if he is going to stare at her as much as he did last Saturday, she is going to give him something to stare at. Abbey is under no illusions. She knows deep down that there is no way someone as breathtakingly good-looking as Alex would ever be interested in her. She has always been told how beautiful she is but she doesn’t think herself as anything special and Alex is way out of her league. This time though, she is prepared, and determined to make herself look as appealing as she possibly can, regardless of her chances.
After applying her make-up Abbey dries her long, red hair and curls it into soft waves that fall just past her shoulders, styling her fringe so that it sweeps softly over her left eye. She knows exactly which outfit to wear to achieve the effect she desires. A pair of black shorts with gold buttons down the front, her favourite cream, sleeveless crop-top and her cream stiletto heels. She finishes her outfit with a set of gold bangles on her right wrist and a pair of gold drop earrings.
Abbey gathers her phone, money and most importantly, her I.D and shoves it all into a cream and gold clutch as she checks her reflection in the mirror one last time. She looks good… and she feels it too. A car horn beeps as her taxi pulls outside… ‘perfect timing’. She skips downstairs and is almost out of the front door when Peter appears behind her.
“Where are you going?” He snaps.
“Out with friends… Mum said I could remember…?”
“Dressed like that?”
“We’re going out Pete… I’m 18…”
“Don’t be back any later than 11:30pm…” Abbey bursts into laughter before she can stop herself.
“Half 11?! You were out every single weekend when you turned 18 and you were rarely ever home before 2:00am!”
“Maybe not… but I wasn’t taking the piss by sneaking out and playing truant from school like a complete idiot either, was I?!”
There is so much that Abbey wants to say, but it would be a complete waste of time trying to get her brother to listen and she is so sick of arguing with him. The taxi beeps again.
“Don’t wait up…” She smirks, racing out of the door and down the driveway before Peter can stop her.
As Abbey approaches the apartment block she begins to regret not meeting Lucy beforehand. Her nerves are kicking into over drive and she is one step away from hyperventilating. ‘For god sake get a grip’ she scolds herself. She presses the button for flat 38 and the door buzzes immediately. As she exits the lift on the 9 th floor she has to keep reminding herself how to put one foot in front of the other. She is really eager to see Alex, but he is so unpredictable and so completely uninterested in her. Why she is getting her hopes up and allowing herself to get excited about something that is clearly never going to happen, she has no idea. As Abbey approaches the door to the flat she can hear music playing and what sounds like Gemma laughing. She takes a deep breath, composes herself, and knocks loudly. The door swings open and Tom’s eyes widen in surprise. He takes the joint he is smoking out of his mouth and looks Abbey up and down.
“Fucking hell girl… you scrub up alright don’t you…?!”
“Thanks… I think!” She laughs. Tom hugs her as she enters the flat and she quickly scans the kitchen, trying not to make it obvious exactly who she is looking for. Sophie and Gemma are sitting at the table and Darren is leaning by the fridge… but no Alex. Abbey makes her way over, hugging them all in greeting.
“You look great babe…” Gemma smiles.
“Thank you, so do you…” Abbey replies, blushing at the compliment.
Sophie pours Abbey a glass of wine and the five of them move into the living room to join Lucy, Nathan and Liam. As they pass through the hallway Abbey prepares herself, knowing that she could bump into Alex at any second, but rather disappointingly, he is nowhere to be seen.
Lucy jumps up excitedly and squeals with delight as she races
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