“Oh, my God, you’re sick!” one boy shouted from the background.
“I see we have our first volunteer!” Abel said. Again, this made everybody laugh, “Now, shut up. Three boys, and then your partner has to finish this bottle of whiskey.”
He held up a bottle that was mostly empty, but still the equivalent of about three shots.
“Beer before liquor, bro!” another guy shouted from the crowd.
“Our second volunteer for my brother, okay!” Abel was grinning like he was so impressed with himself. “Sound fair?”
“Ha, you’re so funny. Okay, Abel, but if I win, I want the exact same thing. You, three boys, and Peyton, one shot, not the whole bottle.”
“Oh, my God, you’re so fucking lame, Cain, but you got yourself a deal,” Abel said, putting out his hand. Cain shook it.
“Trish, get us three volunteers,” Abel shouted. “Like I said, if you want to leave, you can, but I think we’re all in agreement, the ones who left, made out with boys. Am I right, everyone? Otherwise, this never leaves this room.”
“Yeah!” everyone said. It made several boys heading for the door change their mind and turn around. People were laughing hysterically at the thought of either of the boys making out with anyone else here, already forming scenarios in their head about what it would be like. Trish picked out three relatively attractive, extremely nervous looking boys, and led them to the front of the room by the table.
“You like what you see, Cain,” Abel said, laughing.
“Let’s just play,” Cain said.
Cain turned toward me, “Oh, my God, what the fuck was I thinking?”
“It’s okay if we lose, we lose,” I said.
“But you don’t have to make out with a bunch of dudes!” he said, “Oh man, I’ll never live this down.”
We started the game, and Abel wasn’t exaggerating, he was exceptionally good at it. With his first three turns he threw his ball into a cup, fortunately, Peyton missed all of hers. I got two of mine, and Cain got one of his.
“Come on, Peyton, I’m counting on you,” Abel said, standing right behind her.
She tossed the ping pong ball out of her hand and it actually went in.
“Hell, yeah!” Abel said, grabbing her and kissing her right on the lips. She was impressed with herself too.
Me, not so much. I didn’t think it would sting that much seeing her kiss Abel. It was what I wanted, why we came here, but it still hurt.
Suddenly, the game turned extra acrobatic, and people were bouncing the balls off the table, the floor, and the walls. I think everyone was getting a little drunk.
Cain and I sunk both of ours in one turn. This put an expression of extreme anxiety on Abel’s face. We had five to go, and they had four. We were only behind by one.
He suddenly became very focused, and hit one of ours, leaving only three for them to make; Peyton missed hers.
We got the balls back, and both got in again; leaving only two for us and three left for them.
Abel shot and missed, but Peyton sank one. Then, it was two left on each side. We shot back and forth three times, with no one achieving a shot. Then, Abel scored one, leaving one for them, two for us.
Next, Cain shot and succeeded in scoring, leaving one cup for each side. The crowd was on edge, especially the boys whose fates were sealed either way. They stood at the front looking apprehensive.
“Okay, okay, here’s the deal, last cup. No overtime. If one team makes both their balls in the cup first they win, but if they just make one, then the other team gets to try to score with both of theirs with one try, then they win. But, the second shot has to be a trick shot. Fair enough?” Abel was talking to the crowd.
“Sounds good,” Cain said.
Once again, we went back and forth with several tries with no result. Then, it happened. Abel sank the last cup. My heart sank, not for myself, but for Cain. I glanced at him, and he looked miserable.
Abel was cheering and picked up Peyton and hugged her. I was repelled by the sight, even more so because we lost.
“Why are you so happy?” Cain asked. “It’s still our turn.”
“Seriously, Cain?” Abel said, laughing. “It’s a slam dunk!”
“Whatever,” Cain said, tossing his ball that somehow managed to fall perfectly into the cup making a small splash.
“Oh shit,” he said in a kind of unbelievable tone.
“Oh shit,” I said realizing it was my turn.
“Trick shot!” Abel shouted nervously. “It has to be a trick shot!”
