I Spun the Bottle

I Spun the Bottle: Chapter Sixteen

Song for this chapter: “Tonight” by Enrique Iglesias ft. Ludacris

The rhythmic music pounded loudly in my ears, making it almost impossible to hear even the closest person next to me. The music could probably be heard outside clearly. I found it surprising that no one had called the cops yet. While hundreds of teens danced wildly to the hammering music, I was sitting on top of the staircase with Austin, Penny’s older cousin, and so far, I really enjoyed his company.

I sort of ”used” him to just avoid looking like a loner, at first, but we were actually finding plenty of things to talk about, and his dazzling smile was definitely a plus.

I heard Austin mutter something, but I couldn’t quite make it out. “Did you say something?” I inquired loudly, looking over my shoulder at Austin.

“Yeah, I asked if you want to dance.” Austin had to raise his voice over the music, and I could still barely make out his words.

I shook my head to the side, subtly and said, “Umm, I don’t like dancing. It just isn’t one of my things.”

“What? I can’t hear you, Carrot. Speak up!”

When he used my old nickname a blush managed to make its way to my cheeks. “Don’t call me that! If anyone else hears, they’re going to start calling me it too!”

“I like it though! It sounds cute.” Austin smirked, only making my blush turn deeper. “I think I can make a song for you using Carrot.” he teased, a shallow dimple forming in his right cheek.

“No you shouldn’t do th—“

“Carrot, carrot! I like to eat carrots, but not you cause you aren’t actually a vegetable. But I like you too!” Austin sang in an off-tune voice, and I had a difficult time trying not to cringe.

I laughed, while my cheeks continued to flame. “I think you had too much to drink.”

“Nah, I haven’t even had anything to drink yet. This is me when I’m sober. I’m even worse when I’m drunk.” he said, hooking a thumb towards his face.

“I hope you don’t get drunk around me. I don’t think I’ll be able to contain you.” I said truthfully, taking a second to scan the crowds.

“Don’t worry! I don’t plan on drinking tonight.”

“Good,” I mumbled, pulling my gaze back to his.

“C’mon,” he suddenly said, his hand wrapping around my wrist. “Let’s go.”

“Go where?” I slipped down a couple of stairs at the sudden movement.

“Dancing,” he stated in a “duh” tone.

“I said I don’t want to dance!”

“You did?” he paused to turn and inspect me. “Oh well.”

I frowned. “No, not ‘oh well’. I said I don’t want to dance.”

Austin began pulling me down the stairs, but since I wasn’t standing on my feet, he was more like dragging me on my butt. I could only imagine what this scene looked like from another person’s eyes.

“Why not, Lyn? Dancing’s fun. You’ve just gotta try it.”

I let my eyes sink toward the wooden floor and mumbled in a barely audible voice. “I don’t know how to.”

Almost as if he could hear me crystal clear over the music, Austin grinned, pulling me down the last step. “I’ll teach you.”

If Austin had said those same exact words to me about a month ago, I would have made another excuse on the spot, but I felt like I was changing. I felt like I could try more things, and not be that embarrassed about it just because I didn’t know how to do whatever it was properly. I felt like I was changing from the shy, safe-playing Lyn, who always hid in the corner watching the other people enjoy life, into a more defined, out-going Lyn. Sure, I’d need a few pushes every here and then, but at least I was willing to try.

“Okay,” I nodded, finally standing up from the floor. After dusting my pants for a few moments, I noticed an extended arm in front of me. Looking up, I saw Austin grinning, encouragingly at me. For a moment, I hesitated, but then I let my arm wrap around his.

Leading me to the dance floor, I realized just how crowded it was. A single step into the thick crowd meant preparing for an elbow in the gut, or possibly a foot trying to trip me. I managed to dodge a few of the blows, but only to be met with another. Turning to take a peek at Austin, I noticed that he was having the same problems as I was.

We finally managed to get far enough into the crowd so that we could dance without being seen from the outside. I stood awkwardly for a few seconds, keeping my gaze steady with the ground. I was embarrassed.

“You know Lyn, it isn’t considered dancing if you’re just gonna stand there.” Austin chuckled, softly.

I could feel my cheeks burn slightly. “I don’t even know how to start.” I admitted, finally lifting my eyes so they were leveled with his.

“Like this,” Austin listened to the music for a second before swaying along with the beat.

