Pride shuffled through the café in his pajama bottoms, scratching his side as he yawned. It was two o'clock in the morning and Salene wanted a drink of water. She had rolled over and whacked him on the head with her arm—what he had come to know as the sign for her needing a drink. He absently went over to the cabinet, removing a glass and filling it from the tap. Blinking sleepily, he trudged back towards the bedroom.
"Ow!"
He cried out as he stubbed his toe against a glass bottle on the ground, sending it skittering across the floor. In the faint light glowing from the bulb over the stove, he saw the bottle spinning slowly. He watched the revolving bottle, the light glinting off the dull surface, sparking memory, taking him back to a different time in a different world and another twirling bottle…
"You're going to play right?" She smiled, blinking large brown eyes up at him.
"Um, yeah." He blushed, nodding.
"I'll see you there, in the living room, in fifteen." She touched his shoulder lightly, before leaving.
He leaned against the counter, absently taking a large sip from his soda. He couldn't believe it. Gwen Carlysle knew who he was, had even asked him if he was going to join the Spin the Bottle game. Him, Eric Montgomery, conservationist type and self-professed un-cool guy. Not to say he was a troll or anything, he just did not generally run with the 'in' crowd, which Gwen did. He tried to be honest with others and with himself at all times and he knew she was way out of his league.
He stood there, staring into space, his thoughts swirling 'round and 'round with the possibilities and improbabilities. Then the panic set in—what if he wasn't any good? What if he sucked? He'd never kissed a girl before, not a real kiss. The soda curdled in his stomach and it was all he could do not to curl his arms around himself protectively. He didn't know how long he stood, frozen in contemplation of his social existence in junior high and high school snuffing out before it had even had a chance to begin.
His friend Thad slapped him on the shoulder, breaking his concentration.
"'Ric man, the game is about to start and Gwen Carlysle is asking for you."
Thad wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. "How'd you manage that? Unless…"
He clutched his chest dramatically, while pressing the back of his other hand to his forehead.
"Never tell me she's a tree-hugging, twig-eating, nature lover such as yourself? How's a football and pro-wrestling guy supposed to stand a chance?"
Eric shoved him back, his brows raising in surprise when Thad almost fell to the ground, even though he had not pushed him that hard, he felt. The martial arts he had begun studying must be paying off he thought. He would have to be more careful with this new-found strength in the future. For now, he held his hands up apologetically.
"Sorry man, I think my mom has been slipping something into my Wheaties."
Thad righted himself and arched a brow at Eric. "What, 'pumping' iron pills?" He laughed at his own joke.
"Ha, ha. That was so funny, I forgot to laugh."
Eric swiped at Thad again, but the blond ducked, sending a blow to his friend's mid-section. Eric dropped an arm, blocking the hit and brought up his other hand to strike Thad in the face with the heel of his palm.
"Are you boys done playing?"
They both whipped their heads around the see the owner of the voice, standing in the doorway, her left brow raised knowingly.
Eric flushed, straightening up and pulled Thad up beside him, then tried to act nonchalant.
"Playing? We weren't playing, we were practicing for um—"
"Karate class!" Thad chimed in.
"Exactly! We have a test soon and so…"
"We decided to practice now…for some reason." The blond looked pointedly at his friend.
"Riiiiight." Gwen sounded unconvinced, but a smile played about her lips and soon she was grinning outright.
"Whatever you say, fellas. But if you can break yourselves away from 'practicing'…" she paused and the guys blushed anew, "the game awaits."
She twirled around and headed back into the other room and the boys followed along behind her, amidst some continued shoving as each blamed the other for the state in which they had been caught.
For Eric the shoving was just a cover, something to distract him from the hollow feeling in his stomach as his thoughts once more returned to a more pressing problem. He was expected to kiss someone here tonight, possibly even Gwen herself. The possibility both excited him and scared the mess out of him. Kissing Gwen would be the pinnacle, like reaching the top of Everest—but if he was not any good at this kissing thing, it would be like falling off that great mountain. A great big splat both for himself and for his future at school. What if…
"Eric, you sit here."
He blinked, realizing that time had run out, they were now at the sofa and coffee table where others were already gathered, talking, laughing and some were already twirling the empty soda bottle that was the hand of fate tonight.
He swallowed, his throat suddenly bone dry. "Here?" He winced at the high-pitched squeak, then cleared his throat. "Here?" He said again at a lower decibel, indicating a spot on the couch directly across from Gwen.
"That's what I said, isn't it?" She cocked her head to the side, her eyes twinkling at him.
He sat, or more accurately, dropped into the spot on the couch, his eyes full of her. He did not notice when Thad wriggled himself in between two Junior Varsity cheerleaders, drawing glares from both.
