collided

truth or dare

"What if we play a game?" Richard asked as we sat together on the rooftop couch, our bodies slouched on the torn leather.

This weekend rolled around in a blink of an eye. It felt like yesterday since Richard dropped me off at my doorstep after our drunken cemetery excursion. That night still remains blurry in my mind, only remembering it in tiny fragments. I remember the feeling I got when our eyes locked, or the sensation of his rough hands placed against my cheek. Our fingers intertwined as he pulled me close. I can still smell the liquor upon his plump lips.

Butterflies flutter rapidly in my stomach each time the memory appears in my brain. The touch of his hand, the way he brushed my hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear. And still, he hadn't kissed me. Not once. Nothing but that brief brush of his lips. It was driving me crazy.

This Saturday felt more tense. There was something different between the two of us. Like an awkward tension in the air that neither of us mentioned, but both obviously felt. It was undeniable.

"It depends." I laugh, intently watching the tip of his joint sizzling away."What kind of game?"

"Hmm let's see." He says, furrowing his brows as he takes a long drag. "Strip Poker?"

"Shut up, Richard." I snapped back with a scoff.

"Alright, alright..."He flicks the ash of his joint with his thumb, before extending his arm out on the couch to lay behind my head. "How bout' Truth or Dare?"

I contemplated it for a moment.
"Sure...why not?" I shrug.

Richard smirked as he positioned himself on the couch to face me. He was wearing a crisp white button down shirt, the top few buttons left undone, giving me a clear view of his long neck and the very top of his tanned, toned chest. It was impossible not to stare at it.

"Okay so." He said, clearing his throat. "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth." I replied quickly, without any hesitation.

He just glared at me for a few moments. Behind his eyes I could see the wheels turning, thinking of what he could ask me. Finally, he breathed out slowly through his mouth, like expelling a bad energy.
"Have you ever been in love?"

My mouth automatically twitched into a sad smile, looking down at my hands. I definitely wasn't expecting that. There wasn't any point in lying. I haven't. From a young age, I always believed I would find romantic love, even fantasise about marrying my highschool sweetheart one day. But of course that wasn't my reality. My sister told me I should focus on myself and it would just happen, love would find me. But it didn't. Perhaps it was the boys I went to school with, or maybe it was just me. 
Maybe I'm just unlovable.

"No." I shook my head as I picked at the skin around my nails, before glancing up at him through my eyebrows, my solemn gaze meeting his. "Not yet."

Richard nodded gently. He stared me down deeply while he took another hit, letting the ash fall onto his lap. The glow of the burning paper lit up his angular features with a soft golden haze. "Hmm." He mumbled, exhaling a thick cloud of smoke through his nostrils.

"What about you?" I ask as I aggressively waft the smoke out of my face before I end up choking on it.

"Ah, ah." He said, waving his finger at me. "It's not my turn, Willow."

"Whatever." I roll my eyes. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." Richard smirked, flicking away the roach of his joint into the darkness.

My eyes dart around the surroundings, biting my lip as I try to conjure up a good dare for him to carry out. A mischievous smile creeps upon my lips as my gaze sets onto Richard's car keys, catching my eyes as they shine away on the coffee table in front of us.

I got it.

I lean forward to pick up the keys, spinning them around on my little finger while giving Richard a toothy grin. "I dare you to let me drive your car."

Richard squinted at me with his brows knitted in confusion, glancing back and forth between my face and the keys. "Can you drive?"

"No." I shook my head as I let out a playful chuckle. "But that's what makes it fun, right?"

Suddenly, I wrap my hand around his wrist as I abruptly stand up from the couch, tugging him along with me. "Come on." I dragged him all the way down the stairs and through the hotel, out to the parking lot, giggling to myself the whole time as I hurried him along by his wrist.

I know we shouldn't really be leaving the hotel unattended, but hey. It's 3am. What's the worst that could really happen?

My face lit up as I saw his Cadillac parked on the curb. My grip on his wrist loosened as I rushed over to the driver's side of the yellow-gold vehicle.

"One scratch and I'll fucking murder you." Richard hissed as he stood opposite me, hands resting on the roof by the passenger door. "You hear me, Willow?" His voice is deep and commanding.

"Alright, Dad." I scoff sarcastically, rolling my eyes as I hop into the car. I heard him utter something under his breath before he jumped in beside me. Richard laughed as he saw me pull the seat all the way forward so my feet could reach the pedals.

"Shut up. It's not my fault you're so abnormally long."

I stared aimlessly at the controls. Unlike most kids at sixteen, I never got round to getting my licence, so I was pretty much out of my depth here.

"Put your foot on the break and turn the key." He sighs, noticing my uncertainty.

I followed his instructions, applying pressure to the brake pedal as I placed the key in the ignition, roaring the engine up. Richard leans over to the gear stick to put the car in drive for me.

Without warning, I take my foot off the break and slam on the gas, hurtling us forward at full throttle. "Willow!" He yells, grabbing ahold of the dashboard.

Adrenaline surges through my body as I drive along the empty El Paso road. A devilish laugh escapes my lips as I cruise along at a high speed. I've only driven once, and that was my friend's shitty beat-up truck, driving in circles in the parking lot of a Vegas casino.

My grip on the steering wheel tightened as the tyres hummed along the concrete. A strong wind blows through the open window, sending my hair to fly around in all directions, but my vision is still locked securely ahead of me.

I've never felt so alive. I'm so happy. So free.

I notice Richard continuously gazing back and forth between me and the road, smiling to himself as I make a couple laps around the block, before I hit the brakes to pull us up back outside the Holiday Inn.