The Game of Seduction

3-- Unexpected

The bed creaked and dipped down to Kia’s left. She rolled on her right and saw Ian crawling over to the bed space beside her. She gave him a what-the-fuck-are-you-doing look.

“Relax, I’m not gonna attack you or anything,” he said as he laid down on him stomach and reached one hand down to pet Tiger.

He was about a foot away from her. Kia felt her face turn pink, but he should be able to see since she had her back to the light. She was so nervous. Why did he lie down? He could’ve just gone around the bed. Man, why didn’t I do that? Oh no. Crap! I'm wearing a shirt. Kia totally forgot that she was wearing a short black shirt with her green tank top. She tried to inconspicuously reach her right hand back to fix her skirt. She mentally sighed when she found that her skirt was already covering her butt perfectly. Hope he didn’t see anything he shouldn’t have.

“Who’s a pretty kitty?” He said to Tiger in baby talk.

Kia narrowed, giving him a sideways glare. Is he mocking me? “I didn’t think you were an animal person,” Kia said.

“I used to have an orange tabby like him.”

Used to... so it’s dead now. What do I say to that? 'Oh, I'm sorry'? Kia felt the situation get even weirder. She really wasn’t any good at talking with new people, even though they’ve met long ago. Ian Foster was good looking, crazy hot and one of the most popular guys in school. It was a little uncomfortable to even just look at him in the school hallways. He was also the one of biggest player in whole school. Kia on the other hand was average, plain, and just blended into the crowd. She was about to say something but he beat her to it.

“Do you have pets?” he asked, shifting his body to prop his head up with his hand and look at her.

Kia avoided his gaze. “Uh, I have some goldfish. I wish I had a cat though,” she picked up Tiger and placed him on the bed space between Ian and her, “but my dad is allergic to cats.” Tiger didn’t argue and just sat there, making Kia feel a little more at ease. Maybe I should leave, she thought.

“That sucks,” he said sympathetically.

Kia ran her hand down Tiger’s back, “Yeah..., I’ve always wanted a black cat.” Or I can keep talking...

“A black cat?” he smiled, looking amused as he stared at her with his bright blue eyes.

Kia tried to keep her eyes on the cat. “Yeah, one with white paws.” She held one of Tiger’s tiny paws in her hand. “Like little mittens.”

“Hmm,” he thought about it. “That would be cute,” he smiled.

Kia smiled back, blushing. When he smiled, he was even more gorgeous. It was odd that they were having such a conversation when normally they wouldn’t even greet each other in the hallways or in class. Kia was doubtful that he even knew her name. Suddenly, her phone vibrated and made a sound that told her it was a text message. It surprised her and the cat. “Sorry Tiger,” she told him. Ian didn’t seem surprised but for some reason he looked amused.

It was a message from Jess. ‘Did you drown in the toilet? Get your butt back here!’ Kia sighed and turned to the cat, “Aww, maowww,” pouting at him, “I gotta go.” She rubbed his head and heard Ian laugh. She shot a glare at him. “I’m off, bye,” she said quickly as she propped herself up and off the bed carefully.

“See ya,” Kia heard Ian say, but barely, as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Back on the main floor, she noticed that the place suddenly got more crowded. She hardly knew half the faces she saw.

Jess was by herself in the kitchen. She really stood out in her lime green t-shirt and dark green short shorts, or maybe it was the fact that she looked like a model leaning against the kitchen island; tall and beautiful. It was a surprise that no one was hitting on her. It was probably the irritated look on her face that scared people away. She was always so impatient.

There were many people crowding around the dining table and a few around the kitchen counter. There was hardly anything left on the island. Half the bottles and bowls were emptied.

“What took so long?” She asked angrily, shoving a full red plastic cup into her hand.

“Long story, but where did the others go?” Kia took a sip of the drink and make a face like she was about to sip it back out. “Girl, what the hell is this? It’s nasty.” It tasted so strong.

“They went downstairs,” she said irritably. “I was so nice to wait here for you but you took so friggin long. You left me here, looking like a loner! So... I put something extra in your drink.”

“Something extra? It’s like two drops pop topped off with vodka and other shit,” Kia said, before throwing some chips in her mouth to help with the after taste.

“Not quite, but close,” Jess smiled devilishly. “Now drink all that. You have to be as drunk as me, or more.”

Kia sighed, Fuck...

She told Jess about the encounter with Ian while they finished their drinks. Jess didn’t respond much to the story compared to if it were Chelsea. Jess didn’t like Ian. She knew too much about players and their ways. Ian tried to ask Jess out a couple of times, but she flat out refused.

