The Crew

Chapter 1

It was a crystal clear Friday night with stars shining like diamonds as I got ready to paint the town red. Not literally, but Friday nights on the Gold Coast was the place to be where all the action and night life happens. Unlike where I lived, 30 minutes away, in a small townhouse with my parents in Upper Coomera side. "Ella Watson!" I heard my mother call from the downstairs living room. I sighed and rolled my eyes. My parents weren't too thrilled about my outings that always happened to be on Friday nights. Neither were they thrilled about the other things that I did in my life. I sighed as I heard her call again and pulled my black leather jacket over a dark red ribbed t-shirt that barely covered my flat stomach and smoothed my skinny black jeans. I gave myself a once-over look in my floor to ceiling mirror, grabbed my car keys and bag off my wooden oak dresser and made my way downstairs. Mum was already sitting in the lounge room with the TV on, sipping a cup of hot green tea, The smell tickling my nose as I came in. "You sure you're meeting up with friends? Cos just looking at you, you might as well be at a nightclub," my mother said, eyeing me like a hawk in her pink nightgown. I inwardly groaned. And here we go, the Friday night 'Watson Drama Ritual' before I leave home. Here's a bit of back story; before we Watsons lived in Upper Coomera, we lived in a posh area in the outer country suburban side of Brisbane when I was younger. Two years ago, my father had a late midlife crisis and decided he was going to move us all the way down south to a more, 'busier' side in Coomera. Not that my mother minded, she made a lot of new friends in her knitting groups. Me, on the other hand, had to adjust to moving to a sort of unfamiliar place, whilst dealing with the start of TAFE. That is until I met Billy Bennett. Now, back to the present.

"I'll be fine mum, I'm just going to be with Billy and a few other people that we know from TAFE," I replied, as I gave her a quick hug, wrinkling my nose at the smell of green tea. "Well, don't stay out too late," mum said, as I headed out the front door before she could say anything else to stop me from going. My black Ford GT Mustang was parked in the driveway, shining from when I last washed and polished it. It was a cute and expensive anniversary gift from Billy last year, as we celebrated two years of being a couple. As I got into my car, my dad, who had just come back from his evening walk, was making his way up the other driveway, gave a wave. Both of my parents still couldn't believe how my boyfriend could afford such an expensive car since the only job he had besides going to TAFE was working at his older brother's mechanic store. I waved goodbye to my dad and headed out towards the freeway that lead to Party Central, or as it is formally known, Surfers Paradise. It was a beautiful part of the state of Queensland, with long white sandy beaches, and luxurious hotels that lined the coastline. It was also an oasis for car meets. The car scene, which had grew more and more popular every year, was big down here. People who were my age, 21 year olds, even teenagers gathered around spots that littered the Glitter Strip, showing off their fancy done up cars, chilling and socialising. Like I mentioned before, it was really like Party Central

Surfers was roaring with life, bright lights, engines, people, laughter, and music when I finally pulled into a car park next to an overloaded pimped out VW beetle. My stomach churned with excitement as I got out of my car. A bunch of guys walked by with girls hanging off their shoulders, wearing nothing but skimpy tops and very short shorts. The majority of them were holding either beers or Red bull cans in their hands, laughing as they teetered on their high heeled shoes. Groups of other people scattered the boardwalk, talking, laughing and socialising and guys with expensive looking cameras took photos of the fancy done up cars, some with neon lights under the doors and massive wings on the back of the cars. A familiar waft of cologne, followed by an arm wrapped around my waist from behind before another hand pretended to cover my eyes. "Guess who" Billy's husky voice tickled my ear and I giggled, playfully pulling my boyfriend's hand away from my eyes. "Hey you," I replied with a rueful smile as I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. Billy Bennett was a tall, dark haired, handsome (some would even say mysterious) guy whom I had met at TAFE two years ago. He had black tousled hair and emerald green eyes which sparkled whenever he talked about anything that he was passionate about. He was also temperamental at times, but was overall a big softie. Or so I thought. He was also the first person to actually introduce me properly to the car scene. Although I had been to a few meets back when I lived in Brisbane, it wasn't adrenaline pumping like the ones on the coast. He was popular with his crew, and a few others, which made me popular and we both were given the name "The Untouchable Couple" or "Power Couple". But just like every other "Power Couple", they were also meant to fall, right?