Lilibeth Peters, Gwen's best friend and the hostess of this little gathering, stood and cleared her throat.
"Now that we are all here." She flicked her eyes briefly at Eric then looked pointedly at Gwen,. "The game can begin."
She took the bottle from the guys spinning it and continued, "For those of you who don't know the rules, when it's your turn, you spin the bottle and kiss the person it lands on. If it lands on a person of the same sex—"
Lili glared at the same guys who were now snickering, until they stopped, unable to meet her stern gaze. "If it lands on a person of the same sex, you just spin again. When you have a successful turn, both of you go to the hall closet over there…" She pointed. "And spend at least five seconds, but no more than fifteen." More snickers accompanied this statement and she spread her glare around the circle until everyone was silent.
She sat down, still holding the bottle. "I'll take the first turn."
She spun the bottle forcefully, and it swirled for several seconds, the overhead light, glinting off its dark green surface, like emerald stars. It slowed, twirling lazily, coming to a stop with its head pointing at one of the JV football players. He grinned cockily, holding his hands out for slaps from his buddies.
His grin dropped, however at Lili's words. "Can the Casanova act, Brett; you can add these five seconds to what will undoubtedly be a long line of disappointments to members of the female sex."
Brett's face flushed an angry red and his brows furrowed as he glared at her departing back, only moving when she looked over her shoulder and said, "You coming?"
He followed her, overtaking her just before they went into the closet, pulling her inside and slamming the door shut.
Catcalls and whistling rang out while they remained in the room, as the time crept towards the fifteen second mark. Then abruptly the door opened and Brett stalked out, his face a fierce thundercloud as he continued past the group to the kitchen. Lili followed him out at a more leisurely pace, her expression smug as she licked her lips and took her seat as regally as any queen.
"So who's next?" She asked, smiling broadly.
A chill ran down Eric's spine. He was so not ready for this. Some part of his brain recognized that the game had continued, that others were spinning and heading in pairs to the hall closet, for their turn, receiving good-natured ribbing from their friends. But the central focus of his mind was fear. Fear of failure, fear of ridicule, fear of…Lili. He hoped like hell that he never got her or that she never got him, because if Brett couldn't handle her, he knew that he couldn't.
He was so gone in his head that he did not notice at first that everyone was looking at him and calling his name. When he did, he looked down to the bottle pointing at him, then looked up to see Gwen looking at him expectantly. Stunned, he pointed at her; she nodded. Then he pointed at himself and she nodded again, smiling gently. She extended an arm, pulling him to his feet.
He followed along behind her, his heart racing the blood pounding in his head so that all he heard was its drumming beat. His breath came faster and faster until he felt Gwen's hand against his chest.
"Easy. Slow down or you're going to hyperventilate."
He tried. He took a deep breath, then another, then forgot to breathe entirely.
"Gwen, just so you know, I've never—"
"Shh, it's okay." She placed a finger against his lips. Unconsciously, he licked his dry lips, licking her finger as well.
"Sorr—"
"Don't apologize. Do it again."
He did it again, circling her finger with his tongue.
"Good. And…again" Her breath whispered across his face as she replaced her finger with her mouth.
Mind spinning, he did what she asked, giving his all to the kiss, allowing himself to fall into the sweet abyss, where there was nothing but this time and this place and this girl in his arms.
And the party guests outside. They jumped apart as someone banged loudly on the door.
"Time's up! You're not the only ones that want to suck face here tonight you know." Lili could be heard clearly to say.
"Sometimes, I really wonder why I'm friends with that girl." Gwen said breathing hard as she leaned against the wall.
"Masochism? You're a glutton for punishment?" 'Ordeal' now over, Eric could tease.
She hit him gently on the shoulder. "No, silly; she's a very good friend. She arranged the game and even this party just for me."
His eyes rounded as her meaning sank in. "Wow."
"Is that all you're going to say?"
"Well, I—"
"If you two don't come up for air soon, I'm going to come in." The doorknob began to turn.
Eric grabbed it, pulling the door open, while grasping Gwen's hand with his free hand.
"Impatient much?" He smirked at Lili.
"As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind giving you a try." She smirked back, dragging a scarlet nail down his chin.
His smirk fell away and he took a small step back, bumping into Gwen.
Both girls laughed and he could feel his face fill with color.
"Don't worry 'Ric, I'll protect you." Gwen pressed her cheek and her palm against his chest…
Pride pressed his free hand against his chest. His memories had been so vivid; he could almost feel Gwen pressed against him now. One corner of his mouth curled up as he thought back. His first kiss; how scared he had been and how well things had actually worked out.
He sighed; the good old days.
"Pri-ide, I'm collld."
He grinned to himself. These days weren't so bad either.
"Coming."
He ran up the stairs to bring Salene her water.