Chapter 4

Rhea snorted. "If it causes any inconvenience? As if going home was just a wish," she muttered and we walked up the steps from the platform to speak to someone in charge; it was 3pm, and I had no idea how to get back to London.

Rhea and I queued up at the ticket office, but the solitary member of staff had dozens of people in front of us and he was awhile sorting everyone out. Rhea was furious and undid all the ropes that marked out the queueing lanes in spite. I was tempted to stop her, but no-one said anything to her and she took a perverse pleasure in it.

We had waited twenty minutes to get to the front of the queue and the man just shrugged when I asked what was happening."Listen mate, there's no more trains goin' South. Now I get ya back up to Glas-ga or to Leeds, or you can catch a coach from the bus station but there's no more trains 'til tomorrow. Incident at Preston."

"Where are there trains from?" I asked, not completely sure if I knew where Preston was. "Birmingham? Manchester?" He grunted and shrugged, and told me that I knew as much as he did.

I groaned at him, and Rhea interrupted. "Are our tickets valid tomorrow?" She asked, and he looked at his monitor.

"They should be."

I looked at them and then back down at him. "Is that a yes or a no?"

"I can't tell ya, but they should be."

"Listen mate," Rhea spat. "Are they valid, yes or no?" He looked at the monitor again and just gave a disinterested grunt. "This is a disgrace," my sister thundered. "You sell us tickets and then decide not to run the trains and can't even help us. We are all sixteen and under, and we live in London. What the hell are we supposed to do in Carlisle until you decide you want to run the trains."

"Lancaster," I corrected her. "We are in Lancaster."

"Well, wherever," my sister cried. "It's still miles from civilisation!"

His expression changed somewhat. "We didn't damage the track ourselves," the ticket officer offered as an explanation. "We would like to run trains. I can get you to Scotland or Leeds..."

"And what good is Scotland?" Rhea asked and looked at my watch. "It's nearly four o' clock. We ain't gonna be in London anytime soon. Bus is like a month to get down South."

He sighed and stared at my sister. "What do you want us to do?"

Rhea sucked in air through her teeth. "You can give us tickets for tomorrow," she told him. "If I got to stay in this town then I need a promise I get back to civilisation tomorrow."

He refused to issue us with new tickets but told us that he would make sure that we got back to London on Sunday. Rhea was not happy with this and made some idle threats about burning down his house, but he threatened to report her to the British Transport Police and I removed my angry sibling from his wrath before she was arrested.

I huffed and strode over to the rest of my entourage. "No more trains," I told them and picked up my mobile. "We gotta stay in Lancaster unless you fancy a coach or going cross country to Yorkshire."

"Fuckin' cunty bastard," Rhea told Sarah and Simon with a degree of venom. "I hate people like that."

"And I am sure he hates people like you," I muttered and looked up the hill spying an imposing castle. "There must be a hotel here or something."

Sarah held my hand. "I've never stayed overnight in a strange city," she whispered, and I gave her a grin.

"Oh, it's fine," I muttered and picked up my phone. "But better let Mum and everyone know. I dialled our home number, and Mum answered instantly.

"Hiya," I called. "We've had a bit of a problem." Mum reacted instantly, and I waited for her to stop panicking. "Oh nothing much. The train has stopped at Lancaster as they have problems and there are no more trains to London."

"What?! I'll get Terry to..."

"No Mum, listen." I said firmly. "We are going to find a small hotel and travel back tomorrow."

"Andy, I don't think that's a good idea. I'll get your dad to come over..."

"Mum we are fine," I said with a firmness. I was actually quite looking forward to spending a night in a hotel room with Sarah. I spoke as I walked up the hill, and we turned left towards the brighter lights of the town. "It's fine. I'll ring you when we've found somewhere. Can you let Angela and Emma know."

Mum went to protest, but I used the excuse I was going between two buildings and the signal would die, and she promised she would ring Sarah's and Simon's parents and let them know the predicament we were in.

The first thing we saw, other than the castle was a busy one way road and in the half light saw a sign hanging down, with the magic word "hotel" written on it.

"What did I tell ya," I triumphantly said and we walked up to it, and a "no vacancies sign" in the window. Simon groaned, and we walked up the road, past the busy traffic but didn't find another one.

