Caught Up In You

December 21st, 2011
Wednesday Night
Location: Drew’s House
11:23 PM

The house was eerily silent when all of us walked through the door. “Where are mom and dad?” I asked Ethan. He shrugged. I walked to the kitchen to see if there was a note. Whenever my parents went somewhere, they always left a note in the same place. As I assumed, a crisp piece of paper was stuck to the battered fridge with a hot pink magnet. I pulled the letter out of the magnet’s grasp and tried to make out the sharp cursive.

“So, where did they go this time?” Ethan sighed, sitting down on a stool by the island. The rest of the group crowded around the counter. I crumpled the note up and carelessly threw it in the trash can under the sink.

“They went to visit Aunt Margaret and see how she’s holding up,” I said.

He nodded. “Are they going to stay for the funeral?” He asked. I shrugged.

“Probably. I mean, everyone was close with Uncle Mark. They’ve got to go,” I assumed. Everyone stayed silent until Drake smiled, looking extremely mischievous.

“Okay Ducky, what’s up?” I asked, calling him the nickname I’ve known forever.

“Since we’re alone, how about we all play a game of truth or dare?” Drake asked, raising his eyebrows and pursing his lips together, most likely coming up with provocative questions to give us. Travis and Shane laughed and gave each other high fives while I looked at Ethan. He quickly caught on to my glare.

“Drake, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. I mean, my sister’s with me. If I do anything embarrassing, she’ll know,” he said. I giggled. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Rose groaned and cut in. “Your sister is not that bad. And besides, it could be fun,” she said, attempting to be seductive. Ethan gave me a look of defeat.

“Fine, but no more than a couple of rounds,” he demanded. Drake grinned so wide I thought his mouth was going to break. He ran over to the couches and patted them for all of us to follow. I sat next to Drake but scooted back so I wasn’t so close to him.

Shane sat next to me. Rose, Travis, and Ethan sat across from us on the other couches. “Who’s going to go first?” I asked. Drake smirked and ran into the kitchen. He came back a couple of seconds later holding an empty water bottle.

“We can use this. I’ll spin it, and whoever it lands on will ask the first question,” he said while sitting down closer to me.

Drake set the plastic bottle on the ottoman in front of him and harshly spun it. It whirled in millions of directions, pointing at all of us almost instantaneously. At last, the bottle stopped and pointed directly at Travis. I watched as he tensed, trying to think of who he would pick. “Ethan, truth or dare?” He asked, his dark eyebrows rising cunningly.

“Dare,” he said, pretending to seem brave.

“I dare you to drink the rest of the hot sauce in the fridge,” he said evilly. Ethan groaned, but stood up and walked to the fridge. He found our hot sauce and opened it, casually chugging it like it was nothing. But by the time he sat down, he was jumping up and down, fanning his tongue. Travis laughed and slapped Shane’s hands.

The next couple of rounds went accordingly. They were all stupid, like dancing and singing terribly. But the minute Drake looked at me, I knew something was going to turn out terribly. “Drew, truth or dare?” He asked. I had already chickened out of three dares, so I knew I would have to do everything he asked me. Yet I wasn’t thinking.

“Dare,” I replied.

Drake grinned. “Kiss me,” he said. My eyes grew wide.

“That’s not fair. I can’t do that. I have a boyfriend,” I exclaimed nervously.

“You chickened out Drew. It’s completely fair. Besides, he doesn’t have to know,” he said, getting even closer to me.

“Drake, she doesn’t have to do it if she doesn’t want to,” Ethan said. Drake glared at him but shrugged and fell back into the couch.

“Uh, I guess I’ll go,” Ethan replied. “Rose, truth or dare?”

Rose smiled. “Truth,” she exhaled.

Ethan frowned but quickly composed himself again. “Who do you have a crush on?” He asked.

“Okay, that is such an elementary school question!” She grinned.

“You have to answer it,” he tried to convince her.

Rose giggled. “Well, he has sandy brown hair,” she twirled his hair between her frail fingers. “And light green eyes,” she finished.

My brother smiled. As disgusted I was that my best friend liked him, I was kind of happy. And even though they had literally just met, I trusted Ethan.

He smiled. “Ethan, truth or dare?” Rose asked. He looked at her and acted like it was a hard choice.

“Hmm, dare,” he grumbled. She looked at me, quickly grinning with her eyes, and then turned her focus back on Ethan.

“I dare you to kiss me,” she said confidently.

He smirked, but promptly leaned in. When their lips met, all of the guys cheered. I laughed along, realizing how immature all of them were. After about twenty seconds, I threw a pillow at them. “Come on guys! Get a room!” I yelled, walking to my bedroom.

“Where are you going?” Shane asked.

“I’m going to bed,” I said, not turning around.

Before I could close my door, I heard footsteps following me. I watched as Drake caught up with me.

“Drew, I just want to say I’m sorry, okay? I don’t want you to think of me as a jerk. It’s just, I’ve liked you since you were twelve,” he confessed.

Four years?

I tried not to act surprised. “Drake, it’s okay. I know you’re not a jerk. Good night,” I said. He kissed my forehead softly and gazed at me.

“Thanks for understanding. Night,” he replied before heading back into the main room.

What if he really didn’t get the message?