BREATHE FOR ME

Chapter 15: Breathe For Me

"Morg you chose red last time. My turn for red." May whines, on the phone to Morgan about her party on Saturday night. 

It's currently lunch time, mid-Saturday, and I'm sat at May's kitchen table snacking on hummus chips and salsa, whilst May stares distractedly at the un-packed boxes of decorations for the party tonight.

"Play nicely kiddos!" I mock-shout at the phone, grinning at the ridiculousness of the situation. May sticks her tongue out at me and I think that I can just about hear Morgan's scoff over the phone. Who knew that dress colours could be such a competitive subject?

"I was nice enough to offer to throw a late party." May continues. "I'm lucky that I still have all of these decorations from last time otherwise we'd be screwed. Plus, Gen and I are busting our asses over here trying to get things ready before seven."

Looking down at the unpacked boxes, numerous empty bottles of elderflower fizz and my half-empty bowl of chips, I decided that she'd added that last part for dramatic effect. We hadn't even started getting the house ready... and I've been here two hours already, coming after her distress SOS call at ten.

"No, Gen's going for a sparkly dress I think so you can have white, sure. Yeh. Uh, sure. Sound's good. What time are you coming over? Yeh, come early. I don't know, maybe an hour or so? Cool." She hangs up after a whiz of organising and turns to face me, a grin fuelled by excitement and elderflower fizz, stuck to her pretty face. "It's all coming together, despite having organised it last night." She says, making her way over to the wooden table to unpack a box full of streamers and brightly coloured bunting. "Morg is gonna come over an hour early to get ready with us. The other girls are being picked up by Lorrie and Lucan, as per, and coming on time. All we have to do now is throw these up everywhere, eat some more chips and make ourselves look beautiful."

......

Later on, the house is looking extravagant. When Morgan informed me via text that May likes to go all-out at her parties, she wasn't over-exaggerating. The kitchen table is covered in a selection of glitters, candles and different types of drinks that magically appeared out of thin air. The living room and conservatory are bursting with colour because of the shiny streamers, multi-coloured bunting and alternating-colour LED strip lights. Each couch now has sparkly throws and pillows bedding them. Outside, her huge backyard is peppered with glitter balloons, nailed down with silver ribbons to the fake grass. We have moved deck chairs, a ping-pong table and a big inflatable couch onto the glittery lawn. We also constructed a white, glittery gazebo and put it in the back corner of the yard for the smokers and druggies, much to Morgan's delight. Upstairs is off-limits, the staircase barricaded by a large coffee table and NO ENTRY sign. Adding my own touch to the decorating, I also insisted that we hang streams of fairy lights along the garden fence and the conservatory windows. The whole place looks like a multi-coloured, sparkly, flashing party haven. 

Morgan has just arrived, bringing prosecco and strawberries to devour whilst we all get ready. True to her word, Morgan slips her skinny body into a white halter neck mini-dress that shows off her mile long legs. How nice it would be to have long legs like that. May, however, slips into a bright red bodycon dress that clings to all of the right places. Feeling a little extraverted this morning and spurred on by the desire to impress Lorrie, I convinced myself that wearing one of Maddie's sparkly mini-dresses would be a good idea. It has long sleeves and a low neckline, stopping mid-thigh. Now, however, my nerves are starting to get to me and I feel a little too out-there.

"Gen you look sexy." Morgan says, whilst applying a fake eyelash in May's bedroom mirror. I stand just behind her, staring at myself in the hunging material in subtle distress. It's very tight. My breasts seem bigger than they do in an ordinary t-shirt. "Stop looking so nervous and get on with your hair and make-up."