I turned to Cain, he looked hopeful, but terrified.
“Okay, now I want you to focus real hard, Cain,” I said. Abel was standing right next to the table, laughing, but visibly edgy. “There’s a point on that wall right there, that if I bounce it off, it should go right into the cup. I need you to find that point for me.”
“Okay,” Cain said, he appeared tipsy. He stared at the wall for a long time. He made some projections with his eyes and fingers before he eventually placed his finger at a point on the wall.
“There?” I asked. He shook his head, then moved his finger about six inches to the left.
“There?”
“Yeah,” he said.
I looked at the cup at the other end of the table, it now seemed miles away. As I stared at it, I watched Abel smiling and wrapping his arms around Peyton from behind, his hands over her stomach.
I sensed the red pigment of the cup engulf the entire room with its hue.
“Ready?” I asked Cain, who still seemed to be moving his finger every few seconds.
“Hurry up, there should have been a time limit!” Abel said, laughing.
Cain moved his finger one last time, and without taking my eyes off Peyton and Abel, I flung the ball to the left, it bounced almost exactly where Cain’s finger was placed, and zoomed right into the cup, spinning as it went down.
“Holy shit!” Cain and Abel said at the same time.
The Crowd went crazy, cheering and laughing.
“Your rules Abe,” Cain told his brother.
“Well,” Abel said, leaning back with his hands in his two front pockets, “A bet’s a bet.”
The three boys winced as Abel approached them. He looked back at all of us, who were wondering if he was really going to do it.
“A bet’s a bet,” he said again, and kissed the first two boys in about point five seconds, possibly not even touching them. They both wiped their mouths and spit. He winced as he reached the last boy.
“Oh, Trish, you picked a good looking one,” Abel said, laughing nervously.
“I swear I thought it was for you, Cain!” Trish shouted. Everyone laughed at that, “I mean . . .” her voice tailed off.
“This is for you, baby brother,” Abel grabbed the last boy and gave a long hard kiss in somehow, the most non-sexual way possible, then pushed him away. The crowd roared with laughter.
“I need a shot,” Abel said, wiping his mouth, then gagging as if he was almost going to throw up, “quick.”
“Let’s not forget the lady,” Cain said, winking at Peyton and pouring her a shot, and setting the bottle next to the miniature sized glass.
“Of course,” Peyton said, holding the glass up, “To the champions!”
Peyton threw back the shot without wincing. Everyone cheered. Cain reached for the bottle and Peyton moved it away from him, shaking her finger at him, “Huh-uh.”
She held the bottle up to see how much was left. A couple of shots worth. She glanced at me. I looked at her, implying it was definitely not a good idea, and shook my head. She winked at me and threw it back. As it went down, the crowd fell silent. Small amounts escaped down the side of her mouth. I held my breath as she took it down, thinking how disgusting it must be. When the bottle was all gone, everyone clapped. Abel went up to her and hugged her.
“See why I love this girl? She’s badass!” He said. She put her hand up against his chest to steady herself.
�
�Now that I need to get the ‘dude’ taste out of my mouth, and Peyton has provided us with a perfectly empty bottle, who wants to play another game?”
About ten or so people were completely into Abel’s idea and raised their hands, and everyone began moving furniture to make room for a spin-the-bottle circle. I walked over to Peyton.
“What are you doing?” I asked, concerned.
“Nothin’ . . .” she said, shrugging.
“You don’t think this is kind of excessive?” I asked, making a drinking motion with my hand.
“I can do what I want with my body, right?” she said matter-of-factly, “Let’s play!”
I reluctantly found my way into the circle. There sat Peyton, Abel, Cain, Bailey, Trish, Alicia, two of the three boys Abel had kissed, and a couple others I didn’t know.
“Okay, now no more dudes kissing dudes, that shit’s done. But ladies, I highly encourage dual participation, and I think we all will agree that it is highly appropriate,” Abel said. This made the girls roll their eyes, and the boys high five and fist bump.
