Snakebite Hearts & Bubblegum Smiles

By now we were all pretty buzzed, sitting on the sand a little ways down from the house. We’d put out the fire and grabbed flashlights and an empty beer bottle to play Spin-the-Bottle. I couldn’t remember who had suggested it, but everybody seemed to be on board. Alex was the first to spin. It went around a couple times, finally stopping at Rian.

“So…I’ll just redo that.” He went to grab the bottle again, but I put my hand out to stop him.
“Oh no, you only get one spin per turn,” I said. “Now go over there and lay one on him!” Alex looked horrified.

“You kiss him like a man, Alex!” Jane said and I nearly fell sideways. She was a lot more outrageous once she’d had a few drinks in her.

“You guys are all pervs.” He crawled over to Rian and gave him a peck on the lips. We all cheered, laughing, as Alex and Rian both tried to act like that hadn’t just happened. Rian spun after and, big surprise, the bottle landed on Kara.

“That can’t count!” Zack said, the rest of us booing.

“Hey, hey,” Rian said with a smirk on his face. “Like Brooke said, we only get one spin.” He pulled Kara in and kissed her twice before handing her the bottle. She spun a little too hard and we all watched it go around and around until, finally, it came to a halt.

“Ohh yeah!” Alex burst into laughter as the bottle landed right on me. “Bet you wish you gave me that extra spin now.” All the guys started giggling as though they were all still thirteen years old, watching their first porno.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.” Kara got up and crawled over to me. The guys whooped and cheered like a bunch of idiots as we kissed.

“Hot!” Jack and Zack whistled, high fiving each other.

“You guys are so dumb,” I said as Kara went back to her spot. I grabbed the bottle next and spun it hard, hoping not to get a repeat. I didn’t think the guys could contain themselves if I had to kiss Kara again. When the bottle finally stopped, it was pointing straight across from me, at Alex.

“Well, well. I can feel the tension rising already,” Zack said. Everyone started ooh-ing and I immediately turned to Lisa. Kissing a friend was one thing, but kissing another friend’s boyfriend was an entirely different story. She was laughing along with everyone, but I still felt unsure about the whole situation.

“Can you guys just do it already?” Jack said, clearly getting bored because no one was kissing. I looked away from Lisa and tried to shake the weird feeling as I met Alex in the middle of the circle. As quickly as it started, it ended and Alex went right back to Lisa’s side, wrapping his arm around her and placing a sweet kiss on her temple.


I’d been staring at the ceiling in Jane’s and my room for hours, as the rest of the house was fast asleep. Jane had tried to stay up with me, but eventually passed out around 1:30. I couldn’t stop thinking about that game of Spin The Bottle. Alex had come over and kissed me as though it were nothing. I don’t think he even looked twice at Lisa like I had, and every time I replayed our two-second kiss in my mind it made me feel weird. I knew it was just a game and we’d all been drinking, but still…

I turned over in my bed for the hundredth time, burying my face in the pillow. Here I was, practically analyzing a kiss that definitely didn’t mean anything. Maybe I couldn’t sleep because I felt guilty. Lisa hadn’t really talked to me directly after the game and I was worried she was mad at me. She wasn’t the jealous type though, and everyone else had been there. They could easily vouch for me that it was all innocent fun.

“Brooke,” I whispered to myself. “You are definitely overthinking this.” With a heavy sigh, I threw my comforter aside and got out of bed. I probably wasn’t going to fall asleep any time soon, so why not go downstairs and watch TV for a little while? After quietly tiptoeing down the stairs, I noticed the light from the kitchen was on. I walked in and saw Alex, of all people, sitting at the table with a bowl of Lucky Charms in front of him.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked when he saw me. I nodded, taking the seat across him. “Me neither.”
“How long have you been up?” I asked.

“A while.” He shrugged, taking a bite of cereal. “I came down here like, five minutes ago.”
“Oh. I didn’t hear you.” Silence fell between us and for the first time, I couldn’t think of a single thing to say to Alex.

“You want some?” he asked with a mouthful of sugary marshmallows in his mouth as he moved the cereal box over to me. I smiled and shook my head. He took another spoonful and as I sat there watching him, I couldn’t help but feel like he was thinking the same thing I was. We had kissed and this was awkward. “Are you all right?” he asked. “You’re quieter than usual.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, though I didn’t even sound convincing to myself. I hated feeling like this and it sucked even more that I couldn’t go to my best friend to talk about it because he was the problem.

