Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Nine

Rideten, Five Years Before

The mood in the house was vastly different than it had been over the week, with music pumping out to greet Aislen as she walked up the path after her last class for the day. In the kitchen, Helena and Christine were making margueritas, the whir of the blender barely audible over the music. Both were semi-dressed, mid-preparation for the night out.

Aislen made her way up to the room that she shared with Bianca, who was styling her hair and looked up as she entered. “Happy Friday,” she saluted Aislen with a cocktail. “You’d best hit the showers quickly and get yourself glam. We’ll leave in an hour or so, just as soon as it gets dark.”

“Okay,” Aislen hurried to grab her toiletry bag and took it with her to the bathroom. As she showered, she debated what to wear. She had the dresses that she had bought with Tiffany, however, due to Dr. James and the rush to leave, Tiffany hadn’t altered them.

In the bedroom, she posed with the options before the mirror.

“That velvet is smoking,” Bianca said. “You should wear that. You know,” she tapped her comb against her lip. “If you’re going with the emo-goth thing, you should commit fully. You’d look great with black hair. I’ll dye it for you tomorrow, if you like.”

“Do you think?” Aislen considered herself in the mirror.

“Yeah, you’re pretty pale-faced, and black hair with the black clothing would really make you look ghostly. Oh, and you should wear that corset over the dress, not under it. It’s too pretty to hide under clothing. Here, I’ll do your makeup,” Bianca had Aislen sit on the bed and began to apply her eye make-up. “So, Helena says that you’re from someplace called Havermouth.”

“Yeah, it’s a small town between Trayrock and Redbank,” Aislen told her. “But I’m not really from there. I was from Lilyvale near Kabramatta, but my dad got a transfer and promotion and we moved to Havermouth just a couple of months ago.”

“Kabramatta’s a long way away.”

“Yeah, but it’s great there,” Aislen replied with enthusiasm, closing her eyes as Bianca applied shadow. “The art scene is amazing. There are always performances, music, art exhibitions. I’d move back there in a heartbeat.”

“Rideten’s pretty good. You’ll see tonight. I don't go every week to the clubs, though, just when I'm in the right mood for dancing.”

As Bianca finished her makeup, Aislen reached for her phone, checking the read out. As usual, there were no missed calls or messages. She sighed as she put it back into her bag.

“Boy trouble?” Bianca guessed.

“Mhm,” Aislen finished getting ready, putting the corset on outside her dress, and slipping on a pair of high heels that Tiffany hadn’t liked. Looking at herself in the mirror, she barely recognized who was looking back, she thought. The dark eye makeup made her eyes and lips pop, the only colour in a monochrome frame. She looked wild, a little wicked, and more sophisticated. “I like it,” she decided.

“It’s a good look on you. So, what are you going to do about the boy? Say screw him and have a quick fuck tonight to flush him out of your system?”

“No,” Aislen had a flash of Toby, and grimaced. “I’m just not… into other guys.”

“Oh, it’s true love then,” Bianca took a sip of her cocktail. “Tell me all about it.”

Before Aislen could respond, Helena and Christine called them down for margueritas, after which, they clattered out of the house into the darkness. There was a brisk walk down the road, and then they hopped onto the shuttle bus. It was busy, with young people from all over Rideten heading into the city center for an evening of drinking, dancing, and debauchery.

Bianca started chatting with a group of young men from the prestigious college down the road and dragged Aislen into the conversation. “This is our newest addition, Aislen. She’s from Lilyvale.”

“That’s a long way to travel in order to go to an art school,” the man who spoke reminded Aislen of the Gamma Rho Xi’s: clean cut, clean shaven, and polished with a sheen that spoke of money. Heath had the same sheen, she thought, and swallowed hard against the longing twist of her heart.

She shrugged with a smile, not really interested in the conversation.

“Alec thinks you’re hot,” Bianca giggled as they got off the bus, and the press of the crowds separated them from the men. “You just wait, they’ll catch up to us, and Alec will spend the night trying to seduce you.”

“I’m not interested,” Aislen replied hastily. She was beginning to regret the night, the press of bodies and minds straining at her fragile control over the bubbles. She longed for the river house, and an evening of wicked fucking and drinking with the Triquetra.

