---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, fuck you!" I called out, my hand waving up and almost knocking the cup right out of some stranger's hands. They shot me a dirty look, but my eyes were focused on someone else in the crowd, laughing as he pushed through people, leaving me behind. 

Stupid, fucking, Luke.  

I wouldn't have even been at the party that day if he hadn't forced me to come. I would've stayed at home, baking with my sister, but no, Mr. Cool thought this would be a good idea. Called me boring and lame and insisted that as his best friend, it would be embarrassing if I didn't come to his own party. Instead of a sugar cookie, I now had a red solo cup in my hand, the plastic crinkling when I made a fist.  

Did Luke throw a solid rager? Yes. Did I need a pick-me-up after moping around this entire week? Also yes. Did I need to pull myself together and accept that Elena didn't want me anymore? Most definitely, absolutely, yes. Ok, so from his point of view, the party was pretty much necessary. 

Break-ups aren't easy. It's harder when you get dumped, and even worse when it may have been justified. But Elena, she was just...she was meant for someone else, and I think we both knew that. We hadn't spend much time together these past few months, and when we did, we argued. Over homework, over time, over sports, over everything. 

She thought I wasn't serious enough about school. She hated that I didn't get along with her friends. She thought I spent too much time with my friends. Elena had many thoughts, and then refused to listen to mine. When we'd gotten into a relationship last year though, I'd already known how this would end.

She was too good for me. Ivy-league bound, gorgeous, popular, and sweet. Practically no flaws. And why would someone so perfect want to stay with me? 

Loud music pounded through my head, and I kept walking, resolving to find a quieter area. I pushed my way through the crowd with a new vigor, making my way over to the kitchen, where I unsurprisingly found Luke and the rest of my friends.

He was sitting on the plain white countertop, laughing at something Kenji had said, food filled to the brim of the bowl in his hand. I smirked to myself at the sight of crumbs on his cheek and the front of his shirt. The hanging lightbulbs from the kitchen counter were barely a few inches from the top of his hair, and they swayed as he threw his head back to laugh. My eyes followed the rhythmic motion of the glass, and I quirked an eyebrow when Luke caught my gaze, grinning wildly.  

He looked wasted. I walked over in the middle of Rishi's story, and they all barely spared me a glance, entranced in his words. I leaned across the counter and grabbed a handful of chips from Luke's bowl, ignoring the hand he batted my way. As Rishi droned on and on about who the fuck knows what, I reached over for more chips time and time again, until it seemed that Luke had finally had enough.

"Stop stealing my chips, Jesus Christ." 

"Just Aiden, actually." He scowled, and I bit my lip to keep from laughing. 

"Let the man live, Aiden," Kenji butted in, and I stuck my foot out to poke him with my Converse. He stared back, nonplussed, his hands folded under his jacket. 

Rishi was at risk of spilling his drink from excessive hand motions as he spoke, so I hopped up to sit on the counter beside Luke, the marble under me a sweet relief from the heat. I dramatically sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder, decidedly not touching the chips. For now, anyway.

"I thought we were besties Lukey. This feels like a betrayal. Do you not love me?"  

"Yeah, but it's Jalapeño chips." Still, he reluctantly held his bowl out to me, a tiny frown on his mouth. My face lit up and I grabbed the entire bowl from his hands. A couple brushed past me, and I pulled my legs in to keep from kicking them, sitting criss-cross. 

"You're the best, Lucas."

"I know. And don't call me that." I opened my mouth to call him that again, when Rishi cleared his throat. Luke and I turned to looked at him, and Rishi flicked me on the forehead. 

"Hey!" 

"What?" Luke added, realizing now that we'd been asked a question. 

Rishi rolled his eyes. "You two need to stop living in your own little bubble. I asked if you wanted to play truth or dare." I laughed, and neatly slid off the counter to land beside him. 

"What, seriously? You must be joking. It's not middle school." Rishi shook his head.

"Madeline and her friends asked us if we wanted to play, and you guys are being boring." He pointed at a room a little aways from the hall, and then raised an eyebrow at us meaningfully. I grabbed the cup in his hand, took a quick sip, and winced. The drink left a wash of acid in my throat, unpleasant and burning. 

"Ugh, what's in this?" 

"I have no idea. Anyway, should we go?" 

"Eh, I dunno." 

