Lucy came downstairs dressed in a high neck corduroy black pinafore, white long sleeve turtle neck and black boots with a small heel. She had put light make up on and left her hair, unsure what to do with it.
"Where did my baby go?" Rip said jokingly, looking at the teenage girl in front of him. Beth slapped his chest before asking if she wanted help with her hair.
"I wouldn't say no. I don't know what to do with it."
Beth pointed for her to go back upstairs and in to her's and Rip's ensuite. She pulled out a brush and waited for the hair straightener to heat up before doing Lucy's hair.
"Rip is taking you. I know he let you know the rules but if you feel like you want to come home, call."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "I've been to plenty of parties you know!"
Beth gave her a pointed look recalling the last party she went to.
"Ok. Look, that was one time!" Lucy reminded her, going to meet Rip at the door.
"Don't wait for dinner. I'll get something from the diner." He told Beth before closing the front door. "We're going to take Beth's car."
She didn't understand why Rip would want to do that considering he hated it but she wasn't going to complain, instead telling Rip the address of the party. He pulled up across from the house where the music was clearly pumping. There were teenagers outside standing around in groups with red solo cups in hand and the front door was open.
"Remember what I said." Rip told her before she shut the door to cross the road.
Lucy crossed the road, skipping over the curb and sidewalk on to the front lawn.
He watched her cross the road before being engulfed in a hug by another girl he knew wasn't Ella, before pulling away from the curb. He couldn't help but think it wasn't going to end well.
A girl in her year level that she didn't know particularly well pulled her in for a big hug before letting her go inside. She walked down the hallway past a few kids smoking cigarettes and drinking. 'Where the hell did they get those.' She thought before remembering what Beth had said if she ever got caught.
The hallway opened out in to an open plan kitchen and living area with doors out to a patio straight ahead and a staircase off to one side. There were some people in the year levels above her talking on the staircase as she went past before she spotted Ella talking to Justin. She stood off to the side not wanting to interrupt them but within Ella's line of sight.
"Hey Lucy! You came." Ella said.
"Yeah" She said with a grin. "So... tell me, how was your chat with Justin?"
Ella took Lucy's elbow pulling her away. "He is just so nice! He was just saying he didn't realise people were going to come from different year levels. He said he was glad I came though." She told her squeezing her arm at the last part.
Lucy looked at Justin who was now chatting to his own teammates from the basketball team before glancing over at her and Ella. Lucy quickly averted her eyes, hoping he didn't notice. Justin was popular at school. He was intelligent and athletic, his peers and the teachers all loved him, particularly the girls.
Lucy had to admit he was a good looking guy. He was tall, tan with dirty blonde hair and a nice smile. He never seemed to entertain the girls that threw themselves at him.
"Want a drink Lucy? There's vodka!" Ella asked shaking a half empty bottle of vodka in one hand and solo cup in the other.
"Nah."
"Really!?" Ella asked surprised, pouring herself one.
"I'm all good." Lucy said not wanting to feel the pressure from others if she told them it was because Beth and Rip had said no. Most of her friends didnt care what their parents had said and she had always been the same when it came to Janice telling her what to do but with Beth and Rip it was different. She grabbed herself a solo cup and poured soft drink in to it so it appeared she was drinking as well.
Ella quickly downed her drink before pouring another, pulling Lucy out towards where people were dancing. Some people Lucy knew and others she didn't. She was happy to just dance with Ella as others joined in with them. Someone nearby turned the music up which caused a loud cheer. More people came outside that were previously in and the dance floor became crowded. Lucy and Ella laughed and sang along to the songs that they knew before Ella whispered that she was going to go and talk to Justin. Lucy waved her off before looking for someone else that she knew.
She spotted Sam at the corner of the patio, pushing through the people to get to him. "Hey! Hey Sam!"
He turned to her surprised. "Fancy you being here."
Lucy shrugged. "Could say the same about you. It's a nice place right."
"Yeah they're not shy a penny." Sam commented looking around. "So where are you friends?"
"Ella is off trying to win the heart of Justin." She said rolling her eyes playfully. "Anyway, where are yours?"
"Who knows, honestly." He said with a laugh over the music that kept getting turned up. "I wouldn't be surprised if this gets shut down."
"Why?"
"The neighbours are all about 90 around here." Sam said right as someone knocked over a large bucket of punch, spilling down Lucy's arm.
"Damn." She said shaking her now wet arm, the once white sleeve now red. "That's not coming out."
"Oi watch it you idiots!" Sam said to the boys in the year above them. They snapped their heads towards him, alcohol pumping through their testosterone filled bodies.
"It's fine guys!" Lucy said wanting to diffuse the situation. "I'll see you later Sam." She said looking for a bathroom.
She closed the door to the bathroom before locking it. Turning on the tap she washed her forearm and hands which were now sticky from the alcohol. She sent Ella a text to see where she was before sitting of the closed toilet waiting for a reply. Outside she could hear the party continuing on and a lot more voices yelling and screaming before the music stopped. She checked her phone seeing a message from Ella.
"Leave the party. Cops coming. I can't find you but I'm walking home now!"
"What the fuck!" She said still in the bathroom. Beth and Rip were going to kill her if she got in trouble, let alone trouble from the cops. She put her ear to the door to listen to what was going on outside.
