six

There was little to distinguish The Bay Hotel from any of the other hotels that littered the sea front. But as Phil told Dylan, appearances can be deceptive.

"It's not the sort of hotel you'd book your parents in when they come to visit for the weekend."

"Why not?"

"For one thing, it's full of drunken students every night. The music goes on till at least midnight."

"So it's more like a night club?" Frank said.

"Think of it like the best organised house party you'll ever come across."

"What d'you mean?" Dylan asked.

"Take the bar upstairs. It's got sofas and coffee tables instead of tables and wooden benches. Which is great if you're on the pull, much more comfortable, if you know what I mean. This place rents rooms by the hour by the way, in case you need one urgently for any reason." Phil laughed.

They had to wait in line before the doorman let them in to The Bay. The small entrance hall led onto the main bar area, which was indeed filled with sofas and low coffee tables, just as Phil had said. It also sported a fetching beer soaked carpet and nicotine stained walls.

"Head downstairs," Phil shouted over the loud music.

"Why?" Frank asked.

"You'll get served quicker."

The group followed Phil's advice and descended the stairs that led to the basement. It was a complete contrast to the upper floor. The décor was very modern, with lots of bright colours and chrome fittings. There were two bars in the basement, both of which were larger than the one upstairs, and a huge, empty dance floor.

"It's not too popular down here, or at least it wasn't last year," said Jez. "The music was a bit too hardcore for most people."

"Why, what sort of stuff is it?" Frank asked.

"Last year it was all heavy metal, a real rockers bar, but I've heard that this year they'll be playing more indie. You know, Blur, James, that sort of thing, Guess that's why they've done it up."

"Excellent! I love that stuff," Frank replied.

That was the general impression from most of the lads, but Nat and Jo were less enthusiastic.

"So what do they play upstairs?" Nat asked.

"It's strictly pop upstairs. It might not be the best music in the world, but there's nowhere better if you're after a cheese-fest."

While Frank and Mark clearly wanted to stay in the basement, the rest of the group were keen to join the rest of the hall upstairs.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd rather be where the lasses are," Dave said.

Just at that moment, the girls that Dave had spent all evening with came noisily down the stairs. All eyes turned towards them.

"You sure have good taste, Dave," said Frank.

"That I do, plus they're all really nice," Dave said. "Do you want me to introduce you?" He called the girls over.

Stacey said, "Phil told us to come down here. He said we could get served quicker."

"That's right," said Mark. "There's no queue at either of the bars."

"Great," said Toni. She went straight to the closer of the two bars.

The girls got themselves a drink and then rejoined the boys. Dave suddenly seemed quite eager to stay the basement. They all took a seat in the bar area, where they could talk but also here the music.

"I love this stuff," said Toni. "It sounds great when it's really loud, but the only trouble is you can't really dance to it until your pissed."

"True," said Dave. "I remember back home we used to go to the nightclub on Thursdays, which was indie night. After a few beers we'd have great fun jumpin' around to this."

"Yeah, I love it too." said Frank. "But it's unusual to find girls that like it."

"No, it's not," said Stacey. "All the girls back home listen to it. Besides, most of the blokes in these groups are really fit."

"Oh, really. All the girls where I live listen to the real poppy stuff. You now the stuff, Take That, East 17 and the like," replied Frank. "And they think those boys are really fit too."

"They must really girlie then. I bet they all wear tight tops and short skirts as well," said Stacey. "And they probably all giggle a lot."

The media would have dubbed Stacey a ladette. She was drinking from a pint glass, while the other girls all had half pints. She wore jeans and a white T-shirt under an open shirt. It occurred to Dylan that trying to get Joanne to make friends with these girls had been a mistake. They couldn't have been any more different. Jo, and the group of friends she had already made, were the kind of girls that Stacey was now taking berating.

"You know," said Stacey. "Upstairs is absolutely full of girlies. All of them dancing to shite music and desperately trying to attract attention with tiny tops that they keep falling out of."

"The music's not that bad," said Dylan. "At least you can dance to it without being rat-arsed."

"What, are you a Take That fan, Dylan?" she asked.

"No, course not. The music's alright to dance to that's all. And there are a damn sight more people upstairs than down here."

"That's probably because people don't know about this yet. I'm sure it will be packed when word gets around," said Toni.

"Well, why don't you get up and get things started then?" Dylan said.

"Okay" said Toni, "I'll go dance. If you girls come with me?" She looked around at her friends, who all nodded. "And you of course Dylan," she added with a grin.

Dylan's teasing had backfired and he knew it. If he backed down and didn't go dance it would look even worse, so he knocked back what was left of his pint. "Alright, I'll join you in a sec. I'll just get a bottle to take with me."

