Forbidden Blue (On HOLD)

Chapter 9

When we’d finished eating we all walked down to the forest and into the clearing; we always used for parties that were outside because it was quite big and the trees around the outside were quite close together. Lanterns had already been hung up around the trees and there was already a stage up where the band would be playing. I could see the stall in the corner where the drinks were and made another mental note of its position. There was still some things to do to get ready so Roan and I organised a group of lads to go and get some chairs from the hall and arrange them in small areas around the outskirts of the clearing. Once that was under way we got a group of girls to set up some more lights in a path on the ground so that people would be able to find their way out of the forest in the dark.

Then we walked over to the alcohol stall to check on the supply, even though I didn’t drink much of the stuff, we still had to  make sure that it was a party that lived up to a certain standard and that standard included lots of free dinks. I checked that there was also a load of non-alcoholic fruit cocktails and water for those people that liked to start off slow and then build up, and give him his credit, Roan had actually gotten plenty in.

We walked into the middle of the clearing and did a quick survey of the appearance, tweaking a few lights that weren’t quite in the right place, sorting out the small barrier that separated the VIP area from the rest of it and then it was ready, all that was left to do was go back up to our rooms, get changed and make our traditional speech upon entrance.

As we walked out of the forest we could see the first few people already coming down ready to get in the queue for the party, as we passed them they all said hi and how much they were looking forward to it and how appreciative they were for being invited, blah, blah, blah, it got pretty repetitive to be honest.

Once we were in our room I asked Roan about why he was looking at Midori and me in that way at the evening meal. He just shrugged it off and said “No reason.” But he didn’t meet my eye, so I could tell that he was lying, but I knew that he’d tell me in his own time so I left it.

I was glad that I’d remembered to get me white shirt cleaned the day before and put it on, with the first few buttons open, I also pulled on my blue denim trousers and quickly checked the leather strap and coin around my neck; it had been my fathers and I always wore it. I quickly ran a comb through my hair and ruffled it up a bit at the back to make it stick out again.

Once I was ready I turned to Roan and watched him sort out his hair in the mirror that I had just used. I found what he was wearing ironic; a light green shirt and slightly darker blue denim trousers than me. He caught me looking and asked what was up, “Nothing, ready to go?”

“Yep.” He said with a child like grin on his face.

As we approached the forest we could hear the music playing loudly and grinned at each other when the lights from the trees came into view; it had been a good idea to position some facing upwards, they looked like beams shining brightly into the night sky. As we walked past the end of the queue and straight to the door someone shouted our names, but we ignored them, pretending that we hadn’t heard. We went straight to the entrance to the clearing and smiled at the two massive guys standing proudly there, they let us through immediately. We walked into the middle of the dance floor and clapped three times and everything immediately stopped, all the dancing, all the music and talking, it was so dramatic that I almost started to laugh.

Roan started the speech as usual, “Well friends, welcome to our party, this one is in honour of my dear Shigeru here,” punch on the arm, “receiving private lessons with Sensei, now I want you to all give him a cheer of congratulations.” A big cheer rang out as prompted. Now it was my turn.

“Thank you. This party isn’t just for me, it’s for all of us to let our hair down a bit and to have a good time, are you ready!?”

“Yeah!!”