Last Girl Standing

“Alright, guys and dolls. Gather around for your next challenge,” Tanisha said with a smile as all the girls crowded around her. October stood beside Niall, her fingers woven against his and they shared the warmth of the cold night. “This is going to be a challenge that’s a little different from the other ones.”

October swallowed nervously as Niall squeezed her hand tightly.

“What’s so different about it?” Jenna asked suddenly.

The other girls nodded and murmured in response. Some were obviously afraid of what was going to happen. Some were afraid that this wasn’t a real challenge and they would skip to an elimination round. Tanisha smiled reassuringly. “Alright, some of you might have played this game when you were in grade school. It’s the classic game of Seven Minutes in Heaven but with a little twist. You can’t just have a kissing game without a winner. So here’s what will happen. You’re going to draw an item from the bag and you’ll go into the dark room where all the lights will be off. The person whose item is chosen will go into the darkened room and then the game begins. Once seven minutes is up, you’ll exit the room and score the person you were with using numbers one through ten. Ten being the best kiss you’ve ever had and one being the worst.”

The girls shot wary glances at each other and October couldn’t help but feel a little anxious as Tanisha produced a black silk bag from behind her. The remaining girls followed Tanisha and the boys to the living room in the boys’ living house. They sat beside each other. Abelia sat beside Zayn, October and Niall sat holding hands tightly, Jenna and Liam sat beside each other, and the other girls were grouped on one couch and the remaining boys sat on the other.

“And will start clockwise. October, you’re up first.”

As Tanisha handed October the black silk bag, October felt her stomach churn in nausea. What if she picked someone other than Niall? She wouldn’t know what to do. She wouldn’t know what to do if she picked Liam’s item or Zayn’s. Oh, she couldn’t even consider what would happen if she picked Harry’s item. They had never gotten along in the past, not when he’d sent her home almost twice. She reached into the silk back and felt around the items, feeling some strange things. She settled on one item and pulled it out, frowning when she came face to face with an orange gummy bear. “I have an orange gummy bear.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention. Once you’re in the room, you’re not allowed to talk. Girls, you won’t find out you who’ve kissed until you’ve come out of the room and given him a score. You must keep your eyes closed until your boy has come out of the room and. October, show yourself into the room and your boy will follow you shortly.”

October squeezed Niall’s hand one more time and gave him a quick peck on the lips before she walked slowly into the darkened room. It was pitch black inside the room and she was immediately gripped with fear.

Seven year old October could hear the screaming of her parents and the smashing of plates against the wall. Even though she covered her ears, she could still hear their raised voices in the dark pantry inside the kitchen. They didn’t know she was there in the pantry. She had snuck in when her parents had first gotten home.

She didn’t understand the words they were shouting, but she knew that they weren’t happy. October’s mother kept shouting something about another woman. The little girl knew that her mother was saying words that weren’t good. They were bad words, curse words, that she knew were only going to make her father angrier.

October didn’t like the dark and she didn’t like the yelling.

She swallowed hard as she waited for the door to open, sliding her back down the wall. October pulled her legs against her chest and wrapped her arms around them, taking in a deep and shaking breath.

Even after twelves years after that day, October was still terrified of being in the dark. It wasn’t something she’d shared with anyone before, but every time the lights turned off and she was left alone, she always thought about that day. It was the day that her father hit her mother and the day that her father left and never came back. Her mother had send October to live with her grandmother in San Francisco so her mother could gather her thoughts. And her things to pack up and leave.

A few minutes later, the door opened and a sliver of light. The door closed and October was left alone with a strange. She felt a warm body beside her and then soft lips against her cheek. She knew immediately that the lips didn’t belong to Niall. Immediately, her heart began to race as she tried to rule out who it could be.

October came to no conclusions.

“Five minutes!” Tanisha called from the other side of the door.

Warm hands turned her face to his and she felt warm lips press against hers. October couldn’t remember what Zayn’s lips had felt like, but it didn’t feel like Zayn. The hands were too soft and too firm to be Zayn’s.

The two only shared the one kiss, innocent and sweet as it was. They sat in silence until Tanisha called time. October stood up and left the room, closing her eyes as son as she closed the door. “October, what was your score?”

