The evening that followed the slap, there was something else on Josh’s mind. Something that didn’t necessarily worry him, because he trusted Connor and Sara, but that he was nervous to mention. They might have thought he had completely lost it, but it was something he needed to do before he got a mark; and he knew that as soon as Margot made her way back, he wouldn’t give her a second of rest before he begged her to bestow one. So, rather than bring the suggestion to his roommates in the straightforward way they probably would have appreciated, Josh devised a plan.

“It’s Friday night. We’re going to drink!” He had announced once they were all in the same room together after classes.

Connor had been the first to respond. And while Josh was nervous because he seemed like the most likely to oppose the suggestion, his response was a relief. “Normally, I’d say no thanks. But you’re family is still bothering me… in my head I mean. They’re the kind of people you need to shake off with booze.”

“Ooh, and I just got a fruit tray…” Sara said with an excited clap of her hands.

“Oh, we’re getting wasted tonight.” Connor said with a laugh.

All things considered, Josh was a little worried. He didn’t want them to get ruined with booze, just a little inebriated. Just enough to say yes to what he actually wanted to do. And they were so quick to agree too, it made him question his plan. It might have been easier to just try and ask them sober. But it was too late now. Connor had already made his way to the liquor cabinet and pulled out his clear glass jug of grain alcohol, and Sara had already made her way to the fridge to retrieve a tray of fruit the size you might bring to a family picnic with over a hundred people.

“Right, Josh, since you’re new, you should know we have rules about being drunk.” Sara explained as she set down the tray on the kitchen island. “Rule one, never push yourself. You get too drunk, you go to bed. Rule number two, you don’t drink the grain alcohol. It’s literally poison. And rule three, if you’re going to get drunk you need to have fun doing it.”

Those weren’t the kind of rules he’d been expecting. But they seemed far healthier than any other ground rules Josh had heard at drinking events, especially during his freshman year. People had just seemed to want to get wasted with the thought that it was expected of them.

“And rule four,” Connor added in, “is unofficial, but it’s part of rule three when we’re busting out the big guns. But when we drink like this, we play a specific game.”

“Dare or dip!” Sara shouted, excitedly. She had almost reached the level of ‘ready to party’ that a lot of freshman girls did their first weekend at college, but she clearly had some level of restraint. It was odd seeing her acting so careless though.

“It’s like truth or dare, but we don’t do anything too stupid besides eat fruit dipped in poison.” Connor said with a laugh. “No forcing people to spill secrets, and we have a rule about no dares that make people uncomfortable. Like no kissing, touching, or nudity.”

“I mean… we’ve been roommates for a while…” Sara wiggled her eyebrows playfully at Connor, but he just shook his head. “But we’ve lived together long enough. We’re basically siblings and anything like that would be gross.”

“Even worse if we were drunk to boot.”

“Yup.” Sara agreed.

“But the basic rules are pretty simple. One person poses a dare to one, or both now, I guess, other player and they either have to do it or take a piece of fruit, dip it in grain alcohol, and eat it.”

“Oh jeez.” Josh grumbled. “I might not have suggested drinking if this is what you guys do…”

“You can abstain. But I think you might enjoy it. The dipping really limits the intake and the calories from fruit helps balance the buzz.” Sara said with a gentle smile, though she was still clearly excited.

“And you can just eat as much fruit as you want anyway. It’s good for you and helps you water down your system with fluids and calories.”

Josh gave them both a stern look, brow furrowed and mouth set in an expression of mild concern. “Is there anything else I should know before we make this official?”

“Sara belches like an old man when she’s drunk.” Connor spit out as fast as he could before dodging a halfhearted punch from Sara.

“Yeah, and your bladder shrinks to the size of a dime.” Sara said as she managed to land a harmless punch on Connor’s back as he ducked away. “But everyone gets a little quirky when they’re drinking, right?”

“I mostly just get tired… and kind of sad.”

“Well, not tonight!” Sara cheered as she handed Josh a strawberry from the tray. “Everyone starts with one.”

Connor held up a strawberry of his own, like he was offering a toast, and Sara followed suit with a chunk of melon. Josh shrugged and added his own strawberry to the toast before they all three dunked their fruit in a small bowl of the alcohol that Connor had poured. Sara and Connor downed theirs like shots, wincing at the taste, and Josh was quick to follow in kind. There was no point avoiding it now. Whatever happened, happened. Josh’s plan was in motion.

“Oldest gets to dare first!” Connor said with a hearty laugh.

Sara looked over to Josh, eyebrows raised. “Now we get to be a little rude and ask each other exactly how old we are.”

“Twenty-five.” Josh said slowly, hoping to be cut off by Sara. But her answer never came.

“Hah! Old man!” Sara jeered, still playful, though Josh felt a little stung by the comment.

“Fine, Sara I dare you to tell me how old you are.”

She stuck out her tongue in response and mumbled, “Party pooper,” before she visibly debated whether or not to take a penalty instead of answering the question.

“No, come on, save your sobriety for when it counts.” Connor moaned. “I’m going to dare you to do way dumber stuff.”

“Fine. I’m twenty-two. Not that it’s much of a secret. I’m pretty sure Connor already got me to spill that in passing a while ago.”

“Alright. Clockwise then?” Josh nodded to Sara, who was sitting to his left around the island.

“Yeah. It’ll be too confusing to go counterclockwise when we’re really in it… though it hasn’t really mattered before.”

