Chapter 8
1618 Words
Rachel
The hall quieted and everyone turned to look at him.
I jolted myself from my trance quickly when Norman moved towards Chase.
"Hey man, you finally came. I thought you are not going to come anymore." Norman said as he smacked Chase's shoulder.
It was times like this that I felt Chase was relatable.
After he came back to the country, he had become the kind of person that gave the feeling that the person resided above common people.
His interactions with Norman made him feel like a human. It made him relatable.
"Hello Chase." I greeted as I walked up to him.
Someone shoved past me to stand in front of Chase.
I looked up. It was Julie.
I sighed.
She just came over like a dog in heat.
However, I did not say anything to her.
"Hi Chase, I have been waiting for you. Your presence made coming to this party worth it." Julie gushed out.
"Hmm." Chase gave her a noncommittal answer before he faced me again.
Under his stare, a red color climbed my cheeks.
I don't know if it was my misconception but his eyes darkened when he saw my blush.
We continued to stare at each other until a clap sounded.
I looked towards the sound.
Ryan was the one that clapped.
"Welcome everyone, the first activity of this party is to eat. We can't play any games if we are out of strength." He said with a wink.
Nobody had any objections and Ryan led us to the long dining table that had been situated towards the end of the hall.
We all took our seats.
I made sure I chose my seats carefully.
Chase was on my right while Norman was on my left.
The food was already dished in large covered bowls. Everybody could pick what they liked.
I dished my food and Norman took his food too.
I noticed that most of the food on Chase's plate was what I picked.
Seeing this, I felt a warm feeling in my stomach.
When Julie began to dish her food, she picked the exact things Chase chose.
I almost laughed.
Chase did not give her the time of the day but she kept doing futile actions to draw his attention.
Although Chase had not agreed to date me, I still felt superior to her.
I almost felt sorry for her but she was going after my man. That one thing had put her in my blacklist.
When she saw that Chase was not giving her any attention, she turned her venomous eyes to me.
"Rachel, I heard you are a software programmer?" Julie asked with a smile.
She was the first to talk so her voice reached everybody.
Everybody sitted at the table turned to me.
I rubbed my forehead.
Not again.
"Yes." I just gave a one-worded reply before going back to my food.
"It is not like I meant to criticize you but do you know that programming is not a real job?" She continued.
I rolled my eyes.
Nobody would believe that she meant the best for me. She meant to criticize me.
"Why don't you tell that to the money in my bank account?" I retorted.
She was already making the food bore me.
An heated gaze landed on my skin.
It was coming from a man two seats away from Julie.
It was from a guy named Ted.
His face felt familiar and then I remembered that he was one of Julie's male admirers.
I was taken aback by his gaze.
Why was he looking at me like that?
His gaze made me uncomfortable and I shifted in my sit.
The creepy gaze was cut off when Chase moved a little. His movement blocked the creepy gaze.
"Thanks." I said as I gave Chase an appreciative look.
"You guys should eat more. My boyfriend agreed to sponsor us if the food finishes." Haina said.
I had selectively forgotten about most of the people I graduated with but I remembered her.
She liked to use things that she could not afford.
She liked people's eyes on her.
Her words made me lose my draining appetite.
Nobody answered her words but I noticed that some people's face changed to a fawning one.
"Oh." I said before dropping my spoon.
Soon, everybody was done with their food.
"Now, it is the time for games." Ryan said with a smile.
I stood up immediately.
Ryan brought us to the space before the dining table and he sat down on the floor.
I copied his action and everyone that left the dining table followed.
We all sat in a circle.
Ryan brought out a bottle, "We are going to play spin the bottle first. The other game we are going to play later is two truths and a lie."
"Okay." We answered.
Ryan scanned the faces of everybody sitted in a circle, "You guys know the rules. When the bottle is facing you, you either say the truth or do a dare. If you can not do either one of them, you drink a shot."
"We know all this, let's start." Julie prompted impatiently.
I don't know what she was hoping for but I felt like I had a inkling of what she wanted to do.
Her eyes were glued to Chase since he came.
She had liked Chase since our college days. His current aura was enchanting, she might be planning something along the lines.
"Okay, let's begin." Ryan said before he put the bottle at the center of the circle we made before he spun the bottle
All the pairs of eyes present stared at the spinning bottle until it stopped.
The bottle faced Ryan when it halted.
Ryan scratched his head, "What is the question?"
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Before anyone could ask a question, a girl with glasses said her question first.
Her blushing cheeks was obvious even in the dim lighting.
Realization came.
It seemed this girl liked Ryan and she wanted to ask if he had a girl in his life before she made her move.
I smiled sneakily as I observed Ryan's face.
"I don't have a girlfriend but I hope to get one before I leave this place." Ryan said with a smile.
He turned his gaze to me.
For some reason, the words Norman said in the car came into my mind.
I did not want to give someone I was not going to be interested in false hope so I turned my gaze away.
I saw Chase staring at both me and Ryan with dark eyes.
His eyes was different somehow.
His dark eyes did not make me feel heat pooling at my core, it was a gaze that held warning.
I could not wrap my head around the reason his gaze gave me a strange feeling.
I returned my attention back to the game.
The bottle spun again and this time, it stopped in my direction.
Everyone stared at me.
"Rachel, are you a virgin?" Julie jumped out to ask before anybody could speak.
Her action was similar to the girl that asked Ryan a question but when Julie did it, it disgusted me.
It did not help that her question showed her bad intentions.
She had turned this light-hearted game into something s****l real quick.
I knew that we would not be able to avoid the game becoming s****l but it doesn't have to be this quick.
Her glinting eyes showed her glee in the position she put me in.
I took a deep breath to calm my anger, "I don't want to say. Does anyone have a dare for me?"
Nobody spoke. It seemed like they had no dare for me to do.
I narrowed my eyes.
It wasn't possible that nobody had a dare for me.
They could have given me stupid dares but it was weird that nobody spoke anything.
I remembered that I did not have any tangible relationship with the people from my year.
I always followed Chase and Norman around.
I don't know if that was why they were targeting me.
Ryan opened his mouth to speak but Julie interrupted his action.
Julie chuckled, "You don't have to be like this, Rachel. The dare I have for you is to tell us if you are a virgin."
I saw red.
I wanted to throw a punch to her smiling face.
It seemed my situation was funny to her.
I inhaled and exhaled.
I had already rejected answering the question, I don't know why she brought the question back as a dare.
Was she that interested in my virginity?
That heated gaze came back.
I glared at Ted.
"Pour me a shot." I said through gritted teeth.
I was going to wait for it to be Julie's turn. I would make her do something she would regret.
"Oh!" Julie exclaimed dramatically, "I don't know why you are shy. We are all adults here."
Ryan poured a shot for me silently.
I picked the glass cup before I drained its contents into my mouth.
When I swallowed, the drink felt like a burning liquid was traveling to my stomach.
I coughed violently.
Although I did exercises regularly, this drink still affected me.
It was a very strong drink.
I glared at Ryan, "Why did you pick a strong drink?"
Ryan shrugged innocently.
'I did not know you were going to fall victim.' He mouthed to me.
I rolled my eyes.
I could feel my head getting woozy.
I turned my eyes to Julie.
Oh, I was going to get back at her so bad she was going to leave this party embarrassed.
- Writer