It wasn’t a particularly amazing kiss. It wasn’t extraordinary and there weren’t any sparks in the pit of her stomach. Maybe it was because of the dark and how scared she had been, but it hadn’t been like the kisses she’d shared with Niall. “I’d give it a seven.”

She opened her eyes and saw Louis standing beside her. October blushed and swallowed hard, hurriedly taking a seat beside Niall once more, resting her temple on his shoulder.

“A seven is good,” Louis said with a smile.

Rachel was up next and she pulled a quarter out of the silk back. She looked this way and that way, trying to guess and see who would put the quarter in. After she’d disappeared into the room, Niall squeezed October’s hand and stood up, frowning as he disappeared into the room.

The seven minutes went my extremely slowly. She’d never been more anxious for what would happen in the dark room. What if Rachel would try to take things too far with Niall? Niall surely wouldn’t do anything with her in a challenge, would he? In seven minutes, every thought raced thought her head. What if he didn’t really have feelings for October? What if he realized that Rachel was a better kisser than she was? What if Niall realized that he made a mistake, saving her from elimination.

But when Rachel excited the room with a smug smile on her face, the number she answered made October’s heart rise with happiness. “I gave him a one. He didn’t want to kiss me and it was like kissing a wet noodle. Worst kiss I’ve ever had.”

Niall exited the room, a frown on his face as he wiped the back of his hand against his lips. “Yeah, well I don’t appreciate when a girl jumps me and bits on my lip.”

Rachel rolled her eyes and sat down as Niall returned to sitting beside October. “Can’t believe I got a one.”

October smiled and kissed his cheek. “You’re definitely a twelve in my book.”

“You’re biased.”

“And you’re complaining?”

They sat in silence until all the girls had had their turns in the darkened room. Niall had been picked twice and both girls, Megan and Rachel, had given him poor scores just because he didn’t really want to kiss them back. October felt pleased that he was already staying faithful and loyal to her even though they had had a rough past. The time came when everyone went in for a second round, but instead of the girls picking the boys’ items, the boys picked the girls’ items. Niall reached into black back and pulled out a small key chain in the shape of a turtle.

October did her best not to smile but when she trailed behind Niall into the darkened room and immediately sought his lips, she couldn’t help but smile her widest smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips tightly against his, closing her eyes even though it was too dark to see anything anyway. She jumped into Niall’s arms, letting him support her by wrapping her legs around his waist.

Niall took a few steps back and braced her back against the wall, holding her tightly in his arms as he let his lips trail from hers down to her neck to the hidden spot below her ear that always made October gasp. She rested her left hand on his shoulder while her right hand moved through his darkening roots. She sighed against his lips when he ran his fingers through her dark brown hair.

“Seven minutes are up!” Tanisha called.

October groaned and pushed Niall away by his shoulders, but he merely shook his head. “I don’t like these rules.”

“Come on,” October said with a slight laugh. “We can’t stay in here forever.”

“We could forfeit and lose to get some extra minutes,” he said in complete seriousness.

“Or we could win the challenge, go on a date, and have our own minutes in a normal room with lights on.” October brushed her hand against his cheek.

He smiled and kissed her again, brushing her hair away from her forehead. “I like your idea better.”

Niall gently let her down, her feet planting firmly on the ground as he opened the door for her. She stepped and smiled smugly when Niall rested his hand on the small of her back. “I’m giving Niall a fifty-seven.”

Niall snickered and rolled his eyes when he sat down on the couch.

“On a score of one to ten, what would you give Niall, October?” Tanisha asked as she finished laughing.

“And if he doesn’t fit that score?” October smiled. “He’s above that score numbering system.”

“I think by default, Niall wins. I mean, his girl is giving him a score of fifty-seven. I think that constitutes him winning,” Zayn said diplomatically.

Some of the girls nodded. Abelia smiled at October, knowing that she and October were friends for the most part. By winning, October and Niall would win a date and an entire night to be with each other. Watching movies, cuddling, eating fancy dinner, or whatever.

Tanisha grinned. “Alright, folks. Looks like Niall and October are our winners for today. Congratulations you guys.”

Niall turned towards October. “Let’s go on our date right now.”