Rose and Ava walked into the mansion and was welcomed by a lady who introduced herself as Molly and led them towards the back of the house were they assumed was where the party was happening, as they sure was hearing the blasting music coming from inside.
Rose had settled for a flowery gown that was cut low in the neck. It was the dress her mother said she'd worn to her first date with her father. Though it was a bit big on Rose, but she looked perfect.
"Climb the stairs and go to your right." Molly offered bowed and walked away.
"Wooow!" Ava exclaimed for the upteenth time. "I can't believe I'm really here. Did you see how she bowed, her accent is just superb..." Ava kept talking while Rose only acknowledged her with a smile as they walked on.
Immediately they walked into the party room, Esther spotted them from afar and rushed down to them.
"Hey," she drawled, "I was scared you guys changed your mind."
"Hey Esther" Rose said with her voice above the music.
"Esther this place is indeed a mansion." was what Ava said and continue blabbering on about how beautiful and magnificent the building looked.
"Come on girls," Esther said at long last and led the way, while the girls followed her.
She took them to the bar where they got drinks. Rose chose juice because she's not a fan of taking alcohol, though she does sometimes at school parties but she always make sure it's light never left a trace of alcohol smell on her to avoid troubles from home.
The party was just as Esther had described it, just few friends and family. Rose could count not more than 15 people in the room. And everyone was busy with one thing or the other.
"Hey," Esther called on seeing David.
He slowly walked to their position, his attention on his sister. "What's up?" he whispered to her.
"They're here," Esther replied. "Guys meet my brother, David." she introduced. "David, Ava..."
"Hi, I've heard so much about..." Ava was saying but was cut short when David turned away from her after looking at her for a second.
"And David, Rose..."
This time, Rose noticed that his eyes lingered on her though without giving out any emotions but she felt his eyes burning into her soul.
"Happy birthday David." Rose finally said when she caught her voice.
Instead of responding though, David snorted looked at his sister and walked away.
"Your brother is really one weird person." Ava observed.
"And definitely a snub." Rose fumed.
Someone turned off the music took a glass and hit on it with a spoon to draw attention to himself. "Gather round everybody," the girl that was not more than Rose's age said. "In order to make this day special for my sweetheart here," she smiled and everyone cheered. "Let's try playing a game, maybe a sing and stop game..." the little crowd got wild with suggestions.
"Who's that?" Rose asked trying not to give away the fact that the girl calling David 'her sweetheart' had an effect on her.
"Oh, that's Cheryl." Esther offered, "David's childhood friend from where we lived before. She recently came to stay with us for a while."
"She stays here?" Ava asked with alarm ringing in her voice.
"Yes. Stays in David's quarters. But not to worry, she's always wanted more but David I know would never give her more, he doesn't like her like that." Esther explained and Rose listened attentively.
"Well," they heard David's voice boom and everyone paid attention. "since everyone here is either 18 or almost 18, except my sister of course, I think we should all play truth or dare." he suggested and Rose had a sick sense that he kept his eye glued on her as he spoke.
"Well, that's my cue to be excused." Esther told her friends "I'll be right back though, I have to do something for my mum." she added and left the friends.
Rose was already feeling the game was a bad idea. For one, David wasn't taking his eyes off her and secondly, Esther that was supposed to be their wingman was leaving.
"Essy," David called as Esther was turning to leave "your friends could join us if they're up to it.
"Oh, they're yours." Esther responded innocently. But Rose was reluctant to move.
"Unless they're scared of a little challenge." he challenged
"You bet I can't be scared of truth or dare." Ava accepted the challenge.
"How about your friend?" David asked pointing at Rose with his lips.
Rose stood transfixed, finding it hard to pull her legs off the ground to join them.
"Come on Rosie," her friend urged.
Rose moved reluctantly to the group that was already gathered in a circle. Ava made space for her join up, hereby making her sit face-to-face with David.
"OKAY, the rules are simple." Cheryl offered "Say the truth and do your dare or take a shot of the alcohol. If you're given a dare and you don't want to do it, you take a shot. Understood?" she asked
And everyone either nodded or said yes.
"Now, I'll start." Cheryl said and she asked one of the the guys who chose truth, if he'd ever kissed a girl before and his answer was yes, everyone cheered him.
It kept going until it got to David's turn to ask. "Truth or dare, Rosie?" he asked and Rose was more surprised to hear him call her name and in the way he did than the prospect of the game.
"Truth," she eventually chose and hoped it'd be something not too embarrassing to admit.
"Are you a virgin?" Rose flushed.
It was not a question she anticipated and she thought it was too personal a question for truth or dare. She quickly grabbed the bottle to pour herself a shot of alcohol.
"I see, you're an easy quitter." David teased and this got Rose furious, she felt like tearing him apart. She clutched the bottle tightly and poured her drink. She drank it and tried very hard to regain her composure.
"Truth or dare, David?" one of the guys who were obviously David's friends asked.
"Dare," David chose still with taunting eyes on Rose.
"In the spirit of your birthday, I dare you to choose any girl here and kiss her for 10seconds." the guy said.
"Any girl, you say?" David repeated as if to be sure.
"Yup," the guy said and everyone cheered.
"Well, Jason you make this too easy." David said as he moved closer to where Rose was sitting.
Rose on seeing that he was coming close was stunned. It was as if she was glued to a spot, with her mouth open, she watched in shock as David squatted down an allowed his lips meet hers in a hunger filled kiss.
For a second, it seemed like everything faded away for Rose. It even surprised her that her lips was returning the kiss with matching energy.
They only stopped kissing 5 seconds after the countdown was done. David paused and slowly pulled his lips for hers, looking her straight in the eyes. The whole room was quiet as everyone watched them in silence.
Without doing much of thinking, Rose's right hand shot up and landed a slap on David's face, leaving traces of her fingermark on his flawless face.
"How dare you?" she asked angrily and pushed him away.
"Hey, it was a game. Moreover, you enjoyed it as much as I did, so why the slap?"
"Fuck you." she cried and blindly ran up the stairs in search the bathroom.