"C'mon Aiden, it might help you get over Elena. You need something to get your mind off her," Luke said and I shrugged. Rishi cleared his throat awkwardly, and Kenji pretended he wasn't a part of the conversation, staring resolutely at the ground. 

I wanted to laugh, and then maybe cry, at the semblance of respect my friends were giving me. God knows I'd lost that a long time ago. 

I shrugged, and placed the cup beside the sink. "Fine. Why not." Rishi's face lit up, and he ruffled my hair excitedly, making me wince. 

"You're fucking up my hair!" 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, let's go," Rishi said, and the four of us walked into the room, the bowl of chips long forgotten now.

Oh, Rishi. Sometimes it felt like if we didn't have him, we'd be nowhere. He was the glue that held us together, fun, sweet, and pretty cool overall. Him and Kenji had long known each other, like me and Luke, and we'd been tight since middle school. 

When we'd played soccer together for the first time, I'd face-planted onto the grass, mud sticking onto my face and down my front. But Rishi hadn't laughed. Didn't even crack a smile, just gave me his spare shirt wordlessly. His genuine goodness had surprised me. So of course I attached myself to both of them like a leech for the rest of that year, and then for the years after that. 

It may have been Rishi who'd drawn me in, but Kenji gave me reasons to stay. He'd been a harder shell to crack, a little quieter, and even I hadn't know much about him. And then, when we were 13, he'd started wearing longer sleeves, and crying in class, and he'd dyed his hair a violent shade of purple that I still think he should bring back. If I hadn't been there...my gaze slid to his profile beside me, and he smiled wide, his dimples stark against his skin. We'd walked into the room now, standing in the corner and talking. 

I blinked rapidly, letting my eyes adjust to the new setting. 

The room had been cleared out, and a small circle of people sat in the middle, laughing and talking amongst each other. Fairy lights strung up against the walls cast a faint golden glow on everyone in the room, resembling a fever dream. The heady smell of incense mixing with alcohol in the air didn't help, and I found myself wanting to sit down and take a nap.

 I looked around the circle quickly, surprised at the familiar faces. Madeline and her friends, Chaewon, Kate, Maya, Ja- Hold the fuck up. Maya? What was she doing here? I left Kenji to sit down next to her, and she stopped her chatter with Cora to turn and look at me.

"What do you want, idiot?" 

"What the hell are you doing here, prude?" I asked, and Maya, with an offended look on her face, began to reply when she was cut off by a cloying voice, familiar and irritating.

"She's here to play." I turned my head away from my sister and looked up, where Madeline was standing right in front of me. She was in the middle of the circle, a self-satisfied expression on her face, her eyebrow permanently arched. 

"C'mon now. Let's all stop talking and start the game." It was almost scary, how quickly she got everyone's attention, without even yelling. Madeline pushed her red hair out of her face and smiled sweetly at Cora, who shot her a glare right back. I was pretty sure Cora was tutoring Madeline and I'd assumed they'd become friends. Guess not.

"There's no way in hell I'll be explaining the rules to this game, and if you don't know, figure it out. We can use a bottle to pick who it lands on." She pulled a bottle out from behind her back, placing it in the middle, and paused for a much too long second before spinning it. 

"Oh, and you can't go back on your choice. What's chosen is chosen." 

I couldn't help but stifle a giggle at her dramatics, and my eyes met Luke's across the circle, who was sitting next to Madeline. He gave me a funny look and I fully laughed, the alcohol finally beginning to take effect in my system. He looked away with a small smile tugging on his lips. 

My eyes fell to the middle of the circle, where the bottle had very quickly slowed to stop at...Maya. Well, this would be entertaining. My sister already had a scowl on her face, and she pushed curls of hair out of her face to look Madeline dead in the eye. 

"Truth or dare, Maya?" 

"Dare," she answered flatly. 

"Okay," she tilted her head, thinking; "How about...you scream out the window. Something of my choice," she added, her grin growing, "I'll just type it out on my phone." I let out a snort at Maya's face as she saw the text, and we all waited as she walked over to the window and slid it open.

"I fucking love Madeline Quinn!" She screamed, and her voice made my head hurt. And on top of that, the room of people started to cheer her on, and she took a mock-bow, grinning. 

"That was boring," Maya said, and then sat down to spin the bottle. "Let's spice it up a little." 

