How To Do It Like A Princess

How To Do It Like A Princess-Chapter 16

Chapter 16-Blair

After hearing Jude let out his proclamation to the whole of Brighton, I had geared myself up for a massive party. But an hour and a half later, the five of us were sitting on the uneven wooden floor in silence, tracing circles on furniture. No joke. We had nothing to go for, as Mikey put it. No booze, no potential snogging partners and no partying spirit left anymore after watching Confessions of A Teenage Drama Queen-Bolton’s choice.

There was dust in every nook and cranny of the house. It was Jude’s, his 16th birthday present from his parents. Only Brighton hadn’t been ‘happening’ then, so the house had been left untouched for a while.  There were so many floors you sometimes lost track of where you were and the ground floor was definitely everyone’s favourite. The walls were dark and the last inhabitants had scratched their names so deep that you could still make out the imprints. We had already done ours, of course, and Jude wanted to make it a tradition. When his parents had asked him what kind of colour schemes and walls he wanted for the lowest floor, he must have just said ‘Make it as fricking awesome as possible,’ because it was. It really was, so much so that I had a little fan girl moment when I walked in. Someone had stuck glow in the dark stars everywhere, the floor had a various board game boards painted on and he had a TARDIS where the landline phone was kept.

The TV spanned half of a wall and the speakers seemed to be everywhere I looked. Bolton jumped up, checking his watch and demanded, ‘This is stupid. Jude, when are your friends getting here?’

Jude raised his eyebrows at him, like they had been pushed up by all of the attitude inside him. ‘Well, it must have slipped someone’s mind, but I didn’t know about this trip. And though I know I am just so, so popular, most people are still in London. It’s only Friday and it’s only seven.’

Kiran and Mikey exchanged looks just as the doorbell rang, making their smiles even wider. She sprinted to the door, fighting off a surprised Jude who looked so confused by everything. I couldn’t blame him-so was I.

A cute blonde boy strolled into the room, followed by a smug Kiran and Jude, who must have gone red because he was hiding behind his fringe. I grinned at up at the fair-haired boy, recognising him from that Ball.

Lies. You just want to get your clutches into a potential friend.

I got to my feet, relieving myself of the pins and needles in my legs, and beamed at him. Sticking my hand out, I introduced myself. ‘I’m Blair. Hi.’

‘Hi. Lloyd. Cool glasses,’ he said, returning my beam and gripping my hand.

He gave a greeting and a smile to everyone else, falling easily into conversation, so I assumed they already knew him. Turning to Jude, it was my turn to raise the eyebrows. ‘So this is Lloyd,’ I said, implication thick in my voice. Jude’s eyes widened at the same time mine did. I had only just put together the fact that Lloyd was probably Jude’s boyfriend.

‘Yeah, he’s my friend,’ he replied, emphasising ‘friend’ a little too much.

I gave him a disbelieving look and went to Kiran, who was calling me over.

‘Just wait now. The real party’s gonna start any time soon...’ she told me, anticipation filling her tone as she eyed the door impatiently.

‘You did this by yourself?’ I asked, a smile playing on my lips.

‘No, with Mikey too,’ she said, letting out a laugh after a pause, ’we thought it would be funnier to make Bolton wait.’

I grinned at her in agreement, my eyes snapping to the door as the ring bounced off the walls. ‘Speak of the devil,’ I said to Kiran, ‘oh, wait. The Devil’s already here!’ I exclaimed, winking at her and her pillar-box red hair.