Chapter 50

[The following chapter contains strong language. Reader caution is advised.]

Monday 30th August 1999

Surprise! It’s your favourite Matthews sibling this time! I thought you might want a break from hearing about my brother, so sit back and enjoy my super-special 16th birthday!

Sooooo, it started like every day, because I mean, duh. For me, that means being in bed (steady on, folks!), waking up with a big stretch of my arms and my legs, and a big yawn to match. I take a little while to get up because beds are one of the seven best things about life. Sometimes I sleep naked, but I was in my cute new PJs instead. I wonder what I look better in? I’d love to show you. If only I could show you.

I did get up, though, because again, duh. “Are you getting up?” “No, I’m gonna stay in bed aaaalllll day!” I should try that sometime, actually… Anyway, I got up and took a nice shower, and then Dom had the absolute audacity to tell me I can’t walk around naked! The absolute nerve of the man. Just because he’s gay… doesn’t mean nobody else is interested… So I went back to my dorm room and picked out some nice, adult clothes that accentuate my nice, adult body, and…

Oh, wait, you don’t know about the-

Y’know that Harmony girl? The one who’s actually a freaky made-up imagination rainbow imposter thing? She saw how fantabulous I am and told me I should go hang out at this cool country house with all these other sexy people. I guess she figured I’d liven up the place. Had to make my way up here on public transport, but that turned out to be a fantastical adventure too where I totally stopped a mugging. Don’t have the time to talk about that, though, this is all backstory. I’ve been kicking it in this big ol’ place for a couple of weeks now, getting to know everyone and letting them bask in the glow of my me-ness. A whole new bunch of friends!

Where was I? Oh yeah, birthday!

The first person I saw other than Dom was Kayleigh, leaning out of a window with a cigarette wedged between her fingers. She kinda reminds me of a grumpy, frumpy middle-aged woman when she smokes. She thinks she looks cool and edgy but take away the leather jacket and she’s like a pissed-off dinner-lady on a break. It’s cute.

“Ah, if it isn’t Smoking Girl!” I said like a superhero. I posed with my hands on my hips. She didn’t even look at me, just tutted. Gah, she’s so cute.

“Whatcha doing? Sending a message to the Mohicans?”

She sighed.

“Come oooon, you have to talk to me, it’s my birthday!”

“That’s not a rule…”

“Made you talk to me, though, didn’t it?” I grinned at her.

“Will you go away if I say happy birthday?” she grumbled.

“Sing it and we have a deal!”

“I’m going to say it and you’re going to walk away.”

“Oooh, I just got all tingly, say something else all stern and badass!”

She glared at me, then turned to the window and puffed her cig some more.

“If not for me, do it for yourself! More time talking means less time smoking! I bet Will doesn’t find your nicotine-breath a turn on.”

I get that smoking looks cool, but eww. Ewwww.

“Happy fucking birthday,” Kayleigh finally said with attitude. “Go away or you’ll be getting a broken nose.”

“Please, I’m a kung fu master!” I told her and did a kung fu pose to prove my point.

“Okay, so kung fuck off.”

I applauded that. I literally applauded it.

“Go find someone else to annoy,” she told me, looking out of the window again.

“Alright, love you, bye!” I replied brightly. She scowled at me and then I skipped off down the hall. I dunno if she watched me go, but I’d like to think she did.

When I got to the common room, I found pretty much everybody else waiting for me. Adam, Dom, Nathan, Rin and Will were all there with a huge pile of presents. They all wished me happy birthday when I walked through the door, and I bowed in gratitude.

“Thank you!” I replied once I was upright again. I couldn’t help but smile brightly. “Did you really get all those presents for me?”

“We’ll eat first, provided you can manage waiting half an hour,” Adam said. Obviously he knew how eager I was.

“I…”

I dropped to my knees, reaching out towards the presents like they were oxygen I couldn’t live another minute without.

“I dunno if I can… they’re calling to me…!”

“You’ll survive,” Nathan assured me. He sounded amused.

“Come on, up you get,” Dom said, standing up and then heaving me back to my feet. “The more of a fuss you make, the longer you’ll be waiting.”

“Ugh, it’s the worst dilemma I’ve ever faced…” I complained. Rin giggled.

