Star-Crossed

by Jo Cotterill

  You continued to grin. “It’s no problem – I’ve got a plan.”

  Reuben’s face lit up. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. We’re on.”

  After that, you walked Reuben back to his place, with him talking fast all the way and you just happily nodding along, before walking home yourself.

  That’s where you are now, sitting on your bed. Nobody’s home. Maddy’s gone back to university and your mum and dad won’t be back until about seven, by which time you will be out. You told your mum that you would be staying at Reuben’s house and going “out to the cinema”, which she was fine with. She knows nothing about the gig. You’ve never been too worried about lying to them before – you’ve felt guilty, but not worried. This time, you’re excited, but a little apprehensive. This time, you are going to an actual club.

  It’s going to be awesome.

  Everything is planned. You already have clothes for tomorrow at Reuben’s, so you don’t need to worry about that. You can’t wait to hear Mina’s band. You remember Rubes telling you this morning about the gig.

  J says it’s the band’s first gig at Mercury, and the first time a band plays at Mercury, they set a theme for the night. Mina thought that famous rebels would be quite fitting. So that means Heroes, Villains, Anarchy – whatever! As long as it’s chaotic. J says to come as what you want – to leave it to your imagination. He said he’d be there about eight. Oh my God, I’ll be seeing him at eight…

  You’ve spent all day thinking about who or what to be without any progress, and you are still really confused. Then it hits you.

  I know exactly what I need…

  You get out the stepladder and push open the loft hatch on the ceiling in the landing. You pull yourself through the hole and sneeze twice. The dust is thick and heavy, irritating your senses and stinging your eyes. Jeez, you think. When did someone last come in here?

  After crawling around in the dust for a while, you find the box that you’ve been looking for. You pull it out, drop it on the landing, and make your way down carefully, shutting the hatch behind you. You saunter into your room, humming to yourself. You find your black boots and pull them out of your closet, tossing them on to your bed. Then, out of the box, you pull a lime-green catsuit. A huge smile crosses your face. Poison Ivy! That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout! you think, as you slip into your mother’s old gym costume. It fits like a dream, with hooks that go over your middle finger to keep the sleeves down. You stretch across your bed and pick up your boots, and pull them delicately on to your legs.

  Next, you walk into Maddy’s room and open up her wardrobe. You smile as you survey your sister’s treasure trove of sequins and jewellery. Time to get ready…

  An hour later you are just finishing off your hair, when the doorbell rings.

  “Coming!” you yell down the stairs.

  You walk downstairs and open your front door to a boy with bleach-blonde, short spiky hair, dressed from head to toe in black leather with a silver-stud leather belt and wristband. He has a silver cross dangling around his neck, the pendant swinging near his navel. Small silver hoops hang in his ears, and he smiles at you cockily from under dark blue eyelids. You laugh delightedly.

  “My God, you’ve dyed your hair! Mr Billy Idol, I do believe?”

  You extend a hand with green polished nails to Rubes, and he takes it roughly and kisses it. He looks you up and down and growls appreciatively.

  “That’s right, Miss Ivy – Poison Ivy.” Rubes comes out of character and self-consciously touches his hair. “I know … I cut it too … but my God, I hardly recognize you…”

  You look down at yourself. You’re wearing your black knee-high boots, your mother’s cat suit, a black leather belt, and Maddy’s long red wig – the signature mark of Poison Ivy from Batman. You’re also wearing an orange mask over your green-shadowed eyes and fake golden lashes. You feel fantastic, and by Reuben’s reaction, you know you look good.

  “Ready to go?” he asks.

  “Your idea better be really good to get us through that…” Reuben declares as you walk round the corner and see the queue.

  The line is huge. Various Robin Hoods, pirates and other famous rebels are queuing down the street, their breath rising in front of them in the cold night air. As you get closer, you recognize some of the faces in the crowd from past years – some Year Thirteens, and some who have gone on to college – but you don’t make eye contact with any of them, and just make your way to the entrance. Reuben is walking close behind you, looking straight at the ground, and clicking his fingers.

