I scoffed at the blonde girl who smiled in return. And by 'blonde girl,' I meant Melanie.

Melanie and Clara had arrived together a while ago, and they knew something was wrong when they saw my puffy eyes. When Clara had asked, I told her I was already in a foul mood. Plus, I had cramps since Aunt Flo was already in town.

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, a party," she said. "I know you rarely go to parties, but this is a Friday night, and going to this party could 'improve' your mood."

I began to protest, but Emery cut me off. "We'll be there Daesyn, and you need a distraction."

"Do you remember when I gave you my uniform?" Melanie asked. I couldn't forget that day no matter how much I tried to, so I gave a simple nod. "And you said you'd do anything to pay me back?"

I scowled at her, while she smirked triumphantly. That was plain blackmail! Looking deep into her eyes in hopes of hypnotizing her to change her mind, I only got one thing from scanning her face. Melanie was an expert in eye makeup.

"Fine," I said with a sigh. "I'll go."

After hours of sorting through outfits and applying and reapplying our makeup, I was glad to say we were prepared for the party.

"You look hot," Emery said approvingly, arching a perfectly penciled eyebrow. "I have a feeling about tonight. One I can't place."

"Your hair looks adorable." Clara entered with a pout on her red lips. "Mine looks disgusting. I wish I had your hair."

"No," I told her. "My hair looks disgusting. Your hair is gorgeous."

She began teasing the tip of her hair with her fingers, using the mirror in Emery's room to make adjustments. And I was being honest. Clara's thick curls were styled in a way that could only be described as gorgeous. The only problem was the time she spent taming them.

"I love your dress," Melanie said, smiling. It was her dress. I didn't pack my sleepover bag, so I had none of my clothes with me. The black silky knee-length dress rested comfortably on my body, and much to my surprise, I felt good in it. You always feel good in Melanie's clothes, my subconscious taunted, but I ignored it.

"Thanks, Mel." I grinned, and she gave a thumbs up in response.

"Come on, let's go." Emery clapped while the girls giggled and left the room. Lord knows what was funny.

I stood from the chair I'd been sitting on when Melanie did my makeup and stared at my reflection in the mirror. My hazel eyes looked brighter, thanks to mascara, eyeliner, and eye shadow and there was no evidence of me crying some hours before. The strawberry lip balm covered my full lips, my face was as clear as a baby's butt, and my normally curly hair was as straight as a ruler.

Sure, I applied makeup occasionally, but it was the usual concealer to cover my red spots, mascara, and lip-gloss. I also felt a lot more confident than I had been in a while, and I let a small smile slip.

"You like it?" Emery asked, and I nodded.

When we got downstairs, Melanie was attempting to flirt with Caelum and I almost guffawed at the failed attempt. She was asking him why he kept avoiding her and if she looked pretty in her two-piece dress.

Caelum glared at her, his dark eyes narrowed as he sighed, clearly not interested in the conversation. Every time he made a move to walk away or end the conversation, Melanie held out a hand to stop him or brought up a new topic. Emery literally facepalmed in disappointment, while Clara puffed her cheeks to hold in her laughter.

I felt bad for Caelum. Even if he was obnoxious and rude, he didn't deserve Melanie's terrible flirting.

"Flirting with my brother seems fun, Melanie." Emery placed a hand on the slim girl's shoulder, pushing her out of Caelum's way. "But we have a party to attend, yeah?"

I laughed loudly when Caelum groaned in relief, and before we made eye contact, his dark eyes carefully assessed my body before he muttered something under his breath and walked past me.

Chocolates...

I guess talking civilly was now gone, but at least he didn't glare or scream at me. I let out a small squeal when one thing crossed my mind. Caelum and I weren't back to square one.

Remember the last time I had vowed never to go back to any party? Well, Cole's party in particular? Yeah, I broke that promise and I was looking for a seat inside Cole's large house.

The party setup was like how it was at the beginning of the school year.

