Beat Girl

Chapter #11 | My First Rave

The taxi pulled up outside a warehouse in an abandoned dock. I paid the driver the fare, then stepped out. I was still in my jeans and top, as I hadn’t bothered going back to the house to change. What I looked like was the least of my concerns. As the cab drove off, for a split second I wondered if I’d got the right address and the right time. There was no sign of life around the warehouse and I was in the middle of nowhere. I wouldn’t have known how to get back to civilisation if this proved to be a wild goose chase; I’d be effectively stranded. I wondered why there weren’t any smokers hovering around the entrance. The lack of any human presence didn’t bode well. I was growing more nervous by the minute. Taking out the flyer that Toby had given me, I double-checked the venue, the date and the time. According to this piece of paper, I was in the right place and at the right time.

I walked around the warehouse, as the façade that faced the road didn’t have a discernible entrance. As I turned the corner, I let out a sigh of relief. Signs of life. A girl with a clipboard stood in front of a large doorway, with two beefy security guards discreetly hanging back a couple of steps behind her. Now I sighted some smokers, trendily-clad ravers, who were chatting to each other. Whereas a couple of minutes ago I hadn’t cared about my outfit, I suddenly felt self-conscious and wished I had borrowed something from Amy.

Smoothing down my top and trying to suppress the thought that I stood out like a sore thumb among this hip crowd, I walked up to the clipboard girl and handed her the invite. Thankfully, she didn’t eye me up and down in disdain. Instead, she merely ticked my name off the list, then stepped aside to let me in.

Entering the warehouse was like stepping over the threshold between two different worlds. It made me think of a portal into some parallel universe. In contrast to the calm and quiet that reigned outside the warehouse, inside the rave was frenetic, loud and banging. The entire space was turned into one huge dance floor, chock-a-block with people dancing. Never before had I seen so many dancers in one single location.

I glanced up and saw the DJ on the decks. I assumed that was Mia, as that was the name printed in large lettering on the flyers. The crowd was clearly loving her. I tentatively walked around, navigating through the sea of cool kids who, on closer inspection, looked surprisingly normal. For once I didn’t feel uncomfortable as I usually did in nightclubs. Everyone was having a blast. What was also different from the usual clubs was that no one was standing back, watching. Each and every person was participating. It made for a very different atmosphere.

Once I reached the other end of the warehouse I again looked up at the DJ stand, only this time I spotted Toby standing next to Mia. He was looking straight at me, having already noticed me. Waving, he smiled at me and signalled for me to stay put. I felt giddy. The bursary letter was fast slipping from my mind.

Before I even saw Toby I felt his hand take mine. He guided me through the rave, then stopped and started to dance. I tried to join him, but I could feel my own stiffness. Dancing was not my comfort zone. One song ended and a new one started, prompting the crowd to roar in appreciation. The whole dance floor appeared to move in unison. The energy was irresistible. I found myself jumping with them, my inhibitions forgotten. I felt Toby’s eyes on me and looked at him. He nodded and smiled. There was a moment between us, it was a definite moment, and I knew I hadn’t imagined it in the heat of the dancing.

A little later we emerged out, with our drinks in hand. The sky had turned dark; it was night time. I couldn’t believe how long I must have been inside, dancing without stopping. There were three or four ravers milling about outside, taking a break like we were. Everyone was buzzing.

‘Wow!’ I couldn’t stop moving, my body still pumped. ‘This is amazing, Toby. Wow, wow, wow!’

‘The girl on the decks is super. It’s always a full house with her,’ Toby explained. ‘So you’re saying you’ve never been to a rave before?’ He looked at me incredulously.