His hips began to move rhythmically along with the fast-paced song. With the song blaring into my ears, it was easy to recognize the song as “Tonight” by Enrique Iglesias. His body seemed to match the song’s bass perfectly, and I had a hard time keeping up with smooth, but fast movements.

“C’mon Lyn, try it,” he said giving me an encouraging grin.

I nodded, but my body didn’t seem to listen to my mind. In my head, I pictured slick movements—like shaking my hips and raising my hands in the air like the other girls around me were doing—but I ended up just shifting my weight from one foot to the other and repeating the sequence all over again.

I received a laugh from Austin, and I couldn’t help but frown at him. At least I was trying!

“Don’t be so stiff. Try using your upper body a little more. And why are you pacing side to side?” he inquired, pressing his lips into a thin line, probably to avoid from laughing at me again.

“I’m not pacing, I’m dancing.” I said in a matter-of-factly tone.

“That’s not dancing. That’s hardly moving.” The corner of his lip curled up just a little, revealing just how amused he was. “Here let me help you.”

Before I could protest, Austin’s hands were placed just a few inches above my waist. I could feel my face turn into sickly red color from the sudden touch. Without realizing, I stumbled back a few steps bumping into another person behind me.

“Ah! Sorry!” I quickly apologized, but I noticed that it was just a waste of breath.

The girl I bumped into didn’t even notice. I turned back to Austin, just in time to see him bite his lower lip to keep his fits of laughter in check. Giving him a flat stare, I said, “I’m not dancing anymore.”

I began moving through the swaying crowds, my cheeks still flustered and my self-esteem a little more than damaged.

“Hey, wait, Lyn! You can’t quit now!” Austin called through the throngs on people.

“I’m done dancing. I don’t want to do it anymore.” I yelled back to him.

Just as I narrowly missed running face first into a guy, a hand caught my right elbow. “I said I’m done dancing.” I said, turning to Austin.

He sighed, his face dropping a little. “Fine, we don’t have to dance anymore.”

Realizing that I may have hurt his feelings, my gaze softened. “You can dance if you want, Austin. It’s just not one of my strong points.”

“Nah, it’s awkward dancing without a partner.”

“I bet you could find one easily.”

“Are you saying I’m sexy, Lyn?”

I nodded to him before the words actually registered in my brain. “What? No! I-I I was just thinking that you were a nice person and someone would definitely like to dance with you! B-but that doesn’t mean I don’t think you’re attractive because I think you are cute, but not in a way that I would actually see you as anything else other than a friend,” I blurted, my words meshing together to form one big glob of nonsense.

Austin stared at me. “Umm, I didn’t get any of that.”

I smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “Err…never mind then.”

“What?” he leaned closer, cupping his right ear so he could hear me better. “I can’t hear you.”

I frowned. The music was becoming a hindrance. Why couldn’t they lower it down a notch or two? I raised my voice over the music. “I said never mind!”

“Never whine?” he inquired, looking quizzically at me.

I slapped my forehead with my right hand. This was going to get us nowhere. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. Nodding my head in the direction of the back door, I began walking towards the exit. I turned to check if Austin had gotten the idea. He did.

As soon as my foot stepped out of the house, the cool breeze automatically made me shiver. The temperature probably wasn’t as cold as it felt, but the contrast from within the house to the outside had taken me by surprise.

“It’s a little chilly, huh?” Austin voiced the words in my mind, and I returned it with a small nod.

“At least it’s better than the crowded house.”

“Agreed,” he smiled. “Now what were you trying to say inside the house?”

“Err…” I adverted my eyes from his light blue ones. “It was nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” I nodded, noticing that there was a wooden bench located near the back end of the yard. “Do you want to sit over there?”

Following my eyes, Austin shrugged. “Sure, Carrot.”

“I said don’t call me that!” I puffed my cheeks out at Austin. And he responded with a chuckle.

“You said that you didn’t want anyone else to hear that name, right?” he inquired, raising a brow at me.

“Yep,” I responded, placing my hand on the bench to test its strength. Figuring that it would be sturdy enough, I sat on it. The wood protested from my weight, but didn’t do anything else otherwise.

“Well, there’s no one here but us.”

Taking a peek around, I realized he was right. And I did tell him that I just didn’t want anyone to hear my nickname. I sighed. “That’s true.”

“So I can keep calling you Carrot, Carrot?”

I shrugged. Since there was no one else around, my only excuse had been used up. “I guess.”

