Zugzwang

Chapter Three

The discussion of who was the best drinker had manifested itself into more of a competition. A competition that was leaving Lucy mostly passed out and horizontal in the booth at the club, a small puddle of drool forming at the northernmost corner
of her mouth. Shana scoffed to herself, seeing that after all there must be little competition between Lucy and herself for the miniscule affections of Ben, who was currently fist pumping along to an old cheesy song she couldn't place. The dirty dance floor of the Tipsy Cow had come alive with the bodies of Shana's friends making use of the space and the copious amounts of alcohol in their system. Crackling speakers made the bass hard to navigate but that didn't stop them trying. Shana and Charlotte shifted to the beat of their own rhythm. They always had.

Charlotte enjoyed drinking and reckless adventures almost as much as Shana, meaning they were never too far apart and were often described as being joined at the hip. A saying they would always roll their eyes at but secretly enjoy knowing how inseparable they were to anyone paying attention, let alone to each other. Shana's closest friend was quite her opposite, as far as physical appearance went. She was blessed with fuller hips, curves and lips and could probably pass for 4 years older than the girls actually were. Her stark red hair fell in ribbons of curls as naturally as her freckles kissed her nose, slightly favouring her right side. A trait that drove most males in their school towards her. Charlotte however, was much more interested in the favours of women, a fact that Shana appreciated and envied of her best friend. It was also abundantly clear to Shana that Charlotte found no pull of attraction towards her, only making the pair closer as there was never fear of the friendship being ruined by a drunken mistake or any kind of unrequited love. However, Charlotte being the infamous ladies woman that she was, gave Shana the opportunity to use this to her advantage.

The pair used their limited knowledge of men to entice the wallets of men, and in return would receive an abundance of free alcohol that went with them. Making eyes at the bartender, the girls pulled each other close and batted their mascara lengthened lashes hopefully. He didn't budge. He ran a dry bar towel across the beer taps and continued his thousand yard stare, most likely waiting for his equally dry shift to end.

"Kiss me quick" Charlotte spoke into Shana's ear.

"Fuck off!" Shana laughed, shoving her a little too hard thanks to her growing intoxication.

"Well you buy me a bloody drink then!" Charlotte yelled back arms outstretched and laughing.

Shana flipped her off and returned the laugh, turning on her heel and slightly stumbling as she attempted to strut over towards Ben.

Interrupting  Will's classic 'bro move' he has perfected with Ben, a simple arm over the shoulder and jump to the beat, Shana snaked her slim arms around Ben's neck and pulled him close. He returned the gesture with a rather wet and fairly average kiss, pulling her even closer around the waist. Clearly he had misinterpreted her affections for actual intentions. Shana pushed out her bottom lip and pouted.

She pulled herself closer to his ear to be heard, "Me and Charlotte are thirsty".

Ben rolled his eyes and pushed her away with unnecessary force, as usual. In contrast to his behaviour, he pulled out a £20 note from his ripped jean pocket and Shana smiled for a split second before he threw that note on the floor in front of her and turned back to face Will, arms folding. Her eyes stung and for the second time that night, her cheeks blushed scarlet. William was, as ever, simply overjoyed to have Ben's attention again for the night, with Christine holding onto his arm like a faithful lapdog. Christine was always the background character in the groups escapades and would always side with whatever Will decided was gospel that night. Which in turn, was always what Ben had in mind. Shana stared at them in complete disbelief as not either of them dained to say a word against the actions of her bully of a boyfriend. The disbelief abruptly turned into seething anger and she balled up her fists and bent down to grab the money. This earned a half smile from Will that could easily have been sympathy but to Shana, it was complete mockery. Standing upright again, she looked to them again and decided, she hated them. Hated them. For all they had done together and all the good times she herself had organised and ensured they all had fun, none of it meant anything to them, the second that Ben treated her like scum. She walked as quickly as she could back towards Charlotte who was continuing her own party for one in the middle of the dance floor. She grabbed her elbow and steered them both to the bar, abruptly asking for as many shots of tequila that £20 could get them. 8 shots promptly arrived in front of them as Charlotte babbled an array of questions as to whatever had happened to grant this look on her best friends face. Shana simply shook her head and looked into the water spotted glasses in front of her. She had a decent enough buzz to let go of most of her inhibitions that night but what had transpired in the previous 4 minutes meant there was no alternative in her head than to get black out drunk with her best friend and stumble home before the whole world span around her.

