Trust No Bitch: Part 1

Clara Wright

It was nearing the 1AM mark and the crowd had finally began to thin; it was at that point in the party where drunken highs shifted to messy lows, plashes of vomit, and hasty taxis home. Clara stood at the bottom of the ascent back up to the forest, clutching her bag and Lilly's blazer towards her as she watched people totter past, screeching with laughter, their palms flattened against the rocks to stop themselves from keeling over. A few gave Clara the obligatory nod and smile (that I-don't-really-know-you-but-I-want-you-to-like-me kind of nod) as they passed but the majority were too off their faces to even notice. Finally, she spotted Lilly, strolling towards her, hugging herself as she went.

"Jesus Christ, Lilly!" Cried Clara, shuffling towards her friend as quickly as her heels would allow. "I've been stood waiting here for ages, where is everyone?"

"I don't know, I've been with Tess and Naomi all night." Lilly answered with a shrug. "Can I have my blazer back? It's gotten a little chilly."

"Yeah, sure." Replied Clara, draping the blazer over Lilly's shoulders. "You really haven't spoken to them all evening?" She pressed on. 

"Not a word. Haven't you?" Said Lilly quickly.

"I've barely even seen Cleo." Said Clara, shuffling on the spot.

Lie. Lie. Lie. She had basically seen Cleo all evening and mostly through the lens of a camera, for that matter.

"There's Alice!" Lilly ejaculated, pointing into the distance, Alice smiling upon hearing Lilly's exclamation and giving the pair that small, fluttery Alice wave. Her brow furrowed for a moment but resumed its normal position as she greeted the pair.

"Did you get the text from Cleo saying not to wait for her?" She asked, Lilly and Clara nodding. "But no Gemma?" She prompted, to which they shook their heads. "Why don't one of you text her? She said she didn't want to leave too late. Oh and Lilly, I have your concealer by the way. I found it on the floor, you must have dropped it somewhere." Alice added, reaching into her bag and pulling said concealer out before dropping it into Lilly's hand whilst Clara rustled around in her own bag, searching for her phone.

"I texted her when I texted the rest of you earlier saying we could all get a taxi together but maybe we should try her again?" Clara said. Lilly momentarily opened her mouth, most likely to proclaim she would do it, but closed it again. Her attention had been captured by someone, or something else in the distance, at the top of the slope.

"That's Gemma isn't it?" She murmured, visibly baffled. "Why is she running?" It was odd, thought Clara, laughing as she looked up at her friend. Gemma was panting, holding her side as she sprinted, which was unusual due to the fact that she was a runner. Clara concluded she must have ran from quite a distance but was unsure as to why.

"Gem, what the hell are you doing?" She squawked. "You're not on the track, babe." It was only once Gemma was face to face with them that it became clear quite how unamusing she'd found Clara's comment; in the place of the usual grin there was a lot of scowling and gulping for air, Gemma doubled over in pain throughout. She only stopped in front of them for a second, without saying anything, before walking past them all into the rabble and beginning to yell.

"The police are coming!" She wheezed, waving her hands out.

"Is she on something?" Lilly muttered out of the corner of her mouth, squinting apprehensively in Gemma's direction as if she were some kind of wild animal.

"I don't think so..." Alice said slowly, shaking off Lilly, who was gripping onto her arm. "Gemma?" She said gingerly, Gemma stomping towards her, coughing excessively.

"Alice, you have to tell them all to leave!" She cried hoarsely. "I was just up....I heard sirens! And we're all going to get in a shitload of-" She stopped to gasp for air again but Alice was already off, calling people's attention, ushering them towards pathway up to the woods. Group by group, they began to scarper, stampeding towards the slope, dispersing their empty bottles as they went, lone cigarette butts haphazardly secreted in the sand. Lilly took a cautious step towards Gemma, supporting her.