I Spun the Bottle

I Spun the Bottle: Chapter Six

Song for this chapter: “1901” by Phoenix

Stubbornly, I dug my feet as deep as they would go into the sand, planting me firmly as possible. The water was freezing and I didn’t have any spare clothes to wear if I got this outfit wet, so there was no way in heck that I was going for a nighttime swim.

“I’m not going.” I said, as firmly as I could.

Jace was the first one to get his shirt off since it was already unbuttoned, so he walked behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders, pushing me lightly forward. I stepped into the chilling water and I felt my toes go numb almost instantly.

“Lyn, you need to let loose sometimes you know?” He prodded me, when I stepped back again.

“Yeah, well, not now. The water is cold. I’ll just watch you guys freeze your butts off, if you don’t mind.”

“You’re such a party pooper Lyn. At this point, even Gigi’s better than you.” David pointed out.

His words earned a glare from me. I could not believe that they were comparing me to whoever this “Gigi” was. I didn’t even know who she was, but I did know that I didn’t want to be compared with her. I wasn’t “Gigi”, I’m Carolyn.

“I said I'm not going.” I repeated firmly, giving them the best scowl gaze I could muster up.

“I say we throw her in.” David suggested, giving me an irritatingly handsome grin.

“No! I don’t want to go. What am I going to where when my clothes get wet?”

“We could always go skinny dipping.” David shrugged, saying it like he’d done it a million times before. My face flustered involuntarily as I thought about being naked, swimming with other naked bodies.

“Someone has a dirty mind!” Cameron chirped, as he inspected my red, glowing face.

“I-I do not!” I stuttered, shaking my head side to side, trying to push the thoughts out of my mind.

The three boys around me chuckled at my expression, while my blush deepened into a rusted color.

“Please Lyn,” Jace shook my shoulders, and I turned to look at him. “For me?”

I averted my eyes from his puppy dog face. The face was perfect, almost as if he practiced the expression multiple times. I opened my mouth to say no, but suddenly I felt a hand on my arm just before I could respond to the touch, my body was thrust forward. Losing my balance from the pull, I stumbled a few steps into the chilling water, and realized I was going to fall in the water. I held my hands out in front of me, trying to protect my face. Then my body collided with water, the salty water instantly chilling me to the bone.

It took me no more than a split second to push myself up from the ankle deep water to my feet. The first thing I did was glare at whoever pulled me into the water. The three boys grinned at my sheepishly, obviously not going to tell me who the criminal was. Completely annoyed, I ran my fingers through my now soaked hair and tried to wring out as much of the water I possibly could.

“You guys are all jerks.” I stated, stepping out of the range of the oncoming waver. “Now, I’m going to be wet and freezing the entire night.”

David was the first to speak up from the three, sending me an amused grin, which only made me angrier. “It wasn’t so bad right? And since you’re drenched anyways, why don’t you just swim with us?”

It took all I had to not go up to him and slap him across the face. David obviously didn’t know what the word “no” meant. I rounded around and started making my way back to the bonfire. I’d rather deal with Taylor than be anywhere within ten feet of David.

“Lyn, you can use this.”

Before I could turn and see who was talking to me, some type of thin fabric clouded my vision. I peeled off the shirt and held it between my thumb and forefinger. I recognized the shirt. It was Jace’s.

“Thanks,” I mumbled without turning around to face Jace. At least he was decent enough to lend me something, even if it wasn’t going to keep me warm.

Sand clung to my feet as I made my way back to the bonfire. I stopped a couple of times to get the sand grains off of me, but it didn’t work as I planned. The tiny grains clung to me like a leech sucking on a hippo. Instead of fiddling with the sand, I ignored it as best as I could and continued to the fiery bonfire.

Aside from the orange flames, the first thing I could hear was the wild barking of laughter. I cringed as I came closer; most of the teens were wasted. A couple of girls, a short stubby one and a dark, long haired one, were wrestling each other in the sand, getting dangerously close to the bonfire. I figured that someone with common sense would stop the two, but instead the guys nearest to them whistled encouragingly to them.

“Hey, there you are square.” Taylor slurred, as she stumbled towards me. Once she had a hold of my shoulder she tried to balance herself. “I was wondering where my little slave went.”

I crinkled my nose in disgust as the scent of liquor from her mouth met my nostrils. She was wasted, definitely wasted. For the first time during this trip, I was happy I was her driver. She’d probably kill someone on her way home if she drove herself.

“Hey, why…” she trailed off, staring at something in the distance.

I followed her eyes and found nothing there except the dark night. Abruptly, Taylor snapped her attention back to me. “Why’re you wet?”

Slightly confused with her behavior now, I answered bitterly. “You’re stupid, moronic, idiotic, douche bag of a boyfriend thought it would be funny if he pushed me into the freezing water.”

“Ha ha,” she started giggling uncontrollably, throwing her head backwards. “Isn’t he amazing?”

“No he isn’t.” I responded without even having to think of the answer.

“You wouldn’t know square. You don’t have a boyfriend.” Taylor smirked, and I shrugged it off.

So what if I didn’t have a boyfriend? It’s not like I need someone to keep me from my grades and homework. Most teenage relationships didn’t tend to work out anyway, especially your first one. I was content with being single.

“Why don’t you just drink some more beer and leave me alone, Taylor?”

She made an exaggerated noise that seemed to represent a gasp. “Am I getting on the nerd’s nerves?”

