“C’mon Jilly don’t be shy.” Jilly slowly descended the stair.
“Hi Simon.”
“You look gorgeous, that dress, are you sure?”
“What?”
“It’s very um, risqué.”

When Simon finally arrived we were both ready Jilly looking rather sulky and very scared, I answered the door and invited him in. “Evening Em, any sign of that brother of yours?”

“No, no I think he’s staying at a friend’s house.”

“I really need to speak to him, I left a really nasty message on his phone but now…”

“Look here’s Jilly.” I really wanted Simon off the subject of Dilly as I think it was only the fear that Simon wanted to ‘Talk’ to Tim about her that had stopped him ringing him. Simon turned and looked at the figure hesitating at the top of the stair; it was almost comical the way his jaw dropped.

“Wow!” He managed to gasp.

“C’mon Jilly don’t be shy.” Jilly slowly descended the stair.

“Hi Simon.”

“You look gorgeous, that dress, are you sure?”

“What?”

“It’s very um, risqué.”

“I… I like it… um are we going?” Jilly had gone dead white and it was with obvious effort she had stopped herself bolting back upstairs. Simon offered Jilly his arm and after a moments hesitation and a look of despair aimed at me she took it.

“Jilly coat.” I said brandishing a coat I hadn’t worn in a while she took it from me clutching it like a drowning sailor would a life-belt. “We need to pick up Shell on the way, okay?” I asked as I locked the door.

“Yeah sure.” Simon helped Jilly into the front seat, I managed to get my self into the back, chivalry be damned. Simon climbed in and started the engine, “so Em why haven’t I met your pretty cousin before?”

“She’s not really a cousin.”

“…” Jilly gasped.

“Her mum and my mum were best friends; you must have heard us talk about Auntie May?”

“Yeah sure,” Simon said with a noticeable lack of conviction.

“Well Jilly is Auntie May’s daughter.”

“So why did you say she was a cousin.”

“Well we think of each other as cousins.” Said Jilly in a quiet voice.

“Oh, so why haven’t I met her before?”

“I live with my dad so I don’t normally come and see Em with mum.”

“Okay but you're here on your own now?”

“Yeah, um, mum and dad are trying to work out their differences I said I would come here and visit so I didn’t have watch them kill each other.”

“Ah, and you're going home on Monday?”

“Tuesday morning I hope.” Well that’s sorted I thought Simon was paying more attention to the road now which is good because I don’t think I would want to explain to the paramedics what’s going on if we're in an accident.

We pulled in to the drive in front of Shell’s house moments later she was snuggling up next to me. “Hi Shell, are you ready to do some dancing?”

“Hi Sim, are you going to drive us there or are we gonna sit here talking.” Shell answered him back.

“Okay, okay, just asking. So how’s college?”

“Not bad, you?”

“I’m happy, though I miss you a lot.” Shell, Simon and I broke into peals of laughter at that, Shell and Simon never really got on. “So Em how’s school?”

“Cool.” I didn’t want to talk as I was having trouble with Shell nibbling my earlobe. Simon glanced back at us in the mirror.

“Look will you two lesbos stop trying it on in my dads car?” Shell stuck her tongue out at him before sitting up and taking hold of my hand. Luckily Macey’s is a non-straight bar/club. We’ve been before as you can probably tell.

The club is on three floors the top floor is called the Reading Room, it’s quiet, booths down one side and sofas and arm chairs on the floor. During the day it is just what it says, and they have news papers and stuff. At night it’s the best place in the world to do a bit of necking, the lights are dimmed right down. Middle floor is the bar proper normal inner city bar, plenty of room music isn’t over the top. The lower floor is the club; music is a mixture of eighties, nineties, rock and pop. I personally prefer techno or trance but I only get that in limited doses and on theme nights. Tonight is the normal mix possibly with a DJ to liven things up a bit.

The other advantage of Macey’s over more traditional clubs is I know the owner, Madame Acrá mé is an old friend of the family. She knows that we will buy drinks somewhere so instead she makes it easy we come to her club and go easy on the drinks, I’ve been drunk before I don’t want it to happen again. Obviously if we’re asked our age we lie and say we’re all 18+ tonight I’ll be the only sub 18 in our group. Even better Mondays are teen nights under 18s only no alcohol at all, my friends and I are regular attendees.

So back to the story, we pulled up outside the club quite quickly Simon found a parking space. “Um guy’s can we stop with the Jilly nonsense too?” Jilly asked as Simon cut the engine.

“…” said Shell and I.

“But…” said Simon slightly more sensibly.

“I haven’t been Jilly since I was seven years old my name is Alice so please call me that.”

“Okay.” Shell and I chorused.”

“Okay, um, if you're called Alice why Jilly?”

“I’m Gillian Alice Davies, it was Jilly for short when I was little, so when I started secondary school there already were two Gillian’s, so I went with Alice instead.”

“Oh okay.” Simon said doubtfully. I was beginning to worry Simon seemed to sense that there was something wrong with Jilly, oops Alice. I hoped he wouldn’t cotton on I liked having him as a friend and didn’t like lying to him but…

We climbed out of the car some of us with more grace than others, we bypassed the queue and presented our membership cards at the door. The club is very strict on drugs and stuff like that so anyone who comes in is photographed then if they cause any trouble they can be easily identified, because we were regulars we had got permanent membership cards mine because I was under age had parental permission too. All the people in the queue would be given a temporary card on entry. The system was quite good basically the cards stored your money so you put money on the card then paid for drinks with it. Full members got a discount on entry, food during the day and could jump the queue. Jilly, sorry Alice would need her photo taken, I went with her to ease her tension.

