Afterlife - Stephanie Hudson Page 0,54

good at the cool, calm and collected act.

The rest of the day was filled with tours of the campus, a lot of which I didn’t need to go on as I wasn’t living here and little lectures of groups we might join, subjects we were taking and charity events etc…. By the end of the day I felt mentally exhausted.

Jack decided we needed a drink after such a hectic day so we all went to a local bar near the campus. By this time we had also met up with Lanie, Chaz and Drew. But from the looks of things something had happened since I had last seen them, as Drew and Lanie were looking very cosy, holding hands. I wonder why RJ hadn’t mentioned anything, being one of the town’s biggest gossips I would have thought she would have jumped at the chance. But then my questions were answered as soon as I saw her face drop…. She didn’t know.

“Did I miss something?” She asked them in a harsh tone. Now I was missing something. What was her problem? She looked furious. She stood facing Drew like a cat ready to fight, I was half expecting her back to arch and for her to start spitting! She turned her back to Lanie and completely ignored her, acting as though she wasn’t even there but instead of taking offense at these actions Lanie just rolled her eyes and turned to join us.

“Here we go again, come on I’m not waiting for them two to wrestle it out!” Jack laughed and grabbed Lanie by the shoulders giving her some comfort as we all crossed the street. Lanie smiled but looked awkward, as if she had known what was coming.

I turned just before we went down a small alleyway next to an old fashioned shop of sorts that had candles and cracked pots in the window.

“Aren’t we going to wait for them?” I asked as curiosity finally got the better of me. But they didn’t hear me and I followed just as RJ and Drew were still in what looked like a heated debate. The last thing I saw was RJ’s twisted red face that clashed with her bright pink hair, shaking with emotion. Drew’s sad face mirrored hers only in an opposite reaction. They were like yin and yang giving rise to each other in turn.

'Willy’s One Eyed Joe’ was no Club Afterlife that was for sure, in other words it was a complete dive! We all walked through the decrepit doors to find the inside very much like the outside….dilapidated. It was in desperate need of a makeover…Hell it needed re-building! The walls looked as though they were melting, with a mixture of paint and paper that was trying desperately to get to the floor. There was a strong smell of disinfectant coming from the floor, which was covered in stains. The tiles had also seen better days, with patches of broken and new that didn’t match the originals. In fact nothing matched. Chairs, tables and even cushions for the chairs, were all odd and scruffy. Some of this I was used to seeing though. In quite a few places in England, old pubs didn’t really have a lot of furniture that matched; most of them were antiques, which added to the charm. This however did not have the same affect.

We sat at one of the big booths in the corner and it creaked in pain as all four bodies sat down. I noticed I was the only one who didn’t look completely at ease. The rest looked very relaxed and used to this place, seeming oblivious to the state that surrounded them.

“Joe… hey Joe!” Jack shouted towards the bar, which had also seen better days. A big fat man with a jolly looking face turned in surprise and I could understand why, as he wasn’t the only one. I also was surprised that we had come in here. Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t a snob by any means but this place looked as if it had seen a few bottle fights in its time and I don’t think all the stains on the floor were from alcohol. He probably kept a bucket of sawdust in the back just in case.

There were only two other people in the whole place and they were sat at the bar. Must be regulars I thought. I could spot them a mile away. The way they looked as though they owned the seats