Never Say Goodbye

by T. Renee Fike

  “Umm, yeah sure, even with a tank top and shorts I’m sweating like a pig in here,” she says pulling on her tank top.

  “It’s really hot in here,” I agree. I only have on a pair of blue and teal plaid shorts with a teal tank top and flip flops but I feel like I’m soaked.

  We head towards the stairs to go down to the first floor. As we make our way towards the exit, I feel like I’m being stared at, I look around and then come in direct eye contact with Nathan.

  I don’t look away this time, allowing him to back down first, and he does. I continue my way down the stairs as Sophie and I make our exit.

  “Holy shit, it’s as hot out here as it is in there,” she complains.

  “It is July,” I remind her with a laugh.

  “Ugh, don’t remind me.”

  We make our way to the car and she drives us back to the sorority house. We decide to park the car and walk to a house party.

  The party is at one of the sorority houses on the other side of the campus, so we make our way there.

  As we walk inside I’m surprised more people aren’t here. Don’t get me wrong, there are still quite a few people hanging around, I just thought there would be more.

  “Damn, this shit looks lame,” Sophie says as we head in.

  We say hi to a few people we know, but the majority of the people here, I’ve never seen before.

  I get a drink and hand one to Sophie then scan the room hoping to see more people we know, or something entertaining to watch.

  “We aren’t staying, so drink up,” Sophie warns me.

  “Why? What’s up?” I ask confused, we just got here.

  “This shit is boring. I’d have more fun at home, or we can go back to The Cave, if you want,” she says, looking at me.

  “I’m fine to go back to the house. Not really in the mood to go back to the club,” I tell her half truthfully.

  “Please, you don’t want to go back to the Cave because of Nate. I saw you, don’t try to play coy with me,” she says calling me out.

  “That too,” I admit, “we decided to stay away from one another, so no point causing issues.”

  “Tell him to get over himself and grow the fuck up,” she says looking annoyed.

  Too bad I only told Sophie part of the story. I didn’t really fill her in on how he thinks I crushed him by abandoning him. I simply told her we were childhood friends and changed when we got older. Luckily, she didn’t really question it further.

  “It’s fine Soph,” I tell her, then down my drink, hoping I won’t have to say anything else.

  “Alright let’s go,” she says as she downs her drink and sets the bottle on the counter and we head home.

  The next few weeks go smoothly. No run-ins with Nathan and surprising, I haven’t seen Levi either.

  The girls and I spend our days lying out and swimming by the pool during the day. At night we either head to a party or come up with events or plan events for the sorority house this year.

  Brynn is ecstatic; she’s hardly around, she’s always with Chad. I don’t blame her. She did spend almost two months without him, so they are still catching up.

  We are down to two weeks until school starts back up. The campus is getting busier by the day.

  It’s Saturday and the sisters and I are sitting in the living room deciding what we are going to do tonight.

  Brynn walks in and pulls Sophie and me from the conversation. She leads us to our room.

  I plop down on my bed and Sophie sits on the end of mine while B jumps on hers excitedly.

  “What happened, Brynn?”

  “You bitches have plans with me tonight,” she says happily.

  “Okay, what’s the plan?” I ask and look at Sophie, she has a smile plastered on her face.

  “Party tonight, and no Liv, you cannot back out,” she tells me, which only means it’s someplace I don’t want to go.

  “Where’s it at?” I ask her with a frown.

  “It’s at Chad’s,” she says still smiling.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Sophie asks, so I don’t have to.

  “Yes, it’s fine. I already discussed it with Chad.”

  “Brynn, I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but ever since Chad opened his mouth at the bar and realized who I was, he hasn’t exactly treated me the same,” I say with a frown.

  “I know, and I don’t foresee it getting better anytime soon. He’s team Nate and I’m team Liv, so we agree to not discuss you two when we’re together.”

  “Then how can you possibly think taking me to their house is going to be a good idea!?” I say louder than I intend.