“I’ll start it off,” Abel said giving it a spin. His first land was on Trish, who was clearly nervous and blushed, then proceeded to shove her tongue down Abel’s throat. I, too, became nervous at this point. I hadn’t realized what was involved. Everyone clapped as they separated.
“That’s how you do it!” Abel shouted, pointing at Trish who smiled back at him.
Cain was next to spin and landed on Bailey. She gave him a sweet, seductive type kiss, which seemed nice. Peyton was next, and she landed on Abel. My stomach churned.
“Yes!” Abel said, pumping his fist in the air. Peyton scooted closer to him and kissed him. I tried hard to pretend I wanted to watch and wasn’t trying to look away. She began to draw back after a short kiss, but he pulled her closer for more, till she put a hand on his chest and lightly pushed him away.
Everything was slowly fading into more and more of a red tint. Next, it was my turn. I landed on Cain. He gave me one of his sweet gentlemanly kisses with a little tongue. It was nice. I could tell he was a good kisser.
The bottle went around and around. Almost everyone kissed everyone. I kissed Cain, Abel, Trish, someone I didn’t know, and Alicia. At my next turn, my stomach sank when I realized it was slowing down. It stopped, directly on Peyton. I looked up quickly at her and saw her swaying a little from how much alcohol she had consumed.
“Oh shit,” Abel shouted. Everyone whooped and clapped, “The moment we’ve been waiting for.”
“Come on,” Peyton said, motioning with both her hands for me to scoot closer to her. I was still sitting cross legged and pushed nearer. She looked at me with a proud drunken smile and began to lean forward; I got up on my knees, leaned in, and gave her a quick kiss, then moved back to my seat. She opened her eyes and gave me a look of complete confusion.
“Aww, come on, what was that?” some people said. I shrugged.
“All right, next!” Abel said, sliding the bottle to Alicia.
“Hey, where’s the bathroom?” I asked Cain.
“Across the living room, down the hall to the left.”
“All right, I’ll be right back,” I said, getting up.
“Hurry back, maybe I’ll get another chance,” Cain said, seeming to get a lot less shy the more he drank. I just smiled back at him.
I found my way to the bathroom after opening a couple of the wrong doors and finding it was actually on the right side. I locked the door and fumbled inside my pocket. I needed some peace of mind. I poured a small pile onto the counter, not even bothering to line it up, and inhaled it as quickly as possible. I hurriedly used the restroom and washed my hands. Just as I was about to open the door I felt it starting to take effect. My nerves calmed, and a peace began to run through my veins. I opened the door and Peyton was standing there, seemingly about to knock. She seemed a little drunk, but not as bad as I expected after how much she had consumed.
“I was going to knock this time,” she said with a drunken laugh, and pushed her way in, closing the door behind her.
“What’s up?” I asked, glancing in the mirror to make sure I didn’t have a guilty face. It looked fine.
“What’s up with you, I mean what was that?” she asked leaning against the wall and crossing her arms.
“What was what?”
“That bullshit kiss, Danielle?” I was completely shocked to hear her say those words.
“I don’t know, everyone just made a big deal about it, I got nervous I guess,” I avoided eye contact with her.
“Yeah?” She approached me, grabbed my hand, and put it under her shirt, onto her stomach. “Well, they’re all in there now so . . .”
She began to unbutton her shirt and pushed herself clumsily against me. I put both hands on her shoulders, trying to keep her back and give myself more time to confront this rationally.
“What are you doing?” I asked, nervously.
“Kiss me, Danielle,” she said looking into my eyes, “Kiss me like you kissed her.”