The strobe lights still swirled greens, blues, and pinks, and the stupid bass—which I hated—thumped in line with my heartbeat. The club-like house was packed with sweaty teenagers dry humping and screaming in every direction, and my poor nose was already used to the smell of sweat, alcohol, cigarette, and weed.

I avoided running into Cole—which was easy seeing as he didn't remember me. Tsk, he was such a player.

There was an advantage of going to this party, though. It served as a perfect distraction from my life—as the girls had earlier said. I didn't think about my mother, even once, during the party.

"I'm so bored," I complained to Clara as I sat on the empty couch.

She shrugged. "We could always go back to dancing."

I shook my head. "Not happening."

I looked like a maniac on the dance floor, and my feet were killing me. I was thankful I'd skipped the heels Melanie almost made me wear.

"Let's go upstairs." Emery slurred, walking towards us. She was drunk, like really, really drunk. Melanie had already passed out from drinking too much, and Clara was dozing off beside me.

Even though I had two glasses of Tequila, my vision was blurry and I slurred occasionally. I was slightly aware of my surroundings, too, that was a plus.

"Why?" I asked.

"To play truth or dare, dummy!" She giggled. "What else?"

I frowned at the thought of playing truth or dare. I hadn't played the game before, but I read a lot of books and watched a lot of movies, and every one of them had proven that a game of truth or dare never ended well.

"I'm not sure about it, Em," I said. "Something could go wrong."

"Nothing could go wrong," Clara muttered. I turned to look at her. Wasn't she dozing off a while ago? "I am here, Emery's here, Melanie's here even if she's sleeping, and Caelum—"

"Emery?" a guy called from upstairs. "Aren't you guys playing? The game is about to start."

I'd forgotten Emery was popular at school, so she knew a lot of people. Sometimes, when a person would come to talk to her, I'd look like an oddball, because I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we were friends.

"Come on Daesyn." Emery dragged me towards the stairs. "Let's play."

Well, I could play for a bit. I tried convincing myself that I was playing because Emery asked me to, not because I wanted to satisfy my curiosity. One game of truth or dare wouldn't hurt, right? Ugh! I was such a kiss-up like Caelum had said.

My mind flitted to Clara and her incomplete statement about Caelum. Even if I'd decided to ask her, she'd probably be unable to remember, seeing how drunk she was. Sighing, I sat beside Emery in the large circle.

Adrian, a brown-haired guy I recognized from my Calculus class, spoke first. "You can only choose truth three times before it automatically becomes a dare," he said. "And if you're asked a question and you refuse to do it, you'd be dared to do something else. If you refuse to do the dare too, there will be consequences."

Everyone nodded while I stayed silent, leaning against the couch.

"I'll start," Adrian said, spinning the alcohol bottle eagerly. The bottle landed on a girl I didn't know attended our school until later. "Truth or dare, Lana."

"Dare," she replied without hesitation.

He rubbed his chin. "I dare you to make out with Jake."

She nodded willingly and turned to Jake. Oh wow, things escalated quickly.

After their make-out session, which took forever, Lana spun the bottle and it landed on Clara. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Clara responded, giggling slightly. Why were drunk people always giggling?

She stared at Clara for a while before asking, "What's your most embarrassing moment?"

"I farted loudly one time in class and the smell was just so ew." Clara shrugged, and I chuckled.

I knew I wouldn't say stuff like that even if I were pissed-drunk.

"Your turn," Lana replied, passing the bottle towards Clara.

The game went on for a few turns before it finally landed on me. I was asked to choose, and I picked truth, obviously. The girl with the bottle, Taani, asked me if I had a crush on any guy at school and I shook my head. When I was about to collect the bottle from her, an unknown guy butted in with his large butt. I giggled internally at how funny my joke was.

"This game isn't fair," he said, and I tilted my head in confusion. "They keep picking truth!"

"So?" I asked, and twenty-two pairs of eyes turned to me. "Uh... what should we do about it?" I quickly reconsidered, wanting the attention off of me.

He raked a hand through his dark hair, a small smirk playing on his lips. "Let's change the game to dare or drink."

