Chapter 6
1415 Words
6
“Ten Children ran in the wind, their hair dancing with the breeze. One of them was blown away and now there were only nine!” I wailed with Astrid and Flavia. For some reason we were singing old Wind Child songs and that was fine by me. “Nine Children danced on top of the cliff, the wind whistling in their ears. One of them fell down and now there were only eight.”
“You guysssss, you can’t ssssing,” Sim complained.
“Aaaaah, you’re slurring!” Flavia cackled, clapping her hands as she folded double in laughter. The third-year rolled over the steel floor, her cheeks red from the alcohol.
“More booze!” Astrid demanded as she held out her cup. She hiccuped loudly and burped. “Oooops!”
“You guys are all drunk!” I shouted while taking another swig from my cup. The more vodka I drank, the less disgusting it was. In fact, I could barely taste it anymore.
Flavia threw a ball of paper my way. “Duh! You’re drunk!”
“No, I’m not,” I gasped, spilling some of the booze on myself. “Oopsie.”
“So drunk,” the third-year concluded, her eyes rolling around. “Sooo drunk.”
“I’m not drunk.” I turned to Ryoko, who was swaying back and forth. “Am I drunk?”
“I don’t know.” The Dragon brushed some of her hair behind her ear. “I think I’m tired.”
“Noooo, don’t be tired. Drink some more.” I grabbed one of the bottles and reached over to pour her some more. The neck clonked down on the metal edge, but the liquid came pouring out so it didn’t matter. “There. Drink up.”
“Let’sss play a game!” Sim suggested. He pushed himself up from his green chair, narrowly catching himself as he almost fell down. “Ssstrip poker!”
“Are you craaaaazy?” Flavia yelled at him. “We’re not stripping for you, you perv.”
“Fine…” He paused for a good while to compose his words. “I know! Truth or dare.”
“Yaaaas. Truth or dare!” Astrid cheered. “I’m so good at that. I’m totally going to win.”
“There’s no winners in truth or dare,” I pointed out. Or were there? Everything was a little hazy.
My classmate reached across the metal table to hit my upper arm. “Shut up, Ylva.”
“Both of you ssshut up,” the Reaper added. “I’ll ssstart. Flavia, truth or—”
“Dare!” she quickly said, clapping her hands excitedly. “Bring it on.”
Sim scratched his head. “Ummmm… Oh! I dare you to pretend to be a chicken.”
“Pah! Easy.” She put her hands under her armpits. “Cluck, cluck, cluck… c**k-a-doodle-doooooo!”
“Aaaaah, that’s not a chicken! That’s a rooster!” Sim laughed, slapping his thighs while tears streamed down his face.
Flavia put her hands on her hips, which didn’t change her looking like a chicken. “Pfffff. Same thing.”
Before anyone could reply, she glugged more rum straight from the bottle and pointed at the blonde next to her. “Astrid! Truth or dare.”
“Dare,” she replied confidently. “Always dare.”
“Brilliant. I dare you to tell us a secret you’ve never told anyone.”
Astrid frowned. “That sounds like a truth question.”
“No, it’s a dare.”
“Pfff… Fine. Let me think… Oh, okay. On my first day here, I was so nervous, I threw up in the bathroom.”
“You did not,” I chuckled.
“Awwww.” Flavia giggled as she swung her arm around Astrid. “You’re not nervous anymore, are you?”
“No, of course not.” My classmate beamed from the physical affirmation and puffed up her chest. “My turn. Ylva. Truth? Or dare?”
“Ummmm…” Four pairs of expectant eyes looked at me, and while I might have picked truth in other circumstances, I didn’t feel like it was wise to chicken out. “Dare?”
“Wooop. I dare you to…” She looked around, clearly trying to find the best way to torture me. With a triumphant look, she grabbed the half-empty bottle of rum. “I dare you to down this all in one go.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t think so. That could kill me.”
She flashed me a grin. “So, you’re too scared to do it?”
“I’m not scared, it’s just stupid,” I protested, turning to Flavia for help.
The third-year let out a deep breath. “Guys, no fighting. Astrid, go again.”
“What? But—”
“That’s waaay too much booze to drink in one go and we want some of it too,” she explained. Despite the slight drunken slur, there was still a certain authority present that had my classmate bow in submission.
Astrid growled. “Fine… Sim. Truth or dare?”