  He’s nervous, you think. He only clicks when he’s nervous.

  “What’s the big plan?”

  You jerk your head towards the doors. The young, muscular guy standing there is wearing a dark suit and an earpiece wired up through his shirt, and is busy turning on the charm for the girls waiting to get in. He looks smart, sharp and pretty damn cute, but even if he was the cutest guy on the earth he would still make your skin crawl.

  Reuben follows the direction of your head, and his face darkens.

  “Watts?” His tone drops harshly. “Steve Watts? He’s your plan?”

  You look straight at Reuben.

  “How do I look?”

  He looks from Steve, to you, back to Steve, and then back to you. Realization dawns on his face. He shakes his head.

  “You are not going over there, Jen. No way. You are not…”

  You turn on your heel, slinking over towards where Steve is standing. He stops talking to the girl on his left and stares at you, his eyes travelling up and down your body, checking out you and your outfit. You resist the urge to smack him over the head, and somehow manage to smile sexily and place a hand on your hip.

  His eyes fill with lust.

  “Well, if it isn’t Jen Anderson! Didn’t I tell you that sometime soon you would be here?”

  The girl who he was talking to turns away, annoyed, but Steve doesn’t care. His eyes are all over you. You are all he wants right now.

  And you know it.

  This how we’re going to get in.

  “And here I am.” You make your smile that little bit sexier. “So what do you intend to do about it?”

  He steps a little closer to you, and puts his hand on your hips. You inwardly cringe at his touch, but stay focused.

  Just get Reuben in, just get him inside…

  “I’m going to meet you inside at eleven when my shift finishes, and I’ll decide then.”

  You look into his eyes, hold contact for a second, then wink. His smile grows wider, and you can see the hunger leering through his eyes. You want to get away. Fast.

  Steve gestures for you to go down the stairs and into the club. You beckon Reuben and he slouches past, looking down at the floor. You can tell that he is mad, but you say nothing. As you go past Steve, you smile at him.

  “See you later…” you whisper.

  Turning to follow Reuben, you take a deep breath.

  The hard part is done. Now I can enjoy myself.

  The two of you get to the bottom of the staircase. The music is even louder now. You can’t wait to get in, but before you can walk through the door Reuben rounds on you.

  “What the hell are you playing at, Jen? Steve Watts?! It’s like juggling fire wearing petrol-soaked gloves!”

  “I got us in, didn’t I?” you argue. Reuben doesn’t reply, but the look on his face says it all. You sigh. “I’ll be careful, don’t worry. Steve Watts is nothing I can’t handle.”

  I hope that’s true.

  Reuben looks doubtful, but before he can say another word, you push open the inner door and let yourself into the heaving club.

  The crowd is jumping in front of your eyes, and the heavy beat of the bass line makes you want to join the mass of teens that fill the dance floor. The music is so loud you can
’t hear yourself think. You see Mina up on stage, rocking the hell out of her pink guitar. You smile, listening to the lyrics of the song.

  “The pain was numb,

  I was gone,

  But you made it start to bleed again.

  Don’t think that I

  Can carry on,

  You’ll make me go insane again.

  The danger in your heart…

  It calls to me…

  I won’t be free,

  I won’t be me.

  I can’t resist,

  It’s like your kiss,

  It’s murder.”

  You feel yourself letting go. It’s time to party, methinks.

  You look over your shoulder. Rubes looks nervous again. He was scanning the crowd, but now his eyes have stopped travelling and he is transfixed – staring at the bar, where a guy dressed like a pirate is standing with a drink in his hand. The guy turns to the stage where Chaos is playing, giving you a view of his back…

  Recognizing the cutest behind on earth, you nudge your buddy out of his trance and take his hand. It’s clammy, and it grips yours tightly. You lean over and whisper in his ear.

