The Bad Girls' Club (28 page)

Poppy looked truly deranged now. The dip on her face, her hair sticking to it and the veins popping out on her neck – she made a truly scary picture.

‘My arse would make you vomit, huh? Well, take this, Poppy.’

Imogen looked at me and winked.
‘I owe you a dare,’ she said. ‘This one’s for the club.’

She reached for the tie at the side of her dress and pulled it undone. The dress slid to a puddle at her feet. She stood in the middle of the room, in just her bra and a skimpy pair of knickers.

The guys all cheered and a few started clapping.

‘
Stop it. Stop it at once.’

Imogen ignored her, walking across the room with a showgirl wiggle in her hips, her hands behind her back unhooking her bra. The clapping had grown to a steady beat. Poppy tried to stop her but the guys blocked her way. They had no intention of letting her ruin their fun.

When Imogen got to the door, she turned around and flung her bra into the room where it landed on the light fitting then she stood, framed in the doorway, with her arms raised displaying her body to the room.

Cheers broke out and a few wolf whistles.

This was Poppy’s best party ever.

Everybody cheered me! I could
n’
t believe it. Like I was some superstar burlesque performer or something. I gazed around the room. There was no disgust or shock just a whole lot of admiration and a few lolling tongues.

Well, except for Poppy.

‘You’re disgusting.’ Poppy laughed hysterically, then stopped when Beth leaned over and wiped some dip off her face.

‘
I don’t think you can talk at the moment, can you Poppy?’

Poppy sneered back at her but didn
’t say anything.

Juliette gave me the thumbs up and Beth grinned at me. Their support meant more than all that lust in the guys
’ eyes. I really could have done that dare at Smith’s beach. Being naked isn’t that big a deal.

Daniel looked from me to Poppy and back again, like he was trying to work out how he could hedge his bets. I really had planned to dump him before the party but he hadn
’t been answering his phone. So, I’d made plans. If I had nothing here – no man, no friends, and no promotion – I would just take off. Travel around the country or maybe go overseas. I’d been at home packing when Jack, bloody Jack, had forced me to come to this bloody party. I guess I owed him one. Maybe I should buy him a gift. Like some really kinky gay porn.

I couldn
’t stay in the doorway forever. There was only one way to end a moment like this. It had to be spectacular and it had to be bold. It had to be worthy of the Bad Girls’ Club.

With a wink and a shake of my hips, I turned and sauntered across the deck, heading towards the pool. The water glimmered in front of me, so refreshing. It would be a waste of a good pool not to use it.

I paused at the edge, hooking my thumbs into the elastic of my waistband. It sounded like a lot of the guests had followed me out onto the deck but I didn’t turn around to check.

I shimmied out of my knickers, bending over to give Poppy a good look at my arse,
and then jumped.

Fuck! Poppy hadn
’t turned on the pool heater! It was freezing. For a moment, it felt like my lungs had stopped working. I thought I’d die from hypothermia but I plunged under. All noise disappeared and I left the world behind. It was just me and the sounds of the water, everything else a blur.

I floated on my back, looking up at the sky. With my head submerged, I could hear nothing. The party, all those people, they were all distant from me now.

Why had I wanted Daniel anyway? And that stupid dream of the house and cooking dinner? Boring. I wanted so much more than that.

Then I heard a splash.

And another.

Beth and Juliette popped up beside me.

We put our arms around each other and laughed and splashed each other.

‘
You were awesome,’ Juliette said.

Beth glowed.
‘I accept the replacement dare. Race you to the side.’

Poppy and Daniel stood near the barbecue, arguing. I couldn
’t hear what they were saying but it looked as if Daniel would be paying for this for a long time.

‘
They deserve each other, don’t they,’ Beth said.

I nodded. I could see a long and miserable marriage ahead for them. I don
’t know what Daniel said but Poppy grabbed the spatula from beside the barbecue and slapped him around the face with it. Then her father ran over and put his arms around her.

I dived back under the water to clear them from my mind.

Gradually, the pool filled up as more and more of all the guest stripped off and jumped in. Maria from work stood on the edge of the pool in just her knickers, getting up the courage to jump in and most of Daniel’s mates were already in the pool. Beth grabbed my arm and pointed at woman unbuttoning her frock at the edge of the pool.

‘
That’s my mother,’ she said. ‘And Aunty Jean! I’ve got to stop them.’

‘
Nah,’ said Juliette. ‘Why should they miss out on the fun?’

Beth laughed.
‘Yeah, true. At least Auntie Floss wasn’t here. Was that your boss, Imogen? You got the promotion?’

I nodded. I couldn
’t stop grinning.

Satoshi
swam up to us. ‘Sorry, Jules. It was me that blabbed. I overheard your friends-’

She threw her arms around him.
‘That’s okay.’

From the side of the pool, Poppy shouted.
‘Get out. Get out of my pool.’ Nobody paid her any attention though.

‘
Want to go for a drink after this?’ Satoshi asked Juliette.

She shook her head.
‘I think I need to hang out with my friends at the moment but maybe next weekend.’

I jumped as someone groped my leg.

‘Actually we should get out of here,’ I said. ‘It’s getting a bit crowded.’

‘
So, where to?’ asked Beth.

‘
The Railway Hotel,’ said Juliette. ‘Isn’t that where the bad girls always meet?’

I laughed and looked at Juliette.
‘Isn’t it your turn for a dare?

‘
We have to think of a really good one,’ said Beth.

‘
Yeah, maybe matching Bad Girls’ Club tattoos?’

‘
I’m not sure about that,’ Beth said. I laughed, I knew that would freak her out, but Juliette looked at her arm like she was seriously considering it.

I
’d been the one who started the Bad Girls’ Club. I’d started it as a joke and to make Jack shut the fuck up about me never leaving the house. I thought it might end up with someone to go drinking with but, as I looked at my two best friends hauling themselves out of the pool, I realised I’d created so much more.

Sure, we weren
’t perfect and there’d be a lot of fallout from all the secrets we’d revealed but we could deal with it. We could deal with each and toss aside anyone who didn’t like it. We’d fight and bitch but we’d survive it.

I could see a huge future for the Bad Girls
’ Club. Maybe a franchise and an overseas chapter. After all, everyone had a Poppy in their lives to deal with. Meanwhile, we’d just grow stronger and sparkle in tomorrow.

###

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About the author

Kathryn O’Halloran is a writer living in Melbourne, Australia. Her chequered work history includes time as a computer programmer, a phone psychic, a mystery shopper, a community television star, a maker of psychedelic fake fur handbags and wielding a machete on a vegetable production line.

She
is a writer of both clean and dirty words.  You can find more in her collection of erotic short stories – Desire.  She is currently working on an historical fiction set in 1850s Japan.

Her loves include Japan, Korean BBQ,
polka dots and pretty dresses. 

Blog:
http://kathrynohalloran.blogspot.com

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