For the next hour or so, Austin and I continued to talk about school and our life. I had learned that he was an only child, and that he was attending school at a community college a few cities over. After his two years there, he wanted to transfer to a university, most likely UCLA, but he wasn’t quite sure yet. He also told about this girl that he had a crush on, and I “tried” helping him with his girl problems, but I wasn’t sure how I was even supposed to fix his problem.

“Err…well are you like good friends with her?” I inquired, tilting my head to the side.

He frowned, internally debating with himself. “I guess. I’ve known her since high school, but she hasn’t noticed that I have a thing for her.”

“And you haven’t, you know…just told her?”

“Nope,” he grinned, sheepishly. “Too embarrassed. Believe it or not, but I’m deathly scared of her turning me down.”

Rubbing my arms, I smiled, encouragingly. “Austin, any girl would be lucky to have you. And I’ve only known you for like three hours.” I pointed out with a matter of factly expression.

“Thanks, but it’s easier said than done,” he sighed, shifting his weight on the wooden, creaky bench.

I shrugged. It was hard sympathizing over something I’ve never really felt or understood.

“Hey, I’m guessing you’re Austin?” A new voice interrupted our conversation, causing both of us to turn our head in the direction of the source.

My eyebrows knitted together as I tried to let my eyes focus on the shadowy figure. As the person drew steps closer, it became apparent who it was.

“David?” I voiced my thoughts.

“The one and only,” he answered, drawing closer to Austin and me.

“Who’s he?” Austin spoke up, pushing himself up on his feet.

“I’m on of Penny’s friends. She told me to come out here and ask if you could buy a few more packs of some Millers,” he explained, scratching the back of his head, as if, it was awkward talking to Austin.

“Oh, sure,” the curly, blonde nodded. “Tell her I’ll be back in half an hour.”

“Will do.”

Austin grinned at me before turning and heading back into the house. I felt new emotions fill me as I realized I had been abandoned by Austin, (well not technically abandoned) and left alone with David. For a few moments, David and I watched one another, unsure whether we should start a conversation or not.

Clearing my throat, I waved at him robotically. “Hey.” I received a chilling, flat stare from David. And I couldn’t help but cringe at it. “What?”

“What?” he repeated, his lips pressing into a thin line. “Suddenly you want to talk to me?”

I cursed myself, completely forgetting the warning Taylor had told me. Feeling as if it would be too mean to just turn around now and walk away, I sighed and apologized. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to,” I lied, adverting my eyes to the fallen, dull leaves on the dirt layered ground.

“Liar,” he simply stated in a hard voice.

I slightly jumped at the sound of his accused tone. It wasn’t my fault that Taylor thinks we like each other. Maybe if she hadn’t had something against me, then I would have probably ignored her warning, but I couldn’t.

“I’m not lying,” I lied again, contradicting myself.

“You should work on your lying habits. Every time you lie, your right eyebrow twitches.”

“It does?”

“Yeah, I noticed that in eighth grade.”

“You did…?” I inquired in a rather confused tone. “Did you watch me or something? I didn’t even know we had a class then.”

Almost as if he were embarrassed, David turned his gaze over elsewhere. His voice came out hushed as he spoke. “Not really, but we had English together with Mr. Perez. You sat two chairs in front of me.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Do you have a habit of asking questions?”

Realizing that most of my responses consisted of questions, I felt a slight, warm feeling fill my cheeks. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” he waved it off.

An awkward feeling shrouded the area between us. I knew that I shouldn’t be talking to him, but I sort of missed the sound of his voice, and I didn’t know why. “So…have you seen Jace around?”

At the sound of my words, I thought, for just an instant, David’s eyes hardened, but just as quickly as it showed, it vanished. “No, he’s not here. He caught the flu or something.”

“Oh, darn.”

“Why do you look so disappointed?”

“Because…he’s my friend?” I tried, not really seeing why it was important. “Don’t you feel bad that he has the flu?”

“Not really,” he grinned, almost as if his words had a secret double meaning to them.

“That’s not nice,” I frowned, giving him a disapproving look.

“So I’ve been told.”

Suppressing a sigh, I ran a cold hand through my hair. I didn’t know when, but it felt like the temperature had dropped by about fifteen degrees. And I really wished I had my jacket at this moment. I could still hear the music emanating from the house, and I could almost feel the blistering suffocation coming from the sweat covered bodies, meshing together.