We all went to the dining room and had some food, then went back and everyone watched as I opened my presents. Considering it was only a handful of people, they managed to get some neat stuff. Some cute t-shirts and stuff, a CD, a little teddy bear, a bangle, all the kind of presents you’d expect. Everyone watched as I opened them, and made comments and laughed while I made sure to put on a show with my reactions. Once I finished, I got up and hugged everyone in thanks.

And then Clay walked in like a thunderstorm.

“Hey Clay!” I rhymed at him while everybody else shrunk back behind me.

“Happy birthday,” he muttered back. “Keep it down, I can hear you from my room.” And then he went again.

“I’ll see what I can do!” I called out after him.

“One day, he’s going to snap and kill us all,” Will said.

“I’ll keep you all safe,” I assured him, and did another kung fu pose.

“You’ll distract him while the rest of us get away…?” Rin asked.

“And then I’ll re-emerge at the last minute and you’ll all celebrate because you thought I’d croaked!”

I dunno why everyone’s so scared of Clay. The few times I’ve seen him, he’s seemed pretty chill. Sure, he’s got a vibe like he’ll beat the shit out of you if you piss him off, but if you don’t piss him off, he won’t beat the shit out of you. It’s not hard.

Not long later, my mobile rang. Home calling!

“Happy birthday, Lucy!” Mum’s voiced greeted me down the phone.

“Thaaaaanks!”

“16! I’m so proud of you! I wish you were home, we missed Alex’s birthday and now we’re missing yours…”

“Just celebrate without me. I’ll be partying over here,” I told her.

“It’s not the same…”

She sounded sad.

“We can make like we did with Alex’s and throw a huge party whenever I come back!” Harmony had said something about doing things right this time, and made me tell Mum and Dad that I was going before I went. Some crap about a summer drama camp. All-singing, all-dancing, all-acting, all made-up! I dunno when I’ll really be going back.

“You have a good day, okay? And behave!”

“You tell me that every time you call, Mum. Hey, you should see the presents I got!”

“Hopefully I’ll get to soon, dear,” she said warmly.

“The pile was taller than me!”

“That’s wonderful! I’m sorry but I’ve got to go now. Have a good day!”

“And I’ll behave! I’ll behave like a beehive!”

“Bye!” she said before hanging up. End of the call…

After that, we – the teens, I mean – went to do one of our training sessions. We changed into our sporty training costumes and I checked out Rin’s butt like I do every time (shhhh, she doesn’t know!), and then we spent the rest of the morning working through obstacle courses and doing target practice and generally testing our mettle. I’m still not entirely sure why the hell we’re doing this, but I get to show off a lot so who cares?

I took another shower afterwards, so I wasn’t sweaty for the rest of the day, and Dom told me to get dressed again like the big spoilsport he is. But still, nice sexy adult clothes!

“We should go out!” I proposed once everyone (except Clay, because he’s Clay) was in the common room.

“Should? Sure,” Nathan replied. “But we’d have to sneak out, and it’s not like Dom wouldn’t notice we’re missing.”

“Oh no, that’d be terrible,” Kayleigh said sarcastically. “We’d have to go without dinner or something.”

“I can’t speak for anyone else, but morally I’m not up to breaking the rules…” Rin muttered.

“Well, I am!” I declared, leaping to my feet. “We can go out and get smoothies or something. Is there a zoo nearby? I suddenly pictured stroking a giraffe and I wanna try it.”

“I’m game,” Kayleigh shrugged. “Makes a change from hanging around here 90% of the time.”

“Might as well,” Will agreed. “I don’t know if there are any zoos around here, though.”

“There we go!” I cheered, and then I turned to Nathan and Rin. They both looked uneasy. “You two in, or do I have to drag you out?”

Nathan chuckled.

“Alright, just because it’s you.”

“Damn straight!” I said, grinning ear-to-ear at that.

“I…” Rin started. I gave her my best expectant, pleading grin, like Simba and Nala saying “pleeeease?”.

“Okay…”

“Yes! Thank you, peer pressure!”

Trying to be discreet, we made our way downstairs and out across the front hall. We’d just got to the big doorway when…

“Where do you think you’re going?” Dom’s voice called out from up the stairs. Then he said something about, “Jesus, I sound like Dad…”

“Adam said we could go out, as a birthday treat!” I told him confidently. Rin squeaked quietly while Dom froze up. He took several seconds trying to figure out what to do next.

