Love's Not A Competition

“I have a great idea,” she grinned evilly.
“This isn’t like the time you suggested we should spy on your brother when you thought he was stealing your socks, is it?” I asked.
“No way, this is totally different! Okay so we are going to spy on them!”
“You mean Zeke and Katie?”
She nodded with that same evil smile on her face. She dragged me back to her dorm room and pulled a very familiar box out from under her bed.
“Please tell me that isn’t what I think it is,” I sighed.
“Oh yeah, it is,” she grinned.

She opened the lid and handed me some camouflage pants. I shook my head slowly as I changed into them. Brittney went into the bathroom to change into her own camouflage clothes. She came out wearing a camouflage mini skirt, a black tank top and black army boots. She put a hat on her head, and I laughed at the leaves that covered the edges. She pulled two pairs of binoculars that she had gotten from a cereal box when she was younger and handed me one. She was getting too into this. There was a knock on the door and Aidan and Eric walked in. They looked at us funny.

“What are you guys doing?” Aidan asked.
“Nothing,” Brittney said.
“If you two are doing something illegal leave us out of it.”
“Good, because you weren’t coming anyway,” Brittney said before kissing Aidan goodbye.

She pulled me out of the room and we headed to the pool. It was indoors so you could swim all year round. There were some bushes below a window and we sat between them and the wall of the building the pool was in so nobody could see us if they walked past. Brittney put her binoculars to her eyes before looking in the window.

“Do you see them?” I asked, leaning against the wall.
“Yup, they are sitting on the edge of the pool talking.”
I looked through the window and she pointed to where they were.
“What do you think they are talking about?” I asked.
Brittney shrugged and we watched them for a few minutes. They got into the pool and Zeke helped her onto a pool chair and then got on with her, nearly tipping it.
“I can’t believe they are sitting on the same chair and kissing in a public pool. Talk about public display of affection! Someone please get them a room,” I said.

I turned to Brittney when she didn’t reply and saw she wasn’t there. I stood up, looking around the area but couldn’t see her. I looked back in the window just in time to see Brittney running towards the pool. She jumped in near Zeke and Katie, splashing them both. Katie screamed before falling into the water closely followed by Zeke. I quickly ran in so I could pull Brittney out before she ruined the plan but it was too late, they had already seen her. I stood by the edge, smiling innocently.

“Brittney, what was that for? And why are you wearing camouflage?” Zeke asked, confused.
“I was just outside walking around and I got too hot so I thought I would go for a swim to cool off.”
I sighed and they all turned to me.
“Oh Jasmine, what a pleasant surprise to see you here,” Brittney said.
“Hi, I was just thinking about going for a swim,” I said calmly.
I narrowed my eyes at Brittney and helped her out of the water. Zeke and Katie looked at us funny as we backed away, grinning.
“That was weird,” I heard Katie say to Zeke.

It was later that afternoon when we were all sitting in the lounge. Zeke and Katie had just gotten back from the pool and asked us if we all wanted to go out for dinner. We all agreed to meet back here at five.
“What are you wearing?” Brittney asked Katie.
“Some black stilettos and a dress,” Katie said.
“What kind of dress?”
“A black tube dress, what are you wearing?”
“A green cocktail dress with some green stilettos,” she said.

They both turned to me. “What are you wearing?”
“Uh, I don’t know. I was thinking about a t-shirt and some jeans.”
Brittney gasped. “That just won’t do. You better come over half an hour before we go out so I can help you pick something out.”
“What are you boys wearing?” Brittney asked them.
“Clothes,” Eric replied.

“Black pants and a white dress shirt,” Aidan said.
“That’s for me to know and for you to find out,” Zeke said.
Zeke’s comment didn’t surprise us since he was sarcastic most of the time. The boys started chatting.
“I have an idea,” Brittney said.
“Oh no, here we go again,” I sighed.
“This is a really good idea,” she said.
We all waited for her to tell us.
“We should all have a sleepover!”

“Say what?” the boys asked.
“We can have it in Jasmine and Zeke’s room,” Brittney said.
“Why does it have to be our room?” I asked.
“Cause you have the two beds and the sofa bed in your room.”
We all thought about it for a few minutes, coming to like the idea more.

“Fine,” I said, annoyed.
“Who’s sleeping together then?” Katie asked.
“Well, Aidan and I will take the sofa bed, Zeke and Katie can sleep on one of the beds while Eric and Jasmine can have the other. Or Zeke and Jasmine could have-”
“No, no, no! I’m not sleeping with Katie!”
“Hey, you would be lucky to sleep in the same bed as someone like me,” Katie said.

