Nirvana

Chapter twenty

    The group made their way to the school library. The lights were off, but the room was illuminated by candles.

    “Y'all tryna to summon a demon in here?” Dylan joked.

    “Considering you came, we're halfway there.” Raid teased. Most rooms would have been locked to discourage students from having s*x or getting into trouble, but Raid called on a favor with the Janitor to borrow his keys. The tables and chairs were pushed aside leaving an open area in the middle of the room. On the rug were a bunch of cups filled with different liquids. The cups were spread out in a wide circle, a white card planted underneath each. A deck of cards sat in the middle of the circle, along with a spinner. Several students were sitting around the circle. One of them was Nina. 

    “Hi Dylan.” she greeted him. 

    Dylan’s stomach turned. He had hoped to only interact with her that one time. He was regretting his decision to go on a date with her. 

    “You know each other?” Vanessa noted. She knew the girl wanted to talk to him, didn't expect it this soon.

    “Yeah” she said. “We’ve actually...gone on a date.” she smiled shyly. 

    Dylan pinched the bridge of his nose. Why was the world so cruel to him? For once, he wanted to be anywhere except here.  

    “You did?” Vanessa looking back at him. “You never told me you were dating. Talk about being best friends.” She made a pout. Dylan scuffed.

    “You’re one to talk. You and what’s-his-face seem awfully close. You weren’t even going to tell me he’s your boyfriend.” he spat the word out like poison. 

    “We aren’t...he’s not really my boyfriend.” she fumbled with her hair. “We’re just hanging out. It’s...different.” 

    Dylan rolled his eyes. 

    “Come on, sit down already so we can start the game.” Raid ushered. 

    Vanessa sat beside Dylan and Darren sat on her other side after entering behind them. He gave her a playful nudge, oblivious to the conversation that occurred only a few seconds prior. 

    “Okay, we cool or should we do some quick introductions?” Raid asked. The only people who raised their hands were two unfamiliar girls. “Oh right, this is Briana and Jasmine.” he gestured to the girls. “They’re guests of Michael and Khalil. Anyway, this game is called Dare to Drink. Every cup has a card underneath with a dare on it. You have to spin the spinner,” he picked up the white and black spinner. “And drink one gulp of what’s inside of whatever cup it lands on. You will then read the dare. If you complete it, put the cup back and place a new card underneath. If you refuse or fail to complete the dare, two gulps or finish whatever’s left and that cup is taken away. To win, find the cup with no alcohol.” 

    “Well this is gonna be interesting.” Sarina chimed. 

    Raid spun the spinner to see where to start. It landed on Jasmine. She spun the spinner and she took a sip of the cup it landed on. She read the card. “Tell the group the story of the first time you had sex.”

    “Wow, starting off hot.” Renei said. 

    “Well, the first time I had s*x was in eighth grade with my best friend.” she started. 

    Dylan glanced at Vanessa but shook away the thought. 

    “It’s nothing too exciting. But I had snuck him into my house as I often did. Now usually, all we’d do is smoke, raid the kitchen and maybe make out a bit. We were never all that into each other before, especially since he had a girl and he knew I had a big crush on someone else, however when they argued or I was frustrated, we’d keep each other company. This one night in particular we were vibin as we usually do and for some reason my granny got mad and she came pounding on my door. Now I’m not supposed to have guys in my room so we both got a  little scared. She's pounding, telling me to open the door while we both scrambled to find him a hiding spot. So my closet had this hole in the wall from a fight a while ago and it led into a narrow space behind the wall. We had to try our hardest to stuff him inside without making too much noise and I moved some coats over him so he wouldn’t be seen. Once I unlocked the door, she came screaming saying the neighbors had seen a boy sneaking around and I’m trying to convince her that they were lying. She wasn’t tryna listen to that, she was going around, tossing s**t around, looking under my bed and finally she got to the closet. I’m holding my breathe and-”

    “So when exactly do we get to the fuckin?” Raid blurted out.  

