Spoiler! :
Stop and Stare ~ Part Six
Charlie - Continued
As Austin and I made our way towards the club, I realised how dark everything seemed to have gotten. The sky was a deep blue colour, almost electric looking in the areas where there were clouds. It wouldn’t be long until the blue was swallowed up by a plague of black. The wind was blowing as litter spun around in the air, but all it did was remind me of that night. As the neon lights of the small club came into sight, and the sound of intense music rose, I clenched my fists and ground my teeth together. What if I said something stupid to someone? What if Lee and his goons were in the club tonight? What if something happened again? Something bad? If God had any mercy, tonight wouldn’t end up like that night had. All I could do was pray inside my head, which was pointless considering I didn’t believe in God at all.
“Are you two together?” I lifted my head up to see a guy dressed in some kind of monkey suit glancing between Austin and me.
His jet black hair was slicked back and it reached just below his gangly shoulders. Unless the lighting here was absolutely terrible, I was pretty sure he was wearing thick eyeliner too. It may have just been my imagination screwing with my head, but I was almost certain that he was wearing lipstick. There was definitely something on his huge lips. Bizarre.
I turned my eyes to the left of him and realised that we’d reached the club’s entrance. Judging by the lack of people outside, the place had already opened, despite it not quite being seven o’clock yet. An empty crisp packet flew past the entrance, and as the wind roared, it seemed to blow the smell of damp concrete into my nostrils. I turned to Austin to see him nodding at the guy in the suit.
“That’ll be twenty quid then, please.” The guy held out his hand right under our noses, which was fricking rude, if you asked me.
“Since when?” I raised my eyebrows. “It’s only a fiver each.”
The guy sighed before crossing his arms. As his one hand popped out from under the other arm, I realised that he was wearing black nail varnish. His muddy eyes were digging into me now as his tongue poked into the side of his cheek, which made the right side of his face look as though it had developed some kind of growth. He soon held out his hand again.
“You can’t just change the prices without tell--“
“Here.” Austin slapped a twenty pound note into the man’s hand.
The guy thanked him, shot me a glare, and then moved out of the way. Austin grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. Once we were out of the guy’s sight, I turned to Austin and raised my shoulders, but before I could say anything, he spoke.
“I’d prefer not to get kicked out before we actually get into the place, Charlie.”
“Yeah, I know, sorry. They could at least warn us when the prices change,” I mumbled as I pulled out a crumpled five pound note from my jacket’s pocket. “I’ll give you the rest later.”
Austin took the money from my hands, folded it neatly, smiled at me, and then shoved it back into my pocket. “Buy yourself something nice.”
I was about to get it out of my pocket again when Austin yanked the zip shut. He only just managed not to rip my index finger off with the blooming thing. The guy was hassling some other kids now, but as we opened the club’s doors, it wasn’t hard to notice his eyes digging into me from behind. I’d already pissed off one person tonight, and with any luck, he’d be the last.
The moment Austin and I entered the building, the sound of blaring music overtook every corner of my thoughts. Multicoloured lights danced around the room, and every now and then, they allowed me to catch a glimpse of laughing teenagers. The majority of them had sweat running down their foreheads. Hot.
“Hey! Jax!” Austin yelled as he waved. He tapped me on my arm and nodded towards the back of the room.
My eyes weaved in and out of different people until they reached the bar at the back of the room, and sitting at one of the corner tables beside it was Jax along with some kids from school. Austin shoved past multiple people as he walked forward and I soon did the same. I hadn’t seen Jax once since the incident, and to put it bluntly, I was glad of it. There had been no taunting, no smirking that was blatantly directed at me, no muttered comments. Nothing. I hadn’t had to listen to his raspy voice once. As I was pushing past a room full of sweat-drenched kids, I began to wonder what I was even doing here, let alone why I was making my way towards one of the biggest pricks I knew. I guess the answer wasn’t too hard to figure out though--I was just following Austin again.
After being shoved back and forth by a number of dancing kids, we were finally standing above where Jax was sitting. He had his legs stretched out onto the stained table and in his hands was an enormous glass of something clear. The area itself was far calmer than the dancefloor. There were only two tables in this corner of the room, and the other table was empty anyway. I tugged at the neckline of my shirt in hope of getting rid of the clammy feeling that was now building up inside of me.
