Darlings of the South.

e i g h t e e n

We meet the boys in the kitchen, but on the elevator I become so much more aware of how dressed up I was. I decide rather than be a nervous little girl, I should have some confidence and flaunt this dress. 
I lock eyes with Julien and watch him shift in his spot, he had a smirk on his face, almost like the one I saw when I first saw him at the diner. I flick my hair and follow Noelle to the garage. The boys follow suit. 

We all climb into a black Bentley, with Beau driving. I was sat in the back with Julien, and Noelle was up front. It was a nice car, and I wondered how much it cost. So far, I had only seen the glorious side to being a Crimson Adder. Would that soon change?

We pull into a secluded car park, with only a grey building next door. My stomach began to flip and I sensed danger. Beau turns the car off and gets out, opening the door for me as Julien opens the door for his sister. Over the roof of the car, she shoots me a toothy grin and walks off in her pale yellow dress and nude heels. I must admit, she knew how to dress. Beau tries to whisper something to me but I walk over to Julien and take his hand.

"I like this." He runs his hand over the back of my dress.

"What, the dress?" 

"The dress, yes. But you're confident tonight. It's hot." He speaks, loud enough for only me to hear. My stomach does the thing, and I squeeze his hand. I know Beau is staring at us, I can feel it. But right now, I just wanted to have fun and celebrate my birthday.

We walk into the building, and the room is lit up with a red filter. It was incredibly hot in here and it was full of girls in skimpy dresses and guys eyeing them up. I also notice the bikes parked inside, with couples making out on them. Was this a gang event? The group of us walk up to the bar and Beau whispers something to the bar tender.

"You don't have to worry about being 21. You're one of us, he'll serve you." He tells me. I watch Noelle easily order her drink and that's when I knew it was true. Julien asks what I want, but I had no idea. I haven't drunken anything but beer. 

He laughs a little then orders two champagne glasses. "Something fancy, it is your birthday after all." We get our drinks then some girl escorts us over to a booth, one that was safe from drunk people and where we could all speak without the music being so loud. Beau downed his second beer and his third was being delivered. He was like a fish, I wondered how long it would take for him to get drunk. 

I go to take a sip of my drink when someone stands up on the mic. The music cuts out and the lights shine on her. It was Sabine. I hadn't seen her anywhere but from home, she had a long back dress on, her tattoos shining brightly. 

"Celui-ci sort à Maia, bon anniversaire my sweet girl." She starts to sing a french song, and I feel myself blush. My confidence had gone down the drain once everyone started cheering and looking my way. 

When the song finished, a young man helped her off the stage and the same disco music started back up. I watch as she easily weaves her way through all the Adders and arrives at our booth. I go to get up but she stops me.

"No, no. Stay there. I just wanted to personally say Happy Birthday and that your secrets are safe with me." She winks and walks off. Huh, I guess she meant she wouldn't tell Dad I was here. Shit! I pull out my phone as the three others converse quietly. Surprisingly there was no missed calls, just a few texts from the likes of Ashley and some others froms school saying Happy Birthday. I send Dad a text saying I won't be late and put it back in the purse Noelle lent me. 

Julie taps on my hand and I look up at him, "regarde ça? C'est pour toi mon amour." His accent causes me to blush, it was so insanely attractive. "This is all for you." He picks his glass up and so does Beau and Noelle, "a toast for Maia!" I grab mine and we all cheers, I finally take the first sip of the night. The champagne went down smoothly, but I knew if I drunk more there would be problems. 

We all talk for the rest of the night, Noelle and I occasionally ditching the boys to dance or I would dance with Julien. All of us having the time of our life. 
That was until Empira showed up.

-

"Maia, go in to the bathroom. Now." Julien hisses. I do as he says, and watch the three of them walk over to the mass group of Adders and Empira. I close the door behind me and lock myself in a stall. No one else was in here, I could call the cops. I should call the cops.
But that would affect Julien, Beau and Noelle. I listen closely, for any signs of violence but it stayed relatively quiet. I waited for maybe 5 minutes before stepping out of the stall. 
I slowly opened the door and peered out onto the dancefloor. No one was there. Where were they? I walked out and checked our booth, no one there. I listen for there was nothing. 

Then I heard it.

The gunshot.