Going to a new party always felt a little weird -- You never really knew who to talk to, who to approach, what you should be doing. But it's a good way to make new friends.
She was wearing her new skirt. It was a little shorter than she realized as it hiked up to her midriff, the under curve of her ass cheeks peeking out from the fabric when she bent over. She kept pulling the skirt down again so it was more modestly mid thigh instead. She combined it with a black halter top and her hair bundled up in a mess on the top of her head, showing off her slender neck and collar bones.
She arrived at the party a little cold and a little exhilarated. It started off as a garden party, and there was a trampoline, a table with mixed drinks, and little vegetable patches with chairs strewn around them. The people looked hip, and together, and far more adventurous than her. Purple hair, tattoos, fashionable outfits...
It was kind of terrifying.
She beelined it for the snacks table and gingerly pecked at a pretzel while scanning the yard. There was one clump of people debating the best ingredients for an obscure mix drink. There was another talking about mutual acquaintances over a beer. Two old friends were catching up about something clearly personal in hushed tones and concerned faces.
The door to the kitchen stood open and she peered inside. A row of shoes indicated more people in that direction. She wasn't entirely confident she should be roaming through the host's house but exploring seemed far more comfortable than wall flowering.
Putting her slippers to the side, she loped up a short flight of stairs into a hallway and another more elaborate kitchen. Everything was laid out in soft pastels, with sunlight filtering through tastefully covered glass windows set high into the walls. A dark nook of book shelves transitioned into the open space of a living room with soft carpets, two couches in an L-shape around a fireplace, and a cluster of five men strewn around them.
They looked up when she entered, a half forgotten bottle of wine rolling away from a guy lounging on the floor.
The conversation stilled immediately, and she felt like she had walked into something private. Not really sure what to do, she waved at them with an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," she managed to say in a soft voice, "Uhm, where is the bathroom?"
A guy in a white button down shirt and a smooth black comb over, smiled at her reassuringly. "Oh, you are not intruding! You might actually be able to help us." he said suggestively, glancing across his friends sitting around the room. Smiles slowly crept up their faces as understanding of... something, dawned on them.
"We were just going to start a game. Do you like games?" he continued, now staring at her intently.
She swallowed, feeling her heart hammering in her chest and a blush creep up her cheeks.
"Uhm, yeah, sure, I love games." she managed to half stutter.
"Great! Come on over. You can sit in the middle." he pointed to a spot on the carpet that would have her surrounded by guys sitting on either couches or the floor.
"Uh... ok..." she padded over, careful to avoid the half-full bottles of booze, and sat down on her knees on the carpet. She wasn't sure which way to turn as every direction would have her back to someone. She angled herself toward the guy in the white shirt as he had been talking the most. This left her seemingly sitting at his feet kneeling, while she tugged at her skirt to be sure she remained decent.
"Perfect," the guy said, eyes gleaming. He glanced around to his friends and then continued "So this is basically a variant of Truth or Dare, except everyone does the same action all at once. The person who is slowest needs to finish their drink. And we all take turns declaring a Truth or Dare for the group. You ready?"
Her mind was racing... How does that even work? Won't we all end up saying a truth all at the same time and no one hearing each other? Who counts as the slowest? The person who starts speaking last or the person who is done speaking last?
Yet she found herself rather frozen with all the guys looking at her. Flustered, she failed to voice any of her questions. She could just see what everyone else was doing and copy that, right?
The leader seemed to take her smiles and furtive glances as consent.
"Let's get started then! Jake, you want to do the honors?" he said, while looking across her to the guy lounging behind her.
"Sure... Let's do a count down. I'll count down to three and then say the Dare," he paused for a second to check that everyone got it.
"One, two, three..." he paused again. "Reach out and touch the person you are currently looking at. Don't let go till you get a new instruction."
Five hands reached out to her, as her mind confusedly executed by reaching forward to the leader, and resting her hand on his knees.
She then felt one hand come to rest on her knee, one on her hip, one on her shoulder, one on the small of her back, and the leader facing her had reached out and covered her hand in his, all the while staring at her.
She blushed furiously, her body feeling very warm.
She glanced around, and one guy to her right was leaning forward and had his hand resting on her hip. The two guys to her left were also leaning forward, one with his hand on her shoulder and another on her bare knee. She couldn't see the guy behind her...
Part of her felt she should do something - say 'no', get up, maybe even just laugh?
But nothing happened. She felt like a deer in headlights. Things were happening to her, and it wasn't up to her to...
