Some people spend their entire lives wondering what it's like to be free. Free from the outside world's judging stares. Free from the tyrannies of an unfair system pressing down on their every move. Free from their own mind's perpetual doubts and worries. People will chase any matter of things to try and find that kind of freedom. That feeling of knowing that nothing in the world could possibly weigh you down. That every cell in your body is being buoyed by some unseen exception to the laws of gravity, lifting you, keeping you from possibly falling back into the clutches of the everyday trappings of life.
That's what Savannah was feeling right now. Maybe it was the half-bottle of Hpnotiq she had already downed in addition to the other random shots done among her closest friends. Maybe it was the rush of victory from the pong table. Maybe it was just the way the light flickered and danced whenever she caught a glimpse of those blue pools across from her. But as soon as the world was reduced to just her, Talya and the rhythm of the music, nothing else seemed to matter at the moment. Not Nicholas, or TJ, or Griffin or classes or anyone. Savannah had chased this feeling on the track for days on end and there were times when it felt like she was free, but this? This was flying. This was surreal. This was free.
This... this is amazing... All this time... I was chasing the wrong thing... This feels so natural... so right... is this what I wanted all along? Just to feel this? And I could have had it... If I just let go sooner... I needed Talya to find it... Fuck, she's a special girl... I wonder... no... I know... I want more... I want more of this feeling...But again it was fleeting. TJ had other plans for the evening, and it was clear that she knew which direction she wanted things to go.
“Spin the bottle and 7 minutes in heaven starts now! If you want to get lucky tonight, come join either one of the games next to the pong tables…”Maybe that was the sign Savannah was looking for. TJ had her back even when she didn't know it. Savannah looked over at Talya, unsure if she wanted to abandon the dance floor for an arbitrary chance at having the excuse to push things further. Besides, wasn't spin the bottle for like middle schoolers? Or was she starting to overthink things again?
Talya didn't give her the opportunity to get too worked up about it. The brunette took Savvy by the hand and guided her on.
"Dude come on! Let's go make fun of people's awkwardness."Savannah giggled. Talya had come up with a way to play to her attitude about the whole thing in general, anyway. She took another swig from her blue bottle and nodded,
"Hey, I'm down for a good laugh. Let's go."The two made their way to the growing circle. Savannah sat down beside Erica and Talya followed suit beside her. One of the Corona bottles sat in the middle, the arbiter of the evening's entertainment. As Savannah looked back at her dance partner, noting how intently Talya was staring at the bottle, those eyes laser focused, she started to plan things out.
All right, this is nothing. Gotta basically just spin the bottle so it almost goes in a full circle. It's like pong, but sideways. And I can do the pong. Fuckin' right I can do the pong. I can do this. This is kid's shit. Hope you're ready, Tal."Things at the party were progressing a lot faster than Soleil had imagined or expected. She hadn’t walked through the door five minutes when Tane was excusing himself to fetch them a drink, coming back with them and encouraging her to parktake in Spin The Bottle, all the while grabbing her ass, kissing her cheek and whispering in her ear (and successfully riling Sol up in ways she hadn’t expected to since Teddy was gone). Seeing as the majority of the classmates she knew would be playing, it would be foolish of her not to. So after chugging half of the drink in her hand, Shady took a seat right across from Tane, arriving just in time to watch the spinning bottle come to a stop on Leo’s towering frame.
As the glass started turning on the tiles of the common room, it was clear there was a bit of sick humor at play with the whims of the neck. Erica, bold as she ever was, maybe even more so under the influence, spun first. The pulls of gravity landed her spin on Leo Fucking Brooks. Savannah was pretty sure that was his middle name. Anyway, watching Erica try to stomach the eventual kiss she got from the so-called King of San Agustin did get a giggle out of Savvy.
"I am so fuckin' sorry you had to go through with that, Erica," she offered upon her friend's return to the circle.
"I think I would have just taken the option of puking without that kind of help.""Those are the rules," Erica muttered, rolling her eyes and shaking her head at the absurdity of this game.