    “I’m getting there, relax.” she continued. “I’m holding my breath and my granny moves some stuff around and suddenly jumps back. She started yelling that my closet stinks and to clean whatever in there that smells like piss.” the group starts chuckling. “Why did this man get so scared her peed his pants? I was so mad I wanted to kick him out, but it was late December so he couldn’t exactly walk home soaked in urine. So once we got him out, I gathered whatever was soaked and took his clothes to the washing machine. Now, I didn’t have anything that he could fit except an old t-shirt and some granny panties I don’t wear so he had to sit in those until his clothes dry. Long story short, I guess he got cold or maybe the thrill of everything turned him on, but he was rock hard when I came back and I kinda just asked if I could see it. One thing led to another and I had to spend the next morning sitting on frozen meat.” Surprisingly she received confused looks. “Oh, it was anal, my vag is for my husband.”

    “How did it feel?” Nina asked. 

    “Like taking a reverse s**t honestly. Hurt like hell, wouldn't recommend." 

    “So what I’m hearing is can we stop by the chapel tomorrow?” Raid teased with a wink. 

    “As if, you’re not my type.” 

    “I don’t think he’s any girl’s type.” Renei shot.  

    Next, it was Dylan’s turn. He spun and took a sip from the cup. He read the card. “Play seven minutes in heaven with the 3rd person to your right.” Dylan looked down to see that the lucky person was Nina. She blushed and Dylan sighed annoyingly. “Clique much?” 

    “Go ahead Dyl.” Raid coaxed with a big grin. “There’s a storage closet in the back. Make papa proud.” Dylan glared at him and followed Nina into the closet. 

    Vanessa watched them go, for some reason she felt sick to her stomach. Darren noticed.

    “You okay?” he asked as he glanced back at the closet. She smiled.

    “Of course. I must still be a little tired, or hungry.” 

    He leaned in close to whisper, “We can always check out early. Probably stop to get you something to eat.”

    Vanessa’s heart raced and it annoyed her. What was she thinking? Still the thought made her uneasy and she decided it was best to stick it out. “I’ll be okay, thanks though.” 

    “While those two are busy, we can continue.” Raid said, gesturing for Vanessa to spin the bottle. She spun, took a sip and read the card. 

    “Show the group your butt or tell the person opposite you to do it.” she read. Her face flushed. There was no way she was doing that, especially not in front of Darren. 

    “That’s a give-away card.” Renei told her. “If you tell someone else to do it and they do it, you drink. If they refuse, they drink.” Vanessa looked over to Raid who was opposite her and smiled. 

    “Raid…” she purred. 

    “There's like 5 dudes here, I’m not showing them my ass.” Raid argued.

    “Refuse, you drink.” Sarina said. “This can’t be any worse than what you guys show off in the locker room.” 

    “That’s different. We don’t actually get naked around each other, at least not ass-naked. We use shower stalls and towels. f**k it, I'll drink.” he took the cup and took two gulps. “God that tastes like s**t. Alright, who’s next?” 

    In the closet, Nina and Dylan sat on books on the floor. They could barely hear what was going on outside the door. Nina nervously fondling with her hair, while Dylan calmly scrolled through his phone. 

    “Hey, Dylan?” Nina called, breaking the silence.

    “Yeah?” he answered, not looking up from the screen. 

    “Do you...do you want to-”

    “I’m not touching you.” he said bluntly. 

    Ouch. “No...that’s not what I was going to say.” she stuttered. She regretted opening her mouth. Why’d he have to say it like that? “I was going to ask if you wanted to talk about something. You know, to pass the time.” 

    “Talk about what?” 

    “Anything.”

    “Anything isn’t a topic.” 

    She looked away, feeling pressured. Why was the atmosphere more tense than when they were with the others? Was he upset with her? Was he embarrassed and didn’t want to be bothered? “We...We didn't fully get to know each other last time we talked. I want to know more about you.” She felt a pit build in her throat. Why was she still trying? He obviously isn’t interested. God, how long was seven minutes?