The Reaper emptied his cup and smacked it down. “Truth.”
“Pffff. Boring. If you couldn’t be a Reaper, which other course would you do?”
Without missing a beat, he replied. “Valkyrie.”
“Why?”
He chuckled. “You only get one question.”
“The question was implied,” Astrid huffed.
“No, it wasn’t. My turn. Flavia again. Truth or dare?”
The other third-year waved her hands around. “Hey! You already picked me.”
“So? Truth or dare,” he repeated.
“Truth.” She gave him a menacing glare, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Are you happy being the Heir to the East?”
I leaned forward, intrigued by his question. This guy had some guts asking her something like that. I wouldn’t have dared question her about that, even if she were my best friend.
Flavia flicked her head to the side. “I didn’t used to be, but I think I’ve grown into the responsibile… responiblity…”
“Responsibility?” Ryoko supplied.
“Yes!” The third-year snapped her fingers. “Responsibility. My turn again. Ryoko, truth or dare?”
My roommate picked at her shirt. “Truth?”
“What’s the best part about being a Dragon?” Flavia asked.
“The freedom,” she replied.
“No, no, no. I know the real answer to that! The best thing about it are the dust bunnies!” I joked, earning an affectionate look from Ryoko.
“Pickles is pretty cute,” she chuckled, her eyes lighting up. “I hope she’ll be alright. Maybe I could attach a note to Bloom to ask one of my classmates to take care of my bunny?”
Sim perked up. “You have a bunny?”
“Yes, her name is Pickles.”
“Aww... I love animals,” he admitted, reaching across to grab the rum.
Both bottles of booze were quickly dwindling down between the five of us and I was really feeling the effects. My mind was a little foggy and my muscles were strained from all the drinking.
While the alcohol was taking the sharp edge off of reality and the situation. It certainly helped facing the fact that we were trapped in this bunker with no foreseeable escape.
And while it dealt with that particular problem, it was creating a new one. I’d gone hours without anything to eat and being drunk just made me hungry.
“Hey, did any of you see any food in the storage room or something? I’m starving. I could eat an entire tunnbrödsrulle.”
Astrid perked up. “Finally! You’ve said something sensible. I could kill for a tunnbrödsrulle.”
“What’s a…” Sim frowned. “Tunablooper?”
“Tunnbrödsrulle,” I repeated. “En-tune-broooods-lulla.”
He snorted. “Yeah, that. What is it?”
“The best thing ever. It’s like a wrap with a hot dog—”
“Oh yum!”
“—and mashed potato, lots of mayo and lettuce, topped with shrimp salad,” I said.
Sim’s face contorted. “Ewwwwww, that sounds gross. Is that an actual thing?”
“Yes, and it’s not gross. It’s amazing,” Flavia agreed, rubbing her stomach longingly. “Damn you, Ylva! Why did you have to bring it up. Now I want one.”
“Not me,” the Reaper snorted. “Give me a pizza or loaded french fries anytime.”
“I’ll pass too.” Ryoko pulled a respectful but disgusted face.
“It’s moot anyway, we can’t have it. But at this point, I’d eat anything,” I muttered, a little annoyed that I couldn’t have my favourite drunk food.
“I’m going to find something to eat.” With a determined look, Flavia pushed herself up. She almost tripped but managed to catch herself on the couch. That didn’t stop her ungraceful exit that was nothing like her usual stride.
“I’ll come too!” Astrid quickly added, running after the third-year.
Now that was like usual.
“Ahem, bootlicker, ahem,” Sim coughed, voicing what I’d been thinking.
“Maybe she’s in love with Flavia,” I joked, not considering what I said until I did. It wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination. It wasn’t like I no longer understood the attraction of women. “Huh. Maybe they are totally an item.”
A strange growl emitted from the Reaper. “They better not be.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, shooting him a suspicious look. Or something of the sort. My entire face was moving a bit funny.
“Nothing,” he grumbled. “Here, drink some more.”
He clonked the bottle down on the edge of my metal mug, the clear vodka pouring out with loud glugs.
My stomach and head were already aching from all the drinking on an empty stomach, but there was really only one solution for that. To drink more, oh so much more, until I forgot about the bunker, about the lost friendships, and the beautiful dragon sitting next to me that I couldn’t have.
- Writer