“Where’s Her Highness? Shouldn’t you be body guarding her or something?” Almost immediately, I felt ashamed of making fun of Taylor. Sure, I didn’t like her very much…or at all, but stooping so low as making fun of her was just….mean.

“Drunk,” he simply replied.

“For some reason, that doesn’t surprise me.”

“Me either,” he said. A frown formed at the corner of his lips as he took a few steps closer to the bench and me.

Only for a second did I worry that he was getting too close, but I pushed those thoughts aside. His feet were probably tired from standing too long. I scooted over to the side a little, giving room for him to join me. As I did so, I felt like my muscles were numb from the cold. My movements felt like they were being constricted.

David’s weight pressed into the old bench, an uneasy cry came from the wood.

“This doesn’t feel safe sitting here,” he pointed out, shifting his weight a little.

“It supported Austin and me.”

“If you say so.”

***

I Spun the Bottle: Chapter Seventeen

Song for this chapter: “Stutter” by Marianas Trench

“I’m exhausted!” Penny exclaimed, collapsing on the couch before her.

I nodded, completely agreeing with her. The last of the party-goers had left about an hour ago, and we had been spending the rest of the time, cleaning up after them. Surprisingly, house wasn’t totally a mess, just a few bottles here and there, and some vacuuming had to be done.

Sitting next to Penny, I wondered where Austin had gone to. He had never returned from his trip.“Did Austin ever come back?” I voiced my question aloud, glancing down at Penny.

“Hmm?” Penny turned around on her back, and opened her sleepy eyes. “I think so. He gave us a few more cases, and then said something about having to go somewhere. Why?”

“No reason,” I said, shrugging. I was a little disappointed that he didn’t come around to say bye to me. I shook my head sideways, a little annoyed with myself. I was being really clingy lately, and I hated that.

“Oh,” she replied, turning over so she was facing me. “So I saw you and David talking earlier.”

“You did?” I said, a little surprised that she could see us. I could hardly see David, who was about a foot away from me.

“Yeah, aren’t you a little afraid?”

“Err…why?”

“Because aren’t you supposed to be avoiding him?”

I stared quizzically at Penny. “How do you know about that?”

She responded with an indifferent shrug. “I dunno. I just noticed you being a little jumpy around him…it has to do with Taylor right?”

“No,” I replied a little too quickly, and I earned a lazy smirk from Penny. “Okay,” I admitted quietly. “It does, but I don’t know why she’s so…so…” I trailed off, trying to think of the proper word.

“Bitchy?” She finished my sentence, raising an eyebrow.

I grimaced at her word choice, but quickly realized that that word fit in perfectly. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Hmm, well I could think of a few reasons,” Penny said, while shifting into a sitting position. “Do you wanna hear them?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

“One is that she’s jealous of you.”

“Taylor…jealous of me..?” I shook my head, doubtfully. “Why would she be jealous of me? She’s prettier and tons more popular than me. If anything, I should be jealous of her.”

“Sure she may be a lot prettier and just about a million times more popular than you.” I frowned at Penny, and she noticed. “Don’t give me that look. I’m not finished yet!”

“Sorry,” I apologized, turning my gaze to the carpeted floor.

Penny clucked her tongue at me before continuing. “But, David seems to be finding an interest in you, and do you know how much it stings that her boyfriend is choosing a girl that is just a plain Jane? I don’t know about you, but I’d hate that.”

I sighed, and thought about her explanation for a moment. It did sort of make sense, but at the same time, I didn’t understand why David would find me interesting. It wasn’t like I was trying to impress or “make a move” on him. Then my stomach did a strange flip-flop feeling as I was thinking about him, but I quickly disposed of the weird feeling.

“What’s wrong Lyn? You just got really quiet,” Penny inquired, tilting her head at me.

“I-it’s nothing.” I answered, giving her a half-hearted smile. “I don’t think that’s the reason she’s doing it.” I partially lied. “What’s your other idea?”

“Number two,” she paused, nibbling her bottom for a moment. “She just wants to be a bitch.”

Once again, I grimaced at that word, but this time I nodded. That really did sound Taylor-like.

“If only I could just get that darn picture back,” I muttered to myself.

“Picture? What picture?” Penny turned her gaze towards me, and I felt my cheeks heat up involuntarily.

“It’s nothing,” I waved my hand in front of me, trying to dismiss the subject completely. Unfortunately, it didn’t work this time.

“Nu-uh, you can’t say something like that to me, and expect to wave it off. Does Taylor have a picture of you or something? Hmm?”