My cheeks were starting to heat up from anger. She really knew how to push my buttons. Almost as if I’ve done it a million times before, I clenched my right hand together, forming into a tight fist

Breathe Lyn. Don’t let her get to you. Only a few more hours then you’re free to go home.

Barely following my own instructions, I took a deep, shaky breath, letting the pungent air course through my lungs, and when I exhaled I felt somewhat better. Not enough to unclench my hand, but enough so that I knew I wasn’t going to punch Taylor square on her pretty, little face.

She watched me lazily; her body swaying to the left and then to the right when she tried to stop herself from falling over. I took another breath this one coming a lot easy than the last one.

I didn’t realize I had been shivering until my teeth were chattering against each other. The freezing water had made the thin fabric stick to my pale skin, and my hair was still wet. Single strands of hair were starting to stick to each other forming several clusters of hair. The water dripped lifelessly from my clothes and onto the sand below me.

“It’s f-f-freezing.” I managed to say through chattering teeth. In my left hand still was Jace’s button up shirt, but I found it almost completely useless. The material was way too thin to do anything for me.

“And?” Taylor inquired like she was supposed to do something for me.

“Nothing,” I muttered, turning and walking away from her in a single motion. I wasn’t worried about her following me at this point, all I had to most likely do to stop her from chasing after me was push her with the force of a drifting feather.

Lazily, I sat on one of the folding chairs that were scattered around the bonfire, choosing the one that was closest to the fire. The blazing heat emitting from the fire was soothing against my clammy skin. Maybe I could warm up this way.

Not even ten minutes later I felt myself completely warmed up. My shivering ceased and the only thing left that I was dealing with was my damp, lukewarm shirt. One again, I glanced down at the shirt that Jace gave me. I debated silently to myself whether or not I should change into it or not.

Would he mind if I wore it? Well, he did give it to me right? It wasn’t like he gave it to me so I could keep it as a memento so I could remember it forever. But what if he wants to wear it as soon as he’s finished playing in that darn water?

“You know what? He gave it to me, to keep me warm.” I mumbled, trying to convince myself. “So, I can use it for whatever I want to.”

With that thought, I stood up from the chair, making it creak in answer. I padded away from my cozy spot, already missing the heat against my skin already and into a corner of the beach. Triple checking my surroundings; I made sure there was absolutely nobody even a twenty feet radius from where I was standing. Where I stood was dark, and I doubted anyone could even see me, but I just wanted to make sure.

As fast as I possibly could, I pulled off the shirt I was currently wearing, and slipped on the one that Jace lent me. It took me less than two full minutes to switch shirts. Then with my damp shirt in hand, I walked back to where I sat to find that spot and the area around it occupied.

The three guys must have finished their little swim because they sat around the bonfire, their hair still dripping wet. David was the first one to notice me standing over the three of them, and he smiled cheekily. I scowled at him and whipped my head to the side, childishly.

He was such a jerk!

I turned to walk away before the other two guys noticed, but it was too late.

“Hey, Lyn! You should’ve joined us.” A voice called after me that I recognized as Cam’s.

I glanced over at him and sighed, when I realized he was patting the seat beside him, a gesture that clearly meant for me to come over and sit next to him. I retraced my steps and plopped in the vacant seat next to him. He grinned at me, though I noticed he was shivering.

“Are you cold?” I asked, stating the obvious.

“A lil, but it was worth it. You should’ve gone with us. Jace and I,” he paused to gesture to Jace. “We tried to drown David for what he did to you and all, but having a dead body on the beach probably isn’t a good idea.”

“David was the one that pulled me in the water?” I asked grimly, shooting him a glare when I noticed him looking at me.

“Guilty as charged,” David grinned, seemingly proud of being the culprit.

“You’re such a jerk.” I hissed, giving him a cold gaze. David’s name was getting closer to the top of my People to hate list along side with Taylor.

“So I’ve been told.” He shrugged, unaffected by my scowl.

An awkward silence settled between the three of us now. I positioned myself so that I couldn’t see even a single strand of his dark brown hair.

Jerk, David’s such darn jerk!

“Baby, there you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Taylor’s high-pitched voice registered in my ears and I cringed at the sound of it.

Even by just listening to her voice, I could tell that she was wasted. Her words slurred, unnaturally, and her voice was loud enough so that I could hear her from probably thirty feet away.

“Taylor,” David turned to her, and I could hear the sound of disappointment in his tone. “You promised you wouldn’t get too drunk this time.”

A giggle left Taylor’s lips as David finished his sentence. “Oh, baby, c’mon. You know I can’t keep a promise.”

David sighed, and for the first time tonight, it seemed like he was being responsible for something, even if that something was Taylor.

“Lay off the beer, okay? We don’t want a repeat of the last time you tried to down ten Millers in ten minutes.” He put his hand around Taylor’s and pulled her down so she was sitting on his lap.

She protested as soon as she noticed that his shorts were soaked, but not enough to where she wanted to get up.

“Hey, guys! I’ve got a great idea!”

All five of our heads turned to where the noise was coming from. The redheaded girl was where the source of the voice came from. Surprisingly, she didn’t seem even the slightest bit drunk.

“I say we play a game of Spin the Bottle!” She grinned, and almost immediately the guys whistled in agreement. I looked around the bonfire and the girls grinned seductively to the guys they were clearly trying to go for.

Most were looking in our direction to Cam, Jace, or David. I shrugged at the idea; it wasn’t like I had to play or anything, right?

Wrong.