Good Riddance

“Scarlett, I need to see you in the dance studio in ten minutes” said Mandy jogging over to my table at lunch. My panini that I had just bought was raised halfway to my mouth, I frowned at her.

“Why?” I asked.

“Costume fitting for the festival tomorrow, I’ve done final dance selection and you and Zach are doing your Tango, the show dance, the Rumba and the Quickstep” Mandy said with a bright grin, “You should have no problem getting through to state finals”

“State Finals?” I asked, “Who’s judging it?”

“Some random dance people,” said Mandy, “I know there’s two scouts from T.A.P coming down”

“Shouldn’t they be going to states?” I asked her with wide eyes.

“They’re backing the winners to states” said Mandy.

“Oh okay” I said, “Better be on top form”

“You will be, now put that down and get your ass over to the studio, I’ll be there in a moment” she said and she disappeared again. I put my Panini down on the table and pouted at it.

“When you gonna eat?” Jess asked. I shrugged my shoulders.

“I can’t now” I said, “I need to be skinny for costume fittings, I’ll eat later”

Jess looked at me sceptically as I pushed my chair back, I didn’t get up immediately though and sat looking abjectly at my food.

“What’s T.A.P?” Kiera asked after she had swallowed her sandwich.

“It’s a dance company based in Los Angeles, the full name is Dance: Touring and Productions” I said, “They’re one of the best dance companies in the world, get with them and you’re sorted for life”

“No pressure then” said Billie with a grin. I smiled softly at him.

“Right,” I said, “I better go get fitted up, see you guys later?”

“Yeah” said Tre, “We’ve all got a free next, what have you got?”

“R.E” I said “Which I am not going to”

“Meet you two in the snug then?” asked Mike as Billie and I stood up. He took my hand and we walked away from the table, leaving my lunch to be fought over by Tre and Mike.

“What sort of costumes do you have to put on?” Billie asked.

“You can help me fight my way into them if you like” I said with a grin, “They are all based on a leotard and then they are developed from there, generally the ‘dresses’ for the show dance and rumba aren’t much more than a leotard anyway”

“Sweet” Billie said with a grin as we made our way to the arts building. I was nearly pushed out of the way by a girl carrying a massive sculpture out the door but she apologised as she passed. Once I had actually got into the dance studio I was confronted by several racks of clothes and Zach holding up a cummerbund with a in his hand.

“Dashing Zach” I said with a grin, “Now where’s my stuff?”

“Your eight dresses are over in the corner and your shoes are down there” said Zach pointing to various places, “You have to do your rumba costume first”

“Ugh” I said and headed over to the corner, “Alright”

“Wow Scar” said Billie, “These are amazing”

“I don’t know why they’re making such a fuss about a school final” I said, “I know it’s the winners of the school competitions but still...”

“Who cares?” he said, “You get to wear nice stuff”

“That sounded so much like a girl” I said to him with a laugh, “Now come on, let’s get this show on the road”

“Scarlett!” I heard Mandy call for across the studio where she was trying to wrestle Zach into a bright pink top, “Try the rumba dress on first!”

“I’m just going!” I called back as I took the dress off the hook and headed into the girls changing rooms. Billie came in after me and he clicked the lock on the door. I stripped down to my underwear as he lounged on one of the wooden benches that lined the walls.

“Can you just undo this for me?” I asked him apprehensively. I had to take my bra off because obviously most of these dresses were backless. I was a little nervous because he hadn’t seen me without my bra on before. It was weird that he had seen me pant less before he had seen my braless. Guess we were just messed up that way. Billie stood up and he ran his soft hands over my shoulders and down to my clasp, he undid it with one hand in under second, it made me think about the amount of practice he must have had to be able to do that but I shook it off.

I went to the dress which was hanging on the rack as I slid my bra off my shoulders and let it fall it the floor. Billie was staring – obviously.

“Scar” his voice caught in his throat as I slid the dress of its hanger, I turned back to him and giggled at the look on his face. I went back over to him and kissed him deeply on the mouth, I pressed myself flushed against him so my breasts were pressed against him, he seemed to be totally aware of this and slunk his hands around my back to hold me closer.

“Are you nearly ready Scarlett!?” I heard Zach call through the door, “Mandy wants to take photographs!”

I broke away from Billie reluctantly and went to the dress on the hanger, this dress was basically a silver leotard which had a flesh coloured stomach part with lace detail, it had lace coming off the bum part and one of the arms was made of lace. It took a moment for me to get into it and then Billie had to zip me up.

“Ready for photos?” asked Billie with a grin.

“Whoop de do” I said sarcastically, “Let’s go”

***

“Have you packed all your stuff for tomorrow?” asked Mum as we sat eating at the dinner table that evening.

“Yes, it’s in my red holdall upstairs waiting to go” I said.

