Mine

Chapter Seven

She was sat beside him in the circle that Esther had made people form in the living room. Iona was on his other side, her leg uncomfortably close to his but he was able to ignore that fact every time he glanced to his left and saw Astrid there. All eyes were on Esther, however, as she drained the last of a bottle of wine and set it down in the middle.
"Seven minutes in heaven!" She declared and Damian knew that she had seen one too many American movies. He'd seen enough to know that this would probably not end well.
The first several spins all resulted in girls being paired with girls which resulted in a lot of giggling and wolf whistles. Damian tried not to pay attention though he did tense up each time the bottle passed Astrid. That vague twinge of jealously kept returning and he knew it was daft to be jealous of someone else spending seven minutes in a cupboard with a girl he barely knew.
The first time the bottle did stop by Astrid she ended up paired off with Esther. This allowed Damian to relax slightly for the first time since the game had begun. Esther was the one that was warning him to be careful around the younger girl and so the likelihood was that his best friend would just chat to her.
When they came out they were both laughing but Damian could see no sign of stray lipstick on either. That was definitely a good thing.
The next turn resulted in one of the Forsyths and Iona, which at least meant that she would stop touching him for seven minutes. He almost felt sorry for the boy. Almost.
He faded out of the game for a bit, not really noticing who was coming or going and just as long as the pink-haired girl remained beside him, why would he care?
He was snapped out of his trancelike state to a pair of hands clapping in front of his face. It took him a moment to realise that those hands belonged to Esther, who handed him another drink before pointing to the bottle.
"Spin DJ. Let's find out who is stuck with you." She said, a grin spread across her face that could almost be considered evil it it weren't spoiled by her drunken swaying.
Damian glanced around the circle, noting that it was a lot smaller than it had been before and now consisted almost entirely of girls - Joasia, Esther, the excitable blonde from earlier, Astrid and two other faces he didn't recognise. The only other boy that remained was Mal. He wrinkled his nose slightly knowing that it would be just his luck to be locked in a cupboard with the lanky boy, but he spun anyway.
The bottle went round and round and round - looking like it was never actually going to stop. Damian guessed that he might have spun it a little too hard. He downed his drink, wincing slightly as the spirit hit the back of his throat.
Eventually the bottle started to slowly and Damian found himself staring at it, almost willing it to stop at Astrid. To his amazement, that was where it did stop. He kept his eyes down for a moment, not caring that it probably looked really strange that he was more-or-less starting at the knees of the girl.
"Come on then DJ." Her voice was light, teasing, but still there was something that resembled purpose to it that made the hairs on the back his neck stand on end.
Slowly Damian stood up, making a conscious decision to not make himself look too eager as he followed Astrid and Esther to the cupboard. The latter shut them in with a wink.
They were plunged into into darkness, save for the sliver of light that crept in through the gap under the door. Damian felt his breath catch in his throat and he found himself staring at his own shoes.
"So..." He was sure that by the time Astrid broke silence they had been in there for seven years rather than seven minutes. "You don't talk much, huh?"
Damian was very aware of the lack of space just then and how close the girl was to him. As she spoke, he could feel her words on his face, each one making his skin tingle.
"I guess not." He said slowly, his eyes still down though now he was looking at her feet. Hee supposed he could have been imagining it, but she seemed to be closer now.
And then her hand was on his arm. He tensed up - not at the touch, but at how natural it felt that her hand was on his skin. He tried his best to hang onto the thought that she was too young, but all that faded away as her hand moved up his arm.
"What are you doing?" He heard himself ask and in that moment he wanted to slap himself. Now was not the time to become a man of words.
"You like me, don't even deny it. And I like you. And I'm playing the game." He could feel her warm breath on his cheek as her hand rested on his shoulder.
And then her lips were on his.
It was everything he had dreamed of and so much more. His heart pounded; filling his ears, filling his head and successfully managing to drown out all rational thought.
And then just as he was about to kiss her back, the cupboard was drowned in light as the door was thrown open.
He stood there, motionless as reality returned and drank in the grin on the girl that stood before him.
It wasn't enough. One kiss was nowhere near enough. But before he could say or do anything else, she was gone and he was left with Esther who examined him with one eyebrow raised and a knowing look on her face.