Free Life of the Party by Gillian Philip

ONE
    ‘What have I got?’ I yelled. ‘Two heads?’
    Steph snorted with laughter, but the boy who was staring didn’t seem to think it was funny. Rob Yeadon, the jerk.
    This was the best thing in my changed life: I wasn’t shy any more. Not scared to speak my mind. I didn’t hold back my opinions, or a snappy retort. Flipping thetop off another Breezer, I giggled. Two heads! Good line! I liked that.
    ‘Sometimes I wonder,’ said Rob Yeadon. ‘Half a brain in each, like?’
    ‘Ignore him,’ said Steph. She glared at Rob.
    Good old Steph. My best friend. It was Steph who’d befriended me, given me confidence. Before Steph, I’d thought I wasn’t worth knowing.
    I wasn’t. Even my own father used to phone Mum with some excuse, the night before I was due to spend the weekend with him. He was still sorting out his life, he said. He needed space. Well, if even my dad tried to get out of my company, why would anyone else want it?
    Except that Steph did. And instead of feeling sorry for me, she got angry at Dad.
He
was the selfish one, she used to say.
He
was the one who didn’t deserve
me
. And after laughing nervously a few times and shrugging, I’d started to believe her. Yeah, she was right. It wasn’t all my fault. I wasn’t a worthless human being. I was entitled to some fun, too, and a life.
    Yeah
, she’d say.
Dead right, Chloe! Forget him, and forget that Rob Yeadon and all.
    Steph had cottoned on straight away that I fancied Rob but was too shy to do anything about it. Anyway, if he wasn’t looking at me like something the cat dragged in, he was ignoring me.
He’s
obnoxious.
Steph would tease me, cheer me up.
Come on, have a drink.
    If I was mad or miserable, I could call her and she’d talk sense into me and make me laugh. We always had a laugh.
    Even Steph could be a pain, though. Even Steph sometimes dragged me down.Like now.
    ‘You’re never having another?’ Her eyebrows were practically up in her hairline.
    ‘Like you’ve been a model of sobriety all night!’ I laughed.
    ‘Yeah. I didn’t start at four o’clock, though.’
    I wondered if Steph was one of those people who needed a tame sidekick, a stooge to boss around. Suspicion made me suddenly, blazingly angry.
    ‘Have you got a problem?’ I snapped.
    She looked bewildered, and even a bit hurt.
    ‘I’ve got a mind of my own, you know,’ I spat. ‘Have you got a problem with that?’
    Her puzzlement turned to cold fury. She stood up very abruptly.
    ‘I think it’s you that’s got the problem, Chloe.’ Snatching up her half-empty plasticcup – and almost spilling it – she stormed off.
    I felt really pleased with myself. My mind sharp and keen, my head light, I was on top of the world. I’d shown them all: Rob Yeadon and that up-herself cow Steph as well. Oh sure, she made me laugh and gave me confidence, but so did alcohol. I wasn’t dependent on her. I wasn’t dependent on anyone but myself.
    And then I saw the stupid little smile on Rob Yeadon’s face. He was standing in a dark corner of the room with a couple of his thick pals, eyeing up the girls. Except at that moment he wasn’t. He’d obviously just said something to his mate, who looked straight at me and laughed. And Rob Yeadon just stared at me again and shook his head and smiled.
    He was laughing at me. Laughing at me!
    All the good feeling drained out through the soles of my feet, which made me feel dizzy again, but not in a nice way. My stomach felt cold as I realised what I’d said to Steph. Straight away I forgot it again, but whatever it was, it made my head spin horribly. The music in here was way too loud. My brain throbbed, which wasn’t nice in a spinning head. Automatically I lifted the bottle to my lips, but now it tasted too sweet, like sugary chemicals. My throat lifted.
    Oh, boy, did my throat lift. Somehow I got to my feet and bolted for the flat door. Luckily it was a ground floor flat; I’d never have made it down the stairs.
    Steph caught