“Stay… right there…” he concluded, hand out like he could psychically stick us to the floor, before he dashed back up the stairs.

“Aaaah…” Rin wailed softly once Dom disappeared.

“Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy,” I said while trying to open the door. And by trying, I mean not succeeding.

“Lucy… the door’s locked, isn’t it?” Nathan asked me.

“Might be, yeah…” I nodded as I fought the door.

“The back door should be open,” Kayleigh said.

“Just… gimme a minute…!” I said. I was gonna beat this stupid door if it killed me. No, I don’t know how that would work. Ghost Lucy, maybe; friend of Smoking Girl.

“We don’t have a minute. And Kayleigh’s already going,” Will informed me.

“Ugh, fine…”

I let go.

“I will best you, door…” I told it before joining everyone else in rushing off.

…

It took us a while, and some spectacular orienteering skills, but the five of us made it into town! No zoo around, but I did see a giant stuffed giraffe that I bought. Kayleigh had a debit card with her, so everything was on her. She wasn’t happy about that. So cute.

We were chowing down some McDonalds when my mobile started ringing again. This time, Alex.

“Ding-dong, this is the Lucy clock, the time is way too late for you to only just be waking up, you slob,” I answered.

“I’ve been up for a while, I figured you’d still be asleep,” he replied. “Also happy birthday!”

“Thanks! And nah, I was up at the crack of dawn.”

“Who are you and what’ve you done with my sister?”

“Mwahaha, you figured it out!” I cackled down the line at him.

“… just to make sure, this is the real Lucy, right?” he asked. “Only there’s so much weird stuff in my life these days-”

“It’s me, it’s me! Look: you cried at Mufasa’s death when we went to see The Lion King! Who else would know that?”

“Everyone who just heard you say it…” he sighed.

“Damn straight!”

“Anyway, it’s been a while… haven’t seen you since I left for my holiday…”

“Yeah, you missed out on loooaaads of stuff,” I told him. He sighed.

“I’ll survive. We had a lot of fuhuhuuun! Aaah!”

I heard Dakota giggling.

“Stop! I’m on the phone!” Alex yelped between laughs.

“Tell her I said to go for your sides and your feet! Your weak spots!” I said. Sounded like she was tickling him, anyway. Maybe it was some weird sex thing, I dunno what he gets up to.

“Sor- hahahaha! Sorry, hang on!” he said, and then I heard more laughter from both of them.

Waiting for the conversation to continue, I looked over to the others and caught Nathan looking at me. I smiled brightly at his attention and he smiled back. I stuck my tongue out at him playfully.

“Okay, the Dakota threat has been neutralised,” Alex finally spoke in the call.

“You’re sitting on her, aren’t you?” I asked.

“The details don’t need to be disclosed,” he said. Which meant I was right.

“I hope you’ve bought me loads of presents for when I see you next!” I told him.

“I’m gonna say yes.”

“And I’m gonna hold you to that!”

“So how’s drama camp treating you?” he asked me.

“I got to play Juliet and make out with this really hot guy!” I lied (but you know that).

“Was the guy playing Romeo or was it a separate thing…?”

“Both!”

“Of course…”

I laughed at his response.

“Lucy…”

“Yeeees?”

“Promise me this really is just an ordinary summer camp thing that you signed up to at the last minute. Because I know you’ve been on the fringes of all the stuff I’ve been involved with for a year now, but-”

“You think I’ve been lured away by that Harmony weirdo or something?” I interrupted him. “Alex, it’s fine. Total normal stuff.”

“Okay…” he said like he didn’t believe me. “Have a good birthday.”

“I will! I’ve got a whole roomful of presents!”

“Enjoy opening all those, then,” he chuckled. I’m sure he didn’t believe that, either. I hate how he never believes me when I say things like that…

“Of course! Bye! Enjoy the tickle fight!”

“Thanks, and bye!”

Call over. I stashed my mobile back in my pocket.

“That was my brother,” I told everyone while returning to my Big Mac.

“How is he?” Will asked. “Been a while since I last saw him. Or anyone I used to know.”

“Sounded good.”

“Smashing,” Kayleigh said bluntly.

“He’s really nice,” Rin spoke up. “We got on well when he was with us.”

“Sorry, now I just pictured you, him and his girlfriend having a threesome and I don’t know how to feel,” I told her.