"Let's just continue this way, Jake," Taani interrupted, and I nodded in support. "We're already far into the game."

"Yes, we're already far into the game," he mimicked, and Taani frowned. "If you want this game to change from truth or dare, to dare or drink, please wave your hands in the air."

Jake's idea won the hearts of most of the players, Emery and Clara inclusive, and I sent a small glare their way.

"I'll be right back," Jake said, and walked out of the door.

Minutes later, he returned with a bowl filled with papers, and I pursed my lips at his new idea. What was he up to now?

He sauntered into the circle with confidence that put Cole Adler, the player, to shame, and dropped the bowl. "Uh... the dares are already written in the papers in this bowl," he said, gesturing towards the bowl on the ground, "so all you have to do is to walk over here, pick a paper, read the dare out, and do it. If you chose not to do it, then you chug down a bottle of beer. Clear?"

Few people muttered some inaudible words, while the others nodded in understanding. "Daesyn, you're first," Jake concluded and went back to his position in the circle.

"Why am I first?" I panicked. "I already did mine."

He sighed. "Just start Daesyn, we don't have all day. Right, guys?"

Emery yelled a "woo hoo, go Daesyn," and I scowled at her for throwing me under the bus. My scowl wasn't as threatening as I had wanted it to be because Clara yelled the same thing seconds later.

Sighing, I hesitantly stood and walked to the middle of the circle before picking the first dare in the bowl.

Even though I sucked at Calculus, the chance of my dare—from a large bowl of dares—being bad enough to require a beer chug from me was as slim as a broomstick. My hands trembled as I opened the paper, and my eyes widened in horror when I saw the dare on the paper.

"Read it out loud!" stupid Jake yelled, and the other members muttered incoherent words in approval.

"Kiss the first guy to walk through the door on the lips," I read aloud then frowned.

My prediction was a hundred percent wrong.

No, it wasn't about the first kiss I'd already lost to Gary Bundy in the eighth grade, but if I didn't do it, I'd have to chug down a bottle of beer. That option was a complete no for me.

"Start now," Jake said. I sighed in relief when the first person to walk in was a girl. He shook his head, making me understand the dare. "It doesn't matter how many girls pass through that door. You are going to kiss the first guy to walk through it."

I refrained from sending a glare his way as I walked back to the door to wait for the guy.

The other members of the game stood and came to wait with me by the doorway. It was obvious they came closer to watch my reaction to the stupid dare.

Emery was giggling and typing on her phone, and I sucked my teeth at her. Couldn't she see my predicament? Clara had a flat look on her face and I assumed Melanie was still sleeping downstairs.

I wished Liam Hemsworth or Zayn Malik would pass through the door, but I was sadly mistaken. Caelum Jensen majestically walked up the stairs and into the room we were staying in. I whimpered and turned to look at the people behind me. Clara was giving me pitiful looks while Emery tried to hide her mouth—which was opened—with her hand.

I begged Jake with my eyes, not to make me kiss Caelum. He was going to hate me more, and every bit of progress we'd made these past few weeks was going to waste. Why did I agree to play this sick game?

"Can you hurry? We don't have all night!"

"Um... Caelum and I are not on good terms now," I told him. "Can I kiss him on the cheek instead?"

He sighed dramatically and shooed me. "Then do it! What are you waiting for?"

Angling myself toward Caelum, he furrowed his eyebrows as a confused look took over his face. I mentally chanted a hundred 'sorry' when I was a foot in front of him, before standing on the tip of my toes and puckering my lips.

"Stay like that for a second," I whispered into his ears and he tensed up.

As soon as my lips reached his cheeks, he turned his head to look at me and our lips met.

Our lips fucking met!

My eyes were as wide as saucers and I could feel the redness of my face. We stayed like that for a second—because of the shock, and I tried to savor the feel of his lips on mine. They were soft and tasted like chocolate. When I realized what I was doing, I quickly pulled away and waited for his reaction, but he stared at me with a panicked look and backed away.

What the fuck just happened?

-

Author's note:

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