    “There’s not much about me I want to share,” he finally said. The sudden sound of his voice startled her. Dylan sighed. “Sorry, I’m not trying to be a d**k. I just...hate situations like this and I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.” 

    Nina let out a breath of ease. Some of the tension seemed to have lifted. “It’s okay...I actually wanted to know when you wanted to go out again. Maybe we can go to the arcade, or ice skating, winter’s creeping in.” her voice caught as she noticed the look of distress on his face. “What’s wrong?”

    “Look,” he began, shifting his position. “You’re a really cool girl Nina, but I gotta be real with you. I can’t date you.”

    Nina tensed, but let out a breath. “You don’t like me.”  It wasn’t something she hadn’t expected. “I figured as much. You haven’t tried to text or call me once since our date. You haven’t even looked at me since you came into the room. Am I that bothersome?”

    “It’s not that I don’t think you’re attractive, it’s just like I told you before.” his eyes saddened “I already have someone I like...and I’m not ready to give up on her, not just yet.” Nina stared at him for what seemed like an hour. She smiled knowingly. 

    “It’s Vanessa isn’t it?” 

    “Why’d you say that?” 

    “It’s a little obvious. I see how you look at her, so much passion and admiration in your eyes. Plus, I’ve never seen you pay attention to any other girls besides Renei and Sarina. I’m gonna guess you don’t have any feelings for them, right?” 

    “Don’t...don’t tell her, okay?” he pleaded. “She can’t know yet.” he leaned against the wall. “I’m not ready to tell her yet.” 

    “When did it start?” she asked.

    “Someone’s curious.”

    She shrugged. “We still got 3 minutes, I'd rather talk than sit in awkward silence again.”

    “A long time ago” he admitted. “Before high school, maybe eight, almost nine, years ago.” 

    “That long, and you didn't like anyone else? You must not have been that popular in school.” she teased. 

    “I chose not to date other girls. Well more, I simply couldn’t. I tried to move on, but it was as if no one else could compare. The way I feel when she’s around...I can’t find it in anyone else.” 

    Nina glanced down, a little hurt. 

    “What’s weird is that I'm not entirely sure why I’m so drawn to her.” he continued. “Sure, she’s beautiful, smart, and a kind person, but I’m pretty sure there's someone else similar. I feel like the reason is a bit deeper than just her personality. I can’t explain it, but when I’m around her, the entire world becomes brighter, I get hot, and my heart starts pounding against my chest...so much that it’s almost suffocating. I can’t seem to control what I say, but it's the most satisfying feeling in the world.”

    “It's a reason only your heart knows. It’s romantic.” she lowered her eyes, staring at her knees. “Must be nice.” 

    “It's not.” Dylan insisted. “More, frustrating.”

    “It’s frustrating loving her?” 

    “It is if the love isn’t mutual.”

    “How would you know?”

    “I don’t..” he admitted. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. “To be honest, I’m afraid to know.” he expected Nina to react like Sarina, calling him a coward, but she didn’t.

    “You have my support, my lips are sealed.”

    “Aaand...done.” Briana stood back to admire her work. Everyone burst into laughter. Raid took her compact mirror and looked at his face. It was covered in makeup. His face was pale from the foundation being 2 shades too light for him. His cheeks were pink as well as the tip of his nose. His originally thick eyebrows were arched and filled in with a light gold highlight underneath. His eye lids were painted a shade of maroon and his lips were colored burgundy. He was even wearing false eyelashes. His long dreads were styled so that half of it hung over his left eye. 

    “Damn, you actually made him look kinda cute for once.” Sarina teased. 

    “Can I take this off now?” Raid asked, as he angled the mirror away in disgust. 

    “The card says you have to leave it on for the rest of the game.” Briana said. Dylan and Nina walked out of the closet and returned to the circle. 

