The First to Fall ⚢

𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 • 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐚

"Thanks," she says with a smile. She moves to grab my drink, but instead of taking the cup from me, she places her hands on top of mine and sips from the cup with my assistance. This part can't be normal, I think to myself, but I can't seem to move my hands or even tear my eyes away from her gaze. Our eyes are locked for the entire time it takes her to take a sip and I can feel my cheeks start to heat up as my hands begin to build sweat. Finally, she moves the cup from her lips and I can think straight again, but her confident smirk sends me into a confused panic all over again.

When I get my cup back, there's a ring of red lipstick on one side of the rim and I try my best not to make a big deal out of it, but I can't deny that I'm not used to any of this. At this point, there's no way Sasha's just being friendly, right? But even if she is flirting with me, is it normal for my heart to beat as fast as it is right now?

"You're adorable," Sasha says into my ear, just above a whisper. Shivers crawl up my spine.

"I, um—" I try to speak, but my nerves keep me from forming any actual sentences. "Thanks."

She giggles. "Have you ever been with a girl before?"

My breath hitches and I look over at Norah and Opal, who both seem to be just as confused as me. Opal is glaring at Sasha in clear skepticism and Norah's expression is almost impressed, with a huge smile of course. When they don't say anything, I look back at Sasha and continue to stutter and stammer at her intense eye contact.

"Um, no," I tell her truthfully. My body sways slowly while my high continues to take over. "No, I'm not really into girls."

"You sure?" she asks as she leans in closer to me and gently twirls a strand of my dark hair around her finger and suddenly I'm not so sure anymore.

"Well, I—" my voice cracks as I try to respond, "I've never thought about it before."

"Here," she says as she reaches into the back pocket of her denim shorts. "Let me see your phone."

Without thinking, I willingly hand it over to her and she starts to type something into it. After a moment, she hands it back to me and smiles.

"Text me if you ever feel like exploring yourself a little," she tells me in a whisper right before she plants a soft kiss on my cheek. My breath catches once more in my throat as she starts to walk away and my eyes refuse to leave her swaying body. She joins a different group of girls who all look like they're cheering her on as a couple of them look over in my direction. When my heartbeat finally starts to slow down, I turn my attention back to the others and I'm shocked to see Aspen back with the group.

She crosses her arms and her voice is sour when she speaks. "Who was that?" she asks with a frown.

"Sasha," the three of us respond simultaneously, each in a different tone.

"She's so hot," Norah's voice comes out dreamy while she's on the verge of drooling and Opal just rolls their eyes.

"She is hot," I agree without thinking. Before tonight, I don't think those words ever would've escaped my lips—even in a friendly way, if that's even possible. But clearly, I'm not the same Cara Jasper when I'm under the influence.

"I thought you didn't like girls," Aspen scoffs, obviously confused, and rightfully so.

"I thought so too," I tell her with a tone more relaxed than I ever thought possible for a topic like this. Somehow my brain merely glosses over the fact that this is a major self-discovery point in my identity and my demeanor remains cool and collected. "But I guess they were right when they said college is the time for exploring."