“It doesn’t hurt to play with his heart a bit,” Bianca laughed. “It’s called flirtation, Aislen. You don’t have to fuck him at the end of it, but you could dance and maybe give him a kiss to keep him sweet.”

Aislen was saved from answering as the group of men, along with Christine and Helena, caught up just as they reached the club district of Rideten. There were no motor vehicles allowed on the street, and pedestrians walked freely between the two sides, visiting restaurants, pubs, and clubs. Buskers sang at various points, their voices merging with the pulsing beats of the clubs.

Aislen’s breath caught in her lungs as she became overwhelmed by the noise and movement, the press of so many people around her.

They lined up to enter a club and stepped into a dark den of silhouettes writhing whilst the ever-moving lights tricked the eye into confusion. Somehow there was room on the dancefloor for them, and Aislen felt Alec’s hands on her hips as he ground into her from behind, his thoughts spilling into her with his plans to get her alone in one of the shadowy corners of the club and fuck her against the wall.

She met Bianca’s eyes and shook her head slightly. Bianca reached forward and caught her hand, tugging her forward and away from Alec, leading her through the crowd to the bar. They pressed forward to where the bartender could see them, and Bianca called for champagne and water.

“Thank you!” Aislen called out to her as Bianca handed her a bottle of water – but she was referring to Alec and saw in Bianca’s expression that the other girl knew.

“In our house we look out for each other,” Bianca yelled back. “It’s chicks before dicks, all the way.”

Despite several attempts by Alec to dance with Aislen, or to get her alone, Bianca made sure that she was always there, and that Aislen was not alone. Aislen’s gratitude was more than the small demonstrations of sisterhood warranted, she knew, because, for the first time since moving to Havermouth, she felt that she had a friend.

Alec ended up finding an easier target for his night’s aspirations, and shortly after midnight, Bianca leaned over Aislen. “I’m so done! My feet are KILLING me. Want to go?”

“Yes!” As fun as it had been to dance, Aislen was exhausted, overwhelmed by the noise, both audible and mental, and ready to collapse into her bed and sleep.

They signaled to Helena and Christine that they were leaving and waved goodbye before weaving their way back out onto the street. Aislen heaved a sigh of relief. The night had grown cold, and the press of pedestrians had thinned as the restaurants closed for the evening and the patrons moved into the pubs and nightclubs.

Their heels clipped across the paving as they hurried to the shuttle bus stop.

The bus was almost empty, and they collapsed into the seats gratefully.

“Did you have fun?” Bianca asked.

“I did,” Aislen replied. “I don’t think it’s really my scene though. It was fun, but every-now-and-again-fun, not every-week-fun.”

“Yeah, I get you,” Bianca inspected a blister on her heel with a grimace. “I don’t go every week myself. It’s more Helena and Christine’s scene. I have another thing that I like to do. Maybe it’s more your type of thing.”

“Oh?”

They stood and got off at the stop just down from the school and linked arms to keep warm, holding each other steady as they made their way back towards the school, pausing only to light their cigarettes.

Bianca blew out a cloud of smoke. “Yeah, it’s like a women’s circle. It will probably seem weird to you, but my mother and grandmother were big on that sort of thing. My grandma says that men call it witchcraft because it gives them the excuse to stop women from continuing to be the holders of ancient knowledge about herb craft, childbirth, and healing. Basically, it’s a bunch of women who get together, trade their herbs and beauty potions, perfumes and candles, read palms and tarots, drink wine, and all that sort of thing.”

“It sounds… really interesting,” Aislen replied as they entered the house. Bianca left the porch light on for Helena and Christine. “And a bit more my pace.”

“They might be able to help you, too,” Bianca added. “With your little problem.”

“My… problem,” Aislen swallowed.

“I share a room with you,” Bianca said gently. “And a bathroom. It’s pretty noticeable that every morning the first thing you do is chuck your guts up. Plus, all the phone calls you make, and the boy that never calls back, all says knocked up, and he’s not planning to support you.”

“No,” Aislen whispered. “It wasn’t like that between us. He doesn’t even know,” whichever one it was. Perhaps, and she dreaded to think it, perhaps it was even Toby’s. “I…” She sat on her bed fighting tears. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Well,” Bianca sat next to her and put her arm around her shoulders. “Talk to the ladies at the women’s circle. They’ll know all the options, whether you want to keep it or get rid of it, they’ll support and help you no matter what decision you make.”