Sarah stopped an old lady outside the market who directed us back down the road, and we found two more hotels. The first hotel did not have any vacancies, but the second establishment did, a pub-cum-inn, and the barman came around the bar to talk to us in person.

"I need two rooms, double beds, next to each other." He looked at us, clearly assessing our ages, but Rhea and Simon looked resolutely at him and he just grunted.

"I have two double rooms," he muttered. "But there is an interconnecting door. We had some rugby lads in, and they broke the door, so it's wide open. Is that a problem?" I gave him a wry smile; it sounded perfect and I could keep an eye on Rhea. I wanted to negotiate the price, but I knew that this was the only hotel we could find that had rooms, and I took a deep breath when I asked. He looked at me, and his eyes squinted. "Well, as the rooms are a bit broken, one twenty for the two?"

I pursed my lips. "Sure."

"And I want payment up front," he told me, a little aggressively, and I nodded.

"Of course," I said and withdrew my Solo card from my wallet. He sighed for a moment as he looked at it. "If you accept Switch you accept Solo," I muttered. "Same company, just different symbol." He didn't ask any further questions, but I knew debit cards with "Solo" were usually found on bank accounts of under eighteens. He obviously didn't care or realise, and picked up the card machine and swiped my debit card. I signed for one hundred and twenty pounds to be debited from my account; I would want reimbursing (at least in part) from someone, and the gentleman gave us two room keys for rooms five and six.

Rhea bounced on the bed the moment she got into her room, and I saw her through the open archway. Sarah kissed me just out of sight until Rhea appeared at the doorway and told us to "get a room."

"We have," I muttered, and Rhea ran back and bounced on the bed. "Hey Simon. You know what this means. We have a double-bed to share. First time since the holidays." Simon barely suppressed a smile, and I rolled my eyes.

I passed my phone to Sarah and told her to ring her mother and suggested Simon do the same. Rhea picked up her phone; Simon had left his at home, and she dialled the Matheson residence.

Both Sarah and Simon's parents were aware of our problem, and they appeared not to cause any problems, and I then rang Mum. She warned me about making sure Simon and Rhea were OK, and although they were fifteen she did worry about them. The fact that they had their own room, a double bed and were excited about it, were minor details I choose not to pass on; I reasoned that Mum probably didn't want to know. Or if she did, I didn't want the aggravation of telling her!

Sarah saw a nice little pasta restaurant down the hill from the hotel, and we sat down in the Italian chain and ate cheap pasta dishes. Rhea and Simon were scandalously flirting with each other, as the waitress brought their food. I glanced over at Sarah who just smiled at me, watching the two teenagers tickle and fondle each other.

I snapped at Rhea who scowled at me in return; I felt uneasy at the close intimacy between them. I could easily foresee a nightmare scenario of Rhea having sex, getting pregnant, and then me being partially blamed for it. I watched as Rhea passed Simon some of her pasta, and then him gleefully take it from her fork.

"Jealous," Sarah whispered, and passed me some of her creamy pasta. I snapped out of it and gratefully ate it from her fork: it was a nice, creamy garlic sauce and she just grinned at me.

Without thinking, I passed her a piece of my pizza, and she spluttered the moment she bit into it. I had forgotten it was loaded with chillis, and she took a massive gulp of her lemonade.

"Sorry," I muttered and glared at Rhea who was practically sitting on Simon's lap, it was not appropriate behaviour for her to do in public, but Rhea never worried about what other people thought of her. I settled the bill, and whispered in Sarah's ear as we left the restaurant and started walking back towards our hotel. "I'm worried about Rhea."

"Why?" Sarah whispered back.

"I think she might have sex," I replied, keeping my voice low. I gestured with my hands and Sarah guffawed with laughter, her bouncy hair floating on the evening breeze.

"We've had sex," she replied. "She is fifteen after all. She probably is already having sex."

"Yes but she is under my responsibility at the moment. When she gets back home she is Mum's problem."

Sarah giggled again and squeezed my arm. I looked back at them a few paces behind, and Rhea had her hand down the back of Simon's trousers. I went to say something, but Sarah whispered in my ear. "The pub toilets will have condoms, get her some if you are worried. Or talk to her."

