Breaking Her Rules

Chapter 10

'Mum bought me a dress,' Ainsley says when I follow her into her bedroom. I've always liked Ainsley's room, even though it's so incredibly different from my own. Her bedspread is pure white. Her bedside table holds only a single white flower in a glass vase and a burning vanilla candle. Everything in her room is very minimal, much like Ainsley's own fashion sense, so when she presents the vibrant fuchsia dress to me I'm surprised.

'Your mum bought that for you?' I say. I take the pink dress from her and examine it in the full-length mirror.

'Have you tried it on?' I ask her. I look at her expression in the mirror. She looks meek and timid, and gives me a frightened shake of her head as response.

'Okay, you have to try it on,' I say, spinning around and pulling the dress off its hanger. 'Come on, quick!'

'Can you wait outside?' Ainsley asks weakly as I hand her the dress. I stare at her for a second, not letting go of my grip on the pink fabric, and then I shrug, and head back into the hall and close the door behind me. Ainsley and I have known each other since I was born. We've had baths together, we've shared lollipops and we've compared breast sizes, and she has never asked me to wait outside while she changed. After a minute, I knock on the door and call into her.

'Uh, hang on,' Ainsley replies from within.

I twist the door handle and walk into the room, catching her unzipping the dress. 'No come on Ains, let me see it on,' I say.

She rolls her eyes. 'It's just not me,' she says. 'It's too bright. I always wear black. That's just my thing, you know? I just like the sophistication of black.'

'You can be sophisticated in this,' I say. 'It may be bright but it's hot. Jake will think you look great.'

The dress does make her waist look incredibly small, I notice. It is detailed at the shoulders, creating an hourglass figure out of Ainsley's usually pencil slim body. She runs her hands down along her hips. 'It's just not me.'

'Well it's your house, so you can do whatever you want. I think you wear this dress, because it makes you look hot. But if you don't want to, that's fine. And if you wear it and you decide you want to change, then you can just run up here and change. It's totally up to you.'

Ainsley sighs. 'Yeah, I guess you're right. Okay, I'll wear it now, and if I freak out before everyone gets here I can just change into something easier.'

'Good,' I say. 'Let's go and see what the boys are up to.'

I'm already wearing a coral bodycon dress and strappy heels, and as we descend the stairs I notice the boys look up and watch us. I feel as if we're debutants, except this time it's Ainsley getting the attention, instead of me. I try not to be a little jealous.

'Ainsley Shepherd,' Julian exclaims, coming towards us with a deliberate slowclap and a wicked grin on his face.

'Oh stop it,' Ainsley says, her cheeks colouring to match her dress.

'Fucking hell girl, you clean up good, hey?' Julian says.

Harrison was setting up the lights outside, but at Julian's call he comes inside. He lets out a whoop when he catches sight of Ainsley. 'You look hot, Ains,' he says, and I pretend to be offended that Harrison hasn't called me hot.

In the kitchen, Julian and Watson are mixing ingredients to make punch.

'Should we add more Malibu, bro?' Julian asks when he takes a sip. 'It tastes pretty vile but we've still got a bit of Malibu left to add. It'll give it a bit more of a bite.'

I grab a plastic cup and ladle a small amount of the punch into the cup and sip at it warily. I wrinkle my nose at the taste. 'No one is even going to drink that,' I say.

'Trust me. When everyone's drunk, this punch will taste great,' Watson says.

I take the pineapple juice and take a big swig to wash away the aftertaste of the punch. Ainsley goes outside to check on the lights, and Julian goes to set up chairs, leaving Watson and me alone in the brightly lit kitchen.

'You do look good,' Watson says, when Julian has left. 'As if you need to hear that, but you really do. Do you want to help me chop up some fruit for this punch?'

'Sure,' I say, turning around to grab a chopping board. When I turn again to face Watson, it's to find him holding two oranges against his chest. He has a goofy grin on his face. I laugh and throw a tea towel at him.

He tosses both oranges into the air, catches them and drops them onto the chopping board. I slice them into thin slivers and we place them in the punch with bits of strawberry, kiwi-fruit and pineapple.

'There, that's what we were missing,' Watson says. 'Jules and I were hopeless without you. Girls know how to make everything look pretty.' He pulls me toward him and tries to push a slice of strawberry between my lips, but I squirm and pull away from him, laughing. He puts the slice of strawberry between his teeth and makes a goofy smile. He looks so cute with his dark ruffled hair. Tonight he's wearing a plain white shirt and dark wash jeans. I beam back at him.

A Two Soap Dolls song blasts on the speakers outside. I grin, and when I look at Watson I see he's grinning right back at me. We both step forward at the same time and laugh, and Watson lets me leave the kitchen before him so we can join the others outside. Ainsley has put up red balloons and decorated the house with hawks, because it's been a while since we've been to a large Cernette party, so it's good to get some house spirit going for it.

Julian slings his arms around Harrison and me. 'I want Two Soap Dolls to play at my funeral. I don't care about everyone being sad. I want Augie Porters screaming lyrics about sex in a van playing through a church.'

'You're drunk already, Jules,' I laugh.

At eight the start of the Cernette crowd starts arriving. Gabriel and Chester have brewed their own spirits, so we all do a shot of it to start the night. It tastes like exhaust fumes and Ainsley's eyes water after she does the shot, but then I grab her around her little pink waist and pull her into a hug and she laughs.

With the bass thumping on the huge speaker system my Dad got for us, we throw the front door wide open and start welcoming Hilverton students into the house. After an hour the party is in full swing, and I'm drunk. Ainsley and I are dancing in the living area. We've pushed the couches against the wall to make plenty of room for a dance floor, and the laser lights make patterns on the wall. Ainsley actually looks comfortable in her pink dress, and I can tell she's enjoying herself.

When Ainsley and I are tired from dancing we head towards the kitchen to grab another drink. As we're walking there, the music shuts off. I spin around, looking towards the speakers and wondering what's happening, and that's when I hear a scream. My stomach lurches as I wonder what has happened, and I take a step towards the living room. My path is blocked, and I can't help but let out a yelp, because standing straight in front of me is a wolf. I feel a surge of panic for about two seconds, before the lighting changes and I realise it's a guy wearing an eerily realistic wolf mask.

'Prisley is here!' someone yells, and suddenly the music starts blasting "Who Let The Dogs Out". More teenagers wearing wolf masks appear through the front door, running through the house and making howling noises.

'What the fuck!' I yell loudly.

'Em!' someone yells, and I spin around to see Watson pacing towards me.

'Watson, what's going on?' I ask.

'The Prisley wolves are trying to ruin this party,' Watson says.

I grit my teeth. 'We need to kick them out,' I tell Watson sharply.