“Miss Hickett is taking the costumes down?” she asked after taking a sip of her red wine. My dad was sat opposite finishing off his fillet steak. I had already eaten mine, today had been busy and seeing as I hadn’t eaten lunch I had practically demolished it.

“Yes” I said, “She’s picking me and Zach up from school at midday and she had got permission for us to be off school tomorrow morning because she wants us to rest before the event”

“She’s obviously serious about you getting through to states” said Dad.

“Let’s take it one stage at a time?” I said with a nervous giggle, “Don’t want too much pressure too soon”

“Oh get off Scarlett” said mum, “You won under 16s Latin when we were in England”

“This isn’t England though” I said.

“Don’t be cheeky to your mother” said dad sharply.

“Sorry” I said and lowered my head slightly as I always did when Dad told me off.

“Now,” said mum, “You’re going to Kiera’s tonight aren’t you?”

“Yes” I lied, “She’s picking me up in half an hour”

“Why aren’t you driving?” asked Dad, “You’ve got a perfectly good car”

“Save gas?” I asked, “I don’t know”

“The word is not gas honey, it’s petrol” said mum. It took all my inner strength to not roll my eyes at her, we lived in America now. Not England. She always picked me up when my accent slid off perfect British, she would have to get used to it. I didn’t even bother to apologise.

“Can I be excused?” I asked, “Forgot to pack my wash bag”

“Yes” said Dad, “Put your plate in the dishwasher first though”

I got up and put my plate away before going up the staircase two at a time and going down the corridor to my room at the end. My red holdall was sat near the door waiting to go, I hadn’t really forgotten to pack my wash bag, I just wanted to get away from the dinner table.

I went out onto my balcony by opening the double doors and stepped outside, it wasn’t cold outside and I could see all the stars in the sky. It wasn’t raining either which was a miracle, I was so used to English winter temperatures, that for it to be warm enough to stand outside in the middle of December in just a jumper, was a little weird for me.

I sat on the stone edge to the balcony and swung my legs over, the flat top stone was so wide that there was no way I was going to fall off. I made a pact to myself that in the summer I was actually going to grow roses up the side of this balcony to make it truly complete. I obviously wasn’t going to Kiera’s tonight, I was going to Billie’s. Apparently his sister, Holly, would be there, but as she and Billie got on it didn’t really matter to me. She had a boyfriend called Jordan who lived near here so she stayed at his most of the time anyway, tonight though, Jordan was away and Holly was sleeping in the spare room at Billie’s. Ollie was pleased to have her back.

I sat in the dark of the night for a few more moments before going back inside and looking in the mirror to see that my make up was okay. It was. It was then I heard the ring at the door. I picked up my bag and went downstairs to answer it.

“Bye mom” I called when I saw Kiera waiting for me at the end of the path.

“Bye dear, good luck tomorrow!” called Mum to me and my dad hollered ‘Good Luck’ from somewhere in the house.

I walked up to the car as Kiera got in and was about to fling my bag into the back seat but then saw that I couldn’t because Tre and Jess were making out on the back seat. I got into the front and held my holdall on my knees.

“Why are they here?” I asked Kiera.

“I picked them up on the way” said Kiera, “They’ve been all over each for the last five minutes”

“At least I haven’t stripped naked yet” said Tre when there was a slight pause in the kissing.

“Do that in my car and you will never be having babies Mr Cool” said Kiera with a perfect eyebrow raised. Tre just grinned at her as we rounded the corner into Billie’s street and we all piled out the car when Kiera pulled up. I smiled as Kiera just walked straight in the house and down to the basement, she didn’t even bother to knock anymore because she was there so often.

I went down the stairs after her and saw Billie lying on his bed reading some music magazine or the other while listening to music. I climbed onto the side of the bed and I pulled the magazine out of his hands and smiled. He pulled his head phones off swiftly and grinned at me before kissing me swiftly.

“Hey!” he said, “Didn’t expect you to be here yet”

“You mean you lost track of time?” I said to him.

“Yeah” he said looking at the magazine.

“What were you reading?” I asked, I turned and tried to read the title upside down, but failed miserably. I just chuckled and turned back around and kissed him softly again.

“When you two are done sucking face, do you want some?” asked Tre. I turned back to the sofa where he was sat and saw that he was holding a cigarette.

“No thanks,” I said, “I don’t smoke”

“Neither do I” said Tre with a shrug and passed it to Jess who took a drag from it, who then passed it to Kiera and so on. Billie took a drag and blew it out and I smelt the weed. He didn’t try to pass it to me but I held out my hand for it, he gave it to me with a look of apprehension on his face. I could see Jess watching me, biting her lip, I put it too my lips and copied their action. I didn’t inhale it straight away but passed it on, then I inhaled it. The smoke made my eyes water but the feeling was taken away by an immediate light headedness that followed. Billie was watching me and when I smiled he mirrored me and smiled as well.