"I am not talking to my little sister about sex," I replied and Sarah raised her eyebrows. "Do you talk to Paul?"

Sarah snarled and reached up to kiss me on the cheek. "No, but that's only because he doesn't want to get taught by his little sister. I could teach him so much!" I shook my head, and she squeezed my hand. "Can we go out and have a look in Lancaster?"

"Well I have Rhea to..."

"Rhea can look after herself," Sarah replied instantly and I glanced over at the couple making their way towards us. I sighed and Sarah squeezed my hand, looking longingly into my eyes. "Please."

I huffed and we crossed the road, opening the hotel door. I slipped away from our group and purchased a small box of three condoms from the machine in the Gents toilets, getting an envious look in the process from two patrons of the pub, and walked upstairs, although I was interrupted by a phone call from Olivia asking me if I was available for some photo sessions. I was somewhat distracted and agreed to all of them, and said I would speak to her on my return to Buckinghamshire.

Rhea was in her bedroom, lying on the bed kissing Simon when I walked in. "What are you doing?" Rhea asked in an accusatory voice.

"Just using the bathroom, Sarah is in ours." Rhea grunted and I walked into their small en-suite and noisily relieved my bladder into the pan before flushing it and leaving the condoms on the side. I hoped they would not get used, but I couldn't do nothing: her and Simon would be sharing a room, and it was inevitable that something would probably happen, especially given the way they had been acting all week.

Sarah was adamant we should go out, and after making sure Rhea and Simon were OK, we got dressed up and left. Sarah wore a short black skirt that I just adored seeing her in with her scandalous knickers. I guessed Rhea and Simon would try and sneak out as well so Sarah, and I both got lemonades at the bottom of the staircase that led from the bar to the rooms at the inn. We had two drinks each, both non-alcoholic, and my crazy sister hadn't made a break for it at all. I was surprised or reasoned that she had expected this and climbed out of the fire escape!

The following bar of our mini bar-crawl was a large pub near the bus station, and I ordered a pint of real ale that they happily served me. I got a disapproving glance from Sarah, but we were surrounded by students, and they must have just lumped us in with them; I wasn't going to complain, and even got Sarah a Vodka and Orange Juice.

We sat down in a raised portion of the bar and were half-sharing some tables with some students. One leant across and introduced herself to Sarah as "Becky" and we clinked our drinks together. Becky downed her tequila shot and then took a huge swig of her cocktail, smiling at us as she did. "You out for a party or something?"

"Just passing through," I said eventually, not quite sure what to say. We obviously looked a bit like students as she asked us what we were studying. I interrupted Sarah, who was about to tell her the truth with an overly broad statement of "Maths."

Fortunately, Becky wasn't studying Mathematics although we did get asked if we knew a tall bloke called Jason or a skinny girl called Claire. We feigned some thinking and then shook our hands, and she returned to what she wanted to talk about.

Becky was bubbly and chatted warmly to us, she spoke about her favourite bars on campus and the sports club she was a member of, while interspersing it with some moaning about her course. A few people kept coming over to her and greeting her, while a thin girl called Lucy and two guys joined in talking to us from the bigger group.

We were bought a drink each by Becky, and one of the lads teased me into downing my drink quicker than him; I didn't manage it, but I felt quite tipsy as I finished my pint.

It got to around half ten when Becky leant across to us and asked if we were going to the "Shagga." We just looked blankly at each other and then shook our heads. "Shame. It should be a good one tonight," she shouted and Lucy said that they had two spare tickets if we wanted to go. I looked at Sarah; the "Shagga" was obviously a nightclub, and I had never been to a club, Mum's establishment apart, and Sarah smiled and nodded.

Becky's friend swapped five pounds for two tickets labelled "the Sugarhouse" and I went to ask where it was, but though that it would show us as being non-students if I did so I just thanked her, and bought another round of drinks.

Becky looked at her watch as she downed her drink and told us that we better hurry or we wouldn't get in, and after drinking a pint as quick as I had ever drunk a drink, followed her out of the pub around the ring road.