We all laughed while Eric frowned.
“I liked the first idea when the couples slept together while Eric and Jasmine can get to know each other a little more intimately,” Zeke said, a smirk on his face.
“What?” Eric and I both yelled.
“Instead of going to dinner why don’t we just eat here and have the sleepover tonight?” Aidan suggested.

We all agreed and Brittney went into the computer room to check something. She ran back in a few minutes later, jumping up and down excitedly.
“New Bleach episodes!” she cried, pulling Aidan out of his seat.
We all watched on, eyebrows raised as Aidan twirled Brittney around.
“Woo! Bleach,” Aidan said.
Aidan realized we were all staring and stopped. He coughed.
“I mean, Bleach, cool,” he said in a deep voice.
We all laughed as they walked out of the room. A comfortable silence fell over us as we sat there.

“Do you want me to bring some more vodka?” Eric asked.
“Sure because we all know how great last time was. Isn’t that right, Jasmine?” Zeke asked.
I narrowed my eyes at him. Eric said he needed to go see one of his football team mates and left. Katie stood up as well.
“I need to go have a shower but I’ll be back later,” she said.
“Can I come?” Zeke asked.
“As long as you keep your pants on and don’t come in.”
“I was kidding.”

Katie leant down to kiss Zeke and tried to pull away when Zeke grabbed her face, deepening the kiss. After a minute I coughed loudly, breaking them up.
“Oh, sorry, I forgot you were there,” Katie said.
She kissed him on the cheek before leaving. Zeke and I stared at each other, not saying anything.

“Sorry for breaking up your make out session,” I said coldly.
“Are you jealous? Do you wish it was you I was kissing rather than Katie?”
“No, don’t be idiotic,” I snapped.
His smirk returned and we fell silent again.

Two hours later everyone showed up in our dorm room. Aidan showed up wearing pajamas with pictures of characters from Bleach on them. He was carrying a small plush toy of a lion.
“Did you run out of man pajamas?” Zeke asked.
“Nice teddy,” I smiled.
“It’s not mine; I’m keeping it safe for Brittney. And yes, I have run out of man pajamas because they are in the wash.”
There was another knock on the door and Katie walked in wearing pink, silk shorts and a tank top with lace around the bottom. I didn’t even have to look at Zeke to know he was smirking. The next person to arrive was Eric.
“What are you wearing, Aidan?” Eric laughed.
“My man pajamas were in the wash,” he said, clenching his fists.

Eric sat down beside me on the ground while Katie sat on Zeke’s lap. Brittney came in without knocking and grinned at Aidan.
“Hey, you’re wearing the pajamas I brought you for Christmas,” she said brightly.
We stifled our laughs and they both sat down on the ground, forming a small circle. Eric pulled two bottles of vodka out of his bag and put them in the middle of the circle.
“Who wants to play a game?” Eric asked.
“Sure, what game?” Brittney asked.
“Spin the bottle,” Eric grinned.
“What are we, twelve?” I asked sarcastically.
“How does that involve drinking?” Katie asked.

“Well, you spin the bottle and whoever it lands on you both drink and then have to kiss.”
“That’s a good idea. Jasmine, now you can get to know Eric better,” Zeke said.
I grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at Zeke, nearly hitting Katie.
“Are you trying to hurt my girlfriend?” Zeke asked.
“Sorry Katie, I thought Zeke’s head was big enough to block the pillow from hitting you,” I said.
“Okay, let’s play,” Eric said.
He put one of the bottles out of the circle and placed the other one on its side. Katie sat down beside Zeke instead of on him and we all watched as Eric spun the bottle. It stopped on Aidan.
“I don’t swing that way,” Aidan said.

They both drunk from the bottle anyway and it was Aidan’s turn to spin the bottle. Aidan grabbed the bottle and spun the bottle but stopped it when it landed on Brittney, they drank before kissing. Brittney spun the bottle, landing on Eric; they both drank before kissing quickly. Brittney wiped her mouth on her sleeve and Eric did the same. He spun the bottle.

“No, no, no!” he cried when it landed on Katie.
“I might need a lot of vodka for this,” Katie said.
They took big swigs before kissing. Eric wiped his lips and Katie threw a pillow at him.
“I think you just insulted Katie, Eric,” Brittney said.

Katie spun the bottle, landing on Aidan. Brittney glared at Katie as they kissed after drinking. Aidan spun the bottle and my heart stopped as it landed on me. He handed me the bottle and I took a swig before we leant towards each other. It was only a quick peck and I spun the bottle. I watched it, wondering who it would land on. As I saw the bottle land on Zeke my heart skipped a beat as he looked up at me with a smirk on his face. I took a small sip of the vodka before handing it to Zeke. He took his first drink of the night and leant towards me. Our faces were a few inches apart; I could feel his breath on my cheek.