Lyre (11 page)

Ozzy handed Yuri a plastic cup.  She stared into its scarlet contents.  There appeared to be some kind of fruit floating inside.  It was discoloured and mushed up so it was difficult to tell what it actually was.

‘What is this?’ she asked, doubt colouring her tone.

He grinned at her.  ‘Try it.’

Warily, she took a dainty sip, then choked.  It tasted of pure alcohol.  ‘Yum,’ she murmured, determined not to appear like a goody-two-shoes.

He laughed at her.  ‘It’s disgusting, isn’t it?’

Relieved, she laughed back.  ‘It really is.’

He tugged her hand.  ‘Come on.  I think there’s some Coke in the kitchen.’

Making their way through the press of people, Yuri felt distinctly uncomfortable, despite the reassuring pressure of Ozzy’s hand in hers.  Every few feet someone stopped them – or rather stopped Ozzy – and launched into effusive greetings.  At one point, a girl she vaguely recognised from school pushed her way forward and coiled her arms round his neck.

‘Ozzy,’ she purred.  ‘Wanna dance?’

‘Not tonight,’ he told her, shouting above the raucous beat of the music.  ‘I’m otherwise engaged.’

The girl flicked a look at Yuri, pasting an insincere smile on her face.  ‘Hey,’ she said.

‘Uh, hey,’ Yuri awkwardly returned.

Ozzy extricated himself.  ‘Do you two know each other?’

Yuri started shaking her head, but the girl nodded.  ‘Of course!’ she pealed out.  ‘Eerie is a great girl.’

‘You mean Yuri.’  He frowned at her.

‘Sure, yeah, Yuri.  That’s what I said.’ She batted her eyelashes.  ‘Are you playing tonight?’

‘What?’

‘I said, are you playing tonight?’

Ozzy stuck a finger in his ear and wiggled it around.  ‘Can’t hear you!’ he shouted.  ‘It’s too loud!’  Then, without missing a beat, he gave her a wave of his fingers and moved past.  With his other hand still entwined in Yuri’s, she had no choice but to follow after him, giving the now pissed off looking girl a brief smile of apology.

‘Sorry,’ he said, when they finally found some room towards the back of the tiled kitchen. 

Yuri blinked at him.  ‘What are you sorry for?’

He shrugged at her, seemingly abashed.  ‘Maybe a party wasn’t the best place for our first date.  It means I have to share you with everyone else here.’

Pretty sure that things were the other way around, and it was her who was doing the sharing, she pulled her hand away from his.  ‘First date?’

Ozzy reached out with his index finger and tilted her chin up.  ‘I’ll take you somewhere more romantic and secluded for our second.’

‘Second?’

His eyes crinkled.  ‘Are you going to repeat everything I say?’ He bent his head down to hers.  ‘What if I said kiss me?’

Yuri jerked away, more embarrassed than anything.  He looked immediately contrite.  ‘I’m sorry,’ he muttered.  ‘I have a big mouth and it runs away with me.  I put my foot in it all the time and speak without thinking.  I just…’ He ran a hand through his hair.  ‘I just like you.’

‘I like you too,’ she answered automatically.  As soon as the words left her mouth, she realised how true they were.

Ozzy’s face lit up.  ‘Really?’

She bit her lip and nodded, breaking every rule she’d set for herself when she’d arrived in Torquay.  His eyes dropped down to her lips then back up again.  Then he swallowed, his adam’s apple bobbing.

‘I’m not going to be here for long,’ Yuri quickly said, feeling as if she was tottering on the edge of a precipice.

‘That’s okay.  We can leave whenever you want to.’

‘No.’  She shook her head.  ‘I don’t mean the party.  My mum likes to move a lot.  Three months and she’ll have itchy feet.  Six months and we’ll be gone.’

He gazed at her soberly.  ‘That’s not fair on you.’

Yuri looked down.  ‘No-one said life was going to be fair.’

‘Screw fair,’ he said, passion sudden blazing forth.  ‘That’s a cop-out way of saying you’re going to let life happen to you instead of making things happen for yourself. We get one shot at this, Yuri.  Just one.  In a few years time we’ll be nothing more than rats on the treadmill, slogging our guts out to make money.  This is the time when we need to battle for ourselves.  If you don’t, then you can be damned sure no-one else will.  ‘ He gestured around the room.  ‘This is as free as we’re going to get. Talk to your mum.  Tell her you want to stay.’  He suddenly looked anxious.  ‘I mean, if you want to stay, that is.’

