Breaking Her Rules

Chapter 29

I am very drunk. I realise this while standing in front of the cracked mirror in the little bathroom. There is toilet paper all over the floor and someone has written swear words in lipstick on the mirror.

My blurry reflection stares back at me. I'm clutching onto the side of the basin, trying to focus my eyes. I close one eye, which stops the world from spinning, and focus on my face. My make up is still intact but my hair is messy because at one stage I was wearing Watson's elf hat.

I wash my hands and struggle to open the door to the bathroom because of my wet hands. Ainsley is waiting for me outside. She's not as drunk as I am, but she blinks at me through half-shut eyes and gives me a lazy smile. I can tell she's getting tired, but a Flume remix is playing loudly on the speakers and I want to get out there and dance. I wipe my hands on my dress and then grab Ainsley's hand and pull her out towards the bonfire.

A bunch of girls and guys are dancing in a clear spot around the bonfire, and Ainsley and I make our way into the crowd and throw our hands up. Ainsley is more timid with her dancing than me so I grab her hands and pull them up above our heads as the bass drops. We scream out lyrics and laugh at our hilarious dance moves.

I notice Taylor dancing with a few of the Landor girls, including Scarlet. Scarlet is shooting me mean looks every so often, and it's clear she's not enjoying dancing as much as she should be, because she's too busy watching me. I shoot her a smile and turn away from her. Watson and Harrison join us to dance.

'Where is Jules?' I ask the boys over the music.

'Disappeared again,' Harrison tells me.

Watson grabs me out of Ainsley's grip and pulls me close to him to dance. 'This party is so good,' he breathes into my ear.

'You're always so affectionate when you're drunk,' I laugh, dancing in his arms. He has both hands around my waist so I sling my arms over his shoulders and grin up at him. 'I'm so fucking drunk.'

Watson smiles down at me, then glances back up at something behind me. The smile falters on his face slightly, but he quickly looks back at me. I glance behind me and notice Taylor and the Landor girls are still dancing. Watson must have caught sight of Taylor.

When I turn back to him he's watching me intently. 'Forget her!' I tell him. 'Just for tonight, forget all about her.' I grasp him tighter in as much of a hug as I can manage while we're dancing.

I grin drunkenly up at him when I pull away and he grins back. It's one of those rare moments that Watson and I share, like the ones we used to have before he started dating Taylor. I'm just thinking I'm so glad I have such a caring best friend when Watson leans into me and smashes his lips against mine.

I'm drunk. Watson is kissing me. His lips are dry and he opens his mouth too soon and I don't know how to react. I still have my arms around his shoulders. There's about five seconds where I try to get my head around that situation before I pull away. People are still dancing around us, totally oblivious to what has just happened. I blink up at Watson, shocked. His expression reflects absolute horror and confusion, but at the same time he actually looks pleased with himself.

'Worth a try?' he asks me, and then laughs sheepishly.

'Uh,' I stammer, staring at him. Watson Langley, with his curly brown hair, flattened by his elf hat, and his bright green pants. He's still gripping my waist and I pull away, grabbing his hands off my waist and dropping them.

'Yeah, of course not,' he says, looking down and away from me. 'I'm sorry,' he says, and then he turns and pushes his way out of the crowd of dancers. I watch his retreating figure, appalled.