Frank
Getting into the club was the easy part. Finding Sapphire in the hard part. Gerard and I stood out a bit, as we weren't dressed like these alternative fashion addicts or had our hair smothered in gel. But we were decked out in black, so we didn't get any trouble. It was that kind of club. So why what it playing such crappy music? Gerard shot me a look of disgust, jerking his thumb over to the DJ who looked like some sort of 80's reject with a bad choice of glasses. He seemed to think this music was half way decent. At least people were dancing. Ok, I reconsidered. They weren't dancing. They were having sex with clothes on. We gave each other another look, but this time laced with mischief at the number of scantily clad girls writhing on that dance floor. Ok, yes, I had a thing for Sapphire, but that didn't stop me eyeing up some of these girls. That was until I realised they were all drunk and wearing way too much make up. It was sliding down their faces in the heat.
Gerard pulled me up a staircase, so we could look over the club and find Sapphire. The first problem was getting over the girls and guys who looked a lot like the girls littering the stairs, making out like no tomorrow. The next problem was getting to the rail. I swear someone pinched my butt as I waded through that crowd, but I couldn't be sure. It felt like I was being compressed from all sides. Five minutes after entering the club, I couldn't breath thanks to the stench of hair gel, sweat and other nasty odours including piss, vomit and booze; I was coated in sweat thanks to the drunken heat generators pumping downstairs and I was exhausted due to fighting my way through crowds. That and my ear drums were dribbling out of my head due to the incredibly loud shit music. Gerard wasn't faring any better, his long black hair was plastered to his skull and he looked ready to drop. It was so loud, no matter how loud I yelled, he couldn't hear me asking him if he was ok. A second later, a very drunk girl grabbed him and tried to shove her tongue down his throat. He ducked away and she spun off to find another victim. We exchanged scared looks. If this was how we managed, Sapphire was in trouble.
I spotted her, sitting on Kleaver's knee in the only booth with a table in the club. She looked very uncomfortable, she wasn't sitting properly and she had twitched her hair forward to hide that cute little mole on her cheek. I was glad to see she was ok, but she didn't look that happy, the way she kept glancing down. I were she'd rather be lazing around on a sofa eating pizza and watching movies with me, than with all those idiots and that dickhead. I looked at them all, remembering their faces as they bore down on me with anything from fists to branches and poles. I fingered the scar on the side of my head, hidden by my hair and seethed. I wanted to fly down there and steal Sapphire away and hide her in the white clouds, where we could watch the moon and the silver stars and I could gaze into her beautiful blue eyes and we would just stay there be as quiet as we wanted. But instead, Gerard and I just watched her, while being crushed into the rail.
John kept yelling into her ear, bending in close to her. I felt my blood boil, and I almost yelled out when he licked her ear. She seemed just as shocked, looking rather uncomfortable from where we were standing. Next he slid her off his lap and led her into the scrum. What the fuck? She hated this kind of dancing, where you just jumped up and down and the aim was to press against the next person as hard as possible and spread your sweat through the entire crowd. We almost lost sight of her, and had to lean right over to see her. At first, she didn't really move, Kleaver holding her close to him. But then she tried to get into it, obviously trying to make something of the evening. I gripped the rail with white knuckles as I saw his hands wander over her body, where she couldn't feel them in the oppressive heat source. I saw her try and pull away, but allow herself be pulled back in. At one point, she threw back her head and I knew then she was letting herself tap into the power within her to move and try any beat into the hottest dance floor. I saw her dance properly, every part of her body moving gracefully, unlike the blundering Emos around her. And Kleaver loved it, he moved along with her like a cobra to the flute. I wished, in that moment, I was down there with her in that hot, intimate place. I wished I could be holding her as she wove her love of dancing out through her hips and shoulders, her hair whisking through the air. Suddenly the music seemed changed all due to her dancing. Beside me, Gerard clapped a hand on my shoulder, knowing I was hurting inside to see her dance and to be with Kleaver instead.
How long did we stand there, watching her and Kleaver? God knows, the music sounded exactly the same to me. Maybe minutes, maybe hours. But soon, even Sapphire, with her boundless energy, gave up and Kleaver took her away from that orgy. I thought he'd take her back to the table with his friends, but he took her to the bar, for a drink. Oh dear. Sapphire add alcohol equalled one wrong move and you're toast. I remembered the last time we'd all got drunk and Mikey made one joke in bad taste and she let rip. It was intense. They moved again, going to the least populated part of the club, which was still full of idiots. They stood next to the wall, stealing the chill off the stones and drank and leaned in close to talk. He kept trying to get close to her, but she cunningly kept him away by swigging from her bottle every time he tried to lean in. Soon, he got pissed off and left her to it, going back to the bar for another drink. Was that it? Had he just abandoned her? Apparently not, as he came back a few minutes later with another drink. I looked at my watch, the heat and noise and constant pressure beginning to drive me crazy. It was 10 30. Fuck! We've been here three hours?! I thought to myself, stunned. No wonder I was beginning to crack. Gerard looked ready to put a gun to his temple, his eye twitching with every blast of techno shit. How the hell had they managed to keep dancing for three fucking hours?? I motioned to him and we descended, thankful to get away from the balcony crowd. We made a quick pit stop in the quieter, chilled toilets, finding only one anyway decent, and hid in some helpful shadows, close to where Sapphire and Kleaver yelled into each other's ears. She was smiling properly now, amused by his drunkenness and still on fire from the dance floor. Trust her to make this date ok. He was grinning at her lopsidedly, using the wall as a support. Both looked flushed and soaked in sweat. Their conversation, whatever it was about, was enough to make her laugh, until they were interrupted by some of his annoying friends. I panicked for a second, thinking maybe they'd seen us and were now telling Kleaver. That was all they were good for: spying and beating.
But no, they were leaving. Sapphire looked both relieved to leave the club and also nervous about where Kleaver was taking her with his violent friends in the middle of the night. I knew I wasn't happy about it. It's hard to follow people subtly if they're just messing around doing nothing.
Sapphire and he led the group, but Kleaver had Sapphire by the hand again and she was almost being pulled along. He tripped so many times over people's legs and forgotten bottles, I was surprised she didn't just let go instead of almost falling over a million times. Maybe he was gripping her too hard. Maybe she just liked holding his hand too much. Gerard and I followed them, keeping to the wall as close as possible without walking into the steamy clinches or making it obvious we were following them. When we finally got outside, they were all heading towards Drover's Park, or possibly the Ice Cream Factory. There wasn't very much to do in this town. We kept up with them, thankful to be in the fresh air, away from the smog of smoke, sweat and alcohol, even if the biting wind freezed our wet clothing to us in seconds. I guessed we didn't smell great either. They were all falling about, dragging their girls along with them and laughing loudly, so Gerard and I didn't worry about being heard.
"How much do you want to kill him?" Gerard asked me as we fell in step, sticking close to the club wall. We could still hear the crappy music.
"About the same as you wanted that doughnut,"
"Yeah, and you wouldn't give it to me-"
"Yes I know, I'm a bad person, let's move on. If they go to the park, we can just watch from the bushes,"
"Do we sound like pervs or neighbourhood watch freaks?"
"How about we settle for over protective friends?"
"Done,"