  “It’s OK, Rubes, you’ll do fine. He asked you out, remember? I’ll see you later, OK?”

  He nods, showing that he heard you, and saunters over to J, who beams sexily as Reuben meets him.

  You pull your eyes away from Reuben and his date, and feel a shiver of excitement go through you. You realize your hips are swaying slightly to the beat. You make your way into the crowd, alone, and start to dance. It feels so good dancing with a few cute guys, but none of them are worth more than one song. You dance for a couple of hours, with some other girls and guys from your school (who, you suspect, were also let in by Steve), some more boys you don’t know, and no one in particular. You’re having a great time, not having to think about anything, anywhere, or anyone…

  A song finishes. You applaud with everyone else, and realize that you are thirsty. You go to the bar to get yourself a drink, looking around for Rubes and J. They are nowhere to be seen.

  Go, Reuben!

  Waving over to the bargirl, you start to order a bottle of water, but see the shot glasses in the back and they start to call to you. You remember earlier at the bus stop, when Reuben turned to you, suddenly serious, and asked you not to drink tonight.

  “I’m worried about you, Jen. I don’t want you to drink. I want you to look after yourself and have good, clean fun, OK? You don’t need alcohol to have a blast. So promise me?”

  You had promised him, but you can see the bottles. They are staring at you.

  Drink me.

  You feel like Alice in Wonderland, or Eve with the apple. But you owe Reuben. The least you can do is keep your promise.

  You grab your water and turn to look around the room. Your eyes flick past the door, but they spring right back to it when you recognize the person walking through it. Steve starts to look around the room.

  He’s trying to find me. I need to hide… you panic, but then someone walks in through the door and wipes it from your mind.

  Madonna, aka Misha Reeves, has made her entrance. She’s dressed in silver hot pants, a cone bra and knee-high boots, and wiggles her butt over to Steve’s side. You watch his frowning face clear as she latches on to his side, distracting him from his search as her checks her out. She looks determined to have his attention, flicking her hair and stroking his arm, leaning in close to hear what he has to say and laughing hysterically when she hears it. She reaches up, whispering something in his ear. They disappear out of your sight. You feel yourself relax and smile.

  Let’s dance.

  You duck down and make your way through the crowd to the thickest bit, and start to bop to the beat, dancing with yourself. Not for long.

  You feel a pair of eyes on you. Next to you is a guy dressed all in black, with a long black cape. He’s wearing a mask, like you, over the top half of his face, but you see his eyes lit with a fever, the music a fire in his soul. Those eyes captivate you for a second, their scorching heat burning you. He takes your hand in his gloved one, and pulls you a little closer. He smiles. It’s familiar, that smile, but in the darkness you can’t place it. You place your hands on his hips. He slides closer to you and sways his hips in time to the music, effectively swaying yours too. Your breath dries your mouth, as the two of you dance closer and closer. Your face is centimetres from his. You can see a slight sweat glisten on his forehead, and his eyes – those amazing eyes – lock on to yours. You can’t pull away.

  You are standing, hardly breathing, not hearing the deafening music, just staring into those eyes, lost. You lean forward those few extra centimetres and connect your lips with his. He hesitates first and then falls into the kiss. The place is empty. It’s just you and this handsome stranger, intertwined in an embrace.

  I know you… you think. I know that kiss…

  You gently pull away, leaning your forehead against his, looking back into those eyes and knowing who he is. He leans into you too – breathing deeply, and silently asking you if you want to carry on.

  I so want you… you think. But it’s not right, we’re enemies, how can I do this…?

  You bring up your hand and stroke the line of his jaw, up to where his mask starts.

  “Chris?” you whisper.

  He turns his head so his lips are at your ear. You close your eyes. His hot breath feels electric against your skin. He whispers something, but you don’t quite catch it.