  I look at Sophie and she’s shaking her head, probably thinking this is a bad idea too.

  “I talked to Chad. Liv you are my best friend. I’m not going to live two separate lives because he can’t get over himself about something he doesn’t have all the facts about.”

  “I feel like this isn’t going to end well,” I say looking towards the floor.

  “It will be fine. Chad’s telling Nate that you’re coming tonight, because I’m not taking no for an answer. He will either act like an adult or he can go elsewhere for the evening,” she says like it’s no big deal.

  “BRYNN, he freaking lives there. You can’t kick him out for the night just because you want me to come over,” I holler.

  “The fuck I can’t. Watch me,” she says with a straight face.

  “No B, just no,” I say shaking my head.

  “You two need to eventually talk and figure out this whole fucking mess before it drives me nuts,” she says with a piercing look.

  “I told you we talked.”

  “No, you two fuck-tards talked about staying away from one another. You never talked about what really happened all those years ago. Maybe if you did, he wouldn’t be such an ass and you wouldn’t feel the need to leave every time he stepped into the same damn room,” she snaps.

  “Fuck,” I yell, “I’m not getting out of this am I?” I ask nervously.

  “Not a fucking chance bestie,” Brynn says with a smile.

  “I hate you sometimes,” I mumble.

  “You love me more,” she says as she comes up to wrap her arm around me, letting me know it’s going to be okay.

  “Count me in,” Sophie chimes in with a smile, “I’ll kick someone’s ass if need be.”

  “What am I going to do with you two?” I ask with a laugh.

  Two hours later I’m ready to go, even though I’m dreading it. It’s August and hot, so tonight I’m in a denim skirt with a green sparkly halter top and cute sandals. Brynn’s wearing a lavender baby doll dress that is incredibly too short, but she pulls it off well. It looks amazing with her tan skin and long dark hair. Sophie is in a white sundress with killer heels.

  We make our way to their house, the whole time my stomach is churning. What the hell am I doing coming here? I keep asking myself this question, but I can’t seem to come up with a logical answer.

  I’m surprised when we reach the driveway that there aren’t any other cars parked there besides the ones belonging to the owners of the house.

  “Brynn, why’s it so quiet?” I ask confused.

  “Oh, we’re probably just early,” she says calmly continuing to walk towards the house.

  We get to the door, Brynn opens it and walks in, followed by Sophie while I hesitantly follow after. I hear music in the distance, and still don’t see anyone.

  We go into the living room. All I see is Chad, Rob, Caden and some blonde girl, sitting on the furniture.

  Brynn’s all smiles, but before she can get out of reach, I grab her arm and yank her back in front of me.

  “What the hell is going on Brynn?” I say through a harsh whisper.

  “What? I told you we are coming here to party,” she says with a smile.

  “Then where the hell is everyone?” I ask angrily.

  “Relax Livie, it’s going to be fun, you’ll see,” she says as she removes my han
d and makes her way over to her boyfriend’s lap. I know this isn’t good, she called me Livie, that tells me she’s up to no good.

  I look to Sophie and she just shrugs as she takes a seat on the couch. I see an open chair and take a seat, not happy with this situation.

  I glare at Brynn, not happy with whatever game she’s playing. The rest of the group seems to think everything’s fine. They are all engrossed in conversation, laughing and joking around.

  Within about five minutes, Nathan walks into the room and looks around at us sitting in the living room. His eyes find mine and then quickly go back to Chad.

  “What’s going on?” he asks looking at Chad.

  “I told you man, our party tonight,” he says with a sly smile.

  “Party? There’s seven people here, I hardly call that a party,” he says looking slightly irritated.

  “Don’t worry, Sawyer and Megan should be here soon,” he says looking happy with himself.

  “What kind of party you planning on having bro?” he asks confused.

  “You’ll see, take a seat.”

  Brynn looks at me with a smile as Nathan sits next to Caden. What the fuck is she up to?

  Thankfully, I don’t have to wait long to find out. Sawyer and Megan walk in laughing to each other.

