Free The Wrong Girl by Zoe Foster Page A

didn’t want to know what she’d find when she got up to the second landing.
    The bathroom door was open, and Lily walked towards it, wishing for once she had a normal flatmate who’d be watching
The
X-Factor
in her pyjamas on a Sunday evening as opposed to orchestrating what sounded like a mini-spring break.
    â€˜Uh, Sim?’ Lily called out, trying to make herself heard over Salt-N-Pepa.
    â€˜SIM?’ she called again, this time with more determination and irritation.
    Nothing. Fine, she was going in. She stuck her head around the corner and saw the inspiration behind a million pornos, and some of the more edgy fashion magazines: Skye and Simone were topless in the daggy ’80s style corner bath, drinking champagne and splashing each other. There was a very hot, young guy standing in his boxers and a trucker cap laughing, dancing and geeing the girls up, smoking and taking photos on his phone and drinking champagne, all at once, which actually would have been quite impressive if it weren’t so disgusting. An iPhone was docked into Simone’s little travel speaker on the vanity, but it didn’t quite fit, and was hanging on a precarious angle. Not only were the overhead lights on, but the heat lights were on too, making it less ‘sexy, swinging spa party’ and more ‘bathtime then bed’. The whole scene was extraordinarily wrong.
    â€˜LIL! Lil’s home, my girl’s home. Ho, ho, hey-ho, where’s my girl been at, oh wheeeeeeere’s my girl been at!’ Simone grinned at Lily, swaying her head to the tinny music and her singsong greeting. She was off her face. So much so that it was questionable whether she had ever been
on
her face. Her glazed, dilated eyes told a sorry story, one involving no sleep for thirty-six hours, far too much booze and a
lot
of drugs.
    â€˜I’m not with him!’ Simone suddenly yelled, realising how it might look to Lily to see her ‘men cleanse’ buddy topless with a guy in the bathroom.
    â€˜NOTHING has happened at
all
. I’m a
good
girl, tell her, Kane, tell her nothing has happened and I’magoodgirl. Hezafriend, and I have had no man touches and I’magoodgirl.’
    He looked up at Lily.
    â€˜She’s not into me, babe, swear.’
    Lily believed them. He was not her type at all, far too young and broke-looking.
    â€˜Lily, come
in
!’ squealed Skye, clapping her hands as best she could while holding a flute of champagne. ‘We’re having our own pool party!’
    Skye became more infantile the more messed up she got, which was a lethal combination for men, especially when paired with partial nudity. Lily turned to the guy, still trying to make sense of it all. He was texting, but when he looked up and saw her looking at him, chucked his phone down onto the sink and bounded over and took her hand, jumping around and singing, trying to get her to bounce along with him. He could not have been older than twenty-one. His left arm was heaving with tattoos, and they all looked about two days old.
    â€˜This is like, the
best
song ever,’ he said, sincerely. ‘Like, old-school cool. Just, you know, how it
used
to be.’
    Lily wondered if this boy had even been alive when Salt-N-Pepa were big, let alone old enough to comment on it being ‘old school’. She shook her hand free, smiling so as not to cause offence, and edged back to the door, mindful of the floor being covered in water.
    There didn’t
seem
to be a threesome vibe, which was a relief, more just three good-looking gumbies having a bathroom party. But still, Lily wanted them out: they were so loud, and so not going to sleep for a long time, and so blissfully ignorant of the Sunday night Flatmate Consideration Code.
    â€˜You guys go ahead, I’m feeling pretty wrecked, and it’s my first show tomorrow morning, so I might just head to bed.’
    â€˜Party pooooper!’ Skye said, with her bottom