Of course, the bottle seemed to have taken a shine to Leo. Cassie Lucasta--
When did she get here? Literally fuckin' everyone was invited to this thing... grabbed it next and also landed on the worst person possible. Cassie, however, seemed to enjoy it more than Erica did. Leo, feeling emboldened, spun and drew... Billie Grey.
Fuck. Guess that plan failed. Leo went in and started full-on making out with the other Grey sibling to the point of almost succeeding in making Savannah puke. She held it down though and joined in the chorus calling for the two to rein things in.
"Hey, if I wanted to watch porn in here, I'd put videos on the fuckin' TV! Simmer down!" Eventually they did. Thankfully.
From her position, Soleil watched with disgust as her best friend shared a surprisingly intense kiss with Erica Monet of all people, only for the bottle to be spun again and land on the smug fucker once more.
How is it that nobody wanted this son of a bitch here in the first place, and now he’s swapping saliva with half of the school’s female population? she couldn’t help herself but think while Leo wooed another poor, mindless sap with his lips. And as if watching him make out with two girls back to back wasn’t enough, Leo decided to go for the kill when he took his turn and went at it again, this time with Nick’s sister Billie. At this point, there was no disguising the way Sol audibly gagged and looked away from the softcore porn currently in development in front of everyone’s eyes. She was grateful for the many protestors around her who seemed to be just as sick of it as she was, because thanks to their pleading the casanova finally took a long-deserved break.
Up next were Griffin and, to Sol’s amusement, Tyler Jane. She had half-expected for one of them to bow out or even request a respin, considering the history of disdain between them. But much to her surprise, the blond and the redhead faced the challenge head-on, putting on a very convincing show for all the spectators to see. When they were finished, the smiling Shady let out a wolf-whistle of appreciation.
Well done, you two.TJ stepped up and the bottle did what Savannah couldn't on the beer pong table: find Griffin Pierce and get him to sink a shot. It was... weird. Seeing two friends kiss is like... seeing an aunt and uncle kiss. She looked over at Erica for some level of agreement, but that was not the expression on Erica's face. It was best to leave that untouched for now. Tyler Jane finally broke away from Griffin and retreated to the drink island. Savannah hadn't visited that island in a while, her new blue friend providing everything she needed at this point. But someone had to go. The other two members of the hosting party had taken their spins. It made sense for her to go next.
"All right, I'll go. But if this fucker lands on Leo, I'm smashing it's broken ass out on the pavement," she announced as she leaned in and grabbed the bottle.
All right. Gentle spin, one or two turns, hope this lands on Talya. She twisted her wrist and flicked, letting fate determine whether or not she would get that easy in.
However, it was not to be. There was too much force on it. Bottles weighed more than ping-pong balls. And by the time it ceased to move, it pointed not at Miss Burnley, but instead at Soleil Jameson. There were some predictable hoots and hollers from the male members at the party. Obviously their tiny brains still went ballistic over the thought of two women kissing.
Fuckin' animals. Still, there were worse targets. At least Sol was a friend. A gym friend, but still a friend. It wasn't like the thought of kissing her hadn't crossed her mind before being reminded that Sol reacted to sudden unexpected movements with solid right jabs to the face. But still, any danger was long since erased. Savannah was more than ready. Plus, it didn't land on a dude. That was a win right there. The thought of kissing a dude right now sounded repugnant.
Savannah leaned forward, beckoning Sol to join her with her finger.
"All right, Shady," she said with a sultry confidence that was becoming more dominant as her Hpnotiq bottle was being emptied.
"If you think you're fuckin' woman enough to handle this, come get it."To say that Sol had been shocked was an understatement. Less than a minute ago, she’d been cackling and enjoying being a spectator witn front row seats to all the drama going down around her. And now there was a bottle pointing straight at her, with a very willing female friend calling out to her on the other side and a crowd of onlookers thirsty for the first girl-on-girl kiss of the evening.
"If you think you're fuckin' woman enough to handle this, come get it."
So that’s how it was going to be, huh?
