Brooklyn - Taylor Swift

Part 22 ;)

"One phrase or free range?" I ask, looking around the group as Nel brings over a tray of shots in one hand and two whole bottles of vodka in the other. Shit's about to get messy.

"I say we let Taylor choose 'cause it's her first time," Auggie cuts in, sending Tay a wink. I swear to all that's holy, if he doesn't stop flirting with her, I'll kill him. I have watched enough Bones to know how to get away with it too.

"I don't know what you mean?" Tay says, looking around confused, making me smile. I was just about to explain when Stacy cut in, clearly in a mood. "It's simple. Either she picks a phrase or she says anything. It's literally what she just asked." She sulked. Guess I was right; Stacy is not happy.

"I either have to pick one phrase to say in each language for the entire game so that it's less confusing. Or do I just go rogue and say anything I want each time? Since it's your first go, what would you like me to say? I think it's funnier when I have free range; I feel like a baby chicken when I do," I explain to Tay softly, laughing softly at my hilarious joke before shooting a dirty look at Stacy. Who is still glaring, especially since Nel is undoubtedly whispering in her ear for her to be nice.

"You do you, Andy," she smiled, tapping my cheek affectionately, making everyone cheer as they started to argue among themselves over who would win. I wonder why they bother. Not once have they ever beat me at this game.

"All right, folks, gather 'round!" Nel declared, her voice cutting through the buzz of the bar. Our friends turned their attention towards her, all betting stopping as they gave her their full attention, their expressions a mix of anticipation and excitement. Honestly, they look like a bunch of schoolchildren about to get sweats from their favourite teacher right now.

I leaned closer to Taylor, whispering, "Welcome to the chaos, love. I don't think you are prepared."

Taylor chuckled softly, her eyes fixed on Nel as she explained the rules. "Here's how it works," Nel began, her voice projecting easily. "Andy will say a phrase in a random language, and you all have to guess which language it is. If at least half of you guess correctly, Andy has to take a shot. But if more than half of you get it wrong, you all take a shot."

Laughter and cheers erupted from our friends, and their competitive spirits ignited. Cara takes the opportunity to mock Nel, who insists on telling us the rules every time we play. Taylor looked at me, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "This should be interesting," she remarked, her voice laced with playful anticipation.

Cara, clearly bored of listening to Nels 'rules' turned towards me, an expectant expression on her face. "Ready, Wunderkind?" She asked, daring me to challenge them as everyone shut up and settled into their seats. Each of them gave me an expectant look.

I took a deep breath, my mind racing through the plethora of languages I had at my disposal. I have learned so much, from German and French to Russian and Mandarin. Choosing a phrase that would stump and entertain my friends was challenging.

Finally, I settled on one and nodded at Nel. "Alright, here we go," I announced, glancing at Taylor with a mischievous smile. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe."

Silence fell over the group for a moment as they processed the phrase. Then, a flurry of guesses erupted simultaneously. "English!" Shouted Cara confidently. "German!" Stacy chimed in. "Italian!" Auggie added with a laugh. Elio and Nel exchanged glances before Elio said, "Spanish."I grinned, proud of their enthusiastic participation. But Taylor interjected before I revealed the correct answer, her eyes shining with mischief. "Hold on, hold on. Can I join in on the guessing?"

Everyone turned to look at Taylor, surprise flickering across their faces. After a moment of stunned silence, they erupted into laughter and exclamations of approval. "Of course! Welcome to the game, Taylor! I hope you're ready to drink a lot," I said, squeezing her hand gently.