As it turned out, there were a veritable stream of drunken students walking down the ring road and into a side alley that lead to a brightly coloured front. We exchanged the tickets for entry and was immediately hit by a wall of loud music. Sarah held my hand, and we looked around, the bar was quite small, and the three sofas to our right were taken, but we walked through a set of double doors and was hit by the cheesy music.

It took a few moments for my senses to adjust to the bright strobe lights and loud music, but there was a bar, decked in vivid colours to my left, a raised platform of chairs and tables to my right and behind that a dance floor and stage. "What ya having?" I offered, and Sarah asked for a fizzy Alcopop. The queue was fairly short, but I was disgusted by the choice of beer (just lager) and the fact that they did not sell peanuts.

I complained to Sarah who just laughed at me, and we looked around the club. There were drunken students everywhere, and a few were not dressed in a dignified way. Sarah giggled at me glancing up and down the legs of a very tall, young dancer wearing a very short skirt, and I just raised an eyebrow at my girlfriend; she had looked too, and it was hypocritical of her to say anything.

The weak beer was soon drunk, so I replaced it with another and then another. I could feel the effect of the alcohol on my system, and I promised Sarah I would dance with her when I was drunk. That moment was rapidly approaching, and after a quick visit to the Gents, I was dragged onto the dance floor to dance to Michael Jackson.

I was not the worse dancer in that club that night. Many of the other patrons were bordering on inebriation and their uncoordinated thrusting and swaying made my poor attempt at dancing look positively decent.

Sarah burst into hysterics at my attempt of doing the Time Warp when my feet slid against some spilt drink, and my slide to the left was more of a slip. I picked her up and kissed her, and we waited, hoping for the following song to be more of a slow dance, but the DJ put on a novelty act, and Sarah looked around.

The couple to our right were squabbling; he was "done" with dancing as he trod on her toes and she wasn't spending all night propping up the bar. Sarah, her confidence fuelled by alcohol, interjected with a "May I?" She nodded towards me, taking the argumentative guy by the wrists and spoke to his partner. "I'll show him how to dance," she promised, leading him back to the dance floor.

I looked at the girl; she was a little bemused but smiled as her drunken partner navigated to a small part of the dance floor with the strange teenager. "Do I know you?" She asked me, and I looked her over.

She had short, black hair, tied back into a small ponytail but a warm, inviting face. She was no taller than Sarah, but she looked at least five years older, and her tight top and trousers accentuated her figure wonderfully.

"No," I replied. "I don't think so. Andy," I told her, and she replied that her name was Hannah. I took Hannah's hand and led her on a dance, I barely knew any moves and started trying to emulate some of the other people in the club, but at best I was a second behind everyone else.

Hannah, for her part, was not better, but what she lacked in talent she made up in enthusiasm, and as long as I did not tread on her toes, she was happy. I tried hard not to laugh at her, but we must have looked very stupid, with our hideously uncoordinated dancing moves.

I glanced over at Sarah; she was still dancing with Hannah's partner and at the end of the song I offered to get a drink and we staggered over to the bar. Hannah teased me for being a rubbish dancer and then asked after Sarah. We could see them getting close and she looked at me to gauge my reaction. I was not bothered, and although Sarah had that excitable look in her eyes, I also knew she would be coming home with me.

My calmness at watching my girlfriend dance with another guy rubbed off on Hannah, and as she downed the last of her beer, dragged me back onto the dance floor. We had had a nice chat, and I had told her that we were students, but missed out any further detail.

The DJ played a slow song, and I put my hands around Hannah's thin waist and rubbed my palms up and down her sides. She smiled at me, and her eyes flicked over to Sarah who had wrapped her arms around Hannah's partner.

"We've only just started going out," Hannah whispered as she saw me glance over at what she was also watching.

"Us too," I replied. "But Sarah is very touchy-feely." Hannah broke into a grin, and her eyes met mine.

"You too, right?"

"Maybe," I uttered and pulled her closer towards me, her legs either side of mine. I squeezed her buttocks and then spun her around, wrapping my hands around her body, underneath her bosom.

Sarah glanced over at me and smiled, pulling her dancing partner closer and putting his hands on her rear. She whispered something to him and then spun her partner in a circle, similar to what I was trying to do with Hannah.