The Girl in Lace

Chapter 5

Ok, I’ll keep it short and sweet; as I really want to start writing and I’m sure you all get incredibly bored with my authors note..

Merry Christmas!! This is the last chapter I’ll be writing before Christmas so I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and I really hope, that wherever you are, and whatever your situation, that you have a lovely Christmas! Remember, it’s not what you get out of Christmas, it’s what you put into it. Don’t you agree that you actually feel so much happier if you give someone a present they love instead of keeping it for yourself, and seeing the smile on their face, and getting a hug from them? I got these really cool ear buds planning on keeping them for myself, but after I bought them I realised that one of my friends would absolutely love them, so after much deliberation, I wrapped them up and I’m giving them to her soon! It’s not only the presents though, of course, that make Christmas so special, it’s the time you spend with family, if you do, but even if your Christmas is horrible, look at others around you who are happy, and do something to help others, or make them happy. Random surprises are best. I love doing them..anyway, this isn’t as short as I’d hoped but I just want to say one thing:

It’s not what you have that makes you happy, it’s what you make out of what you have.

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In front of my two parched eyes stood a ramshackle old building, a blinding neon sign hung from two rusty, brown poles. It blinked at me every second. I knew my eyes had glassed over, they felt cold in the still, warm air. There was no breeze. I felt the motorcycle move beneath me, but not forward. The guy had gotten off; I could see him out of the corner of my eye.

He waved a hand in front of me. Finally I blinked and shook my head, trying to get hold of my thoughts. I swing my bare legs off the bike, and planted them firmly on the uneven ground. I stared up at the guy. He was looking at me confusedly. He said something in Portuguese. I shook my head and told him that no, I didn’t speak Portuguese. Ok, I know I’m supposed to be practicing, but right now wasn’t the time. I had more worrying things to think about.

I began to walk towards the building, the neon sign mocking me. It blared unseen images at me, as I got closer to the door. I found myself walking slower; I didn’t want to open it, to go in. To see what my mind was telling me was inside. When I realised what I was doing, I scolded myself, and walked more determinedly towards the door. Its looming presence no longer scared me but begged me to be suddenly inside. I needed to get inside before it was too late.

I could hear motorbike guy following me. He had given up his attempts at conversing with me. I pushed open the door and stepped into the dark corridor thumping with music. I had heard a faint beating from outside, but once inside, the music was so loud, I could only hear the whoops and hollers and the occasional shouting that came with it. I was so determined to get inside and find Alessandra, that when a heavy hand caught me by the shoulder, I started. A muscly looking guy glared down at me disbelievingly, although I’m not sure if it was because I was a girl or because of my skin tone. He said something harshly to me that I completely didn’t understand. I gulped; he looked down at me, waiting for an answer. His beady eyes swept over me.

Motorcycle guy came to the rescue. He put his hand on beady eye’s back and said something to him, which seemed to calm him down a little. He took his hand off my shoulder, and gave me one, last, fleeting glance before he turned to motorcycle dude to take the money he held out for him. Then he left.

Motorcycle guy nodded at me and I spun around and began to walk towards the steadily increasing thump of strange music. Remembering something, I spun around and banged into him. I staggered back, mumbling an apology I hoped he would guess. He looked at me apologetically and mumbled something too. We stopped and our eyes met for a split second, and we both burst out laughing.