Someone I Used to Know - By Blakney Francis Page 0,40

jumped out of a plane naked,’ and every person in the circle who has jumped out of a plane naked, has to drink.”

“Really, Dan?” a model skinny girl bristled in a belittling drawl. “I played this in high school.”

“Okay, well here’s where the fun part comes in,” dreadlocks continued, either not noticing the girl’s disdain or not caring. His baby face was twisted with a devilish smile. The smirk wasn’t half as charming as Declan’s. “When you run out of your current drink, you have to start removing clothing items instead.”

My eyes rushed down into my half empty cup. I’d just been sucking down the tart liquid with little regard to finishing it. I rearranged my legs nervously, trying to look casual as I waited for someone else to bow out and offer me a way to slip out without drawing attention to my cowardice. Lastly, I peeked at Madeline. She was my last hope…But the little traitor hadn’t even batted an eyelash at the scandalous rules to the game.

“I’ve never hooked up with a groupie.” The same girl who’d showed her distaste for the idea of the game earlier was the first to rattle off with a slyly pointed smirk at Dan.

He, along with several other guys and one girl, had to take a sip of their drinks. My eyes instinctively searched for Declan, but he wasn’t here. I hadn’t seen him since we’d arrived.

“I’ve never been killed off a series for fucking with the unstable lead actress.” The next guy’s offering was obviously pointed, and my eyes pilfered the circle until they came to rest on the attractive guy to my right who was forced to take a reluctant swallow. The group roared with laughter at some joke I didn’t understand.

Ruffling his blonde hair, his clear, light-blue eyes caught me staring, and he gave me a mischievous shrug.

“I’ve never been to college,” a pug faced girl contributed.

I took a tiny sip of my drink, and I noticed the blond guy watching me do it out of the corner of his eyes. The game went on like that. By the time I’d finished my drink half the room was already down to their undies, and the game didn’t seem so bad anymore.

“I’ve never performed live on stage,” someone said.

I slipped off a shoe while the pug faced girl ripped off her bra and sat bare breasted for anyone to see. I’d only thought I wasn’t modest until that moment. These people put me to shame. I lost my other shoe when someone admitted they’d never been out of the country, and with that I was out of non-scandalous pieces of clothing to remove.

“I’ve never taken a pregnancy test,” said a guy with a devious grin at all the females. He was clearly smug about his addition, thinking it the cleverest thing of all time.

Almost all the girls began removing pieces of clothing while they cackled and wiggled to free themselves. The blond guy noticed my frozen uncertainty, and he tipped his cup towards me, offering me the remaining contents. There was one sip left.

I looked up at his boyishly handsome face with surprise. He was willing to give up his last sip so I could keep my dress. It was a strange kindness, but I beamed at him nonetheless. It was my turn to surprise him when instead of taking his offering, I swiveled away from him and pulled my long hair over my shoulder.

“Can you give me a hand with the zipper?” I asked coyly, gazing up at him through my eyelashes. The alcohol empowered me. It begged me to flirt. I was a slave to the contact it yearned for.

He swallowed hard once, before quickly adhering to my request. His hands were warm on my back, and then I was free of the beautiful dress, sitting in nothing but my underwear that had been seen by far too many people in one day. Somehow, I was still one of the most dressed girls there. Madeline’s jewelry had granted her a lot more options than I’d had, and she was the only one still wearing any real covering. I was practically a saint compared to some of these people, and I managed to keep my bra and panties while the blonde boy beside me was shimmied down to his boxers.

“We should go swimming!” a girl cried enthusiastically. She had long ago lost all her wardrobe. I thought she was probably just bored without a way to join in