“Yo, Austin.” Jax moved his legs out of the way as Austin climbed over the table and sat down next to him. Jax turned to me and his grin broadened. He nodded. “Hey, faggot.”
The smile curved into a sudden frown as Austin nudged him in his side, while I did nothing but stand there with my fists clenched. What happened that night obviously hadn’t changed him for the better then. If I had the guts to do so, I swore I would have wrung his neck and shoved whatever I could find down his throat right there and then. As Austin turned to chat to Damon, some kid from his old Biology class, Jax saw his chance and switched his attention back to me.
“I would offer you some vodka.” He held up the drink in his hand as he winked at me. “But I’m sure you’ve got plenty of it back home with your old man.”
“I can’t be arsed for this.”
Jax started laughing, showing his row of pointed teeth as I turned and pushed someone that was behind me out of the way. I was soon parading forwards with my eyes fixed on the entrance of the overfilled club. The guy was a pillok. To begin with, if anyone caught him with booze, he'd probably get himself arrested considering there was a strict no alcohol rule in this youth nightclub. There was no one older than seventeen here, so if any member of staff merely smelt a bit of alcohol, they would kick off. I hadn’t even reached the small set of stairs that led to the dancefloor when I felt someone grab my arm.
“Whoa, where are you going?” Austin.
I shoved his hand off my arm and didn’t say a word. Instead, I continued making my way towards the stairs. For the second time, Austin grasped my arm. I looked at him to see his eyes scanning my face.
“Seriously, mate, why do you actually bother with that loser?” I nodded over at Jax.
I’d only been here five minutes and the guy was already sniggering at me along with his irritating comments. I knew I was the most pathetic excuse for a guy ever, and I didn’t need some bug eyed idiot reminding me of that. I glanced at Austin to see a stony look in his eyes. My thoughts immediately raced back to that night.
As Austin dug his eyes into mine, it was as if I was shot back to the moment where we were both in the alleyway that night. Even the suffocating feeling I had in that alleyway was beginning to wrap itself around me again, and as Austin’s eyes delved deeper into me, so did my thoughts on everything that happened all those weeks ago. I clenched my teeth together and mentally whacked myself. I’d allowed myself to think about it. I grasped my arm and dug my nails into my skin until I removed the thoughts from my mind. Forget about it, you freak. Just forget. I hardened my jaw. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t forget about that night five years ago, let alone what happened a few weeks ago.
I’d almost forgotten about my best mate standing in front of me when Austin sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I know Jax is annoying, okay, but think of it like this: no Jax, no booze. It’s not like my dad would ever give me any, and you won’t even touch the stuff, so there’s no hope in you taking any of your old man’s. Besides, Jax can always get the booze in without the security guards noticing. Subtlety ain't exactly my ting, Charlie, as I'm sure you know.”
I stopped digging my nails into my arm and ran my hand through my hair. I swore I could have pulled it out of my roots. Austin and drink didn’t mix well, and he of all people should have bloody well known that.
“Fricking hell, Austin, there’s more to life than vodka and beer. How is you being hammered and Jax taking the mick all of the time better than you being sober without that midget taking the piss out of me every five minutes? The kid's just plain sad anyway!”
“Have you ever thought to actually fight back, Charlie?” I tried speaking, but Austin continued, this time with his voice louder and harsher. “I mean, Jesus Christ, no wonder he thinks you’re such a spineless girl. You just stand there looking like you’re about to cry, then stomp off and expect me to give him a row or something.”
I didn’t say a word. Austin’s face was right in front of mine now. His eyes were narrowed and he was practically eating his bottom lip as I stood in front of him, stammering. My jaw clenched along with my fists as I looked anywhere but his face. The pounding music had suddenly turned into a buzzing sound and the people around us were just dancing blurs. Just as I was about to turn away for what felt like the hundredth time, Austin sighed and rubbed his forehead. He muttered what sounded like an apology.
