‘That lipstick is too bright,’ said my Mother as we stood in the kitchen making dinner. ‘It looks cheap.’ She frowned at my navy mini skirt and stockings.

‘You’ll get yourself into trouble dressed like that!’ Dad glared over his newspaper.

‘I am going clubbing with Emma and Laura.’
‘You’re not. You’re thirteen.’

Emma and Laura were four years older than me. We always hung out together and they would share their makeup and cigarettes with me.

 Later on when Mum and Dad had gone to bed I put my fur coat on and crept out of the back door. Emma and Laura were waiting outside and I jumped into their brother’s van.

 Soon we arrived under the bright lights of Park End Club and rummaged in our pockets for our fake IDs. The bouncer looked us up and down, and then we paid our five pounds and clicked up the darkened stairway in our heels.

‘You look stunning,’ said Emma as we handed in our coats.

‘I’m so excited! Those boys look lush.’ Laura ogled a gang in the queue behind us.

‘They look older.’ I said nervously.

‘That’s cool. It means they can drive,’ Emma said.

A boyfriend like that would make me look so cool at school.

We walked up to the bar and Laura ordered drinks. The air smelled of aftershave and dry ice.

‘Three tequilas,’ Emma wasted no time. She handed me the glass.

‘Down in one,’ she said.

I didn’t want to be a chicken so I gulped the neat, gold liquor straight down. It was bitter and burned my throat. The girls cheered and ordered more.

‘How far have you gone with a guy?’ Emma asked Laura, reclining in a corner with her drink.

Emma looked up. ‘I’ve kissed Ed in sixth form before.’
‘Have you ever..you know?’ She whispered.

There was giggling.

‘No I’ve never been that far. Have you?’
‘Yeah I touched him.’
‘What d’it feel like?’
‘Dunno.’
‘What about you Katie?’ They turned to look at me.