Dina was a little surprised at how she couldn’t stop herself weaving her way to the res ablutions, that now seemed so far away down the passage. She must still be drunk! But actually, it was funny. Wasn’t it? She giggled uncertainly, guiltily, at herself. Then she saw Kosi and Debs coming and started to wave but they quickly disappeared into Debs’s room. Oooh – the painful bang of the door!

Phumi came out of her room and Dina croaked, “Hey, Phums,” giving her a half smile. But Phumi seemed to get a fright seeing her. She stopped dead in her doorway and gave Dina a quick, hard, strange look. Then she ducked straight back inside, closing the door firmly.

What’s up with her? thought Dina, puzzled, and she had to admit, a bit hurt. What could she possibly have done so wrong? Then she thought defensively, Ag, she’s just having a bad day. Bad-tempered bitch.

A bunch of girls she hardly knew saw her coming – and fell silent, their faces taking on embarrassed, shifty looks as they laid eyes on her. They turned their heads away and she could hear a rising tide of excited chatter as they passed her, broke into a run, and all rushed into Anele’s room, slamming the door behind them.

Huh? What was that about? I must look a wreck or something, thought Dina. A beach bash wreck. She stopped at the mirror – yeah, that was it. No wonder they were giving her sideways looks. But what the hell: that lot were such down-on-the-party girls. They never went to bashes and were probably just envious of the fun she and her friends always had.

But the mirror wasn’t lying: she was a mess. Her mascara was smeared all round her eyes, which looked dead, with dark rings under them. The rest of her face was sickly pale, her lips chapped white, her hair sticking up all over. And there was a fresh red graze all along one side of her jaw. How’d that happen? Hey – the new zombie-chic look! she thought, and giggled drunkenly to herself again.

Relieved to be alone in the cool, tiled toilet she sat down heavily, almost missing the seat, then steadying herself from another bout of the nauseating spins. A sprinkle of sand fell to the floor as she pushed down her jeans and panties and slumped back against the seat, closing her eyes. Then, as the pee flowed, she realised that apart from the overall soreness she was feeling in her body there was a burning achiness round her vagina.

Instantly a shadow fell over her “what a party!” giggles and thoughts. Had she had sex with someone? Never. She liked to party but no way would she ever just go with some random guy at a party. She was not one who slept around; she wanted to be in a real relationship. She tried once more to get her brain to replay the whole evening. She had been flirting light-heartedly (like everyone else) with Sim and Jaco in the taxi to the beach … and they were all dancing in one big group. So, no. No … she definitely couldn’t remember that: actual sex.

As she staggered out of the toilet, Lizelle, who was touching up her make-up in the mirror, swung round. Seeing Dina she put her hand on her hip aggressively and sneered: “It’s you. Wish I didn’t have to share my space with such a trashy whore.”

“Wha–? How dare you … What the hell are you talking about?” began Dina.

But Lizelle had turned her back and hurried off, as if Dina had an infectious disease.

Dina stared after her, angry and confused. Soon, however, as she thirstily gulped water from the tap and then splashed her face, she felt her anger giving way to a deepening anxiety.

***

Tell us what you think: Is it just part of youthful fun to get really drunk? Are the girls just jealous and bitchy?