Chapter Twenty-Five
Twenty-Five
I refuse to sit all afternoon whilst everyone else prepares for the party. Dylan has been assigned to cleaning duty since I’ve been told to relax but he’s honestly useless. I catch him using a dirty dish cloth to clean the dining table and so begin to project manage, banishing him to hoover duty.
There’s only the occasional moment when I feel the dizziness take over.
I sit for a moment then I’m fine again. But it’s the pain in my coccyx that keeps me from doing too much.
When I sit down, I do so tentatively. There will be a nice bruise and a vivid reminder to go careful on steps when they’re icy tomorrow.
The whole lodge smells divine when I join Priya in the kitchen to help set up the buffet.
There’s an array of cheeses (so much cheese) laid out along with everything from a bowl of homemade potato wedges to neat little vegetable spring rolls.
We thought about doing a proper sit-down meal but then decided that having a buffet to pick from all evening was a far better arrangement.
Once everything is set up, we disperse to get ready.
It feels a bit silly since we’re not going anywhere but then again, it is New Year’s Eve.
I bought a short, black, sparkly dress with long sleeves and a high neck.
Sam always loves to joke that I have the same colour dress in 500 styles and he’s not far wrong.
I pair it with a dainty pair of heels, blow-dry my hair and add a light touch of make-up with shimmer eyeliner which feels very noughties.
Priya wolf whistles as she comes back from her shower. She has a red playsuit for tonight that is currently hanging on the door. It’s very her. I’ve seen her wear it a few times before.
“Who you dolling up for then?” she asks.
“No one! Why do you say that? I just want to look good for the party. I don’t know why you have to make it weird.”
She makes a face. “Ok…”
I laugh it off. Clearly it was only a throwaway comment. I’m making it something, which is in itself more telling. “Sorry,” I shake my head. “I think the bash to my head has got to me a bit.”
She smiles. “Go easy on the booze, yeah?”
I nod. “Yes. Sensible,” I say as I neck my third glass of fizz.
At around eight in the evening, Sara calls us all into the main living space. She makes sure we’ve all got full glasses of champagne (well, apparently, it’s British sparkling wine but who’s going to complain?) and prepares us for a toast.
“Are we all here?” she says.
Sam perches on the sofa behind me, resting his arm on my shoulder.
I lean into him. “Just waiting on Priya,” I say.
Dylan and Freddie are both seated too. I’m not sure why Dylan is double parked with a glass of fizz and a beer.
Freddie just has a bottle of bear and looks suitably relaxed in his white Levi’s t-shirt and black, vintage-look jeans.
We can hear Priya jostling down the hall before she appears with a smile.
She’s done something to her hair that makes it shimmer under the light.
“Sorry, sorry. What a day!” She laughs, reminding us subtly that she’s late because she has been slaving away over our food all day. She is absolutely off the hook.
“Where’s my glass?” she asks.
Sara points to the kitchen island.
“Ok, sit down,” she says, waving at Priya. “I want to tell you all a story about how I met Hattie and Sam and then we’ll toast to the birthday people.”
“Oh shit,” I say, which gets Freddie’s attention. He’s bloody smiling again. His eyes gloss over me down to my legs which are about 80 per cent naked. I cross them and bite my lip.
Sara does a faux evil laugh before continuing.
“So, Hattie lived in the same halls as me, two rooms down from mine. And there were about ten of us in total who all shared a big kitchen at the end of the hall. Thank God we had en suites. Anyway, I digress. One evening, during Freshers… Here’s the thing about me – I can be quite unfriendly when you first meet me. ”
Priya mock gasps, which has me crumpling over with laughter.
“I had managed to avoid all the dreaded socials up until day three when I arrived home with the strangest boy I could find to spend the night with.”
“Oh! Was that the guy who dressed as a pirate?” I ask.
Sara shrugs. “I can’t remember. Don’t interrupt, please.
And we get back to the halls and there is this shrill laughter coming from the kitchen and the smell of smoke.
