Nothing to Lose

“Maxie Pad! What are you doing here?” Eloise laughed as she opened the door the next evening. El and Max had spent the entire day together after her little shopping escapade with Margot and Hanna and had quite enjoyed themselves, “Back for round two?”

“No, but I would love to schedule a rain check on that,” Max winked, “Is my lady love around?”

“I’m in here Max!” Margot called from the living room, “What are you doing here anyway?”

“I have a bit of a proposal.” Max wrinkled his nose a little as he sat down on the couch and wrapped his arms around the girl. Eloise grinned at the two, she loved seeing them this happy. They we're such a cute couple that it made her heart swell.

“You’ve been dating a week, isn’t it a little early for that sort of thing?” El quipped as she took a seat on the chair adjacent to the pair.

“Ha. Ha. Very funny, El.” Max rolled his eyes, “I actually have a proposal for you too.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you were a polygamist, Maxie Pad!” Eloise exclaimed causing him to scowl at her. She had learned that she absolutely loved to annoy Max. It provided hours of entertainment and she didn't even have to try that hard.

“No!” He shouted, “I was actually wondering if you would come to the club with Josh, Hanna, Chris, Georgina, Dan and I tonight.”

“I’ll go, Max, but I’m not going to force Ellie to go. Especially with that bitch there. Do you know that she purposely spilled Cola on my new heels because they were real Prada and hers were knockoffs?”

“Oh the horror!” El rolled her eyes. She had never been too concerned with material items, but it was slightly more comforting that she wasn’t the only one who disliked Hanna now.

“Just for mocking me, you’re going now.” Margot stuck out her tongue and crossed her arms across her chest.

“Mar, no!” El whined, “I haven’t even got a date!”

"Well neither does Dan!" Margot threw her hands up in exasperation. She was now suddenly hellbent on making Eloise go, no matter what excuse she came up with to get out of it.

“I can take care of that for you love!” Max exclaimed as he pulled out his phone, “You two get ready, I’ll have Matt here in ten minutes maximum! See what I did there?” He winked and looked at the two, waiting for them to laugh. He frowned when he realized he was the only one laughing.

“Very clever, Maxie Pad.” Eloise rolled her eyes as she got up and headed to her room, "I'm going to start getting ready." She had no doubt in her mind that she needed to look absolutely stunning tonight, and for that she would need as much time as possible.



“Eloise! Margot, Matt and I have been waiting out here for fifteen minutes!” Max whined, “Let’s go!”

“I’m almost ready!” El shouted back as she finished applying her red lipstick. She examined herself in the mirror one last time before she left. Her hair was up and her fringe was braided into the low bun on the back of her head. She was wearing a simple, form fitting black dress with lace detailing and bright blue heels to match her blue over-sized clutch. She smiled, satisfied before she opened the door and headed out into the living room.

“Wow El, you clean up nice!” Max whistled, causing Margot to elbow him in the stomach, “But of course no girl can compare to Margot in my eyes!” He added as he kissed her forehead.

"Thank you, Maxie." Margot winked as she wrapped her arms around him.

“When Max said you were gorgeous, he wasn’t doing you justice.” A boy Eloise assumed was Matt smiled at her, “But don’t worry," He rushed to say, "I have a girlfriend. I’m not hitting on you or anything.”

“Good to know.” El laughed awkwardly, “Shall we go?”

“We shall!” Margot squealed as she ran out the door with Max in toe. This would be an interesting night to say the least.



“Are you hiding?” Matt asked after they had been in the club for quite some time. He didn’t think anything of it when Eloise walked straight to the bar instead of following Max and Margot to the table where Josh, Hanna, Dan, Chris and Chris’s girlfriend Georgina all sat. He just thought she wanted a drink straightaway. It wasn’t until Eloise wanted to move seats as Hanna dragged Josh to the dance floor close to where they had been sitting and chatting all night that he put the two together.

“What? Absolutely not!” Eloise protested as she shook her head at Matt, “What would make you say such a thing?” She had hoped she was convincing in her lie, but she was a terrible liar and everyone knew it.

“Then why did we move when Hanna and Josh walked past?” Matt raised his eyebrows expectantly at the girl, “Are you hiding from Hanna?”

El sighed and shook her head no, “If I tell you, you have to promise not to say anything, alright?”

“You have my word.” Matt promised as he raised his glass to hers. She laughed as they clinked glasses together before she started in on her explanation.

“It’s not Hanna I’m avoiding, although I do believe I have a right to avoid her if I want to. I’m avoiding Josh.” She paused and took his confused look as permission to continue, “My boyfriend doesn’t want me hanging around him. Actually, he probably wouldn’t want me hanging around any of you if he knew about you all.” Eloise chuckled vindictively, “He only knows about Joshua because he saw him drop me off one time since I don’t have a car.”

“This boyfriend of yours sounds like a real prat.” Matt glowered, “Max told me about him on the way over tonight. You deserve better than a guy who governs who you can and cannot be friends with, yeah?”

Eloise sighed as she motioned for the bartender to bring another round of drinks, “He’s not that terrible, I promise you. It’s just… he’s misunderstood by a lot of people and he is under a lot of stress from work. He can be quite the gentleman most of the time.”

Matt snorted as he took a sip of the new drink set in front of him, “Whatever you need to tell yourself to keep sane love. All I know is you sure do have to defend him a lot.” Matt stopped talking as he caught something out of the corner of his eye and frowned. Eloise followed his gaze to the dance floor and saw what he was staring at. Hanna and Josh were in the middle of a huge fight. Brusquely, Hanna slapped Josh in the face and stomped out of the club. Josh rubbed his cheek for a moment before he began to walk over towards the pair.

“Matt, I… Oh.” Josh frowned as he looked down at Eloise. He hadn’t noticed her there before, but now he was slightly embarrassed that she had witnessed the whole argument between himself and his girlfriend and he was also slightly jealous that she had spent the whole night talking to Matt, “Uh, never mind mate. I can see you’re busy. I’ll talk to you at home.”

“Josh!” Eloise called after him. She watched him freeze momentarily before he shook his head and kept on walking until he was out the front doors of the club. Eloise frowned and looked over at Matt who looked even more upset than she was.

“I think it’s time I take you home, El.” Matt sighed as he paid off their tab and held out his hand for her to grab which she graciously accepted, “Let’s go.”