Score: Escapism - RAYE, 070 Shake

Lydia

For the next two weeks, I do a fairly decent job at keeping the promise I made to myself. I manage to get quite a bit of revision done. I keep my resolve to stay out of trouble and away from Mark. The world seems to be moving on, as usual, without concern for my internal battles, and the first A-Level has come and gone and, despite being completely out of it, I feel like I have smashed it. It was Bio, though, the easiest one and the one I have had the least concerns about.

After the exam, Patrick left with his parents for France, to prepare the boat for the new sailing season. Our relationship's definitely gone...weird since that night at the restaurant. Every time I even look at him, I feel like filth. And it's not only about cheating on him. It's about how I'd used him to make myself feel better after the argument we had with Mark on the stairs.

I can't believe I did this to Patrick...

I'm keeping my resolve to work on our relationship. We have been talking on the phone every day since he left for France, and I even promised him I'd reconsider going on the sailing trip.

Other people have noticed that things have gone weird between us. Even people outside our close-knit circle. Freaking Greg, whom I've talked to five times for all our years in school, asked me if there was trouble in Paradise, after our exam. Gloria and Alex have also been asking if everything's alright. And all that's done, is make me feel like shit even more.

I can't really talk to anyone about this. Guilt has been eating away at me ever since that night. I feel like I've been carrying this load around my neck, dragging me down, suffocating me with my every step.

On the bright side, it's officially June now, and the fact that summer is, truly upon us, is helping me feel a little less miserable. However, June means Gloria's birthday, and now that he is here for the summer, Gloria's birthday means seeing Mark. And, seeing Mark is against every single self-imposed rule I've put on myself recently.

Because, despite all my efforts, and the good-girl act I have going on right now, I keep going back to that night in his car, when I am lying in bed at night. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to be able erase the memory of his heated breath on my body. It feels like his touch is seared into my skin. For that, I hate myself so, so much.

Even though I haven't contacted him, I also feel hurt that he hasn't reached out to me at all since the day we talked on the street. My heart gets filled with pain, every time I go back to our last conversation. How bitter he was. His words, full of bile. How he said we weren't even friends anymore.

We've been friends for as long as I can remember. How could we be so stupid, ruining it all that night in his car? Is he angry at me for what happened that night?

Oh, God, does he think I am a raging slut? Yet, he's the one, who kissed me first...

So, when the day finally comes, I am more than a tad nervous to go to Gloria's birthday party.

Which is today.

Gloria's birthday parties have always been epic. As her birthday is on the day of the Summer Solstice, the parties have almost always been held at the estate, even before she officially moved there with her mom and Petra after her parents divorced. It is usually the last epic party of the school year before everyone goes on vacation with their families.

When we were younger, Glo'd get themed parties with the trendiest Disney characters, chocolate fountains, and mountains of her favourite Victoria sponge cake. Then, as we grew older, her parties became wilder. Champagne and cocktails would flow freely, dancing would carry on till dawn and only God knows what had been happening behind the closed doors of the many guest bedrooms of the house.

But one tradition has lasted through the years and has only been getting wilder with every year: playing tag.

The most epic so far had been the one last year, when The Game started at 00:00 exactly on the night of her seventeenth birthday, and we ran around with the flashlights of our phones on, until dawn broke.

This year, Gloria's promised it'd be even more extravagant, as it is her eighteenth birthday, and our final Game, before we split to move to different parts of the country, or even the world, to study.

Poor Gloria. She deserves her last big party, after everything that happened with her mum. Diana's gone on Rehab and Gloria's grandma moved back to the estate to be with Glo and Petra a couple of weeks ago.

It pains me to know that her beautiful, bright daughters, are now forced to lie to their own father, in order to keep Diana's secret, and would not be seeing their own mother for God knows how long. She won't even be here for Gloria's birthday...

Alex and Nate are picking me up from the flat, to go to the party together. We are staying over for the night, as are most of the guests. As there will be many people staying over, and I am going solo, because Patrick is still in France with his parents, I will be sharing Petra's bedroom with her.

I am on the phone with Patrick, as I am packing an overnight bag. I am wearing a simple navy cable dress, white sneakers, and a cross-body bag, as I want to be comfortable for The Game, and am packing some simple essentials.

"That's amazing, babe!" I cheer, as Patrick tells me that his dad has gotten the permit to sail to Italy and port on the Italian coast, which is great news.

