We're Not Related Anymore...

Spin The Bottle And Other Bad Ideas

Tessa: Three Years Ago

After Maddie and Jacob's abrupt exit, I come back to the game room to find the rest of the party sitting cross-legged on the floor, despite the amazingly comfortable-looking couches. Some of the kids are playing video games but most of us have ended up in the haphazard circle playing lame party games.

"I feel like I'm fucking twelve years old again," Josh says from next to me, a beer in his hand. I don't know where he got it and even though I want one, I decide to play tonight sober.

"I know. You'd think with all the cool stuff in here, we wouldn't regress to playing Truth or Dare or-"

"Who wants to play Spin the Bottle?" Someone announces and Josh and I share a wide-eyed gaze.

"You totally fucking jinxed us," he says as someone places an empty beer bottle in the center of the circle. I shift around, feeling the pins and needles set in after sitting like this for so long.

"Thank God Jacob and Maddie left before this. Imagine if one of them spun the bottle and got-"

Josh holds up a hand to stop my words, his face looking like he's in pain. "Please stop. That's a disgusting thought."

I laugh, looking over to the pink-clad birthday girl who sits opposite us. "What's so funny?" She asks.

"Nothing," I tell her. "Since it's your special day, you should spin first."

Betty is still looking at me like she wants a deep dive on our conversation when she spins the bottle. It lands on the guy with the bruised face and she basically snarls.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss!" Everyone chants, including me. Josh looks at me and mouths 'Sheep'. I throw him a finger.

"What is wrong with you people?" Betty says, already spinning the bottle again. "This is the reason everyone thinks Alabama is full of incestuous relationships."

To my immense amusement and Josh's horror, the bottle points to him. Everyone grows quiet, looking between the two.

"Not bad," Betty says, looking Josh up and down like she's seeing him for the first time. I follow suit, and almost want to kick myself. I've never noticed it before, but Josh is kind of hot. I guess it's hard to see when he's standing next to Jacob all the time, but the New Yorker is a fine, blond specimen.

"What are you waiting for," I ask, giving his shoulder a smack. "Go get the birthday girl."

Nothing makes this whole situation seem more stupid than Josh basically crawling on his knees to cover the ground between him and Betty. It would be kind of funny if Josh didn't have this perpetual expression on his face that made you think he wanted to kill someone.

Betty seems to almost shrink into herself as he approaches, and when he leans into close the distance between their mouths, I have to look away, feeling like I'm invading a private moment rather than a kiss between two drunken idiots.

I stand up, dusting off the back of my jeans as I do. Everyone seems equally eager to disperse as Josh and Betty surpass the three-second rule that usually applies to this game.

"Maybe she wished for a boyfriend," someone says, and I turn to look at Hudson. "Lord knows she wouldn't have gotten one without divine intervention."

I don't feel like laughing but I do so that he doesn't think his joke falls flat. After all, my lack of amusement has nothing to do with him. I feel tired and embarrassed in general. As silly as this whole thing seems, I wouldn't have minded if Jacob and Maddie had stayed and I had the opportunity to lock lips with my crush. Maybe I should wish for Jacob when it's my birthday... But I hate myself for thinking like this. I want to be a strong, independent woman. Not someone pining after a guy who doesn't want her back.