Mark joined Dylan at the bar, but Frank and Dave stayed at the table finishing off their nearly full glasses, having brought two pints each. The music was loud, and the dance floor was empty apart from the DB residents. This gave them the chance to go wild. They jumped around a lot, bashed into each other, and generally behaved like five-year-olds. Although the volume made conversation almost impossible, there was always someone shouting something at someone else. After three or four songs, Andy and Rich came down the stairs to join the group. Andy pointed over to Dave and Frank, who were finishing off their drinks. All four met at the bar, and then joined the rest on the dance floor.

Upstairs Andrea, Natalie and Joanne were not enjoying the same kind of freedom on the dance floor. They huffed, puffed and sweated to pop tunes and club anthems. The dance floor was very full, with barely enough room for anyone to move. Despite this, and the fact that conversation was difficult, the girls were enjoying themselves.

"This place is great!" Nat screamed at Jo.

"What?" Jo screamed back.

Nat tried to shout a little louder, "I said, this place is great."

"I know, and look at all the lads around too."

"Speaking of lads," Andrea screamed. "Where are those boys we came with?"

"I went downstairs with them earlier to get a drink," said Jo, "I guess they must have stayed down there."

"That's their loss, I guess. They're the ones missing out," said Nat.

The girls we attracting a lot of attention, and they revelled in it. They flirted with those daring enough to get close, and then gave them the brush off. The DJ played one hit song after another, mixing them into each other, never letting the beats stop pumping from the speakers. After a while, the sweaty threesome needed a rest.

"I'm going for a drink," said Nat.

"Okay, I'll come too," said Jo. "Andrea, are you coming?"

"Well, I'm not staying here on my own."

They pushed their way from the centre of the floor towards the bar. It wasn't as full as it was when they came in, and they didn't have to wait as long for service. As they were waiting for the barman to deliver them double Vodka and Cokes, Phil came to talk to them.

"Hi, girls. Having a good time?"

"Oh yeah," said Nat. "This place is fantastic."

"I wouldn't go that far. But I suppose it is pretty good. For Aber."

"I love it!" said Nat, bouncing slightly as she spoke.

"Really?"

"Ignore her," said Jo. "She's always like this after a few drinks."

The girls waited for Phil to get a drink, then followed him back to the dance floor, where Jez and Chris were danicing. The music was still loud and the six of them were soon having a great time dancing, laughing and fooling about. Occasionally the girls would pinch a drink from one of the men's bottles. They were having to much fun to think about the boys downstairs again.

Dylan was getting tired after an hour of frenzied dance floor activity. He had also finished his drink, which in his current intoxicated state, was a travesty that he had to righted. He left the floor and headed for the bar, passing Toni on the way.

"Where you off to, Dylan? Had enough already? Where's your stamina?"

He held up his empty bottle of Budweiser. "It's behind the bar, hopefully in a fridge. I need a drink, are you coming? I'll buy you one if you like."

"Cheers, Dylan. I'd love one."

"Just you mind, and only 'cause you collared me on the way to the bar. I can't afford to buy all of you a drink."

"I couldn't give a toss about the others as long as I get one. I finished mine ages ago and I'm gagging."

"I'll bet you are." Dylan said.

"You look like you need one yourself," said Toni.

"Oh yeah, I need one desperately."

They got to the bar and ordered two Buds. The barman popped the tops off the bottles and placed them on the bar. While Dylan waited for his change, Toni took a bottle and poured some of the contents down her slender neck. Dylan watched as she tipped her head back, and took a few gulps from the bottle. Her black hair flowed down her back, and, not for the first time, Dylan thought she looked good.

She tipped her head forward and placed the bottle back on the bar. She turned to look at Dylan and he watched the lights from the disco reflect on her face and illuminate her emerald eyes. She was wearing a very small amount of green mascara, which brought Dylan's attention straight to her eyes. They sparkled in the dazzling white light from behind the bar and the pulsating colours from the distant dance floor.

"Something wrong?" she said. "Have I got something on my face?"

"No, sorry," he said. "I was looking at your make up. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with green before."

"Oh? Do you like it? It's supposed to draw attention to my eyes."

"I do, yeah. And it does."

"Well it ought to. My mom brought it for me from Debenhams before coming away. Kind of a present. She took me along and I had a complete make over. The woman on the counter showed me what was best for me, how to apply it and stuff. It was a lot of fun, but really expensive."

"It was worth it. You look really nice."

"Thanks."

"Shall we sit down for a bit?" Dylan said pointing to an empty table by the wall.