To my surprise the photographer was none other than Madame Acrá mé herself, “Hello Emma, how are you today?”

“Fine thank you.”

“And who is this?”

“This is a friend, her name’s Alice.” Phew remembered.

“Hello Alice you wish to join or just temporary membership?”

“Um temporary please.”

“How old you are?”

“Uh, I’m nineteen.” Shit.

“Oh girls when will you ever learn, why you try and pull wool over my eyes? You are not old enough to be 19, maybe 16?

“And Emma I’m surprised I would have thought you would have told your friend not to lie to me, your old friend.”

I looked at my brother and made sure the door was shut, “Actually he is 19.”

“No there is no way she is… Wait you say he?”

“Yes, this is Tim!”

“EMMA! I thought…”

“Shush child, yes now I see, so yes he is 19. I am amazed you are very pretty girl Tim wait I will get photograph.” She was as good as her word and snapped two pictures of Tim with the tripod mounted digital camera, “We make you new membership card, but we make you 17 so no-one think you old lady like me.” Alice looked like she would protest but after looking at me she desisted, “Now be good girls and enjoy selves please, we talk later about this.” That surprised me I wasn’t expecting it to go any further.

We made our way back into the lobby and rejoined Simon and Shell in time to stop them tearing each other to pieces, Simon immediately put his arm round Alice’s waist and led her into the bar area. “So what happened?”

“She asked Alice her age, she said 19. Madame didn’t believe her so I told her the truth.”

“How did she take it?”

“Who Alice?”

“No Madame.”

“She seemed pretty cool with it, she gave him a new card with his new face on it, said we’d talk about it later.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, shall we go downstairs and do some dancing?”

“Go on then I’ll get the drinks in and meet you by the stage.”

* * *

Macey’s closes at 2 in the morning by half twelve I was knackered, I was upstairs in a arm chair with Shell in my lap. The drinks had begun to catch up with me, “Potty stop.”

“Don’t be long.” I disentangled myself form Shell and made my way towards the toilets, halfway there I spotted a familiar form or on closer inspection I spotted two familiar forms doing what until moments ago I had been doing with Shell. Deciding that the toilet must wait for a few moments longer I sat down on the edge of the table in front of them, I prodded Alice in the ribs. She turned and glanced at me, then looking startled started to disengage herself from Simon. “Toilet now!”

I reached the toilet or more properly the queue and moments later Alice looking very dishevelled met me. “Do you want him to find out?” I asked venomously.

“No, it’s just I…”

“You do don’t you, when I found you he nearly had his hand up your skirt if he finds out we will both be a laughing stock, you realize don’t you.”

“I don’t care, I… I love him.”

“WHAT? What about Dilly?”

“I love her too but in a different way, when he puts his arm round me I feel so safe, so protected.”

“And you’ll feel so beaten up if he finds you’ve got extra parts down there.” We had progressed by this time into separate cubicles, so my haranguing of Alice had to stop. When I had finished and flushed I stepped out and waited by Alice’s stall, she seemed to be taking a long time so when a complete stranger stepped out of the cubicle, I stepped back in shock. I repaired my battered makeup and left to look for Alice, the seat formerly occupied by her and Simon was now occupied by two thirty something men who were obviously trying simultaneous mouth to mouth resuscitation. Finally I resumed my seat underneath Shell.

Shell didn’t want to talk so we went back to inspecting each others mouths with our tongues.

When the lights finally came up at a little before two o’clock we made our way outside and looked for the car, it wasn’t where it had been parked, before panic could set in however Simon pulled up in front of us, “Would Madam care for a ride?” He said to us with a grin. We piled in Shell in the back me in the front. We drove home in silence I tried to ask Simon about Alice but he just shushed me, after we had dropped Shell off he drove me back to my house but before dropping me off he asked. “Emma why?”

“Why? Why what?”

“Emma I thought we were friends, I am extremely hurt.” Oh shit

“When did you find out?”

“I knew all along, I kept hoping you would tell me, after all I thought you were my friend.”

“You mean you knew Tim was Jilly in the shopping centre?”

“Of course we’re best friends I knew about Michelle and Alice, he looked more curvy in the shopping center but I would recognize Alice anywhere.”

“But, but in the club you were kissing him and everything.”

“You should know I’m comfy with my sexuality, I’m not gay, I was however making out with an incredibly sexy girl tonight, she knows the score but how can she tell me anything when you're being all dominant and bitchy.”

“Oh god I’m sorry.” I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks.

“Look tell me it all right from the start, I want to know what my current girlfriend has been going through since yesterday.” So I told him, everything the lot, nothing left out.

“I cannot believe you would do that to your own brother, so he’s hit you, I’ve seen the bruises too you hit him back, you gave as good as you got. And using me wanting to apologize against him was unfair, he was so frightened tonight until I told him I was sorry for the message on his phone.”

“Simon will you ever forgive me?”

“Yes I will, I hate the way you did it but I think Alice has a real chance of happiness now she will need a lot of support for some time if she is to continue being happy.”

“Continue?”

“Yes Alice is here to stay I think, Madame Acrá mé has offered her a job you know?”

“A job?”

“Front of house at the club. Now I want you to talk to Alice I want you to apologize properly, I will forgive you but Alice needs to too. Goodnight.” He kissed me on the cheek and I climbed miserably out of the car, “oh and I want those so called friends of yours here tomorrow afternoon, I need to extract promises from them too.”

“Night Simon.”

Okay so part 5 will be along soon, what will Simon say to the gang, what will Dilly say about her boyfriend, will it all end happily ever after all will be revealed.

JC