"I cannot believe her," Diana fumed. "What a dumb old whore!"
Well this wasn't the note I'd like to start this drive off on.
Diana peeled the car out of her driveway, and accelerated down the road at an almost dangerous speed.
Before we had made it out of her house, we spent a few hours celebrating her Nana's birthday, who is a really lovely woman I've known years before I ever became friends with Diana. After the birthday party had ended, Diana made quite a loud announcement to the entire room that we were headed out- causing an uproar of questions from the adults there with us. She then shot one look to her mother, who seemed to calm everyone down by telling her guests that we were spending the night at a friend's, which I found very strange.
Even stranger though, was when her mother pulled her aside and they seemed to have a bit of a hushed argument- which ended with Diana having the last word, and her mother looking completely defeated.
"Stupid fucking old bitch. Stupid fucking dumb motherfucking bitch-hole." Diana mumbled under her breath as she drove. Cursing always seemed to help her calm herself down.
"Is everything alright?" I asked cautiously.
"Yup! Everything's just peachy keen!" She said, her words tinged with sarcasm.
"What happened back there?"
Diana sighed. "Nothing, just forget about it please."
"But Di-"
"Please, Nancy. I'm begging you to just let it go." She cut me off, sounding exhausted by whatever was plaguing her.
"Okay, I'm sorry." I gave up.
"I just want to enjoy tonight- I want us both to enjoy tonight." She said. "I have your clothes in the back seat, and some makeup."
I took her cue and started to get ready. Tonight, Diana had brought me a black sequined jumpsuit, and another, even bigger pair of platform heels. The jumpsuit was strappy at the top and was obviously made for someone with a smaller bust.
"Um... Di?" I cringed at the exposure the top of the suit was giving me after I had put it on.
"Shit, that's hot!" She eyed me up.
"Yeah but it's a bit much." I gestured to my newfound cleavage. "Do you have a sweater or something?"
"This isn't a sweater type of place." Diana said. "Plus you look to die for, and I won't have you covering all of it up!" Diana gave me some reassurance with her words, though I still felt a bit awkward.
"Where is this place anyways?"
"Twickenham." She smiled.
"Twickenham? We aren't going to St. Mary's right?" I nervously laughed.
"Of course not."
•••
When we finally made it into Twickenham- Eel Pie Island to be exact- I began to feel a familiar feeling of excitement. Perhaps seeing a new show was exactly the distraction I'd need to get Brian out of my mind.
Diana parked the car in front of an unassuming building, and it wasn't until I saw some people lingering and smoking in the parking lot that I knew we were in the right place.
"Okay can you please tell me now what band we'll be seeing?" I begged as soon as we left the car.
Diana's lips curled up in amusement. "They call themselves 'Black Sabbath'."
My eyes widened a bit. "Black Sabbath? Are they satanic?"
"That's just what your mum would say." Diana broke into laughter. "Nance, a lot of these bands only do things like this to seem more interesting. It's nothing to worry about."
"Well are they any good? Do you know them?"
"I've heard they're decent. They're fairly new." She shrugged as we walked though the parking lot.
We entered the club, and found it chock full of people, all buzzing about and talking before the show started. Now this was what I needed- a crowd to escape into, and some music to dance to.
"Go get us drinks please!" Diana squawked over the loud conversation in the room. Since I was newly 18, I was now able to do such a thing. The only problem was- I had no idea what to order.
"What do you want?" I inquired anxiously. This was a rather simple adult situation to be in, but has been labeled as wrong in my mind since the day I could remember things.
"Dunno, something good... how about Tom Collins?" She sat down at a table to wait for me.
"Who's he?"
"It's a fucking drink name, Nance." Diana laughed.
With that, I strode off to the bar, feigning confidence all the way.
The bartender's gaze met with my bare chest well before my eyes, and he asked me my order, to which I replied with two of Diana's recommendations. He stepped away to start mixing up the drinks in some skinny glasses- all the while, I noticed two more sleazy looking chaps sitting at the bar who also seemed to take no shame in enjoying the sight of my cleavage.
My anxiety is soaring now. I knew I shouldn't have gone out in such a revealing number. I felt naked and odd so exposed to the world. I wish Diana had brought me an outfit like the one at the Queen show- with the flowy sleeves and gypsy-like lace. That was definitely more "me".
"They're on the house," the bartender said, finally handing me the two beverages. "Such a pretty little thing shouldn't have to pay for her own drink." He smiled wide to reveal a set of terribly yellow teeth.
"Wow... uh, thank you!" I replied, taking the glasses and scurrying back to Diana in a flash.
We sucked our drinks down, and although I hadn't planned on having any alcohol tonight- I have to say, they tasted pretty good, and made it a lot easier to relax. However, we still had more time to kill before the band came on, and Diana was growing restless.
"Refill please!" Diana handed me her empty glass.
"I'll get you one, but I don't know if I should have another." I told her.
"Why not? You didn't like it?" She asked.
"No, I did!" In fact, now that the effects have kicked in more, I realize that I liked it a lot- more for how it made me feel than anything else. "You know what, I think I will have one more."
"That's my gal!" Diana cheered.
So I headed back to the bar, feeling genuine confidence this time. So much confidence that I didn't even care I'd have to face the creepy bartender with horrible teeth again.
"Two more please," I smiled at the man. Much to my dismay, he returned my smile before he started mixing.
There was a pleasant tune playing over the speakers now. I didn't know what song it was, but it didn't matter. I was finally here, free to relax. The guilt of the past week was long gone now- erased by the atmosphere of the club, the music, and of course the alcohol.
I started to sway back and forth with my eyes closed, to the song pumping through the building. Even just this was enough for me to feel a weight off of my shoulders- and we still had a live band yet to see. This night was going to be absolutely amazing.
Or so I thought.
"I love the way you dance as if no one is watching," I heard a voice say, just by my ear. It was familiar... far too familiar.
With wide eyes, and a pit of dread in my stomach, I turned to the source of the voice to find my deepest fear confirmed.
Brian is here.