  Your eyes flicker open, but he’s gone. You turn a full circle, straining to see any sign of a cape. Nothing. Chris isn’t anywhere near. The crowd bumps against you and you frown, confused.

  Where did he go? you think, touching your lips where he had been just seconds before. And what did he say? “I’m still your Romeo”? What does that mean?

  Suddenly, you feel far too hot, and way too claustrophobic. Your head spins, and you fall back a little into another girl.

  “Hey! Watch it!” the girl cries.

  You move away from her, pushing your way through the crowds to the back exit. On your way, your hand gets grabbed and you are pulled backwards by Kate Littleton, her face flushed from dancing with a hot guy from the year above. She leans over and shouts to you.

  “I’d get out of here if I were you – Misha’s on the warpath. Steve knocked her back to come and find you, and she’s bitter as hell!”

  You nod to show that you heard, but continue to push your way through the crowd. You need to get out, get into the night, into the fresh air. You reach the door and push it, but it doesn’t budge.

  “Stupid handle…” you mutter. But then you catch sight of the plaque that says, “Pull”, and you do just that.

  You practically fall out on to the street, the warm breath rising quickly from your mouth into the pitch-black night. You immediately start to shiver. The door bangs shut behind you, leaving you alone in an alley beside the club, with a few rubbish bins for company. You take out your mobile phone and check the time. 12.17 a.m.

  God, Rubes is gonna kill me… you think fleetingly, before calling his phone and waiting for him to pick up. You can’t think about Reuben for long, though. Your mind suddenly takes you back a few minutes to when Chris found you on the dance floor. You inhale sharply at the thought of his touch; shivering, but not from the cold.

  What does this mean? What is he doing? What am I going to—

  Your thoughts are interrupted when Rubes picks up the phone. He sounds worried. And a little pissed off.

  “Where in hell are you, Jen? You were supposed to meet us at eleven thirty. Where have you been?”

  You realize you don’t have a good explanation.

  “Tell me where you are and we will pick you up,” he hisses.

  “Down the side alley near the band entrance,” you whisper into the
receiver.

  “Don’t move,” Rubes sighs. “We’ll be there in five.” You hear the dial tone as Rubes ends the call.

  Oh God, I kissed Chris. Again!

  “Here you are.”

  A voice to your left makes you jump. You look up. The lust in the Steve Watts’s eyes is apparent, and you realize you are alone and vulnerable. You come to your senses quickly.

  “Yeah, sorry about that. I must have not seen you. It was very crowded in there, after all…” You stop mid-ramble.

  “Well, I’ve got you here now. We’re alone. Just what we wanted.”

  He grins in what he thinks is an attractive way, but actually makes him look quite dumb and slightly creepy. He takes a step closer to you. You take a step back, closer to the wall.

  “No, babe, don’t turn away. Come to me and we can have a little” – he reaches out and runs his fingers up your arm so that you flinch with disgust – “fun.”

  You find your voice beneath your fear. “Thanks, Steve, but … er … no thanks…” you mutter, your hands finding the clammy wall, as you inch towards the street at the end of the alley. “Reuben is waiting for me. I have to go now.”

  You start to move, but Steve is clearly hoping for more. He moves in for a kiss.

  You struggle with all your might, but since Steve is one of the best athletes to go to your school, as well as a part-time bouncer with large muscles, your attempts are useless.

  You have to stop this now. “I said NO!”

  “WHAT THE—”

  A voice comes from the other end of the alley and you use the distraction to pull away from Steve, but he has already let go. The force of your pull causes you to fly back. Stars erupt in front of your eyes as your head connects with the ground with a sickening bump. A guy dressed all in black, wearing a cape and mask, sprints past you and after Steve, who is using his athletic training to run as fast as he can.

  You’re beginning to pick yourself up when the caped boy returns.

  “You OK?”

  You try to speak but find it difficult. You nod slightly. More footsteps echo in the alley. They quicken.