They went downstairs to find the rest of their friends. It was dark and very crowded in the basement. The music was loud and the mini dance floor looked very inviting. They joined Rachel and them in the dancing crowd.

Kia loved to dance and she was having loads of fun until she saw someone she really couldn't bear to see: Dylan Green. He had broken up with her just before Christmas holidays and she still hadn’t quite gotten over him. It was in summer school that they met. Summer school was one of those places that anomaly happen. Under normal circumstances, like at their high school and during the school year, they would have never talked to each other and she would have never fallen for his charms. She felt as if she’d been a bit obsessive over him. She wasn’t in love with him, she knew that. Kia knew very well that it was all wrong to have any lingering feeling for him when he’s such an ass, a player nonetheless. He very likely wasn’t even true to her during the two months that they did date. Some things just can’t be helped.

Dylan was looking good, like always. He was dancing with a blonde, Jenny Something, one of the slutty girls at school. Jess noticed that Kia was staring. “Don’t look, it won’t do you any good,” she warned her.

Kia turned the other way, looking at the rest of the crowd. She spotted Kayla Lambert grinding against Matt and kissing him. She just recalled that Kayla and Ian had been dating. She leaned into Jess, “Isn’t Kayla dating Ian, why is she all over Matt?”

“I heard she broke up with him a few days ago,” Jess glanced over at Kayla again, looking kind of disgusted. Kayla was a very popular and pretty blonde, but she was snobby and simply a bitch. To make it more stereotypical, she was cheer captain and the gossiping head of the school.

Jess and Rachel left for the washroom and she was left with Chelsea and Greg, who surprisingly loved to dance. After a little while, Dylan came up to Kia and asked her to dance. She knew that she should say no, but she didn’t want to and there was no one to stop her.

While dancing with Dylan, she couldn’t help but think about old times, the short two months that they dated before he broke up with her. She had liked him so much and he was so sweet, but he was a player. Always had and always will. He couldn’t be tied down by her. Kia can still tell that he likes her. He would talk to her sometimes and be all so nice and sweet. But put into other word, he liked to play with her. Then she realized what was happening, she was letting him toy with her again.

Kia felt her nose tingle and her eyes start to tear up a bit. She pushed away from Dylan, “I’m gonna go, bye.” As she was hurrying off the dance floor she bumped into Jess and Rachel coming back.

“What’s wrong?” Jess asked, worried.

“Come get drinks with me,” Kia said, dragging them upstairs with her.

Kia told them that she was dancing with Dylan. Jess looked like she wanted to scold her but Rachel shook her head at her. Kia looked miserable enough already. Never leave your heart to a player because it would only leave to heartaches, she reminded herself. She stayed upstairs, drinking and chatting about random things while her friends came and went.

It was around 2 in the morning when Kia found herself alone, or almost. Rachel just went off with her boyfriend, while Jess and Greg were passed out on the couch along with a few other people. Devin and the rest of their friends were downstairs, perhaps crashed out somewhere or just dancing and playing games. Kia could still hear loud music coming up from the basement. The place had died down, but when she went to get some water, she saw that the kitchen was where most people had migrated to.

Kia went back to the couch, ready to crash out too, but her seat was already taken by some girl, so she decided to go up to the bedrooms. She knew Devin wouldn’t mind.

It was a horrendous hike up the stairs. Kia’s limbs didn’t feel like hers and her head was spinning. She went into Devin’s room. It was dark but she didn’t turn on the light. Instead she reached for a switch at the side of the dresser and clicked it on. A row of Christmas lights lit up along the ceiling edge of the wall with the door and the wall to the left. Kia remembered them from a time when she slept in here with Jess and Chelsea while Devin and the boys slept in the living room.

Kia walked towards the wall on the right and plopped onto the bed. His bed was so comfy. The bedding was all black –or dark blue, it was too dark to tell – and very soft. She hid under the blanket, getting comfortable. She was just thinking about how his sheets smelled like fresh laundry, how Devin always smelled, when she realized that she had to pee.

Kia went to the washroom and used the mouthwash before she returned to Devin’s room. She crawled back onto the bed and lied on her back, feeling so tired and out of it. Kia loved the feeling she gets when she lies down drunk. It felt like she was floating and that everything else was just spinning around her. She reached for the blanket, trying to cover herself, but it was stuck in a mound. She looked over and finally realized that someone else was in the bed with her.