Kill Me With Words

Beth, Andy, Spencer, Marcus and Emily all sat around the booth table that jutted out from the side of the living room. Andy dealt the cards, occasionally glancing up at Beth every so often with a gleam in his eye.

"Ever played this before?" He questioned as he dealt out the last few cards.

Beth shook her head no and looked around at everyone else at the table. Emily and Spencer both said no, and Marcus just stretched his arms over his head and claimed to be a pro.

Andy chuckled slightly to himself. "Yeah, Marcus? We'll see about that."

"Don't even deny that I'll be getting President every round, Biersack." Marcus boasted.

Andy shook his head slightly and picked up his cards. "Alright, so here's how you play. In order to win the round and become President, you have to get rid of all the cards in your hand. The person who is left with cards after everyone has cleared is labeled the asshole. So, in order, the positions go President, Vice President, Secretary, and Asshole. Before the start of each game, excluding the very first round, the asshole has to give the president his or her two best cards and in return, the president will give the asshole two of his or her worst cards. The VP gives the Secretary one bad card and the Secretary gives the VP one good card. Good cards include clear cards, or Kings, Queens and Jacks. Bad cards are threes, fours, or aces. Do you get it so far?"

Everyone nodded in agreement. Beth wrung her hands under the table. She was the competitive type and was determined to win at all costs. She wanted to be President even though she didn't really know what being President meant.

"Clear cards are all the twos and the red threes. If you can't play and you have a clear card, put that down and it clears the pile. Whoever puts the clear card down gets to start the new pile with any card you want. The game originally starts out with the ace of spades. From there, you have to put down a card larger or equal to the ace. You'll get the hang of it once you start playing." Andy explained.

"What does being the President mean?" Beth asked.

"Oh, right. If you win President, you get to make up a rule. Usually it's only after you win three times in a row, but I want to make this interesting. The most popular one is called little man. You have to pretend there is a little man sitting on the rim of your cup and you have to take him off before you drink and put him back on after you drink." Andy said as he organized his cards. "Let's also say President gets to change the music." Andy reached over to his laptop sitting on the counter behind him and began playing the Wretched and Divine album. "Anything the president wants is what we listen to."

"So I'm assuming you're starting off as president, then?" Marcus folded his arms across his chest.

Andy gave him a sly smile. "You're so smart, big guy."

"Um, Andy?" Spencer spoke up. "If there's only four positions and five of us, doesn't that mean one person has to sit out?"

"Shit..." Andy mumbled. "I didn't think of that..."

"I didn't really want to play, anyway..." Spencer admitted. "I'll watch, it's okay."

Andy grimaced as he felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He felt bad for Spencer. Despite what Spencer had said about not wanting to play, Andy could tell he wanted to.

He shook it off and focused back on the game. "Who has the ace of spades?"

After a couple moments of silence, Emily piped up. "Oooh! Me!" She slapped it down and the game began.

Four or Five rounds later, everyone was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol in their red solo cups.

"I feel like I'm in college again." Beth stated.

Andy looked at her with a confused, furrowed brow. "You went to college?"

Beth nodded. "Berkeley. I dropped out in the Fall semester of my sophomore year to pursue Maiden Voyage."

Andy was impressed Beth had gone to college. He had never been to college and always kind of regretted it in the back of his mind.

"Suck on that!" Beth's voice drew him back to the game and he saw her slap down her last card.

"Fuck! No!" Marcus yelled and put down his last card after her.

"I am the president!" She sang in a mocking tune and reached over Andy to change the album to letlive.'s "Speak Like You Talk".

"Ooh, good choice." Marcus praised.

Andy sighed. "Alright Miss President. What's the verdict?"

Before she could pick a rule, Spencer stood up and began to walk away. "I'm going to bed, guys. If anyone needs a walk to somewhere or whatever, let me know."

For the first time in her life, Beth was completely unattached from Spencer. It was most likely the amount of vodka she had coursing through her body that affected her brain chemistry but she didn't care how Spencer felt, and that scared her deep down.

"Alright. Every time you play a Queen, you pick someone to drink. Anyone at the table." Beth declared.

"Hm, alright. I like that one." Andy said.

After a couple more hours, everyone was drunk out of their minds. Marcus and Emily went to bed and left Beth and Andy out in the living room by themselves.

"You're beautiful, Beth, you know that?" Andy slurred slightly.

Beth blushed. "Andy, stop." She hit his arm lightly and let her head roll back. Her limbs were numb and tingling. She had almost no control over her head and let it roll back and forth as it pleased. Her vision was slightly blurred and when she stood, her legs could barely hold her up. "Can we go back to your bus? I don't want to make Spencer feel bad." She whispered.

Andy leaned his face in closer to hers and smiled. "Why do you say that? What would we do that would make him feel bad?"

Beth smiled and turned her face away from Andy's. "You know..." She mumbled, and began to giggle.

Andy reached for her face and turned it to face him. They gazed at each other for a few moments before Andy leaned in and kissed her gently. He nodded, "Alright. Let's go."

The two stumbled over each other on the way back to the BVB bus. They had their arms around each other as the attempted to keep the other one upright.

"Shh, shh." Andy said as they approached the door to the BVB bus. "Everyone's probably asleep." He opened the door cautiously and stepped inside with Beth trailing behind him. "Oh." He let his body relax. "No one's even here."

He turned to face Beth and let his long arms wrap around her waist, pulling her close to him. She lost her footing as he suddenly yanked her body into his and she stumbled and fell into his chest. He helped her stand upright and looked down into her blue eyes. He brushed a loose piece of hair out of her face as he whispered, "God, you're beautiful."

Beth could smell the strong scent of alcohol on his breath but she didn't care. She knew her breath probably smelled equally as strong. Her mind was in a drunken daze and she couldn't focus on anything that was happening. The next thing she knew, Andy's lips were pressed against hers and his hands were furiously running up and down her back.

She let herself sink into the pleasure of Andy's touch, never even knowing that this bad decision was just the first of many to come.