My Trapped Love

Chapter 2

The music thumped louder and louder and the level of chatter over the top of it appeared to increase as we turned the corner on the little road by the Spar and neared the quay. I'd been coming to this quay all my life for sailing lessons, and even the occasional crabbing session, but today it was unrecognisable. It seemed as if almost 500 young people had flocked to the party, and the 'DJ', or more likely the person who had plugged their iPod in, was blasting an Aviici song as the random coloured lasers filled the sky and cast a magical shadow on the crowd below. There was an aphrodisiacal mood about the place, and I was almost immediately swept up in to the excitement, but when my social butterfly brother left me to go and get himself a drink, I started to feel like a little bit of an outsider.

The gravelly concrete quay was quite big, and some of the sailing dinghies had been cleared and thanks to the low tide were placed on the beach so there was space for a dance floor. Many people were using the remaining one as seats, and I smiled coyly as I saw one group even using a dinghy as a gambling table. There were a few glowing lanterns from the quayside and the walls of the boathouse, but other than that the party was shrouded in an exciting darkness. I looked out in to the sea. The lack of light made the sea seem like a vast expanse of blackness, and the only visible light from that direction were the moon, the stars and the faint whirring of light from the local lighthouse on a cliff about half a mile away on the other side of the bay. Some girls in short dresses and clutching plastic cups full of presumably an alcoholic drink waltzed clumsily past me, staggering slightly due to either their drunkenness or their enormous stiletto heels. I glanced around the party, continuing to take in the atmosphere. I was relieved to see that not everyone was wearing heels. Some people wore shorts and a casual T-shirt.

'You alright?' My brother asked me, standing again by my side. I felt a bit bad; I've never been as good at socialising as him and he clearly wanted to go and speak to people, but didn't want to leave me on my own.

'Seany!' A familiar voice shouted over the music at my brother, 'you told me you were coming down but I completely forgot!'

'Moving down.' My brother corrected him, rolling his eyes at the prospect. Then I suddenly recognised him; my brother's friend Johnny from last Summer enveloped him in an enormous bear hug as I stood aside and laughed awkwardly. He had changed from last year; his hair was the slightest bit longer, he had filled out more and had grown a little bit of stubble on his chin. It looked good on him.

'Katie!' He grinned from ear to ear as his arms enveloped me in to an identical bear-hug that he'd just given my brother. I heard the song change to one I didn't know and I couldn't help but notice that he smelt really good and I could feel his muscles against my front. I turned beetroot-red as he pulled away and started to unsubtly looked me up and down and say, 'you've er...changed.'

My brother thankfully sensed that Johnny was making things slightly excruciating for my awkward teenager-y self and dragged him off to get jaeger bombs. I could not have been more relieved. There was nothing I hated more than being speculated. Of course there wasn't anything wrong with Johnny; he had everything a girl my age should be looking for. He had dark hair, dark eyes, a dazzling smile, a great body and even better, he had that cheeky boyish charm that really worked for him. Plus, last Summer I'd been Sean's little sister who'd tagged along but didn't really join in, so I'd never been a huge factor of his friendship with my brother. He was perfectly nice and funny but never really paid a great deal of attention to me, which I really didn't mind.

Suddenly I found myself alone, not realising for a couple of moments. I lost Sean and Johnny in the crowd and thought I might as well go and get a drink considering I was going to need the confidence boost if I didn't want to spent the evening talking to myself and internally describing the setting. I wormed my way through people dancing and chatting loudly over the thudding music.