“Why would you even tell me that?!” she squawked, blushing bright red.

“I sold the filter between my brain and my mouth,” I said before biting more lovely burger.

“For what…?” Nathan asked.

Once I swallowed:

“Better flow between my brain and my mouth.”

“That makes sense,” he smiled.

“He’s suspicious about where you’ve gone, isn’t he?” Will asked before drinking.

“He thinks I’m involved in some Lokonessence-y stuff, I guess,” I shrugged. “Not like it matters.”

“You think they won’t come barging down here as soon as they find out?” Kayleigh asked rhetorically.

“Would they need to?” Rin quizzed.

“I can’t believe I have to talk through this… We’re hanging out with the guy who discovered Lokonessence. He’s working with someone who can build Lokon weapons, and he’s got a whole bunch of teens hand-picked by Harmony getting a whole training regime. Y’know what that says to me? New Painters. Adam Montgomery’s own personal Painter squad, with Alex’s little sister on the line-up.”

“We all figured that by now,” Nathan told her. “Do you think they’ll care?”

“Yeah. I think they’ll care. Cos I think we’re being lined up to edge in on their territory.”

“Interesting theory,” I spoke up, “but I don’t think so. He’s got something special planned for us. Dunno what though.”

“Great, gut instinct, thanks Lucy,” Kayleigh growled.

“Imagine us as Painters…” Rin spoke to herself.

“We should get ice cream after this!” I suggested.

We did, and it was awesome.

…

The entire afternoon had passed when we got back to Adam’s mansion. Dom was fretting, but Adam just told us that we shouldn’t do it again and we could talk to him if we wanted to spend some time away from the grounds. All good!

After dinner, I started moving stuff around in the common room, clearing a space in the middle. We had a CD player in there, so I threw on my new CD.

“What’re you doing…?” Nathan asked me at the doorway. Rin, Kayleigh and Will were behind him.

“Setting the stage for a party, baby!” I told him.

“With five people? Fuck me, happy sixteenth…” Smoking Girl said bitterly.

“The best five people on the planet,” I grinned. “Now come on in here and get your groove on!”

Nathan walked straight in and right over to me. Good boy.

“Tell you what,” Kayleigh sighed. “I smuggled some beers into my room. I’ll bring them down here and then we’ll call this a party.”

“Fuck yeah!”

Music on, booze on the way. This was the life. I started dancing with Nathan. Will moved in, but I guess he could feel the vibe between me and Nathan and kept off the dancefloor.

“Rin, get your butt in here.”

“Uhm… I mean, I don’t really dance…” she said meekly.

“God, you sound like my brother…” I just ignored her and kept moving with Nathan.

Kayleigh returned after a couple of minutes and then things really got going. We shut the door and moved one of the chairs in front of it to keep Dom out. Rin sat on that chair to add a little extra weight. I think she got the most drunk of all of us because she wasn’t dancing so she just drank.

And Nathan… Nathan stayed right with me the whole time. He watched me move and couldn’t take his eyes off of me. I could feel how much he liked me, how much he thought of me, and it felt like magic. And the more I moved, and the more I drank, the more I could feel that magic. I was alive. So alive. So alive because I was all his. I took my top off for him. I wrapped my arms around him.

“You feel warm…” he told me.

“I am warm… I’m boiling hot… I’m a fireplace…”

“Mhmmm…”

He held me close. Hideaway was playing.

“Am I your favourite, Nathan? Your toasty-hot favourite birthday girl?” I asked.

“Yeah you are… you’re… you’re pretty… and funny…”

So much magic. The music and the alcohol and him and “pretty” and “funny”.

“Do you wanna kissss me?”

“So bad…”

“Good… I’m soooo glad… I want you to kiss me and nuh- and never stop…”

I pressed myself into him.

“Okay,” he smiled dopily, and then we kissed for a million years.

“Nathan and… and Luuuucy… sittin’ in a tree…!” Rin was singing. She was watching. She was watching me and Nathan was kissing me, on my birthday. I felt so good. On top of the world.

Things after that get kinda hazy, cos of the booze. I dunno how long we partied, but we all fell asleep in the common room, and Nathan and I made out until we drifted off. All of this, for me. That one special day of the year where I had every excuse in the world to have all of the attention. That one day where I’m almost convinced that all the people in my life really do care.

Oh, yeah, and I stripped naked for Nathan too!