Battered

Chapter 5

"Nadine" I call over the loud music, "I'm going to the toilet"

"I'll come with you" she downs the last of her vodka and coke in one gulp, "Nic, Sarah, we're going to the loo."

"Ok" Sarah gets out of her chair, "I'll have the next round waiting when you get back." And with that she heads off towards the bar, leaving Nicola to save our table.

Nadine and I fight our way through the crowd and manage to get to the ladies' relatively unharmed; some drunk guy near the dance floor bumped into Nadine and almost spilled his drink on her new dress, but he was pretty good-looking so she accepted his apology and got his phone number too.

I stand in front of the mirror and reapply my eyeliner while Nadine dries her hands, "It looks like it's going to be a late one tonight; Sarah is on a mission to get us all drunk" she laughs over the loud whirring of the hand drier.

Sarah Harding is the ultimate party girl. Like Nadine and I, she is a family liaison officer and her philosophy in life is to "work hard, play harder". She is great fun and guaranteed to liven up any night out; we've been close friends for years.

Nadine runs a hand through her hair and we venture back out into the noise. As promised, Sarah has a tray of drinks and several multicoloured shots waiting at our table. An empty shot glass is sitting in front of Nicola and the redhead looks even paler than usual.

"What did you give her?" Nadine laughs, raising the empty glass to her nose and sniffing it, "It smells like bubblegum"

Sarah picks up two, light-blue coloured shots from the table and passes one each to me and Nadine, "It's called Sugar Rush"

"On three?" Nadine asks, glancing at me

I nod and Sarah begins counting, "One...Two...Three!"

I tip the glass up and drink the contents in one mouthful; Nadine does the same. Placing the empty glasses back down on the table I feel the sickly sweetness of the drink coursing through me

"Jesus!" Nadine exclaims, holding a hand to her mouth

I reach for my vodka and lemonade, "That was way too much sugar for my liking!"

Nicola sips her wine as the colour returns to her cheeks, "Those pink ones look nice Sarah, what are they?"

Sarah gathers up four of the very cute looking pink shots and passes them out, "You'll like these ones; I guarantee it. They taste like raspberry and vanilla."

I lean down and hover my nose above the glass, breathing in the aroma, "It smells gorgeous"

"Mmm, it does" Nicola agrees

Sarah lifts up her glass, ready to down it; the three of us do the same. "Loser buys the next round?" she challenges with a glint in her eye

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A few hours and one too many shots later, the four of us are well on the way to utter drunkenness.

"Honestly, I was about five seconds away from decking the guy" Sarah slurs, "If PC Evans hadn't put him in the back of the police van, I would have given him a right hook!"

"Sarah!" Nicola looks shocked at the blonde's confession

"Oh come on Nic," Nadine chips in, "You see first-hand what bullies like that do to women. Are you seriously telling me that you've never wanted to clobber one of them?"

"I have"

Three pairs of eyes stare and it takes a second for my brain to catch up and realise that it was actually me who said that

"You?" Sarah teases, "but you're little miss goody-two-shoes"

"It's true" I say, as the three of them try not to laugh

"Oh yeah, when?" Nicola asks, clearly unconvinced

"Last week..." I start

"Ohhhhh, I bet it was that footballer" Nadine interrupts, "The one who battered that Geordie girl."

"Cheryl" I clarify with a nod

I'm just about to explain why I'd love nothing more than to give her waste-of-space husband a taste of his own medicine when one of my favourite songs comes blasting out of the club's speakers; I get up out of my chair and pull Nadine to her feet, "Come and dance with me" I plead

She rolls her eyes and puts her glass down on the table. Hand in hand, we make our way through the crowd onto the packed dance floor.

We find a space and the loud music pounds in my ears as we dance together. It's so loud that I can't hear my own thoughts. I catch Nadine's eye and smile. She was right; a girl's night out was just what I needed.

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"Nadine, have I ever told you that you're my bestest friend ever" the words sound perfectly clear in my head, but getting them to come out of my mouth in the right order is proving somewhat of a challenge.

Nadine ignores me and tells Nicola to grab my other arm as we exit the cab

"Where are you taking me?" I ask because I really don't have a clue.

"Home" Nadine says, sounding slightly miffed

I feel myself being guided down a street. Oh, wait, this is my street. I live here.

"But I don't want to go home. I want to go dancing"

Maybe we already went dancing? Yeah, I definitely remember that there was dancing at some point. I also remember those hideous blue shots that Sarah bought us. Yuck!

"Kim, you threw up" Nicola explains, "We are taking you home"

Oh yeah, I remember that. I kind of wish I didn't to be honest; it was not a pleasant experience.

Nadine takes my keys out of my hand bag and opens my front door. Somehow her and Nicola manage to get me up the stairs and into my bedroom. I attempt to put my nightclothes on but stumble all over the place; so Nadine does it for me. I really do love Nadine; she's such a good friend. And Nicola too. And even Sarah, but my God she can be loud sometimes.

I climb into bed and Nadine tucks me in, "Goodnight babe" she leans down and kisses my forehead

Nicola turns off the light and the last thing I hear before I fall asleep is Nadine's soft voice as they leave my room, "At least we know she won't be calling Justin tonight."