If there was anything the dark-haired girl enjoyed, it was defiance and a challenge.
“Don’t say you didn’t fucking ask for it,” Shady warned her friend with a Cheshire cat smile before leaning forward, tangling her fingers on Sav’s blonde and pink hair and pulling the girl into a deep kiss.
Admittedly, even in this state, Savannah was surprised Sol went for it as full-on as she did. It really shouldn’t have been. They were always competitive in the gym, it made for some challenging days on the treadmill. Still, the way Shady went at her. It felt… familiar?
Savannah couldn’t explain it. There was no way that she had kissed Sol before. But there was an image in her mind. Of a woman with caramel skin and hair like the darkest forest. Someone who could reign her in despite her wildest impulses. Savannah couldn’t place it. She should remember something so forceful, so bold, so… in-control. But, it was something she had been missing for a while.
A part of her wished this wasn’t just for the bottle’s sake, but she knew the way Sol got down. So this was likely going to be it. This was a lip-locking duel to the end.
And Savannah was going to win.
She ran her hand through Sol’s long, dark brown hair, pulling her closer as Sav pressed the lips that tasted faintly of tropical fruit against Sol’s own. The Jameson girl may have gotten the best of her on the weights, but here? This was Payout’s turf. This was a different kind of cardio. And she ran like a goddamn cheetah here. She pushed the advantage, sliding the bottle out from underneath them as she was intent to lock lips as long as Shady was game.
There was something familiar about the feeling of Savannah’s soft, feminine lips passionately clashing against her own, and the way she pulled her closer to intensify their kiss. Suddenly, a long-forgotten memory broke through and to the forefront of Soleil’s mind.
It was a cool midnight in early August, with a full moon in sight and the stars shining brightly on a cloudless sky. She was fifteen years old, sitting at the edge of a dock overlooking the lake of her favorite summer camp. Another girl sat closely beside her: with caramel-colored skin and shiny, curly hair framing a beautiful, heart-shaped face with luscious pink lips, chocolate brown eyes, and a cute button nose. Shantelle, her name was Shantelle. There was silence in their vicinity, mostly interrupted by the chirping of crickets hiding in the grass and the symphony of the nocturnal animals in the forest around them.
The two girls had their feet dipped inside the lake, giggling and exchanging hushed stories while holding hands with their fingers intertwined. All of a sudden, there was a moment of stillness between them: where their eyes had met and their souls yearned for each other. In the blink of an eye, Soleil and Shantelle were rushing forward and wrapping their slender arms around one another as their lips met in a kiss that started out slow, shy, gentle and sweet. But with every second, there was a deep-seated hunger for each other that grew and grew-- like a craving they couldn’t resist. Their kiss became deeper, more heated, and their hands began to paw at each other with a sense of urgency. The exchange between them gradually intensified, like a small flame slowly growing into a blazing forest fire. And with the evening sky and the forest as their witnesses, Shantelle and Soleil lovingly came together as one. Back in the present, a breathless Soleil pulled away from Savannah. She stared at her friend for a few long seconds before breaking into a wide, triumphant grin.
“We fucking killed it, bruh!” she hollered, lightly punching Sav in the shoulder and raising her closed fist in her direction for a fist bump.
Savannah had won! Sol had pulled away first! So why did it feel like a loss? She slowly opened her eyes, as if trying to will Sol back to their central spot on the common-room floor, but the brunette was in the same spot she was. Hovering, waiting, unsure how to proceed. However, that feeling for Shady was very short-lived. As her workout partner offered a light lovetap to the shoulder and a fistbump, Savannah followed up with a smirk and a shrug.
“Bitch, was there ever any doubt? Excellent work, you!” She returned Sol’s fistbump with emphasis and then turned to the gathered crowd.
“Are you fuckers not entertained?!?”Savannah returned the bottle to its central position and moved back to her spot. As she settled, she looked over at her dance partner.
"Don't you worry, Tal.” she said with all the assurance of a San Antonio streetwalker.
”I'm saving my fastball for later."