The bottle had landed on Chaewon, who'd had to do a truth about her virginity. Mattie took a shot off his girlfriend's belly button. Madeline took her bra off, and Cora was forced to call her mom and tell her she was pregnant. Rishi had to drink a truly disgusting mixture of ingredients made by Kenji, and finally, it was my turn.

Maya had spun the bottle, the clear glass turning into an indecipherable circle, before slowing to a stop, pointing at me. 

"This is gonna be fun," she said, at the same time I groaned. The rest of the circle was watching us, faintly amused. 

"No fuck you, Maya, you're gonna make me do something stupid. Or wait. Admit something really embarrassing." I squinted at her, calculating. Which would be worse, truth or dare? Maya knew too much about me, goddamnit. 

"Fine. Dare," I muttered, and she stared at me, thinking. 

"Ooh, wait. I have one. I dare you to kiss Luke," she said, and my eyes widened. What. The. Fuck. 

"Woah. Hold up. Luke's- well, I mean, he's a guy!" I spluttered out, but Maya just shook her head, laughing. I turned to Madeline to plead my case, but she shrugged. 

"Grow up, Aiden. It's 2020. You can kiss him, if he's okay with it, or leave the game. Which would be a little embarrassing." 

I glanced at Luke for the first time since the dare, and he looked...normal. Way more casual than I felt at that moment. He just shrugged, and smiled. 

"I'm okay with it if you are." Rishi whistled at him, and everyone laughed, a few of them joining in. 

I stood up, waiting for him in the middle of the circle. He walked up to me, our eyes level as we stared at each other, his eyebrows furrowed. 

He leaned in, pressing his lips against mine, and I was caught off guard, my eyes still open. He tasted like cherry chapstick and alcohol, and I could probably count every freckle on his face. But before I could even process what was happening, he'd pulled back already. Now though, he almost looked uncomfortable, strange. That's weird. But it had been anticlimactic, in the end. Even though people were still teasing, clapping, and egging us on when we'd sat back, it was...well, there was no denying that it was nice. I had the sudden thought of what Elena would've said if she were here, but I smothered the feeling before I wallowed again. 

Luke was...well, Luke, and the kiss was actually kinda nice. We hadn't made out, nor had our friendship been ruined. Everything was good, completely normal, really. So why was it still hard for me to hold his gaze across the room? 

--- 

The rest of the night passed in a blur of bodies, sweat, and lights, and soon, almost everyone had been kicked out by Kenji, the only people left stragglers. I found Luke sitting in his room, his hands playing with the Rubix cube. He tended to do that when he got anxious.

I don't know why, because he doesn't actually know how to finish one. He'd be able to fill out one side, and then that was all. He'd mix it up again and start all over. I thought the activity was pointless, but clearly he found some comfort in it. Anyway, seeing him with that cube meant he definitely had something on his mind. 

I gently took it from his hands, and sat on the bed next to him. He spun in his chair to face me, and I quirked an eyebrow. 

"What's up?" 

"Nothing, really." A classic Luke response. Time for me to pick at it. 

"Yeah right. What's going on? Was it Rishi vomiting in the bathroom?" He cracked a smile at that, and got up to sit beside me, both of us leaning against the headboard. 

"No, I made him clean that up. I was just thinking. About the truth or dare game..." He was definitely avoiding my eyes, and I felt the back of my neck warm. 

"Oh." 

"That was my first kiss," he admitted, and I turned to him, shocked. 

"You told me that already happened last year!" 

"I lied, okay? You were all grilling me and I panicked!" Luke's eyes were wide, and his voice had risen.

"Ok, calm down, no one's mad at you. But you should've told us," I said, and then poked at his shoulder. "No one would've said anything." I paused, and twisted my neck to stretch it out. 

"Besides, I do feel a little honored, you know? I'm my best friend's first kiss."  

Luke turned to look at me, and this time, it was like he couldn't move his gaze from mine. His eyes passed over my face, and then ended at my lips. 

"It was nice," he admitted quietly, and everything suddenly felt more intimate, sacred. 

"Thanks," I said back, and now I was staring at him too. My heart-beat was pounding in my head, drowning out all other noise, and it was just us, breathing in the silent night. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

cliffhanger era. anyway do ppl,,, even play,, truth or dare at parties,,, someone tell me pls 

thoughts on everything new and everything old?

favorite character so far?