He was quiet for a moment, probably deciding whether or not he should press the subject anymore. Finally he let it go and said, “You know what I hate?” He grabbed the box of Lucky Charms, bringing it back over to his side. “I hate how they put more this nasty shit in the box than the marshmallows. I mean, let’s be real, people only buy it for the marshmallows, so they should put more in. In fact, they shouldn’t even put the other stuff in at all. It should all just be marshmallows.”

I raised my brows at him, an amused grin on my face. “Why do I feel like you’ve sat down more than once to think about this?”

“I’m serious. I think it would make the world an all-around happier place,” he said as he finished off the last of his cereal, leaving only the now slightly greenish milk in the bowl.

“Is that so?”

“Yup.” It was at this moment that our eyes connected and I felt goose bumps on my skin. I looked away, hoping that I wasn’t blushing.

“Well I’m still not tired,” he said, completely oblivious. He got up to put his bowl in the sink and then looked back at me. “You want to watch TV or something?” he asked. I said yes and the two of us went to the living room and sat on the couch together. He took the seat on the far right and I took the far left. He grabbed the remote and pressed the power button, a blue glow painting the walls as the screen flashed on.


The next morning I woke up on the couch with the television still on, playing some cartoon that I didn’t recognize. It wasn’t until I went to sit up that I realized Alex had fallen asleep on me, his head resting at my hip. I had tried to keep my distance the night before, but as the hours went by and our eyes grew heavier, we just sort of gravitated towards each other, and now here we were, snuggling on Rian’s uncle’s couch. It was a good thing no one else was up yet, or this might have looked pretty bad. I got up, careful not to wake him, and gently stuck one of the couch pillows under Alex’s head. He made a noise and hugged the pillow closer to him, making me cover my mouth to hide the smile on my face.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” I nearly jumped at the sound of Jane’s voice. I turned and saw her coming down the stairs still in her pajamas. I motioned for her to follow me out to the deck. The cool, morning breeze blew through our hair as we walked over to the edge and looked out at the ocean. “So, you ditched me to cuddle with Alex last night?” Jane broke the silence. Just hearing her say it made the whole thing feel worse than it actually was.

“First of all, you fell asleep on me,” I said. “And second, I didn’t know he’d be downstairs.”

“Sorry, I was just kidding,” Jane said and I suddenly felt bad for snapping at her.

I sighed. “No, it’s okay. I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I’m sorry.”

“Is something wrong, Brooke?” she asked, looking concerned. I cringed at the question. It was the second time someone had asked me that in the last twelve hours. The truth was I was trying to figure out the answer myself. “Brooke?” Jane said, sounding even more worried. Before I could answer, the whoosh of the sliding door came from behind us and Rian poked his head out.

“We’re making eggs and bacon. I suggest you guys come inside before Alex and Jack eat it all,” he said. I was surprised to hear that more people were up. Had Jane and I even been out here for that long?

“Thanks, Ri, we’ll be there in a sec,” I said and he slipped back inside. I really hoped no one had been listening in on Jane and me, not that we’d been talking about anything scandalous. I just didn’t need the guys giving me shit for snuggling up with Alex.

“You sure you’re good?” Jane asked again. This time I put on a big smile and nodded.

“Yeah, I’m probably just hungry or something,” I said.

Her worried face morphed into relief. “Well we better get inside then, because if those two eat everything, I may have to pick off the weakest link!”

A real smile spread across my lips and I couldn’t help but laugh at Jane laughing at her own joke. “You are something else, you know that?” I told her. Still laughing, the two us went back inside, joining everyone in the kitchen. Lisa and Kara were sitting at the island, looking as though they hadn’t fully woken up yet, and Zack was standing by the stove, waiting for the bacon to start sizzling before he plated it. The rest of the guys were waiting at the table. I caught Alex looking at me as Jane and I walked over and tried to act casual by smiling back. Normally, I would have sat down next to him and given him shit for his morning breath or how his hair looked messier than usual, but for some reason, I wasn’t up for it today. I went over to Zack instead, resting my head against his shoulder.