Robin des Bois ✓

twenty-three. Unraveling Fairy Tale

Nirvana was here, curled lavishly on one of the burgundy loveseats, looking like she belonged more in a Vogue spread than in real life.

Everyone in this room did.

I felt acutely other. Even at Alexei's arm, in a dress that cost in the five figures - or perhaps it was because I was in this dress, with this boy – I felt like an impostor.

Gabe was there with his date, in hues of gold and champagne against his black and white, all glitter and crystalline laughter to his shadowy darkness. They fit right in, beautiful and confident.

Alexei led me to sit next to Nirvana and I all but collapsed next to her in a graceless heap of red satin.

When she passed me a bottle full of amber liquid, I didn't hesitate before throwing it back and taking long gulps, ignoring the foul taste it left in my mouth and the burn of it as it slid all the way down to my stomach.

When I was done, Alexei whistled and took the bottle from me, eyes glinting. He took a few gulps himself before passing it on to the next person in line –Aidan. I was too drunk to even care about him right then.

My head lolled to the side, not completely voluntarily, resting on Alexei's shoulder.

"You ok?" he asked, his hand resting on my thigh gently.

"Mmmhmmm." I didn't open my eyes.

His hand traced warm circles on the bare skin of my leg. "Wanna go home?"

My eyes flew open. It was the first time all night he'd looked relaxed and even remotely happy and I wasn't about to cut it short. "No no no! I don't want to go home yet."

Just then, someone proposed a game of truth or dare, which was welcomed by a general "ugh" and a couple of we're-too-old-for-this's, but everyone who hadn't been seated in the loveseats now converged to the fireplace and soon, people were spilling their secrets and kissing people they shouldn't be kissing.

It went on for a while, and after a particularly steamy kiss between two girls who'd just been sitting in the laps of their respective boyfriends, one of the them turned to Aidan.

"Truth or dare?" she asked.

Aidan smiled mildly. "Truth."

"Ugh. Bo-ring." She bit her lower lip as she thought of a question. "Which one of the girls here would you like to fuck the most?"

Aidan's smile grew. "Easy. Nirvana."

Some of the girls squealed, while their male counterparts chuckled.

"Keep dreaming, dickhead," Nirvana said haughtily, obviously unruffled.

Aidan turned his slimy smile to me.

"Isis." His voice sounded a little bit too delighted.

I was too drunk to have much of a reaction so I just raised my eyebrows expectantly.

"Truth or dare?"

I could tell by his smirk that he thought I would take the easy way out. That, more than anything, prompted me to do what I did next.

Replicating his air of condescending smugness, I leaned forward and said, slowly and deliberately, "Dare."

To my satisfaction, his eyebrows shot up in surprise. The expression didn't last long though.

"Give Alexei a lap dance."

I didn't think before I got up. I ignored Alexei as he said, softly, "you don't have to do this". Instead, I concentrated on staring at the wall, trying to compel the damask wallpaper motif to stop spinning around me and to suppress the wave of nausea that hit me as soon as I was up.