    “You two have fun?” Raid mocked. Dylan stared at him. A muffled snicker escaped his lips.

    “Sorry, I didn't recognize you for a second. Why the hell are you-”

    “It was a dare damn-it!” Raid swore. 

    Nina spun the bottle. The liquid was green and bitter. When she read the card, her face turned almost scarlet. 

    “Read it out loud.” Raid ordered, hoping by her face that he wasn’t going to have to suffer embarrassment alone. 

    “Strip down to your underwear and remain that way for the rest of the game.”

    “Yes!” Raid cheered. “Someone's getting naked.” 

    “Maybe we shouldn't count this one.” Sarina suggested. “Stripping might be a bit too much, she is a freshman after all.” 

    “Where is all this protesting when I’m getting screwed over?” Raid complained

    “Quit whining, you wrote these stupid dares.” she shot back, “Your eyebrows were a mess anyway. Plus, the majority of us are already 18, she’s, what, 15?”

    “Don't talk like I'm a kid!” she argued, coming out louder than she wanted. The looks she got were slightly unnerving, but she swallowed her pride and began to take off her shirt. “Thanks for the concern, but let’s play the game right. No freebies.”

    “You heard her, let’s play the game right Rina.” Raid chimed in. 

    Sarina’s brow furrowed as they all watched the redhead strip out of her jeans and sit down in nothing other than her bra and panties. She was slightly relieved the girl was wearing girl boxers and a sports bra, at least she wouldn’t be completely exposed. Now it was Nick’s turn.

    “Do thirty push ups with 1 hand,” Nick read. He smiled cockily. “No problem. We do worse at practice.” He got in position and held one hand behind his back. He started off smoothly, knocking out 15 push ups before his arm started shaking. “Sixteen, seventeen,...eighteen,” the boys were cheering him on. “nineteen,...t-twenty,...twenty-one,” his arm was burning and the shaking was making it hard to keep his balance. “twenty-two,...twenty-three,...twenty-four,...fuck!” he pushed with all his might. “twenty...five,...twenty,...twenty-six,...twenty-s-seven...FUCK!” his arm buckled and he dropped to the floor, panting, unable to continue.

    “Aww, so close.” Raid said, shaking his head. 

    “I’m not...used...to doing it...with one...hand.” Nick huffed. “I got to twenty-seven, don’t I get the benefit of the doubt?”

    “Close, but that still wasn’t thirty” Dylan pointed out. He then held the cup up to him. “Rules are rules.” Nick took a few more seconds to catch his breath and took the cup. "Yuck." 

    It was now Katskai’s turn. “Go for a five minute swim with your clothes on.” he read. “Aww man, this outfit was new.” he sighed “So we’re going to the pool now?”

    “You know what they say, nothin better than a midnight swim.” Renei teased. Katskai playfully punched her. They all made their way to the indoor pool on the other side of the building. They made sure to avoid running into Mr. Cane or any of the guards. They obviously weren’t the only ones sneaking around as there were several other students who broke away and were having their own fun in the empty classrooms. The door to the pool was locked.

    “Does this mean we gotta skip this dare?” Michael asked. 

    Raid jingled the janitor’s keys. “You guys forgot I had these? Katskai ain't getting out of this.” Raid bent down to examine the lock. 

    “Pfft, don’t take your anger out on me because you gotta makeover.” Katskai jabbed. They all waited as Raid fumbled to find the right key. After several seconds, the lock and chains fell to the ground.

    “Booya!” Raid gloated. The humid air erupted through the door. It smelled of chlorine and heat, making breathing uncomfortable. They all stood around the edge of the pool, looking in. Raid stepped back and patted Katskai on the back. “Ready dude? It’s all yours.” 

