CHAPTER ZERO;
midnight memories

          MIDNIGHT FALLS like a rich velvet blanket of black, swallowing up the day, draining the colours to grey and then to nothing at all. Cool evening air brushed against the two girls' skin, laughter escaping from their pale lips as they joked during their friendly catch-up. The pair perched on the edge of a wall outside the back of West Ham's high school as the girls quickly snuck in their talk during the interval of 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern' the senior year were performing.

But Beatrix and Tabitha had to be careful, no one was allowed to know of their secret conversation since it was public knowledge to everyone at the High School — freshmen included — that they supposedly 'disliked' one another.

Drama had become one of the key factors of West Ham, everyone soaked it up like a sponge desperately and still wished for more once they got bored. So, the girls provided. Beatrix got to stand as the most popular girl in school and Tabitha got some type of entrainment from it, keeping her head held high as she'd suppressed laughter whilst others bitched about fake news.

"He didn't?" Tabitha asked in pure shock, mouth wide open at Beatrix nodding whilst she giggled shamelessly. "Bea!"

"I know, I know." She tried to calm her fits of laughter but fail horribly. "But, in his defence, he was trying his best."

"Erm, no." The chestnut haired girl stated, open up the tiny flask of alcohol before taking a sip. "He was just trying to get in your pants," She mocked the strawberry blonde's choice of words, "it's gross."

Tabitha offered the dark flask she'd stolen from her father to Bea who politely declined. "Can't be drunk when I go on stage."

"Unlucky you." The Visser girl stated with an eye-roll, tired of the performance they'd been preparing for four months now just to be working as Assistant Prop Manager to lend a helping hand to her brother — Grizz.

Beatrix opened her mouth to speak but the harsh slam of the backstage door bursting open quickly interrupted. Without a word, both hopped off the wall, Bea grabbed the other girl's hand, pulled her vintage dress up with her other one and led them somewhere out of eyesight.

As if they were back in kindergarten, both Beatrix and Tabitha peered over the side of the concrete building to see who invaded their personal chatter. Out of the corner of their eyes, Kelly and Harry were intimately making out like there was no tomorrow, hands rooming in ungodly places and low moans could still be heard from the vast length between the four.

Nostalgia crashed over Beatrix like a tsunami; the joyous, late hour thoughts converting into bittersweet memories. On the other hand, Tabitha groaned loudly, about to take another sip of the drink but Beatrix snatched it out of her hand and downed it in seconds, the liquid burning her throat causing her to gag.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Bea." Tabitha whisper-shouted, stepping away from the green-eyes girl who was still choking on excessive amount of alcohol she'd just drank.

But then it hit them.

The awful scent of everything you'd ever count as disgusting, horrid and vile arose in the midnight air making them both to gag on the nauseating smell. Tabitha and Beatrix cupped their noses with their hands to block it out, the sound of the door shutting signalling the frisky pair had left.

"We best go inside." Beatrix headed towards the backdoor as Tabitha nodded in agreement. Once the McCoy girl reached the door she quickly stopped and turned to faced Tabitha. "And remember—"

"Yep." She interrupted abruptly, "No one can know."

"au revoir mon amour." Beatrix joked in her biggest faux french accent.

Allowing her laughter to escape, Tabitha replied in her own silly voice. "à plus tard belle."

Under the moonlight the avenue laid still, only a smattering of luminous stars scatter the heavens; trailing everything that was forgotten only the long trance ahead filled with dreams and nightmares. Which shall it be today?...

AUTHOR'S NOTE
it's only been 2 days and i have already got a short prologue out! consider me pleased :)