“You like it?” he asked.

“It’s different” I said still trying to identify the sort of twitching sensation behind my eyes.

“Right then!” said Jess standing up as she finished off the joint, “Who’s coming down to the bridge?”

***

“Welcome to the bridge” Billie whispered in my ear. I was currently sat on his lap in the back of Jess’ car, we had all managed to pile in here with some difficulty. Holly was in the passenger seat next to Jess who was driving. Tre was sat in the middle in the back, Mike and Kiera were sat behind the driver’s seat with Kiera on Mike’s lap. I was sat on Billie’s lap behind Holly’s chair. I wriggled a little on his lap to turn to look at him and he moved as well.

“I wouldn’t do that much” said Tre with a grin, “Billie’ll get wood before the evening even starts”

I blushed crimson and stopped moving as Kiera got out the car and came around to open my door which I thanked her for as I practically fell onto the gravel under her feet.

I looked around the area in as best as I could in the pitch black of the December night. Jess hadn’t really parked the car, more abandoned it. It wasn’t parked in a car park either, it was only next to one other car, I guess other people just walked down here. We appeared to be at some sort of multiple arch brick bridge that towered sixty feet above my head, I could hear the rushing of a river nearby. The arches of the bridge seemed to back up for a while and each one provided a sort of room, as it were, except with no front wall. I could see some street fires burning In two of the arches and from here I could make out a sofa.

“Come on Scar” said Billie and he took hold of my hand. The grip on my hand was soft but strong and I could tell that he was feeling rather apprehensive and protective of me. I smiled at him to try and put him at ease, but he smiled uneasily back.

When we neared the arches I could hear the faint sound of an acoustic guitar and somebody playing a harmonica. There was a couple leaning on the outside of the arches, they weren’t kissing, they were simply embracing in the night. It took me a moment to realise it was two guys, not that there was anything wrong with that.

We walked into one of the arches and I could see that two arches in which the fires were burning were linked by a smaller archway in the brick. There was a sofa in the archway we were in at the moment and a girl was sat on it, smoking a cigarette.

“Hey Billie,” she said with a smile as we walked in, “Is this the latest?”

“Yeah Cassidy,” said Billie dryly, “This is my girlfriend Scarlett”

“Girlfriend?” asked Cassidy with a grin and then turned to me, “Count yourself lucky girl, not many of Billie’s conquests had the ability to call themselves his girlfriend”

I thought that I should possibly hate this girl for what she had just said but part of me knew she was only poking fun and I just grinned at her.

“Come on Scar, you gotta meet the boss” said Billie. I looked up at him quizzically.

“The boss?” I asked.

“Shell” said Billie with a grin, “She’s not that scary. Just don’t let her hear you say that because she likes to maintain a scary persona”

I grinned at him and we moved past the people standing around the street burner. I recognised Melody from the party on Saturday, Stix wasn’t with her tonight but she was talking animatedly to a boy with a shaved head and a tattoo above his ear. The guy playing the guitar was seated on the floor near the burner and a girl was kneeling up behind him with her arms loosely draped around him. There were two guys in the corner playing each other for small change at poker.

The thing that struck me the most about this place was that everybody seemed to be part of a big family. Everyone seemed to belong here. I looked back to the entrance to the arch and I saw that Kiera and Mike had sat down next to Cassidy on the sofa, Holly had gone to talk to the boy playing the guitar, Tre and Jess were making their way after us as we went through the gap to the other arch.

There was another six people through here. I spotted Shell immediately she was sat on a chair reading a book. She didn’t look nearly as threatening as she had on the night of the party. Joey was sat against the other wall, looking as if he was whittling something out of wood with his penknife. Tre approached him and took money out of his pockets; it was then I remembered that Joey was a dealer and no matter how innocent his activities might look, he still dealt in drugs.

But so did I. I thought back to my smoking of the joint this evening and somehow I couldn’t find it within myself to be ashamed. Not that I had anything to be ashamed for.

“Hey Shell” said Billie to the woman casually, she looked up and smiled at him.

“Hi Billie” she said. From this distance I could see her glasses had wings on the edges, I thought that was pretty cool.

“Just thought I’d introduce my girlfriend; Scarlett” said Billie. I was momentarily lost for the second time that evening; hearing Billie call me his girlfriend did wonders for my ego.

“Hello” I said softly to Shell as I gathered my scattered wits. She held out her hand and I took it; she was wearing fingerless gloves I noticed. I shook her hand and smiled at her.

“There’s just a few rules down here” said Shell. I nodded and bit my lip, I hadn’t expected there to be rules.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” she said.

“Not much then!” said a voice from behind me and Shell laughed.

“No bringing of parents or anything like that” said Shell. No worries there then, I thought, the likelihood of me bringing my parents down here was as much as me actually being able to walk on water.