    “I’m definitely gonna have to take this to the cleaners.” Katskai grumbled. He took a few steps back. “Start the timer.” he ran and dove into the water. The water was warm as it invaded his clothes and spread across his skin. The impact from jumping in caused some of the water to be lunged in his nose, getting into his mouth. It burned and he nearly took a breath. He had jumped into the deepest part and the absence of the ground under his feet made it hard for him to determine how deep he had gone in. It hurt too much to try and open his eyes. Still, he could feel his body sinking deeper. He felt himself tilting  and for a split second he was afraid he didn’t know which direction led to the surface. He could feel the air bubbles lifting from his mouth, which reassured him he was still slightly upright. The water weighed his clothes down making movement difficult. For a second, he felt peaceful, like drifting in the ocean. The burning of his lungs snapped him out of his daydream as his feet touched the bottom of the pool. He needed to start going back up before he drowned. He pushed off the ground, kicking with his feet and using his arms to pull himself to the surface.  

    “He ain’t drowning is he?” Nick asked.

    “No way, it's Katskai.” Sarina said as worry slowly crept over his face. “But maybe we shouldn’t have let him jump in the deepest part. He probably can’t see. He better not die from something like this.” As soon as she said that, Katskai’s head emerged from the water as he gulped in air. She let out a sigh of relief. “What’d I tell ya? You good baby?”

    “Yeah, *gulp* I'm good. How much time do I still have? My clothes are getting really heavy.” 

    Three more minutes.” Nick said. 

    Suddenly, they heard the sound of heels clicking down the hall. “Hey you two, pull your pants up! Either get to the gym or appropriate sleeping areas before I call the guards.” As she neared the end of the hall, she noticed the chains resting on the floor. “This door shouldn’t be opened.” Ms. Sulk said.

    “Shit.” Raid cursed. “Everyone hide!” Darren and Nick ran to hide in the boys locker room. Raid and Dylan jumped into the pool along with Katskai. Vanessa formed a thick flower bush around her body to blend in with the other decorative plants. Sarina took the liberty to hide behind her. The rest of the girls ran into the girl’s locker room.

    Mrs. Sulk stepped into the pool area. Her eyes scanned the room for anything that looked out of place. 

Katskai, Dylan, and Raid swam close to the wall, holding any loose clothing close to their bodies and tucking their lips tight to keep air bubbles from surfacing. The slow clicking of her heels acted as a count down. They prayed it was too dark to actually see into the pool. 

    Sulk stood over the pool, looking in, searching for dark figures, but it was too dark to see much with the chlorine making the water foggy. After several seconds, she walked away from the pool, slowly going back to the door. She stopped when she heard a sound coming from the boy’s locker room. 

    “Shit.” Darren cursed. He had bumped into one of the locker room bleachers. Lucky enough he caught it before it tipped over. 

    Mrs. Sulk turned toward the boy’s locker room and slowly made her way over. When she was out of sight Dylan, Katskai, and Raid emerged from the water, taking in deep breaths. 

    Ms. Sulk walked into the locker and room looking around. She searched the wall for the light switch, but couldn’t find it. The lights must be controlled in the gym office, she thought. She walked deeper into the room, using the flashlight on her phone. She walked down each aisle of lockers, the only sound was the sound of her heels clicking against the floor. Hmmm.. she walked into the shower area, checking each stall, then checked the toilets.

    Darren stood on top of one of the toilets so his feet wouldn’t be seen. He had no idea where Nick had gone off to, but since he hadn’t heard anything, he figured he was well hidden. Ms. Sulk slowly began opening each stall. Darren’s heart raced. He’d be screwed if his dad found out he was fooling around in places he shouldn’t. Not to mention he hadn’t exactly received permission to be here. Three stalls away...he had to think fast. If he was caught, his father would surely punish him. He might make him quit the basketball team, or worse. Two stalls away...Where to go, where? One stall away…

    Mrs. Sulk opened the final stall. There was no one there. She frowned and turned on her heels to exit the room. 