"It is! I can't wait for you to see the coast!" He says and I sigh.

Yes, I told him I'd reconsider, but I haven't reconsidered as of yet.

"Anyway, say Hi to Gloria from me. Did you get the present?" Patrick and I are giving Glo tickets for her and Liam to go to a Dua Lipa concert, which she's been blabbing on and on about for ages. I know she'll love it.

"Yeah, I got them. She'd just die when she sees them!"

"Let's hope not!" Patrick laughs and I can't help but join in.

"Babe, Alex, and Nate are here. I'll talk to you later tonight, yeah?"

"Sure, babes, talk to you later. Love you!"

"I love you, too," I say and hang up.

On the trip to Gloria's, Alex and I don't stop teasing each other, about the ridiculous stuff that we've done over the years at Gloria's birthday parties. Alex has made Gloria a collage of old photos that I helped her pick out during our sleepover after Biology, and most of them are of the three of us, being silly or drunk, or both.

We arrive at Gloria's and the house is crowded already. It is even more packed than on the last day of school, as this time people outside of our school are also invited. I recognize some of Gloria's many, many cousins as I walk up the stairs to Petra's room with my overnight bag flung over my shoulder. Alex and Nate are taking the bedroom down the hall from Petra's room and their room will be our "Getting Ready" room.

Petra promised to do our make-up. She's been following some make-up guru on TikTok and, apparently, knows how to do it "right". She definitely knows more about make-up than I do and I can't help but be amazed at the amount of make-up fifteen-year-old girls these days own when she walks into the room with a clear storage box full of eye shadow palettes, foundation, and make-up brushes.

She does some weird thing with my cheekbones that makes them look crazy-defined. I am impressed. After my make-up's done, I gather my hair into a high ponytail to keep it off my face for The Game and sit on the bed to watch as Petra is working her magic on Alex.

"Oh, my God, love, when did you grow up so much to be able to do make-up like a professional," I say, and Petra giggles.

"I have a long way to go before I turn pro," Petra says and applies some shimmery stuff on the tip of Alex's nose.

"Do you want to do it? You know, professionally?" I ask and take a sip from my G&T. We are having a little pre-lush in the room, as we are getting ready.

"Yes, I'd love to," she smiles and I can see her eyes sparkling.

"Hey, can I borrow this?" I ask, taking a concealer and a tube of lip gloss from her make-up stash. I have been bingeing chocolate to help me through my exam anxiety and I am sporting a massive spot on my forehead that Petra covered up, but I'd like to have something to reapply, just in case. And the lip gloss? Hey, a girl can never have enough lip gloss, right?

"Sure," she says, while carefully sticking false lashes on Alex's eyelids.

When we are all ready, we go downstairs to the living room, where the boys are playing pool and watching a football match on the giant TV. There are servers in black aprons, handing out champagne and food. We leave our presents on the big table, designated for this purpose, and grab some drinks.

I nervously look around, looking for Mark. When I can't find him, I feel a weird mixture of relief and disappointment seep through my body. It's like I've expected him to be there, and dreaded it all at once, but a glimpse at him would have been nice, just to make sure he's had as tough a time, trying to avoid me, as I've had, trying to avoid him.

Gloria is also nowhere to be seen yet. She's usually the last one to arrive at her birthday parties and loves a dramatic entrance.

So, when she simply, but gracefully descends the stairs on Liam's arm half an hour later, it is a huge surprise.

Maybe we are growing up, after all.

The living room and the packed hallway literally erupt with cheering, shouting, and clapping, as the Birthday Girl joins us, looking absolutely gorgeous, in a comfortable-looking all-white workout ensemble, and sneakers, ready for The Game.

Gloria walks into the kitchen and we all follow. She's holding a bunch of cards on strings, and I instantly know this is going to be a part of The Game.

Liam helps her stand on the island and she starts speaking.

"Listen up, people!" She has professionally done hair and make-up, which I am afraid will be completely ruined once we start playing, but, hey, the most important thing is for her to feel beautiful.

"You know the rules. However, this year, we're gonna make it a little bit more interesting," she shouts and we cheer again.

"All of us will be wearing cards with our names on them. I have taken care and printed out cards with everyone's names."

More cheering.

"I know, I know, I am amazing. So, if you are caught, the person who catches you takes your card."

The cheering is getting louder and louder.