"Drink, now. 4 each as fast as we can, ready?" Shana spoke quickly as not to evade to the croak of mounting sorrow in her voice. None of this meant anything. No friendship, nor relationship could ever mean anything when all she did was give and give with only ever receiving a slap in the face.  Charlotte slid her own last £10 note onto the bar and asked for the same. Entwining their arms together they waited for the eyebrow stud to pour 4 more shots out to add to their collection. Charlotte splits the shots down the middle and tilted her head to look at Shana.

"This feels like a 6 shot problem" she stated through a grin, eyes glazed.

The two girls eagerly grasped glasses in hands and threw back the burning liquid as quickly as possible, wincing in between each. Once all the glasses were turned over they both let out a cheer and a small burp escaped Charlottes mouth. The problem wasn't their recklessness of the 6 shots of what felt like pure alcohol, but the 5 pints that had fallen down Charlotte's neck beforehand, was. The slow realisation of impending vomit spread across her face like wildfire as her freckled hand shot up to her mouth and she strode as fast as her drunk legs would take her to find the nearest toilet. Shana followed hastily and let a giggle escape her mouth as she stumbled after her friend, through the doorway to the Moors upstairs residence and taking a hard right to the unisex toilets. Graciously adorned with tow cubicles, one with no door left, the other whose lock had only worked long ago. One sink with visible residue, though not clear what the substance was, proved that nothing in this washroom could or would ever been clean.

Shana burst through the door seconds after Charlotte, now in full blown laughter at her loudly vomiting friends expense. The alcohol now coursing through her body meant that Shana had no choice but to lean against the crime scene of a basin. Offering words of encouragement through the slightly ajar cubicle door as she listened to the retching and splashing of the so familiar chunks of a good night out hitting the stained toilet bowl behind. Her eyes closed and she took a small breath to ground herself, trying to enjoy the odd experience by feeling just how dedicated her best friend was to her happiness, even without context. Turning to lean on the sink with her gripping either side of the ceramic, she stared into the blurred, splattered mirror at her own reflection and let a wobbled smile form. She stared longer and longer listening to the groans and snorts of regret filled laughter coming from the stall. Murmerred voices lingered beyond the door leading back into the club. Shana barely noticed as they grew louder, closer and more urgent. She jumped back in surprise as the heavy wooden fire door swung open and crashed against the wall. Looking towards the top corner of the mirror she saw the unfamiliar face of the man who had rejected her only hours ago.

She let out a child like yelp and ran giggling into the stall which Charlotte was curled up, seemingly claiming that space as her bed for the night. Shana slammed the sall door behind her and pushed her back up against it to keep it closed. The thought of this man seeing her in such a state and her friend in an even worse one filled her with even more embarrassment than being outright rejected by him. She pressed her finger to her lips, and let out a shush that was too loud to be subtle. Charlotte raised her head from the side of the toilet bowl and squinted her eyes to look up at her. The two girls were giggling, not completely understanding why but continuing to have the time of their lives, huddled in the dirtiest public toilet in Sopenfield.

"Get up let's go get some food" Shana stage whispered, a hiccup interrupting her sentence.

Charlotte groaned at the thought of greasy kebab meat sliding down her gullet. Shana pushed on and reached out a hand for her to steady herself up. Charlotte took it gratefully and heaved herself from the ground quickly wrapping her arms around Shana's waist for a much needed hug. The two girls embraced and spewed out a string of 'I love you's, leaning heavily on eachother, still inside the stall.

The room was quiet, whether the man had left or not, Shana couldn't be sure and couldn't care less.

That was until the swift swing of the door crashed into Shana's back with a bruisingly loud thud.

The world went cold and dark around the two girls as the toilet rim bounced off of the crown of their heads and sent them into a haze of alcohol, pain, confusion and fear.