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The strong smell of alcohol fills my nostrils.
"Come on, let's go," Erica shouts enthusiastically, dragging me towards the entrance of the mansion. When Ridge said that Austin throws one of the best parties, he definitely wasn't kidding. I can hear the music playing, very loud and clear even from a good distance. Red cups are scattered all over the floor, people are making out in every corner, having the time of their life. Rihanna's S&M plays in the background.
"Erica, slowdown. I'm wearing heels, not running shoes," I yell, loud enough to catch her attention. I love wearing heels, no doubt in that, but not when I have to run like this.
"Oops. Sorry. I got carried away," she giggles, looking at me sheepishly. Her eyes roam around the house, which is filled with people dancing and playing beer pong and other such games. The red disco lights illuminate the dance floor which is throbbing under my feet.
"Found them," She whoops, dragging me to another direction, again. When she stops, I see what she was talking about. Bruce, Eric, Ashton and Trish are already here, with red cups in their hand. Erica leaves my hand and runs towards her boyfriend, latching onto him like a Koala.
"Lydia!" Bruce exclaims, wrapping me up in a hug, squeezing me right, "So happy to see you here."
He removes me from his hold and shoves the red cup in my face. "Here, some alcohol for the new girl."
"What's in this?" I ask, looking at the liquid curiously.
"Vodka and coke," he tells me, running off to the kitchen, I guess.
"Hey girl. You look smokin' hot," Trish comments, wrapping her arms around me in a hug.
"Me? Look at you." I grin, holding her at arm's length. "I'm sure Bruce is gonna find it really difficult to keep it in his pants tonight." She's wearing a white bralette top with black mini skirt, her blond hair pin straight. I notice that she's wearing contacts instead of her spectacles.
"Fuck you, Lydia Herrington," She curses, hitting me on the arm, but she blushes nonetheless. "I don't like Bruce like that. Neither does he. He's the most infuriating person on this planet."
"Whatever floats your boat," Eric retorts, putting one arm around mine and one arm around Trish's shoulder. "Everyone knows that you guys love each other."
She elbows him in the stomach. "Go share spit with your girlfriend or something. Stop irritating us."
"I cannot. She's not here yet." He frowns. Taking his phone out when he sees that it's ringing, he gestures us to go further, saying, "It's my girlfriend. She's here. Gotta go share spit guys. See you later."
And then, he's out of sight.
"Come on, let's dance." She shouts at the top of her lungs, dragging me to the dance floor
Why the fuck is everyone dragging me everywhere today?
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"I was wrong when I said that you'd look cute in a dress," A rough voice says from behind. I know that voice. It's Ridge. He's here.
I turn around, coming face to face with the Devil himself. "What?"
"You look hot" He whispers, his eyes skimming down my body, lingering on my chest, down to my legs, then back to my face. His eyes turn a shade dark, adam's apple bobbing up and down.
It's not like I'm wearing anything very stunning. It's just a black bodycon dress with sphagetti straps. The dress reaches mid-thigh, showing my long legs. I have on a pair of black stilettos. The only thing that stands out is the fact that my lips are painted blood red. But his reaction makes me feel hot. Everywhere.
"You look handsome," I compliment, taking in his appearance. He is wearing a black round neck shirt and a black jeans, ripped at the knees, paired with a black leather jacket.
We match.
"So, what are you doing here alone?" he asks, looking around to find a familiar face. "Where's everyone?"
"In the backyard, by the pool. I just came here to get a drink," I shrug my shoulder. I take a hold of his wrist and pull him with me. "Come with me."
Ridge takes hold of my hand instead, threading his fingers with mine, and that's when I realize what I just did. However, I don't let it show that it's affecting me. I make my way through the drunk people towards the kitchen and make myself a drink. I remove my hand from his hold and miss the warmth as soon as I do so. What the fuck is happening to me? I'm going insane. Shaking my head, I busy myself by mixing different alcoholic drinks in one. I notice the Ridge is just standing there, looking at me with amused eyes. "What?"
He shakes his head. "Nothing. You look so concentrated. It's funny."
"What? It's gonna be the perfect drink. Just wait and watch. Just one sip and you'll become my fan." I remark, getting back to the task at hand.
"Not today."
"Wait! You don't drink?"
"I do. But not today. Gotta drive back home in one piece," he tells me. "Also, looks like you are gonna drink for me too, so it's no worries."
I chuckle at that. He's right. And it's not like I have to drive back home. I hitched a ride from Erica so she's gonna have to drop me home. Once I'm done with my drink, I take hold of his hand again, dragging him towards everyone else. Once we are out, we head straight to the pool area to find everyone sitting in a circle. Neil is the first one to notice us.
"You leave for 5 minutes and then you come back with a boy on you arm. Way to go, Lydia," he speaks up, gaining attention from everyone else around him.
I roll my eyes at him, removing my hand from Ridge's grip. "It's Ridge, you dumbass."
"So? He's a boy. It's the same thing."
"Ridge." Bruce yells dramatically. "Is that you?"
"No, it's just my ghost," Ridge mutters sarcastically.
"Shut up Bruce. Lydia, Ridge, come play with us." Trish suggests, making space for us to sit.
