Polaroid (A Phan AU)

Chapter Thirty

Of course I make mistakes. I'm human. If I didn't make mistakes, I'd never learn. You can only go forward by making mistakes.

~Alexander McQueen

December 11th rolled around, and with it, Pj's birthday. I abandoned a day of laying at home or visiting Cassie to hang out with humans. I know.

As soon as I saw the fake ID's, I knew it was a bad idea. Pj suggested we go to a club on the outskirts of town.

The bus journey was...interesting to say the least. One thirteen year old, two fourteen year olds, and six fifteen year olds crammed into one section of public transport is never a good idea.

In one ear, I had Lily warning Darcy to stay away from the alcohol, and in the other I had Chris and pj's incessant flirting. I shuffled further down into my seat.

The scariest part was getting into the club. We all looked reasonably matured, but I was still terrified as I handed over the ID that stated I was of age of alcohol.

The bouncer looked at me, then back at the card. I held my breath as he narrowed his eyes. Then he broke into a toothy grin and nodded me in.

We all made it into the club and shoved through the crowds of sweaty, constantly moving people to find a booth to sit in.

Pj took down a list of our drinks: myself. Zoe, Darcy and Lily just asked for water, refusing the alcohol.

Time passed on, the table grew fuller with glasses, and the club got noisier.

One by one, my friends got up to dance. Zoe and Alfie, Joe and Darcy, and PJ and Chris got lost in the crowd whilst the the remaining four of us sat quietly sipping our drinks.

Drunken Jim stood and held out a hand for Lily, and she glanced at Dan before taking it. Dan didn't pay attention, he was staring wide-eyed at the ceiling.

The heat in the packed space was beginning to get to me: even after loosening the top three buttons of my checked shirt, I was still red faced and sweating. The booming noise of the music pounded relentlessly into my eardrums, and the bright flashing lights initiated a dull throbbing behind my eyes.

I leaned over to talk into Dan's ear.

"I'm going to go get some air, OK?"

Dan glanced over and grinned hazily. I took this as a yes and stood up to stampede through the hordes of mostly underage drunks.

Relief coursed through my veins when I finally made it outside, smiling briefly at the bouncer before making my way around the corner to sit on the damp grass.

The cold air surged through my lungs and I embraced it, enjoying the way it cooled my damp face and neck. I decided to throw caution to the wind, unbuttoning the rest of my shirt.

I sat there for a good ten minutes or so, relishing the fresh, icy breeze and the calming quiet of the night: which was then interrupted by stumbling footsteps.

I turned and spotted Dan making his way drunkenly over to me. He grinned when he saw me and lifted his hand to wave.

He shouldn't have taken his eyes off of his feet.

He stood harshly on his unravelling shoelace and stopped the footstep in its tracks; the action sent him tumbling and cursing to the ground.

Except not to the ground.

Because I was kind of maybe in the way.

Dazed, I stared down at Dan who was pouting and staring at the sky on my lap.