"And all of the cards you have taken from other people, if you have taken any. As you know, my birthday starts at midnight tonight. So, The Game ends exactly then. Arthur will fire a gunshot to announce the end. We will gather here, in this kitchen, at midnight, to celebrate my birthday and to announce the winner. The one, who has collected the most cards, wins. They will get this baby," and she lifts a bottle of really nice champagne over her head. The cheering erupts again. "If you've been caught, though, you have to take a shot for every card you've had, but lost, including the one with your name."

Even more cheering.

"You have exactly four hours, fols!" She says, looking at her watch. "You have ten minutes to disperse. Arthur will take a gunshot in exactly ten minutes to announce the start. Let the best player win."

At that, she jumps from the island and disappears into the sea of people, who are cheering and high-fiving her. She goes around, handing out the cards. When a person takes their card, they run for their lives through the open doors to the grounds. As Gloria reaches me, we exchange a brief hug before I take my card and head out, shooting her an "I'm on you" look on my way.

I check the time on my phone. Ten to eight. I run to the the fields, trying to push through the pandemonium that has broken around me and to get as far away from anyone, who can catch me, as possible. I mentally pat myself on the back for going running in Hyde Park every day for the past two weeks, as now I manage to run quite far before I hear the gunshot that Arthur, the gardener, and game-keeper, fires, announcing the beginning of the game. I even manage to enter the woods, surrounding the fields, and take shelter under the trees. As it is the longest day of the year, the sun is still quite high up in the sky, so I decide to stay in hiding and take people by surprise in the woods until the sun sets in two hours or so.

I hear footsteps and hide behind a tree. I recognize Greg and Anita's voices, coming from the trail. I jump in front of them and take their cards in one swift motion. They look completely taken aback and I am glad that my tactic is working.

"Gotcha!" I say over my shoulder as I run deeper into the woods.

A couple of hours pass and I have caught two more people, Emma and Paige, Gloria's youngest cousins. Their name cards are wrapped around my wrist, along with Greg's and Anita's, for anyone, who dares to approach me, to see and behold my war decorations. My ponytail is already a mess, decorated with twigs and leaves from the trees, and I am sweaty and my legs are covered in dust and scratches from the grass and bushes, but I am happy and in a full-on seek-and-destroy mode now, from the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

It is getting dark and I decide to abandon my shelter in the woods and sneak back towards the house. I smack some lipgloss on, as I plan on encountering more people, whose cards to take, and I want to look good, as they see who they're losing to. I duck down as I walk into the open and break into running through the grounds in the twilight. I see someone running towards me, half-turned toward the house. It's Nate. He doesn't see me and comes literally crashing into me. I wrap my arms around him and pull three cards from around his neck. Confused, he turns to face me and a grin splits his pretty-boy face.

"Oh, thank God, Lydia!" He says, and turns towards the house, joining me. "I was getting really bored and tired already, and, I could really use a drink." He winks at me with his killer eyes and smiles. "Plus, there is a match I'd really love to watch right now. Half the lads are already inside, watching it." I feel slightly bad for Gloria and her Game, but, hey, fair play to Nate, as well. "I was looking for Alex, I was going to give her my cards, but you'll do, as well." He says.

We walk past the greenhouse and I see that the lights are on. I duck my head below the windows and wave to Nate to do the same, as I detect some movement inside.

Gotcha, too!

I give Nate a look, begging him to keep quiet and point to the greenhouse. I put my finger in front of my lips, wink at him and slowly turn towards the entrance of the greenhouse. He nods and lifts the corner of his mouth into a mischievous smile, before taking off in the direction of the house again.

I try to open the door as silently as possible, but it creaks awfully, completely busting my cover. I can see a tall, male figure, standing by the window with their back turned on me. I run and jump on their back, wrapping my arms around their neck, tearing their card, and screaming "Surrender, pirate!" in their ear.

The figure grunts and growls, and puts up a short fight, causing us to nearly fall to the ground, one on top of the other.

When I look down at the face of the person, whom I nearly scared to death and whose back I am still latched onto, I yelp in surprise, let myself go, and fall like a sack of potatoes on my ass on the dirt floor of the greenhouse.

I prop myself up on my elbows and look up to meet a pair of golden-brown eyes, shooting me a surprised, annoyed glare.

Fucking hell.

It's Mark fucking Carter.