Together, we make our way to the empty space. Since I'm wearing a dress, I sit down carefully, folding my legs in such a way that I'm not flashing anyone. It's not really uncomfortable though. I guess Ridge notices my discomfort because he asks, "What happened?"
"Nothing. It's just that I'm wearing a dress and it's getting very difficult for me to sit down like this," I reply, frowning.
"Oh." He starts removing his leather jacket and gives it to me. "Here. Take this. It might help."
"Thanks, but aren't you cold?" I hesitate.
"Your problem is more important right now. Plus, it's hot in here so it's fine." He shrugs his shoulder, placing his jacket on my laps carefully, making sure it covers everything.
"Thank you so much." I say, giving him a small smile. I sit in a more comfortable position, his jacket covering my legs completely.
"Okay guys.We'll play a game. It's called DARES. We'll rotate the bottle and on whosoever the mouth of the bottle points, will have to do the dare decided by everyone playing." Ashton explains, holding an empty bottle of beer in his hand. "Let the game begin."
He puts the bottle in the centre and rotates. It moves for a few seconds before landing on someone. He's Liam, I think. He's in my English class. Liam groans, while everyone cheers. One person shouts, "Liam, kiss the person you think is the most ugly in this circle. But you cannot kiss yourself."
"Seriously?" Liam asks, rolling his eyes, while everyone laughs. He stands up and looks around for his target. His eyes settle on the guys who gave him the dare. Slowly, he walks towards him. The guy's eyes widen when he realises what's actually happening.
"No, no, no, no, no," he yells frantically, eyes wide. "Don't do this Liam. Please. No." He tries to get up but Neil, who's sitting on his side, takes hold of his wrist, stopping him from running away.
"You asked for it." Liam smirks and bends down in front of him, placing a kiss on his cheek. "There you go. Dream about the kiss all night, Ron."
"Eww, you motherfucker, I'll kill you," he screams, getting up since Neil is no longer holding him back. Liam notices that Ron's angry so he runs away, inside the house, Ron running after him.
Everyone start laughing and hooting.
"Well, that was fun." I mutter, laughing.
"Okay. Next round." Ashton says, rotating the bottle. This time, it lands on Bruce. Ashton smirks, rubbing his hands together, his eyes glimmering in an evil manner as he makes eye contact with Eric.
"Bruce, go take a dive in the swimming pool," Ashton says, grinning at Bruce mischievously.
"No way man. It's freezing cold." Bruce declines, shaking his head. "I do not have a death wish."
"Come on tough guy, don't be a pussy. Stop fucking freaking out and go do the damn dare," Neil urges, pushing him so that he could stand up.
Bruce gets up, huffing and glaring at Ashton. "If I die, I swear to God I will fucking kill you in your sleep."
"You are not going to die Bruce. Go for it." Eric assures him, giving him a thumbs up.
Bruce ignores everyone and starts removing his shirt and jeans, leaving him in his boxers. He glares at Ashton and everyone else one more time and walks towards the pool slowly.
Kiara and Erica start cheering for him, yelling him to go with it. He ignores them too and stands right in front of the pool. Taking a deep breath, he jumps in with a splash. Everyone around him cheer happily, laughing. His head peeps out of the water as he yells, "You cunts, the water is freezing cold. I'll die because of your stupid dare now."
Ashton gets up and runs towards him, laughing. He gestures him to come out of the pool. "Get the fuck out then."
He climbs out of the pool, wiping away the water from his face, shivering. Ashton removes his jacket and hands it to him. "Here, take it."
"Fuck you." He growls but takes the jacket anyway. Once he's fully dressed in his own clothes, he wears Ashton's jacket on top to get some warmth and settles down back in his place.
"You alright Bruce?" Trish asks, concerned. She sits next to him, rubbing his arms to provide him some warmth. He just nods, shivering slightly.
"I'll rotate the bottle," He announces, snatching the bottle from Ashton's hands. He puts the bottle on the ground and rotates it. It lands on some girl called Cindy. Then it lands on Lara, Michael, Chris and a few others. This is how the game continues for a while before the bottle finally stops in my direction, pointing straight at me! Okay.
Kiara looks in my direction and grins. "Lydia, Lydia, Lydia."
"Yep. That's my name." I mutter, mentally facepalming at her tactics.
She ignores me and turns to everyone. "What do you guys think we should ask her to do?"
Erica's eyes widen all of a sudden. She grins like a cheshire cat, looking at me, then at Ridge. She whispers something in Kiara's ears. Kiara starts grinning too and squeals, whispering something in Trish's ears. All three of them grin at me. They are looking at me as if I'm a gourmet meal and they're starving.
Uh huh. I'm so dead.
"So, what do I have to do?" I ask, mustering up some confidence. I'm not gonna show them that I'm scared. Never. Even though I'm kinda scared to know what they have in store for me.
"You have to date Ridge for 3 months."
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What's the most daring thing you've ever done?
Author's Note - Since a lot of people are talking about how this dare seems weird and unrealistic, let me tell y'all that it's based on a real life incident. This happened to someone I know in real life. That's what gave me the idea of writing this story in the first place. So yeah, keep reading besties ð