slow falling

Chapter 2

August 2018 - Belarus

"Truth or Dare?"

Azzi thinks to say dare, but then she remembers Jordan having to drink a shot to avoid putting Paige's two-week-old unwashed sock in her mouth.

"Truth."

"Have you had your first kiss?" Cameron asks. It's funny because Cameron had been her assigned roommate for their stay in Belarus and Azzi was confident she knew the answer to this question. Maybe the older girl just wanted to embarrass her in front of the whole team.

"No."

Loud groans were heard across the entire room at the weak question.

"C'mon Brink, that's a horrible question. We're tryna get drunk tonight." Paige exclaims.

It was easy to buy alcohol in Belarus with the legal drinking age being 18, most places in the area didn't ID. While Azzi was determined not to drink a single shot in losing truth or dare, Paige seemed to have a different goal in mind. They had been close friends for a year now and Paige had yet to see the younger girl inebriated.

"Okay okay, fine. Let me revise my question... Who do you want your first kiss to be?"

That one sparked loud Oohs and Aahs from the team. Azzi could tell they were dying to know if she had any crushes in her life and refused to take the bait. While only a few months younger than some of the girls on the team, it always felt like Azzi had the least amount of experience talking about boys. Or at least the least amount of interest. Whenever Cameron, Jordan, or Aliyah would ramble on about the cute guys in their schools, Azzi always kept quiet, choosing to listen rather than participate. Even when asked if anyone caught her eye, she would shrug and change the conversation. Azzi knows it's caused mild conspiracy from the girls that she had a secret boyfriend back home, but she never plays into it, choosing to stay quiet.

"Give me the shot."

The girls start yelling to grab the shot glasses and bring over the handle of vodka, all of them scrambling to see the youngest girl on the team drunk for the first time.

"Girl, are you sure you don't want to answer the question? This vodka smells horrible." Jordan says while handing her the full shot glass, "I've only drank alcohol like twice in my life and I don't remember it being a good time..."

"Wait, is this going to kill me? How much experience do you guys have with alcohol?" Azzi says, growing slightly concerned at the putrid-smelling glass in front of her, "Who 's been drunk before?"

Three girls raise their hands. It wasn't that much of a surprise, most of the girls on the team had just turned 16, only a handful being 17. Basketball was a demanding sport and it consumed their entire lives. Azzi, however, was shocked to see Paige with her hands strictly on her sides. Paige who had demanded the presence of alcohol. Paige whose private story was always riddled with dumb people at parties. Paige could tell what Azzi's look meant.

"A lot of my friends drink and I get invited to things. Drunk people are fun to be around but I don't participate, you know, being a top-tier athlete." Paige says and before she can even lift her arms to flex them, Azzi cuts her off.

"Match my drinking tonight then. Let's get drunk for the first time together." Azzi says shyly, almost as if the suggestion of them sharing a first is stupid. They were long-distance friends so it was hard to experience things together. This was the only time they had to really enjoy each other's presence. Paige stared at her with an unreadable expression before swiftly grabbing another glass and pouring herself a shot.