“We did this with Margot that one time right before we moved in together.” Connor objected. “We went clockwise then too.”

“Oh, yeah. Heh. That reminds me.” Sara’s face grew mischievous. “I dare you to tell Josh why the no kissing rule exists.”

“But what about the no secrets rule?” Connor whined.

“It’s not a secret if three people know it and haven’t agree to never talk about it again.”

“Fiiiiiine. Ugh.” Connor turned sharply to Josh. “We got really drunk that one time with Margot, and she was throwing out really good dares that I chose not to do. So when it was my turn… and I was nearly out of it, I dared her to kiss me on the lips. And she did.”

“Yeeeugh, gross. Just remembering makes me gag.” Sara’s face was an exaggerated portrait of disgust as she spoke.

“Come off it, it wasn’t that bad. There have been grosser dares.”

Josh sat quietly while the drama played out in front of him. The sour taste of the alcohol still fresh in his mouth, and he found himself reaching for more fruit to numb the taste and snack on while his roommates entertained him.

“You told me she kissed you with tongue.” Sara objected. “That’s my mom, dude. My mom frenched you.”

“No, I said there was tongue. I never specified whose.” Connor protested right back, his face getting red in the process. “And she slapped me for the dare after, so we’re even”

“Good enough.” Sara huffed. “That makes it your turn.”

“Finally.” Connor threw his head back in mock boredom. “I dare both of you to compete in a handstand competition. Loser drinks. I decide who stays in proper form. First to fall loses.”

“Really?” Josh groaned. “You know she’s gonna win.”

“Do I? And besides, if I asked you when you’re drunk enough to say yes immediately, you’d both be totally incapable of even doing a handstand to begin with.”

Josh exchanged a look with Sara, but she just shrugged and stood up.

“Bring it, old man. “ She taunted in a mock adversarial jab.

“And you need to tuck your shirt in.” Connor added on. “No nudity means no flashing to distract your opponent.”

Sara stuck out her tongue, but complied.

“Okay. Three, two, one, go!” Connor counted down and waved his hand to signal the start of the competition.

Josh started out uncertain, he hadn’t done a handstand since grade school. But once he actually managed to get from a headstand to a proper handstand, it wasn’t that bad. He wasn’t even watching Sara go, but in a matter of seconds Connor poked Josh’s foot and knocked him over as he declared the winner.

“Sara loses. That’s a shot for the scrawny armed lady.”

“That’s not fair, Josh actually has muscles.”

“Oh, barely.” Josh laughed it off. “It’s not like I work out regularly. Only when Kerry would drag me to the gym on campus to spot him while he scouted for girls.”

“Gross…” Sara hissed as she swallowed her losing punishment of alcohol dipped fruit.

“What, the gym or the fruit?” Josh asked.

“You don’t scout out women at the gym. That’s just mean. No one wants to be bothered when their working out, and us girls already have a hard enough time with our images as it is without having to stress about being all sweaty and gross while exercising.”

“It usually didn’t go well for Kerry, if its any consolation.” Josh offered. “And mostly I just lifted free weights.”

“Well, advantage to you then, because I haven’t worked out from a few sparring sessions since I got here.”

The evening carried on much in that same pattern. Sara would aim her dares more towards telling stories, though never anything too personal or embarrassing. Josh dared them both for information; about them, about marks, about anything he wanted to know and hadn’t gotten around to asking yet. And Connor never stayed consistent; he made dares for competitions, pop quizzes, mundane information, and anything else that seemed to pop into his head—though most of his dares did have a way for someone to be a loser and have to take a drink regardless.

Very quickly, they all became quite drunk. Josh less so. He’d made a point to avoid drinking as much as possible. That had meant he’d ended up doing and sharing more than he had intended. But it was also mildly liberating to share more about who he was and what he had done in a way that was genuinely safe. At least, it felt safe. The alcohol was questionable at best, and lethal at worst. There had to be several water and bathroom breaks to help keep them from overdoing things.

And around eleven at night, when it felt like things were about to wind down, Josh issued his final dare.

“Alright… alright. Last one from me. Guys. I dare you both, to go down to the lobby… and wait there for like… half an hour. I’m going to try and sleep. And I’m going to try and have a nightmare. And I want you guys to see when a mark shows up, if at all.”

“No way.” Sara exclaimed loudly and with a slap against the cold stone countertop. “I’m not peeling off another sleeve of skin. That was nasty.”

“Hold on, hold on.” Josh interrupted calmly, pushing his hands down in a motion as if he was trying to quell a crowd. “Gul told me I should do it. They want to know if I’m taking the mark back… with me when I wake up… or if it just kind of happens while I’m asleep.”

“Absolutely doing it.” Connor exclaimed, his voice a little wobbly as he squinted at his two roommates. “And it can be the last one. Because if I drink any more, I’m going to pass out.”

“Fiiiiiine.” Sara groaned, her voice slightly slurred from inebriation. “But if we come back and you’re doing something weird in your sleep, I’m waking you up.”

“Yes. That’s why you need to come back while I’m sleeping… dreaming. While I’m dreaming.”

Connor stood up right then and there to head down to the lobby of the building, but wobbled and had to hold on to the countertop to steady himself.

“Water first.” He announced as he turned the opposite direction he’d been heading before and made his way to the sink. “You too, Sara.”