By ten o’clock Keri Pryde was still summoning the courage to go to Sena’s dorm. She was exhausted. Hours of lectures followed by fondling gym buddies, not to mention the football game, had sucked the energy out of her. Having to be in the same room with Marsha, a senior, left a bad taste in her mouth. But she did tell Sena she would be there, something she kind of regretted. Keri laid gingerly on her mattress, one arm behind her head, and counted down the seconds. She wished she could take off the ridiculous getup, her skin was clammy and she needed a shower. One minute past twelve, thats when she could strip herself of these elaborate garments.
By eleven o’clock she got up, put on her skirt and a fresh long sleeve shirt, and left the room. Marybeth was still not there, Keri assumed she was spending the night in the library studying. Sena’s room was in the basement level, and toward the end of the hall. She could hear the music pouring from her room the moment she left the stairwell. Sena kept her door partly open, as if it was an open invitation for anyone to come in.
Keri brushed her hair behind her ears before entering. She was welcomed instantly by her jubilant sister. “Keri! About time!” the music was thriving as she entered, bottles of clear vodka stood open on a table in the center of the room.
There were at least six others present, two laid on one of the small beds with their eyes glued to the tv that was airing…one of the adult channels.
Oh great, Keri kept her opinions to herself. She figured those channels were included as a prank of some sort. She would be lying if she said she never tuned into them…just for research of course. But seeing it playing in the background competing with the music just created a weird atmosphere.
Another three sisters were playing a game and waiting for Sena to join in. They each held a cup in one hand. A collection of similar cups had been arrayed in a circle around the bottle. She recognized the three sisters by their first names only; Victoria, Rose, and Noell. She only spent a brief amount of time with each of them, but knew they were all pawns like herself.
Victoria had a bookish common face with long dark hair and hazel eyes. To Keri’s memory she never smiled and seemed to always have her head in the clouds. Even now Victoria was sipping her beverage without even noticing her arrival.
Rose on the other hand looked like she could have been a fashion model, her voluptuous breasts were barely contained in her pink sweater. Her diamond face bore a luscious smile, her pearly blue eyes were addictive to glare into. With long brown hair, Keri wondered why she didn’t braid or do anything special with such marvelous har. Perhaps she simply didn’t need too, she could already catch just about anyone’s attention.
Despite this if Keri had to rate which among them was the most stunning, it would hands down be Noell. She wasn’t from Nova Nash which only added to her exotic beauty. Many would get lost in her almond eyes and lean figure, but it was her smile that caught Keri by surprise. She never was into women, but if she were drunk enough and horny enough…she might let her curiosity get the better of her, but only if it was with Noell.
“WOO! We have another victim, hurry up and get over here,” Sena was practically jumping for joy.
Keri subconsciously closed the door behind her, “Whats the game?”
This time it was Noell’s succulent voice that chimed in, “Its called torture! You bounce a ball on the table and aim for one of the cups. The player who’s closest to it has to finish whatever their drinking, but if you miss any of them then everyone has to drink. Should that happen the last one to finish their drink has to drink from the bottle until Marsha says stop!” It was at that moment that Keri noticed the older senior in the room, she was playing with her phone in the corner. She raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“I see we have another contender, what was your name again? Sorry I’m just terrible at remembering them.” Marsha checked her phone again as if expecting a call or message, “Mines Marsha Grey, but you can call me Marsha the Illustrious.”
“Keri, Keri Pryde. And its good to meet you sister.” She always had to remember to speak respectfully to the seniors.
Marsha Grey seemed completely ordinary, her oval face held tired eyes and her hair was a little messy. She looked really young for a senior, in fact she could almost be passed for a sophomore.
“Good to see you to pawn. Sorry I haven’t formally met all the new recruits, the semester has just started and it already feels like its dragging on.” Marsha stood up from the chair, “But let’s try to lighten things up a little bit.”
Marsha poured two cups full of spirits and handed one to her, “This game has an entry fee, and I’ve played footsie with my boytoy long enough,” she clearly was referring to whoever was on the other side of her text messages, “Do yourself a favor don’t get a boyfriend, and definitely don’t get engaged.”
Keri took the cup and wished for a chaser, “Trouble in paradise?”
“You have no idea,” Marsha tapped their cups together and held it up waiting for her to join in.
Keri took a quick breathe before raising the cup to her lips. She could already smell the alcohol, it was saturating the air around her. The drink burned her nostrils as she took a sip. It stung her tongue! This was definitely cheap, she realized. She closed her nose and downed the cup in one efficient, and painful, gulp. She couldn’t help but cough. Marsha didn’t seem to mind.
“Good girl, Now lets join in.” Keri watched as they poured her a new cup of some kind of light beer, the open vodka bottle sat menacingly at the center waiting for its next victim.
The first round was Noell’s who aimed the ping pong ball toward Sena’s cup perfectly.
“Good one Noell, I see what your playing at,” Sena swirled her cup before downing it, it only took her a few seconds.
The second round Sena tossed the ping pong aiming it toward Keri’s cup. It bounced once on the able before glancing its rim and landing on the table missing its target. Suddenly with reckless abandon her sisters chugged what was in their hands as fast as possible. A momentary lapse of judgement meant Keri forgot the rules and she struggled to keep up.
“Looks like you lost this round sis, you know what that mean?” Marsha patted her on the back while nodded toward the center of the table. The sparkling bottle of vodka was sitting there waiting for her. Keri was already feeling the first shot beginning to sink into her veins. She felt light headed, and flustered as she took a step forward. Scolding herself, Keri lifted the bottle by the head and looked at the sisters in front of her.
“I guess bottoms up…” her words were already slurring.
Marsha chuckled behind her, “Take three big gulps! Or sip until I count to ten…one.” Marsha was excited as she began counting.
Keri took the first big gulp of the harsh liquid, followed by another and then gagged. She fought back the urge to puke, she was practically sweating. After taking one last mouthful she freed her lips, gasping and coughing as she slammed the bottle down. Keri could the liquid spirits burning in her stomach.
“We got a live one here!” Sena applauded her effort and offered her the next round.
Keri took up the small round ball and watched as Marsha refilled her cup, “Doesn’t taste too bad,” This time it was her turn to tease Marsha who chuckled at her expense.
Just as Keri resumed her attention toward the game she noticed that the tips of her fingers were already getting numb. She aimed her throw toward Noell’s cup, she was ready to chug her beer should she miss. It bounced on the table, then the rim only to ricocheted into Victoria’s cup.
Victoria swore before drinking a healthy dose of cheap beer. She didn’t need to drink the entire cup, but she drank it all if only to make a point. Once finished she glared Keri as if she had made her drink on purpose. Interestingly she didn’t return the favor, but instead aimed her throw toward Marsha’s cup, only for it to miss and fall off the table. This time Kerri was on the ball, she finished the beer in her hand first slamming the empty cup on the table in victory. Noell however wasn’t so lucky.
“Same rules, three gulps or drink until I count to ten. You got this Noell!” Marsha had to count, and she did very slowly, because Noell simply refused to chug the stinging liquid the same way Keri had done.
A couple turns after that Keri slipped up, both on the throw and the drinking phases. This time the alcohol wasn’t so harsh, her taste buds must have been long gone. Things got hazy at that point, and then even more so. The last thing she remembered before no longer caring to remember, was it feeling like she had to take off her shirt for it was getting way too hot in the room. That and the taste of someones lips against hers.