    “My legs and arms are starting to ache.” Katskai said. “Let’s hurry up and hide somewhere else before she-” he couldn’t finish his sentence. The guys heard the clicking of her heels as she began to enter the room again.

    “No time.” Raid said. They all took a deep breath and dove back under the water. Mrs. Sulk scanned the room one last time and walked toward the entrance. She closed the door as she left and they heard the chains rattle as she relocked the door. They waited until the sound of her heels were nearly gone to come back up. The boys tiredly pulled themselves out of the pool and collapsed on the floor. Sarina came from behind Vanessa as the bush began to vanish around her. She ran over to help Katskai get to his feet. 

    “That was too close.” Vanessa said. 

    “Tell me about it.” Katskai said, panting for air. “I thought I wasn’t gonna be strong enough to rise to the surface again.”

    “Look on the bright side, you’re 5 minutes are up.” Raid noted.

    Yeah, and the water washed away all your makeup.” Katskai noticed. “Too bad, the female Raid was a lot easier on the eyes.” 

    “f**k you.” 

    “Where's everyone else?” Vanessa asked.

    “I think they all ran into the locker rooms. They had better ideas than we did.” Dylan said. 

    “You could have been transported, why didn’t you?” 

    “And let them or any of the cameras catch me doing that? Not a smart idea.” She nodded and they split up to look for the others. Dylan led the way into the boy’s locker room. They were about to check the showers when they heard banging coming from one of the lockers. 

    “Yo, anyone wanna lend a hand?” Nick called. 

    “You locked yourself in there?” Raid asked. “How’d you even fit, these lockers are tiny as hell.”

    “I panicked when I heard her coming. This isn’t the first time I was forced into a small space. Can you get me outta here?”

    “What’s the combo?”

    “36,10,25” 

    Raid turned the knob and opened the locker. Nick wiggled his way out giving him a grateful pat on the shoulder. Seconds later, Darren walked out of the toilets. Nick bumped fist with him. 

    “How’d you avoid Sulk?” Nick wondered. “I could have sworn I heard her opening all the stalls.”

    “Before she opened mine, I got down and crawled under one of the stalls she had already checked and hid there until she left. Where are the girls?”

    “They should be out by the pool by now.” Raid said. The boys met the girls back at the pool. “Okay, let’s get going before someone else comes. This chlorine is giving me a headache.”

    “Door’s locked again.” Dylan pointed out. “Got any ideas?” 

    Vanessa took a second. “I think there should be some tools in the gym office. I think I can get us out through the track door. I need something to pick the lock. Why don’t you guys go check the office and the girls can check the locker room in case any of the unlocked lockers have something sharp. They gave her a look then split up. Before Sarina could follow, she stopped her. “You guys don’t have to go, I just needed to get them out of the room. She dug into her pocket and pulled out a sleeping hamster. He slowly opened his eyes. “Hi Pryor. Think you can get under this door?”

    “I don’t see why not.” he shifted into a small beetle and crawled under the door.

    “Raid, let me see that pool key.” she said. Raid handed her the key and slid it under the door. After several seconds the chains jingled and fell. “Good job Pryor.” She opened the door and saw a small chimpanzee holding the key. 

    “Handy lil fucker.” Raid said. “Where can I get one?” At that moment, they heard the others return. Pryor shifted and Vanessa returned him to her pocket. 

    We couldn’t really find anything small and sharp, but we found this screwdriver and a paperclip.” Darren said. He looked up to see the door open. “How’d you open it?” 

    “Oh um..” Vanessa started, she was terrible at lying.

    “I did a trick.” Renei stepped in. “Managed to break the chain. Forgot I could do it until now.” she smiled at Vanessa. “Come on, let’s get going.” 

    “Aw, your makeup’s ruined.” Briana noted at Raid. 

    “Yeah, you’re making my eyes bleed.” Sarina teased.

    Raid flipped his locks and puckered his lips. “b***h please, I’d still take you man.”  Sarina erupts in laughter as they all hurried out of the room.