“Okay, look, I’ll make you a deal.” He led me to the side of the bar. “I won’t drink a drop of alcohol, so long as you stay here and actually loosen up for once.” He paused and glanced back at the group. “Starting from now though ‘cause I just drunk some of Damen’s Stella.”
I started laughing. “Like hell you can do that.”
“Pfft, and you actually reckon you can loosen up, do you, Charlie boy?”
We both started laughing as I ducked before Austin got the chance to tousle my hair. I winked at him before pulling his hood up over his head. Sometimes, I swore we both had bipolar or something. One moment, it was as if Austin was about to rip my head off and then the next, it was as if we were flirting with each other. Maybe it was a good thing. So long as it numbed out any unwanted thoughts, I was glad we did it.
“Can we pop outside for a bit though, Aust?” I asked as he sat himself down on one of the bar’s plastic stools. “It’s boiling in here and I must be whiffing like crap.”
“You are. It’s minging.” Austin shrugged as the grin returned to his face. “Yeah, come on then.”
He tapped my arm as he jumped off the stool he’d just sat down on. Exactly like we’d done a short while ago, we soon found ourselves weaving in and out of teenagers who were dancing on the lit up floor. The second I began to feel a soft breeze amongst all of the sweaty kids, it was as though the clothes that were previously glued to my back had become much looser on me. It wasn’t long until I saw the artificial lights of the street lamps outside. The cold air hit us and I was overcome by a comfortable chill on my skin.
“Hey, come ‘round the side with me.” Austin tapped his tracksuit’s pocket as he glanced towards the corner of the building. “I fancy a fag.”
“Yeah, fair enough. I don’t think Marilyn Manson over there would appreciate you smoking here.” I nodded at the guy who had let us into the club.
As we were about to turn around the side of the building, the Marilyn Manson wannabe glanced at us, but I didn’t get a chance to see what he did next because he was soon out of sight. Austin stopped beside of a pile of black rubbish bags and reached into his pocket, while my eyes wandered around the dimly lit alleyway. I’d really come to hate these places. The last time Autin and me were in an alleyway was... Shut up. Thoughts, memories, emotions and everything else possible tried crawling into my head, but I was adamant not to let them in. It was just an alleyway, for Pete’s sake. Nothing special. There was no need for me to let my body tense and my heart race. What was wrong with me tonight? Why couldn’t I just man up for once in my life?
As my eyes grew more accustomed to the light--or lack of it--I noticed that this alleyway was far cleaner than the ones around my street. That helped shut away any thoughts I didn’t want. There was one or two packets of something floating about in the wind, but there certainly weren’t piles of the stuff. I kicked one of the black rubbish bags to find plain concrete underneath it. If this was one of my local alleyways in Amber Fountains, there would have probably been an ocean of used syringes in the gutter.
“This is pretty nice, innit?” I said as Austin lit a fag. “This place, I mean. If we were in The Fountains, there’d be at least one drunken twelve year old spewing over those bins right now.” I nudged the bins beside me again.
“True that.” Austin laughed after taking the fag out of his mouth.
While Austin continued placing his fag in and out of his mouth, which always followed by a round of smoke, I began wandering around the alleyway. I could hear the sound of echoing footsteps in the distance, but I couldn’t make out any figures, let alone any actual faces. The footsteps were drowned out by the sound of a revving engine, and before long, a black Mercedes shot past the alleyway.
“Now that’s something you don’t see in The Fountains.” Austin’s eyes followed the car until every inch of its metallic sheen had passed the gap in the alleyway. “Ah well, those things are overrated anyway. Hey, didn’t your mum used to ha--”
“It’s on me!”
There was a sudden yelp, and before I knew it, the sound of heavy footsteps came charging towards us. Both Austin and I snapped our heads towards the depths of the alleyway. I stepped out from the side of the wall to catch a better look when something, or someone, nudged me hard on my chest. I lost my footing. Before I had a chance to realise what the hell was going on, I fell backwards. Moments later, there was a thud. A sharp pain in my head. The freezing concrete underneath me.
“Oi!” Austin’s voice.
Then nothing.
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Click here to read STOP AND STARE (PART SEVEN)
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