  “Let’s get this party started,” Sawyer says with a cheer and hands in the air.

  I look at Sophie and back to Brynn hoping to figure out what’s going on.

  “Yay, okay so the rules,” Brynn says with way too much excitement. “We are playing truth or dare, but with a twist,” she says with a devious look.

  “What?” Nathan says looking as shocked as I am.

  “Calm down man, just listen,” Chad starts to say, but Brynn cuts him off.

  “Don’t worry babe, I got this. Okay, so the rules, since Chad knows the guys and I know the girls we created questions which are all in here,” she says as she pulls out a five gallon bucket, followed by another five gallon bucket.

  “Whoa, why the fuck do you got two buckets?” Sawyer pipes up laughing.

  “Listen assholes,” Brynn snaps, “we have a truth and a dare bucket. So, depending on what the person picks you select a question or a dare from the right bucket. Got it?” she says, piercing us with evil eyes.

  We all say yeah to shut her up.

  “Now the twist,” she says with a devious laugh, “you will find out about that when one comes up,” she says laughing, “now we all need to sit in a circle,” she instructs.

  Some of us moan and grunt in frustration, but do as she says.

  “Count us out,” Rob says as he stands alone with the blonde girl.

  “Why?” Brynn says looking angry.

  “We have other plans, maybe another time,” Rob says with a laugh as he and his date walk out the door.

  “Okay, everyone, get in a damn circle,” she scolds.

  “I’ll start,” Brynn says looking at Chad, “Baby, truth or dare?”

  “That’s not fair; you two know all the damn questions,” I state.

  “No we don’t, Megan helped write some too,” she says with a smile.

  Evil bitches, I say to myself.

  “Truth babe,” Chad says.

  Brynn reaches into the bucket and pulls a slip of paper out and looks at it, her face goes a little pale, but she reads it anyway, “Is it true that I’m the best fuck you ever had?” she says with a stern look at him.

  “Absolutely babe,” he says and then leans in and kisses her.

  What the hell kind of question is that?

  “Okay, which couple wants to go next?” Chad asks, looking around.

  I must look like a deer in headlights, because obviously I didn’t hear him right.

  “Oh shit,” Brynn mumbles, “So, I may have forgot a rule, we are doing this in teams, they are Caden and Sophie, Nate and Liv, Sawyer and Megan, and of course me and Chad,” she says with a smile.

  I.am.going.to.kill.her.

  “Sorry guys, I forgot to get the beer, I’ll be right back,” Chad stands and leaves the room.

  I glare at my so called best friend, hoping she realizes she’s a dead best friend when the night is over.

  Chad comes back in with a cooler. He passes us each a beer and also says there’s liquor for shots too.

  “So, who’s next?” Brynn asks excitedly.

  I look at Sophie who looks just as nervous as I do.

  “We’ll go,” Megan pipes up, “Sawyer, truth or dare?”

  “Dare baby, definitely dare,” he says with a smirk. Megan pulls a slip of paper from the bucket and reads her question, “I dare you to lick…who the hell wrote this?” she says looking to Chad and Brynn.

  “You gotta read it,” Chad says laughing.

  “You are dead,” she says and then continues to read the question, “I dare you to lick chocolate sauce off my nipples.”

  “Woohoo, give me that shit,” Sawyer pipes up.

  “Now, in a situation like this, we aren’t going to make you do it in front of us, unless you want to, you can do it in the spare room, but you have to each take a shot if you decide to use the spare bedroom,” Brynn says smiling.

  “Give me the damn shot,” Megan says as she stands up. “Let’s go Saw, and you better not bite me or you’re losing one of your balls tonight.”

  “Please woman, you would love for me to bite you,” he says, following her into the bedroom with the chocolate sauce.

  We wait patiently for them to come back out, but I hear Megan, “Not so much chocolate sauce you ass,” and then a laughing and manly roar coming from Sawyer. No surprise he would do something like that.