“No talking to the police if the shit hits the fan” she said. I frowned slightly and looked at Billie who just smiled and shook his head. What went on down here for police to be involved? I answered that question for myself: Drugs. Sex. Violence. Under Age Drinking. Well I knew I wouldn’t be talking to the police, I mean, why would I?

Shell picked her book back up again and I considered myself dismissed. Billie had gone over to talk to one of the girls sat on the floor by the heater so I walked back through the small archway.

“Hey Scar!” a girl sat on the floor called out to me and I recognised her as the girl who had been draped over the guy playing the guitar earlier. I smiled at her and sat down next to her.

“Mike told me your name, so don’t freak out,” she said with an easy smile, “I’m Jo”

“Hey” I said and then motioned to the guy picking at the guitar, “Is that your boyfriend?”

“Yup that’s Theo” she said.

“Cool” I said with a smile in Theo’s direction as he looked up at the sound of his name.

“So how did you come to be around here, English?” she asked

“English?” I asked

“For now on, it’s your bridge name” she said, “English”

“I like it” I said with a grin, “Yeah well obviously we moved here, I sat at Billie’s table at lunch and things rolled on”

“Sweet” she said, “How come you’ve still got your British accent”

“My mum picks me up on it if I slip into American” I said, “Which is most of the time these days seeing as I’m around it all the time”

“Yeah” said Jo flipping a blonde bang out of her green eyes, “My mum isn’t even around”

“Oh” I said not wanting to question.

“It’s alright” she said, “I never knew her”

This didn’t make it any easier and I just smiled.

“So what year you in?” she asked changing the subject easily.

“Erm Soph” I said.

“And you’re going out with a Senior?!” she asked incredulously, “God the other girls in your year must be jealous”

“To be honest I don’t really talk to any of them” I said sheepishly.

“Billie keep your full attention huh?” she asked with a grin.

“Something like that” I said with a slight blush creeping up my cheeks, “He’s a very captivating guy”

Jo just laughed and put a hand in her grubby denim jacket pocket to get out a packet of cigarettes.

“Smoke?” she asked taking one out and offering me the packet. I shook my head.

“Yes” someone said behind me and Billie sat down on the other side of Jo, she offered him the packet and he took one. Once she had lit hers she threw the lighter at him, he caught it deftly with one hand and then lit his own.

I passed the next few hours in pleasant conversation with the people around me. A few left intermittently but some more people showed up randomly at about ten o’ clock. Billie kept up a running commentary solely for my benefit so I knew who everybody was. The strange thing I found is that I didn’t feel awkward at all once people had accepted my presence, I seemed to slip right into the group as if there had always been a place for me, I just needed to fill it.

Shell left at about eleven and told us she wanted to see the place still standing when she came back to it tomorrow. She left hand in hand with Joey, got on her motorbike with him behind her and sped off in a cloud of dust.

“Do you wanna go baby?” asked Billie a little bit later still. I shrugged.

“Whatever you want” I said.

“I think Jess is about ready to go home” said Billie motioning over to where Tre and Jess had been sitting on the floor. Now it was Tre standing holding Jess like a baby as she slept soundly in his arms, her blonde hair was half coming down from her pony and covering part of her face.

“Wow” I said, “What knocked her out?”

“Whatever she’s been taking” said Billie. I half smiled but then I looked back at Jess and saw the slightly troubled look on her face, she was definitely not having a good time in there. Maybe she should lay off the drugs for a while, Tre looked a little spaced out as well but I shook it off.

“So who’s going to drive?” I asked as we got up and headed back to the car.

“Holly” said Billie, “She knows how to drive a manual”

I smiled and watched as Tre made his way to the car with Jess’ arms around his neck. Her eyes were open now and although her pupils were larger than normal, she looked a lot happier; I guess whatever she had taken was very short lasting.

We piled into the car in much the same fashion we had on the way here and soon we were on our way back to Billie’s. Holly dropped Jess and Tre off at his house and Mike and Kiera at Kiera’s. Billie’s house was in darkness when we arrived back and I wished goodnight to Holly before I went down the stairs to the basement. Billie closed and locked the door behind us.

I felt so happy as I watched him move about his room, taking his watch off and running his hand absently through his hair as he thought about what he was going to do next. Everything just seemed to be so alright at the moment and it didn’t seem that anything could ruin this for me. Billie came over to me and kissed me deeply, randomly. I smiled into the kiss and broke away, he was holding me around the waist and I looked up into his face, he smiled happily and took my hair out of the plait it was so It fell wavy about my face.

“Iannahavesexwityou” I blurted to him, the words leaving my mouth before my brain had properly formed them.

“What Scar?” he asked with a confused smile on his face, that made him look just a little bit more sexy. I took a deep breath and thought about my words before I attempted to say them again.

“I want to have sex with you”