Sorry for the long wait, I've been really busy, then kinda got caught up in another story. I figured I had to post this now, though, or else I'd have to be changing some of the timings in it :P I'm not that pleased with this chapter, but next chapter should hopefully be better. Thank you to all my lovely reviewers also :)
"Mum, I'm home!" Lena shouted, dumping her bag in the hallway and running through to the kitchen. Perching on the edge of a chair, she grabbed an orange and grinned at her mother, who had her hands in a bowl and flour up to her elbows.
"How was your day?" she asked her daughter, smiling lovingly as Lena rolled her eyes and groaned.
"They've made me a tutor and mentor," she moaned, waving her hands around. "It's well not fair!"
"I suppose that's taken you out of detention, though," her mother asked, going to the sink and washing her hands.
"Yeah, but this is worse. I mean, it takes up Saturday's and Sunday's, so I have no free time now. And I have to deal with little kids." Her mother smiled, remembering Lena with her little cousin.
"Every cloud has a silver lining," she said, sitting opposite her. Lena rolled her eyes again. Her mother loved sayings, and was forever sprouting them.
"Yes, Mam," she laughed. "Well, at least one of the kids is nice. I met him today. He's five, called Edward and looks like an angel, what with just how innocent he looks. You know Johnny Wilkinson's hair from the match last week? Well, his hair is that length, and blond. All he needs is a halo and to be able to survive without his mother and he'd be perfect."
It was her mother's time to laugh now. "You'll make a good mother, cariad."
"Yeah, whatever," Lena said, rolling her eyes.
"And why were you noticing Wilkinson's hair, might I ask?"
"Mother, I am English," she replied, grinning.
Her mother snorted. "You must be the only person to say that in a Welsh accent."
"Why of course!" Lena said, pretending to be shocked. "It must be said like that. And you can deny it however much you want, but he does look kinda dishy with his hair like that."
"He can look as dishy as he likes, we're still the better team," her mother declared. Lena quickly interrupted before she started singing the national anthem. In Welsh.
"Look, Mum, I'm going out tonight, so I need to go get ready. I'll see you soon." Sliding off her chair, she kissed her mother's cheek and started to head out of the room.
"Your father won't be happy," her mother sighed, staring at her hands. Lena ground to a halt, gritting her teeth.
"That plentyn gordderch can please himself!" she snapped. "I don't give a damn what he thinks!"
"Please, don't call him that," her mother pleaded, but Lena ignored her and stormed upstairs, slamming the door shut behind her. Resting her head on the table, her mother closed her eyes and sighed. "Dus achub fi rhag ferched trafferthus," she prayed, hoping that her husband would arrive home after she had left.
Putting her mascara away, Lena stared at herself in the mirror and smiled. The make-up had done its job, making her eyes and mouth look bigger, and her dark brown hair fell in straight layers down the sides of her face.
Hearing the front door open and close, she sighed. The last thing she wanted was to get in a fight with her father, but she knew that she had no choice. He disapproved of her going out and she didn't give a damn what he thought, hence all the arguments.
Pulling on her heels, she stood and flicked her hair back over one shoulder before leaving the room, taking care to lock it behind her. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she tried to sneak past the living room to the front door, but it was no use.
"Helena."
'Go die,' she thought, glaring hatefully at the man sat in the high-backed armchair.
"Vin aici," he said, raising an eyebrow at her attire. It was April, the start of the warmer weather, and she was wearing a halter-neck top with Daisy Duke length shorts.
"Şurub tu," she replied scornfully, speaking his native Romanian as easily as she could Welsh and English. "I'm going out, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
"I could lock you in bedroom," he said. Even though he'd lived in England for nearly thirty years, he'd never bothered to learn the language properly and still only spoke pigeon English.
"I'm eighteen, Tată!" she cried, furious. "I am legally an adult and as such you can do no such thing. Now, I'm going out for the night. I don't know what time I'll be back at, so I'll see you tomorrow."
"If you leave now, you no come back. Understand?"
"Fine." Turning to her mother, she smiled at her sadly. "I'll call you tomorrow, Mum. Night." Shooting one last glare at her father, she left the building.
A few hours later, and she was well on her way to being drunk. She was determined to do tonight everything her father hated about her generation – get pissed and picked up. In that order. The first was easy enough, and she was spoilt for choice with the second. She'd got invited to join a group of youngish fit men early on and had quickly accepted. They'd bought her drink after drink, and most of them were busy fighting over who was going to try and take her home. She wasn't helping, spending her time flirting outrageously with all of them, including the guy wearing a wedding ring. He was playing pool with the only other one to not pay her too much attention, and she watched him carefully as he bent down for his next shot. 'Nice arse,' she thought, smirking.
"I wouldn't pay too close attention to him, if I were you," one of them told her, leaning on the table next to her. "He's devoted to his missus and has been since he first met her. The other one's engaged as well, and she'd kill you if you tried getting off with him. Very good at kick-boxing." He grimaced. "Nearly broke my arm last week." Lena laughed at this, grinning at him. "So Lena, you're wasting your time. What a hot girl like you needs to focus on is a man who's free and willing."
She smirked. "And I'm guessing that guy's you, right, Tom?"
"Well, now that you mention it..." Shaking her head, she stood up. She wasn't interested in big-headed idiots like him. She decided to forget her earlier plan, as all she wanted to do was curl up and sleep.
"I think you drank too much," said a voice from above her, and she opened her eyes to see Connor (the other pool player) looking down at her, smiling friendlily.
"What happened?" She looked round, noting that most of the group had left, apart from Connor and his friend from the pool table, the only one who's name she hadn't learnt.
"You got pissed and collapsed after two steps," he said, speaking to her for the first time, talking as if to an idiot. "Real clever."
"Where do you live?" Connor asked, giving the guy a look that said 'back off'. "We'll drop you off."
"Nowhere," she replied, trying to keep her eyes open.
"Everyone lives somewhere," the guy said.
"Not me. Got kicked out earlier."
"Well, that explains the crazy drinking," Connor muttered. "Alright, you can sleep on my couch for tonight, and we'll see about finding you somewhere to live tomorrow. How's that sound?" His only reply was a snore, Lena having already lost the battle to stay awake. "I'll take that as a yes then. Help me carry her, mate." Sighing, the other guy picked her up.
"She's heavier than she looks," he grunted. Walking through the still crazy pub, he laid her in the back of his car and strapped her in. "Come on, or Jess'll be wondering where I've been."
"Don't worry, I'll stick up for you."
"God help me." The sound of their laughter was all that remained as the car sped off into the distance, carrying with it Lena.
Translations
If they're wrong, then I apologise. I'm not fluent in either language, and am relying on the internet (not the best idea I ever had, but the only solution I could think of).
Dus achub fi rhag ferched trafferthus - God save us from troublesome daughters
Vin aici - come here
Şurub tu - screw you
Tată–father
I'll try and update quicker this time, though no promises. Please review, I'd love to know what you think. Rx