Skinny Love

Chapter Four

The day of my 18th birthday my sisters took me to The Wooden Willows. They sat me on that stool and ordered me a frothy pint and demanded I scull it. It intimidated me, the way it frothed over onto the bar mat. I didn’t recognise the man that gave me it, and Jonah was nowhere to be found. So all I could do was sip it timidly. It tasted absolutely horrible, so bitter and just wrong. I didn’t like it.

“You’re doing it wrong!” Jodie whined, taking it off me and taking a large gulp. I winced away from her.

The last few months went by quick with school and friends. The Willows hadn’t really popped up in life. Sometimes I ran into Jonah at the markets and gave Will a quick wave when I saw him in town but that was really it, nothing too bad. But the many times I saw them I noticed the differences in their personalities. Jonah was very light and bubbly, always cheerful and willing to crack a joke at your expense. Will, however, was very quiet and broody, throwing smart, jeering comments my way when I said something stupid by accident. It was obvious that Will was the more attractive of the two, though.

Also, Mia and Taylor were really awkwardly getting together. I had never imagined them as a couple but I suppose you can’t control your hormones. We didn’t tell the parents though, or our Saturdays would have been destroyed. Harriet was still with her boyfriend and still royally dumb, but it was fine with me because I had someone to hang out with while Mia and Taylor were being weird. She also offered to meet me in The Wooden Willows at six o’clock, which was approximately two hours away.

Two hours I had to spend with my sisters that were bent on getting me drunk. The man behind the bar was beginning to take his apron off, sniffing and rubbing his face as if he was tired. I smiled at him nervously and he smiled back.

“Eighteen today?” He asked and I nodded. He grinned. “They’re your sisters?”

“Unfortunately.” I sighed, rolling my eyes and Noelle looked at me.

“I resent that.” She sniffed into her own drink. I had no idea how they got to be such slosh-heads, but then again we did live in Ireland so I sort of understood. I cracked the joints in my fingers as the man disappeared out back. “Oopsie.”

All over the bar mat was now Noelle’s drink. It dribbled off the table and onto her lap, the floor, until it started seeping all around her feet. She sat there, confused.

“SAMMY~!” She wailed. 'Sammy' never came so I sat awkwardly, the smell of beer wafting around my nose and sinking into my hair. I didn’t mind the smell of it, actually. It made me feel warm and groggy.

Watching my sister sit in a puddle of beer made me uncomfortable, so I leant over the bar for the cliché bartender rag that often lurked behind the scenes. I found it, but it was on the ledge where all the alcohol was kept. I knew if I leant my torso on the bar I could reach it, but I wasn’t sure of what would happen if I got caught. But the need for my sister’s dignity was a lot stronger than the punishment for stealing a cloth, so I hooked the heels of my boots on the bar stool and hoisted myself onto the bar. I rested my stomach on the bar top and reached out my hand, grabbing for it like a child who wanted its toy.

Jodie and Noelle watched curiously, paralysed by the sight of me risking my life for a cloth. I still could not reach it, the thick cotton firmly out of my grasp and I realised that my stretch was a bad idea. I began to over-balance and the floor suddenly got closer. I winced at the impact of my hands on the floor.

“Ahh, shit guys. Help?” I asked quietly, even though I knew they wouldn’t help at all. The door behind the bar opened and a new man walked out, tying his apron and fixing his hair. I watched his shoes move closer towards me, gracefully and quick. I heard him sigh and I frowned, all the blood rushing to my head.