‘It would be nice.’  She gave a half-shrug.

‘Nice?’  He reached out and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.  ‘Don’t fight for nice.  Fight for amazing.  For fabulous.  Put your life on the line and battle to the death for glorious. Otherwise what’s the point of being here at all?’  He shook his head.  ‘Don’t settle for nice.’

She stared at him.  ‘Why the hell do you want someone else to write lyrics for you?’

He laughed.   Yuri took a step towards him and raised herself up on her tiptoes so her eyes were level with his.  ‘You’re nice.’

‘I don’t want to be nice.’

‘Prove it,’ she whispered.

He cupped her face in his hands.  ‘Are you sure?’

‘If it’s too hard to be glorious…’ her teasing, albeit also slightly tremulous, voice trailed off.

‘Will magical suffice?’ he asked softly.

She opened her mouth to answer but he didn’t give her a chance, his lips descending on hers.  A streak of warmth ran down Yuri’s body from her mouth all the way to her toes. Coherent thought fled her brain and the music and sound of chatter around her dimmed into the background.  Ozzy deepened the kiss, curving one arm round her back.  Forgetting she was still holding the plastic cup, Yuri leaned in towards him, crushing it between heir bodies.  She ignored the spreading wetness, and the insistent voice in the back of her mind telling her she was crazy, and focused purely on him.  It wasn’t until someone pushed behind her in a bid to get past that they finally broke apart, then stood staring at each other. 

Out of breath and her pulse racing, Yuri licked her lips.  ‘That was…’

‘Nice?’

She shook her head and dived right in.  ‘Amazing.  Fabulous.  Glorious.’

He didn’t smile, merely stared right into her soul.  ‘Magical.’

*

It was late when the pair of them finally ventured back into the night air.  The neighbours’ leniency was giving way and, after three separate requests to keep the noise down, it was becoming clear it was time to pack up and go.  The red cocktail had done a number on various revelers, evidenced by several pools of scarlet vomit in the patch of garden outside.  Side-stepping them and shivering in the night air, Yuri smiled shyly up at Oz.  He pulled her close.  It had been a long time since she’d felt this content.

‘Ozzy!’  From across the road a hand waved frantically from the passenger side of a beat-up Ford Escort.  ‘Want a lift?’

‘Only if you have room for two,’ he called back.

A face appeared, taking Yuri in with one sweeping glance.  ‘It’s the kung fu meister!’ His face creased.  ‘No, kung fu meistress, I mean.’

‘Mate, kung fu is Chinese.  Yuri’s from Japan.’

He slapped his forehead.  ‘I’m an idiot.  My apologies, Japanese Yuri.  There’s plenty of room.’

‘Is that Bryan?’  Yuri asked, not sure if she was remembering correctly.

‘Yeah, you know him?’

‘Not really.  I met him on my first day.’ Thinking of Sibyl’s warning, her shoulders tightened.  ‘Maybe we should walk.  He looks a bit young to drive.’

‘And a bit crazy,’ Ozzy agreed as they walked over to the car.  ‘But that’s his brother behind the wheel.’

‘If his brother was at the party…’

‘It’s okay, Yuri.  He’s nineteen so I think he’s past the whole getting pissed thing.  Apparently the novelty wears off once you’re legal.  Not that we’d be able to appreciate that though.’

Startled, Yuri blinked at him.  ‘Do you mean you’re drunk?’

He grinned.  ‘Only on love.’

She took in a deep breath as her heart thudded against her ribcage.

‘What?’ he teased.  ‘No answer?’

‘Get a move on!’ Bryan shouted from the car.  ‘Just because you’re in lurve doesn’t mean you need to walk like a pair of old biddies!’

From a few doors down the street a porch light was turned on and a door opened.  A furious looking man poked his head out.

‘You kids need to shut up!’

Bryan opened his mouth to shout back but Ozzy stopped him.  ‘Chill, mate.   We’re here.’

‘Get in the back before the geek patrol calls the pigs.’

Ozzy opened the car door and gestured Yuri inside, sweeping out a bow before him. ‘Your chariot awaits.’

