I pulled the sun visor down and looked in the mirror, fluffing my hair as I did. Maybe a little something extra to brighten it up might work?
“I could add in a few highlights, I suppose.”
“Oh my God, yes. That’d catch the sun and make it pop. Do it.” Liv urged me, nudging her shoulder into me. “It doesn’t have to be a permanent colour, just try something out and see if you like it.”
I glanced across to Effy to gauge her reaction.
“Go for it, Em.” She smiled and pulled into the car park in front of my hairdressers.
Three hours later, and I was waltzing back out into the sunshine, sporting a new, shinier look. Steph, my hairdresser, had teased my curls until they fell in spirals down my back, and the chocolate was now complemented by honey and caramels to soften the look. I’d never dyed my hair before. Okay, so I hadn’t gone drastic and dyed it blue, but for me, this felt edgier. The first step to a new, bolder me.
I spotted Effy’s car across the car park. Bless her for coming back to pick me up, she really was the sweetest. I told her she didn’t have to, but she’d insisted. I was lucky to have such good friends. I got into the car to a chorus of “Ooo’s” and “Ahh’s.” Liv was sitting in the back still and reached forward to stroke my hair in appreciation. I pushed her off, laughing at her playfulness.
“You look amazing, chick. We need to…” Effy didn’t get to finish her sentence. The simultaneous ping coming from all three of our mobile phones stopped us in our tracks and had us all reaching for them. I tapped my unlock code onto the screen and saw the message waiting to be opened.
We’ve got you covered.
What the hell?
“The fuck is this?” Liv said, mirroring my own thoughts.
I opened the message and saw the coordinates for what I assumed was their next party. Question was, why were we getting this all of a sudden? They’d already said we didn’t belong there. Now they were sending us invites? It didn’t add up.
“I was about to suggest that we needed to take you out and show off that new hair, Em. Looks like we have the perfect excuse now,” Effy said, waving her phone at me to show she’d got the same message and grinning like she’d won the lottery.
“Fuck that. We aren’t going,” Liv spat back, throwing her mobile back into her handbag in anger.
“Aren’t we?” Effy frowned and glanced back at Liv. It was written all over her face, Eff wanted to go, and I found myself wondering what’d happened to change her mind. Days ago, she’d told me I needed to avoid those boys like the plague. Now, she was buzzing from getting an invite.
In all honesty, I was as curious as fuck to find out what the hell these boys were playing at. One minute we didn’t exist, didn’t even register on their radar; we were pariahs. The next, we were threatened, mocked and chased because we didn’t belong there, apparently. And now? Now, it was all weird mixed signals, mind fucks and secret messages. I had to know what the deal was here. These boys were starting to play with my head. Ryan Hardy was getting under my skin and I knew something wasn?
??t right about all of this.
“No, we’re not.” Liv wasn’t going to be easily swayed on this one. “They scared the fuck out of Em the last time. Didn’t make us feel all that welcome either. The music was good, but the company? I think it’s a hard pass, girls.” Liv folded her arms and sat back, looking out of the side window. She didn’t look chilled out though, she looked pissed as fuck.
“I’m okay, Liv,” I said, trying to calm her down. “And to be completely honest with you both, I’m kind of wondering why they’ve invited us in the first place.” Liv turned to me and shrugged, but I could tell she still wasn’t convinced. “We’ve never had these messages before. So, why now? I think we should go, even if it’s to find out what their game is.” Liv rolled her eyes and huffed. “I mean, why do they want us there? Is this some kind of trick or trap?”
“If it is, why do we want to fall into it?” she argued back.
“But we wouldn’t. We’re smart.” I gave her a wink. I knew she loved a challenge.
“Maybe we should think of a dumbass name for ourselves. We’d think of something a hell of a lot cooler than Renaissance girls.” Liv laughed and rolled her eyes again. She was starting to warm to the idea.
“Renegade girls,” Effy said smiling.
“Eff, I like your thinking. We’re the rebels.” Liv snorted at me, but I kept going. “The new rebels. We’ll defy anyone who fucks with us or tries to control us. Renegade warriors. Warrior queens.”
“Jeez, you girls are really getting ahead of yourselves. It’s a fucking party invitation, not a declaration of war,” Liv said.
“Isn’t it?” I lifted my phone as I spoke. “This right here is them throwing down the gauntlet. They think we’re weak little princesses who’ll crumble under the first sign of trouble. We need to show them that’s not true. We’re going.” I gave Liv a pointed stare. “We’re all going, and we’ll play them at their own game. Come on. It’ll be fun. I’ve never known you to stand down from a challenge, Liv.”
Liv huffed and gave me one last eye roll before saying, “Fine. We’ll go. Eff, you can be designated driver again. I’ll need all the alcohol to get through this.”
“This can’t be it, surely?” Effy said as we made our way down the dirt track, following her Sat Nav’s directions.
It was dark out, and the trees that hung over the path we were driving down enclosed all around us, like eerie death-eaters. Everything about this journey so far screamed set-up. Shit, in all our confusion about whether we would go or not, we hadn’t countered in the fact that we might be the only ones to get that message. What the hell were we driving into? Maybe we weren’t as clued up as we thought?
I needed to sharpen my brain if I was going to engage with these four boys. They always did their homework and then some. I was barely showing up to class. Had I just dropped a major ball putting us out here like this? Jesus, I’d probably painted a massive red bullseye on the three of us.