She heard someone yell to hide the alcohol and put the music back on quieter to not look suspicious. Lucy opened the door, heading for the hallway and on to the front lawn. She hit ring on Ella's name who answered nearly straight away.
"Where are you?"
"Literally out the front!"
"You gotta get out of there. The cops are coming to shut it down."
"What happened?""I don't know exactly, your friend Sam said there was a fight and the neighbours called the cops."
"As in Sam was in a fight?" Lucy asked, not that it really mattered in this moment. "All right. I'll go, I don't even know where. Maybe a block back."
"I don't know Lucy! Walk in the opposite direction to the school because the cops are coming past now." Ella told her.
"I'll talk to you later." She said hanging up. Kids were coming out of the house left right and centre. Word had gotten out.
'Fuck.' She said to herself before hitting Rip's name in her phone. She walked in the direction Ella had told her to waiting for Rip to answer.
"What's going on?" He answered.
"Dad. I really need you to come and get me. Cops are apparently coming and everyone is leaving." She said panicked at the sound of sirens. "I think Sam was in a fight. Maybe because of me."
"I'm down the street parked. Walk towards the intersection."
"What?" Lucy said confused. She looked around, seeing Beth's car parked what couldn't have been more than 15 houses away. She broke in to a jog before pulling open the passenger side door and getting in. "I'm sorry."
"I didn't leave Lucy because I knew." He told her turning the car on and driving off. Lucy watched as cop cars pass Rip on their way out of town.
"How did you know?"
"I was your age once but I also picked Beth up from plenty of nights out when things didn't go to plan." He told her.
"Am I in trouble?"
"That depends. Did you break any rules."
She shook her head. "I didn't." She sat there texting Ella who had manage to get home without getting in trouble by the cops or her parents.
Rip turned the engine off before going in to the cabin, Lucy behind him.
"Was there an emergency at the diner?" Beth said hearing the door open.
"Go on and get changed." Rip said directing Lucy to the stairs.
Beth's head snapped up, turning to see Lucy walking up the stairs. "What happened?"
"She called me about an hour in saying she needed picking up because cops were coming. I was parked down the street."
"Did she say anything else?" Beth asked.
He shook his head. "No."
Lucy stood at the top of the staircase before coming down in to the living area.
"Before you ask, I didn't drink. Someone knocked over a punch bowl and it went all over me. Then there was a fight apparently and the neighbours called it in. There were kids from all different years at school."
Beth wasn't phased by it but she knew Rip would likely be.
"I think Sam might have been in the fight. He yelled at some boys when they spilt punch on me. I tried to stop it because everyone was pretty drunk."
Rip's ears pricked up at that.
"I didn't drink! And people were smoking and I didn't do that either." She said looking between the two. Beth chuckled recalling the conversation they had about smoking.
"I'm not going to ask questions I'm just glad you called."
Lucy relaxed hearing Rip say that.
"So how was the party? Did you kiss any cute boys?" Beth asked wanting details.
"No!" Lucy said with a blush, Rip glared at Beth. "Sam was there so I chatted to him after Ella ditched to go talk to Justin, again."
Beth nodded knowingly. She herself, didn't have many friends that ditched for boys when she was growing up but she knew of girls who had done so.
"I knew she liked him but I thought she'd maybe want to dance more. She was a bit drunk though and was gushing over him when she did talk to me."
"You can be annoyed and upset all you like but that's common when girls have a crush on boys, Luce."
"I'm not upset!" She grumbled giving Beth a glare.
"Of course not." She said rolling her eyes. "Baby I invented that glare you're giving me."
Lucy looked away. She was annoyed, she went to the party to hang out with Ella because she asked her too and Ella was too busy with Justin to have spent more than ten minutes with her and then ditched her.
She turned her attention to the rodeo on the tv that Rip was watching while Beth scrolled on her phone.
"Can we go to one?" Lucy asked quietly.
"Go to what?" Rip asked.
"The rodeo?"
"I'll take you to the next one." He told her, turning back to the tv with a smile on his lips. Beth smiled knowing that Rip would be counting down the days until the rodeo.
"I'm going to need the truck tomorrow." Beth announced. Both Lucy and Rip looked at her surprised.
"Why?" Rip asked.
"I'm re-decorating."
"You're what?" Rip asked looking around. Beth had decorated the cabin when they first moved in after getting married and then again a few years later.
"I haven't re-decorated in years baby. I'm only doing Lucy's room."
"I like my room!" Lucy piqued up.
"You need a bigger bed, a desk, some drawers." Beth rattled off.
"Can't we just make them?" Lucy said looking at Rip.
"I'm not making a bed but I suppose we can do a desk and drawers." He said. "I'm not doing all the work. You can buy the wood in town."
"I'll help!" She said now more interested.
"We are still going to town then and I'll still need the truck."
"Beth, honey. Let me just send one of the boys."
"What? You don't think I'm capable of picking out the right wood?"
Lucy giggled at Beth's false anger. She knew Beth wasn't really angry at Rip instead stirring him up.
"Now come on. I didn't say that."
"I'm taking her and the truck." She told him. "You need to go to bed now." She said turning to Lucy.
Lucy took her leave for the night falling on to her bed before crawling under the covers.