not a bad dancer.”
“I don’t dance,” she says but she doesn’t stop as I start dragging her to the dance floor.
“C’mon, it won’t be terrible, I promise.” I grab her other hand and I can’t stop smiling because she doesn’t fight me.
“I— I’m not a good dancer. Maybe you should—”
“I’ll teach you,” I tell her pulling her towards me until she is against my chest, her hands on my shoulders as I grab her by the waist, keeping her close.
The music is loud and electronic, and the dance floor is crowded, so even if she wants, pulling apart is rather complicated and I make sure to take advantage of the situation to keep her pressed against my chest.
Tammy doesn’t verbally agree to dance with me, but I take her absence of negation as a kind of yes to my question, so I start moving slowly and she is kind of awkward. It’s like her limbs can’t coordinate and she looks tensed, so I grab her tighter and I lean closer to talk into her ear.
“Just relax, feel the music. That’s all,” I instruct her and her hands tense on my shoulders for three seconds.
We can’t exactly go to the rhythm of the music, but we are dancing. An awkward dance and she is still a bit stiff, but little by little she starts to get into the whole thing. It’s nice to be the one guiding, having the control over the dance. It’s a good chance to be the good one teaching how to dance this time.
We dance a couple of songs and she is more relaxed, but still I make sure not to let go of her hand or something. Always keeping in touch. I’m afraid that if I let her go, even if it’s for one second, she will leave. I know she is not completely comfortable, so I don’t push her to dance for too long, although I’m having fun in a way. I like guiding her, helping her to move. So when I suggest her to go to the bar, she sounds so relieved it makes me chuckle.
“Okay, go ahead, say it,” she tells me when we’re at the bar waiting for our drinks.
“What?” I ask because I don’t know what she means.
Tammy looks at me not amused, with a come-on expression on her features. “Oh, you know what I mean.”
“I swear I don’t! Please, enlighten me,” I ask her and she shakes her head.
“You can say it, I won’t take offence if you admit the truth: I’m a terrible dancer,” she explains and two seconds later I burst out laughing. “Oi! I said admit it, not laugh at me in my face!”
I can’t stop laughing. I wasn’t expecting that from her. She is the kind who is always so sure about her talents and what she can do greatly, I didn’t think she could admit her weaknesses.
“I’m sorry, I just… I wasn’t expecting you to mean that,” I confess, still laughing.
“It’s not that funny, Noob.” She doesn’t look at me, her eyes are on the recently arrived drink. “Maybe you shouldn’t drink anymore, you’re very drunk already.”
“I’m not drunk,” I tell her bumping shoulders with her. “But you’re right, you’re a terrible dancer.”
Tammy looks at me with a frown and I try to fight back the smile, but then when her lips curl up, I laugh again. That until Harry comes to us.
“Hey, have you seen Lou? I can’t find him,” the curly-haired boy asks and I look at the spot where I saw him the last time. Indeed, he is not there anymore and he is not around.
“I dunno, last time I saw him there,” I point at the spot where he was drinking. “Why?”
“I just lost a bet so I can’t go with him tomorrow. He needed to buy some stuff, but I have to go and drive a pink car.” As I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, Tammy cracks up laughing. “So I can’t go with him and I wanted to tell him now.”
“Do I want to know why a pink car?” I ask and he shakes his head, but then Hannah appears next to Harry, smiling victoriously. I assume she won, again, at throwing darts. I’ll be waiting for what the papers say about that. “Anyways, I don’t know. Maybe he is in the bathroom.”
Surprising everyone, Sky shows up next to us, with a big smile and her eyes shining. She looks almost as alive as she does when she is on stage. “I saw him leaving with Kay!” She sings excitedly. “They are probably shagging right now.”
We all look at her surprised and she laughs, turning on her heels again and leaving us as unexpectedly as she appeared. I look at Harry with the question burning inside of me. Is it possible? Could Skyler be right?
“How drunk was Louis?” Hannah asks looking as shocked as us.
I remember how much he was drinking since we arrived to the club and it’s probably that he ended up wasted in fifteen minutes, but would that be enough to leave with Kay? With the woman who he hates so much?
“We’ll know by tomorrow morning,” Tammy replies offhandedly and I guess she is right, we will only really know tomorrow.
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Dedication to directionerhere because it is normal to shout at books xD
Bel, xx