  They come out a few minutes later and Sawyer has a huge smile plastered on his face.

  “Okay Sophie or Liv, which one of you want to go next?” Megan says. Sophie looks at me and nods for me to go next.

  “I guess I will,” I say nervously, “Nathan, truth or dare?” I wait for his response and it feels like minutes go by rather than seconds.

  “Truth,” he says sounding irritated.

  I pull a question from the truth bucket and pray that it’s an easy question, looking at the question I release a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, “Is it true that you and a sibling shared a same sex partner?”

  He starts to laugh, “No, definitely not true.”

  “Bull shit, what kind of question is that?” Megan yells. “How the hell do I get him to lick my tits and he gets something so…so…minor?”

  “Questions are a little bit of everything,” Brynn says with a shrug, “Sophie you’re up.”

  “Caden, truth or dare,” Sophie asks.

  “Dare,” he says with a smile.

  She pulls a paper and starts to laugh, “I dare you to kiss the person on your lefts, cheek.”

  The person on his left is Nathan and he does not look happy, but before he can stop it, Caden leans over and kisses him on the cheek, causing us all to laugh.

  “Not cool fucker, not cool,” Nathan says while rubbing his cheek.

  The next few rounds are thankfully easy, and now it’s back to Nathan and I.

  “Truth or dare?” I ask him.

  “Dare,” he says surprising me. I pull the paper and read it, not believing the dare.

  I must wait longer than I thought because they start bitching at me to read it out loud, but before I get the chance, Brynn pulls the paper from my hand and reads it allowed to the group, “I dare you to make out with me for seven minutes,” she says without a laugh.

  She looks at me with apologetic eyes, but I have a feeling this was one she was hoping I would get.

  “Shit,” I hear Nathan mumble.

  “Remember, you can use the spare bedroom, but you have to take a shot first and we have to time you,” Brynn says a little too excited.

  Oh yeah, she’s definitely dead.

  “Shot,” I say holding my hand out for the bottle. I take a swig and then hand the bottle over and Nathan follows. We stand and walk to the
bedroom, he closes the door and the light is off, but there’s a small lamp sitting on the nightstand that’s on.

  Neither one of us says a word for probably two minutes.

  “I don’t hear anything,” Sawyer yells through the door.

  “Fuck off,” Nathan says.

  “We are going to start timing in one minute so you better get your kissy lips ready,” Megan says happily through the door.

  “We don’t have to do this,” I tell him.

  “No, I picked dare and I’ll do it,” he says looking everywhere, but at me.

  “You can’t even look at me, I’m not going to make you kiss me,” I say walking towards the door.

  Before I can comprehend what’s happening, he has my back up against the door and his lips meet mine. His hands are holding the sides of my face, not allowing me to really move my head as he continues to kiss me.

  I feel the shock of his kiss causing a soft moan to come from me. My mouth opens more for him to explore, and I’m surprised when he does.

  His tongue is molding with mine and I can’t help but enjoy how good this feels. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. My hands find his hair and I run my hands through it, not getting enough of what this man is doing to me.

  The next thing I know, Nathan is lifting me up, and I immediately wrap my legs around his waist.

  We get lost in each other and completely forget what and where we are, that is, until someone starts to pound on the door saying, “seven minutes is up, get your asses out here.”

  As quickly as the kiss was advancing, it turns cold. Nathan lets me down, doesn’t even look at me and walks out of the room, leaving me standing there to wonder what the hell just happened.

  Once I compose myself, I walk back into the living room, not wanting to look at anyone.

  “So, how was your seven minutes of heaven?” Sawyer says to me.

  I just give him a glare and look away.

  I felt something during that kiss, Nathan had to too, right? There was so much power to that kiss. He kissed me like I was his last breath and I, his. I’ve never felt that pull to someone during a simple kiss, but then again, that kiss was anything but simple.

  I can sense Brynn looking at me; I continue to look everywhere, but in her direction. Now, I feel completely awkward to even continue with this stupid game.