I knew she spoke of Cindy. She looked at me and put one hand behind my neck and pulled me to her lips and kissed me. Before I could even think to stop her, I felt her grip tighten on my neck, as soon as our lips touched. I felt her take a deep breath. I instinctively wrapped my hands around her and pulled her close to me. As many times as I thought about it, I never thought this moment would happen. I had wanted her from the first moment I saw her, and could only fantasize at the thought of her wanting me too. A rush of adrenaline shook my hands as they ran over her body, taking in every inch. I did everything in my power to hold back. I was afraid of letting go and revealing to her how much I craved her. She pulled me closer to her and began kissing my neck. She kissed softly at first, then began sucking on my neck. I felt the blood rushing through my body a trillion cells at a time. I dug my nails into her; softly enough as to not hurt her, and hard enough to keep me grounded. All I wanted was to be in that moment, but my mind began to get in my way. Red flashes began to invade my vision like a strobe light. I grabbed Peyton harder and pushed her up against the wall. I began kissing her neck as she slipped her hands under my shirt grabbing my waist.
I saw bright red flood the room. I felt Peyton’s breathing become louder in my ear, this only fueled the fire inside me. I felt all control quickly slipping away from me.
I looked up into Peyton’s eyes for a second and saw nothing but desire. I kissed her and felt her pull my waist in closer to hers. I felt her tongue sliding against mine and her body rubbing up against me.
I suddenly felt a surge of energy transfer between us. It was painful and dark and immediately invaded my body like a poison.
I felt Peyton reach for my pants and began to unbutton them. I grabbed her hand, and pulled back immediately, thinking I had somehow done something to her that I had not intended. As soon as I let go, I felt the pain dissolve from me, and the room returned to its former color.
She seemed surprised and confused by my reaction. I looked her over quickly to ensure that I hadn’t done anything to hurt her.
“What?” she said, stepping closer.
“Nothing,” I said, taking a step back. She proceeded to grab me, began kissing my neck. I stood there paralyzed with indecision. She sensed my absence.
I went there to do the opposite of what I was doing. I needed to follow through with the original plan.
“I can’t,” I said.
“Why not?”
All I could think of was what the psychic lady said. How all I was capable of doing was hurting her. I felt that line, and I knew I was crossing it. I told myself I never would, and today I won’t.
“I know you feel the same way about me, Danielle, you’re not fooling anyone. I feel it in the way you look at me. I feel it in the way you talk to me, and I feel it every time you touch me. I’ve always felt it, and I’ve been waiting all this time for you to do something about it. Then, I realized you were too scared, and if I kept waiting, that day would ne
ver come. Now, I’m telling you that I want you. I want all of you and you’re telling me you can’t? What a fucking joke,” she said, buttoning her shirt.
“And you know what?” she approached me quickly and shoved her hand into my pocket. She pulled out the remnants of the small bag. “I never judged you, but this shit is going to kill you. Is this why?”
“No,” I said.
“Whatever.” She opened the bag. I knew she intended to get rid of it, and I grabbed her arm, much harder than I intended to. I surprised myself. She looked at me in disgust and tried to jerk her hand back to no avail. I tried, but I couldn’t let go. I felt the pain I was inflicting on her, coursing through my veins, coursing through her stare.
“You better let go of me right now,” she said with anger and pain in her eyes.
I did. Straight away, I saw deep red indentions on her skin. I turned away. The air slowly began escaping the room. What was I doing? Peyton dumped the contents of the bag in the toilet and flushed it. She threw the bag in my face and it floated onto the countertop. She left the bathroom immediately after that, saying nothing.
When I finally organized enough courage to leave the bathroom, I headed straight for the door, needing to get out of there. I slipped out unnoticed, or so I thought. I’d reached the bottom of the steps of the porch when the door opened.
“Hey, Dani,” Cain called behind me, “Where are you going?”
“I just gotta get out of here,” I said. I felt my hands shaking as I tried to sound calm.
“Something up with you and Peyton? She seemed upset.”
“No, I’m just not feeling well.”
“Hey, I’m a guy, but I’m not dumb. Is there something going on between you two?”
“No . . .” I said, truthfully. He surveyed my neck, obviously seeing marks that made it appear I was lying.
“I can tell by the way she looks at you. She loves you. You know that, right?” he asked. I was surprised by his intuition.
“Yeah.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“I am,” I said, “and I’m always going to be.”
“You know, I wish you wouldn’t go,” he said, “I’m sure I’ve made that clear by now.”
Manifesting Shadow, #1 Page 14