I don’t really want to investigate as it was probably two or three in the morning and I wanted to see if this weird man, who could tie knots with his tongue, was worth my time.
“But the laughter was sort of infectious and it was clearly more than one person. So, I poke my head in to find you two weirdos eating hash brownies, entirely off your fucking tits. And I remember knowing you would be a good friend when you looked me directly in the eye and said, ‘Please don’t call the police.’”
“I didn’t say that,” I said. “Did I?”
She nods. “Yes! You were so upset with yourself. And this one here,” she says, prodding Sam with her finger, “was so spaced out, he could barely form words. My gentleman friend ended up finishing them for you. But I didn’t want any as they were burnt.
You’d clearly managed to source some weed on a night out and got home and thought you would bake. You were so alarmingly honest.”
For a moment, I think maybe I’m in over my head with the whole Freddie thing.
She’s right, I don’t really do things I shouldn’t and if I do, they haunt me for weeks.
I remember being anxious someone would find out about those brownies even months after.
Sam was so hanging the next day, he’s never eaten a brownie since.
We all cheers to this weird and sometimes dysfunctional found family then sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Sam, who pretends to hate it as Priya walks in slowly with a Colin the Caterpillar cake, candles and all.
“Fuck, it’s like being at a kid’s party,” Sara mutters. “Time for shots!” she exclaims, marching over to the bottle of tequila that’s been staring at us for the last few days.
We all take a shot except Freddie, who says, “Someone has to be at least half-sober,” before eyeing me again like I’m about to pass out.
“Boo!” Sara chants as she starts refilling.
After this, someone puts ‘Thunderstruck’ on the speakers and turns it up to full volume.
We all start dancing (ok, jumping) round the room.
But when I look for Freddie, I find him leaning against the kitchen island, a humoured expression on his face.
I stick my tongue out at him as he runs a hand down his face.
A strong hour of dancing and drinking later, we turn the music down and play a round of Cards Against Humanity.
Even Freddie joins in for this one but doesn’t laugh hard enough at some of the most outrageous rounds which means he is drinking much slower than us and probably none of this is even that funny.
Does this game even work if you’re sober?
“Ooh, let’s play hide and seek!” Priya suggests.
“Again, what’s with the child’s party shit?” Sara snipes.
“Hide and seek is the best! Ok, rules. You can’t leave the house. No hiding in the snow! I refuse to go outside searching when it’s -50 degrees outside.”
“That’s a stretch…” Sam mutters.
“Otherwise, everything goes. Loser has to do a shot of Boobleys. Wait no! Everyone does a shot except the last person I find.”
“WHAT?!” a few of us exclaim.
And then she starts counting, covering her eyes with her hands, “Thirty… twenty-nine… twenty-eight…”
A spark of adrenaline pulses through me.
There’s no way on earth I’m doing a shot of Boobleys.
This evening just got very real. I stumble through the house, Dylan hot on my heels, as I head for my room.
I stop in there for a moment and realise this was the super obvious choice.
Clearly, Priya will know. Dylan gets down on his tummy and shuffles under one of the single beds.
“Cover me up,” he says, pointing to the unmade bed.
“It’s every man and women for themselves, Dylan. Sorry, but I can’t risk you beating me.”
“Hattie!!” he mock yells as I duck back out of the room, down the stairs and into the living space where Priya is sat still covering her face.
“Nineteen… eighteen… seventeen…”
I fly towards the basement, thankful for the railing on the way down as I feel shaky on my descent.
The light is on, which is weird. I pause, wondering where to go next.
I could hide under the pool table or disguise myself behind the outdoors equipment.
I’m distracted when I see a sledge and think it would be fun to use tomorrow.
“Ready or not, here I come!” Priya shouts from upstairs.
“Fuck,” I hiss. Panicking, I dart to the cupboard which looks like some kind of boiler room. I shut myself into the darkness, only a hint of light coming through the vents at the top. It stinks like bleach in here.
I lean against the wall and let out a breathy laugh.
Who knew hide and seek could be so much fun.
“Nice of you to join me.”
Again. Dead.