"What's wrong?" Damien asks, his thick eyebrows scrunching in confusion.
"Nothing." I respond, looking down at my feet. Truthfully, I can't seem to find the reason for my actions either. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to give off the wrong impression."
"Trust me, I understand." He smirks, pulling me into a hug.
I hug him back, grateful for his understanding.
After we pull away, I turn to go find Ruby. I push through grinding bodies but see no trace of her. I decide to step out of the dancing mass. Heat radiates off of them in waves. I walk into the kitchen to get some water.
"Ruby!" I exclaim when I find her leaning against the counter.
She giggles and wraps an arm around my shoulder. "Hey boo."
I can tell she was enjoying herself in the moments that I was dancing with Damien. I take the drink she has in her hand and walk towards the sink.
"What are you doing?" She asks.
"Making sure you can make it through the night. I can't let you get wasted before we even play party games." I explain while pouring it down the sink. I fill up two glasses of water and hand her one.
"The other drink tasted better." She pouts.
I shrug and drink my own glass. When she finishes I put both glasses in the sink. We walk back out to the living room to find a small group of people forming around the couch. Rhondel is a part of the group and he waves us over.
"Hey," I smile at everyone.
"We were just about to start a game of paranoia." Damien explains, patting an empty spot besides him on the couch. I don't want to be rude, so I sit next to him. Rhondel pulls up a chair for Ruby and she sits across from me. I recognize everyone in the small group except for one girl. She has light skin and gorgeous curly light brown hair. She's sitting next to Ruby and laughing with Jayden about some unknown subject.
I am just about to ask Damien who she is when Rhondel calls our attention to the game. "For anyone who hasn't played before, the rules are simple. When it's your turn, you whisper a question to the person sitting to your left—the question has to be able to be answered with a name of a person. After the person answers, I'll flip a coin. Heads means the question has to be said out loud and tails means it isn't said out loud. It's more fun if you answer someone in this circle." He announces.
"Who wants to start?" He asks, sitting in his seat besides Ruby.
"I'll start," Ruby exclaims. She immediately leans into Rhondel and whispers a question into his ear. She sits back with a smirk on her face while he thinks.
"Sandra." He says.
The group snickers. I look over at Sandra's confused face.
"Heads." Rhondel declares, showing everyone the coin. "The question was who minds everyone else's business but their own."
Yikes... That's a harsh way to start the game. I think to myself.
Rhondel leans over to the guy on his left. I don't know him that well, but I've seen him around school.
"Are you having a good time?" Damien asks.
"Of course." I grin. His intense gaze is ripped away when the guy responds.
"Zaria."
"Who's..." I start to ask when I realize he's talking about the girl next to Ruby.
Rhondel flips and the coin lands on heads. "The question was who is the hottest girl in the circle."
"I disagree with his choice." Damien whispers in my ear. I let out an awkward laugh.
I notice that Zaria and Ruby are giggling and talking in low voices. I shrug it off and turn my attention back to the game.
"Zaria." Damien answers. I narrow my eyes at him.
"Flip the coin." I tell Rhondel.
"Tails." He says, showing me the coin.
How convenient... I think to myself.
"Who is most likely to die a virgin?" Damien whispers to me.
Hakeem... I think to myself. But, since he's not in the circle, I settle for "Jayden."
Thankfully, the coin landed on tails. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I turn to the girl next to me and ask my question. "If you had to lick melted chocolate off of someone here, who would it be?"
She looks around the group, I notice her eyes linger on Zaria. But, she responds Damien instead. The coin lands on tails and the game continues. I study Zaria and how she and Ruby keep whispering comments to each other in between turns. I wonder who she is and how she got my best friend to giggle at everything.
I watch as a question is whispered to Zaria.
She answers, "Ruby," with no hesitation.
Rhondel declares that the coin landed on heads.
"The question was who's outfit would look better on your bedroom floor?" Jayden says.
"Damn." Damien mutters under his breath. The rest of the group snickers. I raise an eyebrow at Ruby and she gives me a sly smile in return.
"We went through the whole circle. Let's play Never Have I Ever." Rhondel suggests.
"That's valid." The group agrees.
"We can't play empty handed." Damien smirks, getting up and heading to the table of snacks and drinks. He comes back with cups and a bottle of vodka. He passes them out to everyone and places the bottle in the center. "Everyone pour yourself a shot. If you've done what is said, you have to drink it."
"I'll start." Sandra says. "Never have I ever kissed a girl."
Most of the guys, Zaria, and Ruby drink their shots. Jayden raises an eyebrow at Ruby and turns to Sandra. I watch him ask her if Ruby is lesbian. Sandra shakes her head and responds, "Bi."
I thought we all knew this...
I decide to turn away from Sandra and Jayden's side comments and focus on the game.
A couple rounds later, I find myself with Damien's arm around me as I giggle about some joke that he made.
The song changes in the background and the group immediately rushes to the dance floor. I get up to go dance with Ruby, but I see that she is already with Zaria. I don't take it to heart. It's only one night, I'll let her have her fun.
Damien stands up and tugs me towards the dance floor. I follow him and we dance the night away.
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Hey guys :) I'm so sorry for the long wait. I had such horrible writer's block but, I had some time to really go through and think about my next step. I hope you like this chapter!
What do you think is going to happen with Zaria?
What's up with Damien?
Remember to vote and comment!
YOU ARE READING
All But One
Teen Fiction"Hi!" I smile up at him. He's a lot taller than I expected, especially compared to my 5'4 height. "Hello?" He responds, raising an eyebrow. "I just... um... noticed you were in history with me and was wondering what's your name." I respond, slightly...