She shook her head. ‘No.  I think we’d better walk.’

‘It’s too late,’ he said gently.  ‘You’ve already found me so you can’t pretend to be invisible any more.’

She shook her head again.  ‘No, it’s not that.  I just…’ Yuri chewed her lip.  ‘I have a bad feeling about this.’

‘S’alright, Ozzy’s friend,’ Bryan’s brother called from the front.  ‘I’m as sober as a judge.’

‘Come on, Yuri,’ Ozzy urged.  ‘You were stifling a yawn five minutes ago.’

‘No,’ she said adamantly.  ‘In fact, no-one should be in the car.  Let’s all walk.  Then I can get to know, uh, Bryan better.’

‘Fuck that,’ Bryan muttered.  ‘No offence, Japanese Yuri but my feet hurt.’

‘Hey!’  Brittani swayed up.  ‘Is there room for one more?’

‘Right now, there’s room for a fucking carload,’ he grumbled.

‘No, Brittani, don’t,’ Yuri protested.

She staggered slightly and frowned.  ‘Don’ think I can walk,’ she slurred.

Ozzy was watching Yuri closely.  ‘We’ll pass, thanks, Bry’,’ he said.  ‘Brittani can take the ride.’

‘Yeah, yeah, whatever.  Don’t go shagging in anyone’s front fucking lawn though.  Come on, Brit.’

She lurched round to the open door then fell inside with a loud thump onto the backseat.  Her short skirt was riding high up her thighs so Ozzy leaned in and pulled her upright.

‘You fucking vomit, Brittani, and I’ll kill you,’ Bryan muttered.

‘She vomits and you’re on clean up duty,’ his brother said to him.

He craned his neck back out of the window.  ‘We could leave her and still fit you two in,’ he told them hopefully.

‘Nah, we’re good,’ Ozzy replied.

Filled with foreboding, Yuri gazed down at the semi-conscious girl.  ‘Brittani, at least put a seatbelt on.’

She moaned in response.  Ozzy leaned back in and clipped it in place.  He smiled back at Yuri.  ‘She’ll be fine.  Sore head tomorrow but she only lives a few streets away.’

‘I don’t…’

‘Shh,’ he said, placing a finger against her lips.  ‘It’d be more dangerous if she tried to walk.  She’ll only end up falling into the path of a car or something stupid.’

‘Shut the door already!’ Bryan called.

Ozzy stepped back, carefully closing the car door.  The engine revved and they drove off, leaving both Yuri and him standing by the side of the pavement.  He cocked his head towards her.  ‘What’s up?’ he asked softly.

She shrugged uncomfortably, debating whether to tell him about Sibyl.  Eventually deciding he’d think she was completely loopy, she instead demurred.  ‘We had a lovely walk here.  I just wanted to repeat it.’

‘And that’s why you didn’t want to Brittani to cadge a lift either?’

‘Er, I think she might still be sick,’ she prevaricated.  ‘Bryan doesn’t seem like the forgiving sort.’

He laughed.  ‘Prob…’

He was interrupted by a squeal of tires and a horrific crunching sound that seemed to reverberate down the entire street.  Yuri’s heart dropped.  She stared at him wide-eyed with dread while panic flooded his face.  Both of them, as well as a few other minglers, began sprinting down in the direction of the sound.  The neighbour who’d been complaining about the noise slammed open his front door and started shoving his feet into a pair of shoes while pulling on a threadbare dressing-gown.  Other houses began to light up as more people came out to investigate.  As Yuri ran past she could see several people on phones, dialing 999.  Fear rippled through her, serving only to make her speed up even faster.  Regardless, Ozzy still quickly outstripped her.  By the time she reached the wreckage there was already a cluster of people round the car, several pulling out Bryan from one side and his brother from the other. 

Aghast, she looked around at the scene.  The front bonnet was crumpled like an accordion and there was shattered glass and twisted metal everywhere.  As far as she could tell, the car had smashed into a lamppost.  Ozzy and a man she didn’t recognize were pulling at the back door, trying to get to Brittani.  Yuri couldn’t see her at all but there was dark viscous blood smeared against the broken side window.  She started to run over to help when she saw the huge great hulking figure silhouetted against another lamppost up ahead.  A cloud of misty breath snorted forth from him.