“Maybe,” I replied wryly.

“She does! What is it? Tell me! I promise I won’t tell anyone what it is,” she pleaded, giving me her best puppy dog face.

Holding my ground, I shook my head. My cheeks were still flaming. I didn’t want anyone else to know what Taylor had on me. It was a personal secret that I had been trying to keep to myself.

“Please! Lyn, I’ll do anything. Just tell me, okay? Besides, I’m partially drunk still. I bet I won’t remember anything tomorrow morning.”

I groaned, and cupped my hands around my ears, trying to block her begging from my mind. It didn’t work; instead, she got gradually louder. She even resorted to jumping on the couch. So much for being “exhausted”.

“Fine! I’ll tell you, just stop jumping and quiet down!” I reprimanded her, giving her a stern look. She was acting like a little kid who had only been eating and drinking sweet, sugary things all day.

“Yay!” She cheered, giving me a big goofy grin.

I rolled my eyes at her childish behavior. “Alright, but you have promise not to laugh at me.”

She nodded excitedly. “I promise.”

“Okay, well, Taylor has a picture of me, and in the picture…I…I’m…” My cheeks were flooded with hot blood. I didn’t want the words to leave my mouth, but I had already said I would tell her. It was embarrassing. Just letting Penny know, is just about killing me, I didn’t even want to imagine what it’d be like if the entire school found out.

“Spit it out, Lyn! You’re killing me.” Penny inched closer to me, her eye wide with curiosity.

I gave her a wry smile. It’s more like it’s killing me. “I’m almost naked.” I finally mumbled, my voice came out low and dull, and I wasn’t sure if she could hear me or not.

She must have heard me because she brought her right hand up to her mouth, stifling what I assumed to be a laugh. I bit my lower lip in embarrassment.

For the first time in a long time, I was angry, angry at Taylor. This was all her fault. If she had just left me alone I wouldn’t have to deal with this crap. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have to worry about what I was doing every night. I wouldn’t have to worry about being humiliated every time I entered the school doors.

Noticing my strained expression, Penny lowered her hand from her lips, and a guilty smile formed in its place. “Sorry Lyn, I promised not to laugh.”

I shook my head meekly, and replied, “No, it’s okay. It’s kind of funny…I guess.”

“Still, a promise is a promise. I shouldn’t have laughed.”

I waved her off, as if it was no big deal. “Just don’t tell anyone, ‘kay? I’m not exactly pleased having to hide my secret.”

“I won’t. I swear. But how’d she get it?” Penny asked curiously, shifting her position on the couch.

I grimaced, thinking of the conversation that we had in her car that one morning. “David spilled some milk on me in eighth grade, and when I went into the locker room to change into my gym clothes, Taylor waited till I was only in my undergarments…and then she took the picture.”

“Wow, that’s pretty clever. I wonder if she planned that out, with David spilling the milk and everything.” Penny seemed to be talking to herself, and I briefly wondered if she did plan it out.

If she did, and had told David, then he should know about my picture too. I suppressed a groan. How many people know about my picture? Maybe Taylor already showed it to all her friends. I prayed she didn’t.

“Speaking of Taylor, I have a tiny question about you and David.” Penny grinned childishly at me, and I arched a brow at her. I didn’t know where this was going.

I hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded. “Sure, I guess.”

“Do you like him?” she inquired, narrowing her eyes at me. It was like she was accusing me of making David cheat on Taylor, but it was like she was happy with it.

The question came right out of the blue. It froze me in place, and I my jaw dropped down. I stared at Penny, looking like a fish, for about five minutes. She obviously didn’t notice my disgruntled face because she stared expectantly at me.

I didn’t know what to say. I’ve never actually thought I had any feelings for David, aside from just being somewhat of a friend. Instead of thinking of that, I was thinking about every possible way of trying to avoid him. I could feel my blood pumping in my ears as I took my actual feelings into consideration.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she laughed, but I didn’t find it funny.

“I-I don’t like him,” I muttered, the words flowed from my mouth unnaturally, and I felt like I was lying. No…I knew I was lying. I opened my mouth to tell Penny what I was really thinking, but for some strange reason different words came out. “I like Jace.”

Surprise filled both Penny and my face. I didn’t know why the words escaped my mouth, but it did, and it was too late to take it back. A loose smile filled Penny’s features and something hid behind it.

And I wasn’t sure whether I liked it or not.