T H R E E

ELIZABETH.

~

When Penelope said she was gonna take me to her friends, I didn’t expect my best friend to be sitting there with the purple-haired girl from earlier by his side. He’s the first I notice and he seems immersed in whatever she’s talking to him about. Even with a bright smile on his face and the same goes for her.

So much for his attention always being on me even when he’s with other girls.

‘And why the hell would you believe those words?’ Right.

“Hey, guys. This is Beth. Beth. Meet the group. “ All attention immediately turns to Penelope and me, and I wave awkwardly at the group. There are about four guys and five girls. Including James and purple hair.

“I found her alone in the kitchen. “ She provides them with further information and it seems that caught James's attention as he turns to me.

“Lizzie! There you are. I looked for you everywhere. “ You definitely didn’t look enough.

“You know her?” A guy asks as Penelope pulls me to sit with her, just across from James.

“Yes. She’s my friend. We came together. “ He says to him.

“So he’s the friend you told me about earlier. “ Penny brings her face near my neck to whisper and I nod, almost giggling at the way her breath tickled my skin.

“A nice surprise. “ She says and I smile before I look back to see the girl almost sitting on James's lap. There’s enough space?

Stop it Elizabeth.

“Alright since we have everyone here now. We should continue with the game. You wanna join in Liz?” A boy speaks and I nod. “Yeah, sure. What are we playing?”

“Truth or dare. We play strictly so you might want to get out while you have the chance. “ I look to James and he smiles; the one that tells me to do what I truly want. Then I feel a hand on my exposed thigh. I look back to Penny and she says, “It’s going to be fun. “

She squeezes my thigh and I nod at her, give James another look then say, “Sure. Let’s play. “

I place my somehow sweaty palms on my thighs and rub my ankles a good amount of times as I watch the green bottle in the middle spin repeatedly before it finally stops and my heartbeats increase when I realize it’s on me.

I let out a tiny gasp before raising my head and their eyes are full of amusement, inquisitiveness, and excitement.

“Oh. This would be fun. Jade gets to give the question. “ A boy chuckles and I guess the girl who’s holding the other side is Jade?

Brown eyes. Dark hair. Pretty. Everyone here is pretty.

Jade? Gives me a sweet smile and she’s about to speak when she suddenly gets interrupted by Penelope. I turn to her but her attention is on Jade and they seem to have a whole conversation with their eyes before Penny sinks back into her seat.

“That’s cheating, Penelope. “ A white-haired boy scowls and she scoffs, “I didn’t say anything, loser. Suck it up. “

There’s a further exchange of insults between them and I can’t help my smile. It’s more comfortable here than I thought it’d be.

“Truth or dare Liz?”

Not having a boring night, remember? “Dare. “ I utter boldly.

A wrong decision because Jade's next words are, “A hot five-minute make out with Penny. “

Sounds of deep laughter fill the air and there are whispers amongst them.

‘I knew you had something up with your sleeve. ‘

‘Calling the shots on this one before she gets taken away?’

‘Zip it fucker or I’d be coming for your girlfriend. ‘

Oh. Penny goes that way. That explains her not-so-subtle touches.

“I— um, “ I start, bringing the room into silence again as they all wait for my next action. I turn to Penny first and the sweet smile with the expectation in her eyes crushes my soul. “I’m sorry. I can’t. “ I take the cup in front of me and empty the alcohol in it. It burns my throat and I let out a hiss as I drop the cup.

‘Cold. ‘

‘Damn. I was fucking with Penny but I didn’t expect that. ‘

‘You hit her straight in the heart with those words, Lizzie. ‘

“It’s fine. You don’t have to do anything you don't want to. “ Penny assures me, giving me a small squeeze on my arm and I nod, returning her gesture with a sweet smile before I hang my head while the game continues.

~

“Liz, did you get that?” Penny whispers beside me and I raise my eyes to see all eyes on me which means I’ve missed whatever big thing happened. I look at the bottle and it’s not on me but on James, who also happens to be staring at me with a look I can’t quite figure out. But what’s with that stupid smirk on his face? I’m still mad at him.

“What? What’s it?” I ask Penny but James beats her to respond. “My dare. It’s to kiss you. “ My head is immediately turned to James and my eyes are dilated as I wait for him to declare that was a joke but he’s dead serious.

What the… how did I miss that? How did that even happen?

“The bottle is on me. “ He explains what I already know.

He’s dared to kiss me. He’s going to kiss me? His lips will be against mine? I’ll know what it’s like to taste those annoyingly pinkish-plump lips of his. He’ll have his hands on me? His mouth on me?

My thought doesn’t help me and I clutch my heart in my hand with hopes that no one hears how fast it’s beating right now. All just because my best friend has been dared to kiss me. My best friend. The one I harbor wrong feelings for.

What happens after he kisses me? Do I just forget about it? Will anything change between us?

“Oh, he’s taking the cup. “ Those words brought my attention back to the group and James is in fact holding the red cup. Is he…

He misses my eye contact and I watch as he drowns the drink in the cup which means he turned down the dare.

‘Boring. ‘

‘Coming from you. ‘

When James drops the cup, he smiles at me but not even that pretty smile is enough to revert the way my heart has dropped to my stomach from what he’s just done. He just rejected a kiss with me. James who’d have any girl with any chance he gets, just turned down a kiss.

Damn. Are you that unlikeable Elizabeth? I bet he finds you boring.

As if the voices in my head aren’t taunting me enough, Purple-haired chooses the moment to turn James's head and kiss him, and there goes my last straw.

I find myself lifting up from my seat and I ignore Penny’s calls for me as I walk away from them and take the farthest path. I find myself in the hallway of the house and I waltz through an unlocked door into one of the rooms.

It’s dark and just the perfect place to release the scream I’ve been holding onto after that mess.

“Damn you James. “ I mutter under my breath with rapid heaves of my chest.

My emotional moment is interrupted by the sound of a small creak and then a loud bang. I turn around to see the door completely shut and a tall shadow standing before me.

I take two steps back as fear grips me. “Who… who are you?”