As the night went on, the party grew wilder, fueled largely by my two shameless best friends, who were hyping it up like wild animals on a mission.
I had promised myself that I would never fall victim to Gigi and Shu's ridiculous, borderline-indecent schemes.
And yet, here I was—sitting in a circle of random strangers, roped into a game of Spin-the-Bottle.
Why? Because Ari, with her unfairly cute pout and a tug on my arm, had rendered me utterly useless and defeated.
Not gonna lie, this feels like it's going to be more dramatic than a prom proposal gone horribly wrong. I can practically feel it in my bones.
Spin the Bottle is basically a glorified excuse for hormonal teenagers to act on their unrequited crushes and borderline desperate desires. And yet, here I am, willingly roping myself into this impending disaster—all because the girl I fancy gave me a ridiculously cute pout.
God, I'm hopeless. Completely and utterly hopeless.
I didn't have the slightest idea who any of these people were, and I was pretty sure they didn't know me either.
"Hi, Yumi!"
…Or maybe not.
"Great to see you joining us," said an unfamiliar girl with glasses. She was a bit taller than me, so I had to crane my neck slightly to meet her gaze.
This right here? This is why I'm bad at socializing. I had no idea how to respond without coming across like I was being standoffish—or worse, bitchy.
Sensing my awkward silence, the girl smiled kindly and offered an introduction. "I'm Somi, by the way. One of Gigi's classmates."
Okay, at least she wasn't a total stranger. That made this slightly less terrible.
"Nice to meet you," I said, doing my best not to sound disinterested. Apparently, it worked because Somi gave me a warm smile in return.
I shifted my focus to the circle in front of me, trying to tune into whatever nonsense was unfolding.
"Oh, look what we've got here," said a girl with brown hair and a smirk that I already found slightly annoying. "The Ice Princess is joining us."
Wait. Was she talking about me? Ice Princess? What the hell?
"Yujin, stop teasing Yuu," Shu interjected with a teasing chuckle. "She might decide not to play with us if you keep that up."
"Pardon me, your highness," Yujin said with an exaggerated bow and an infuriating grin, earning a round of laughter from the group.
I growled under my breath, already irritated. We hadn't even started playing yet, and I was already ready to leave.
Who even is this person? How dare she talk to me like that. I mean, I'm not some VIP or anything, but I can't stand it when strangers get too comfortable with me like this. It's just… weird.
"You're not pardoned."
That was supposed to stay as an intrusive thought, but apparently, my mouth had other plans. Whoops. Sorry, not sorry. Hehe.
My response earned a mix of exaggerated gasps and stifled laughs from the circle. Yujin looked momentarily taken aback but quickly recovered, letting out an awkward chuckle. Judging by her reaction, she didn't seem to take my comment too seriously.
"All right, settle down, everyone!" Gigi announced, clapping her hands. "Let's get this started before Yuu changes her mind."
She was seated right next to me, which gave me the perfect angle to shoot her a pointed glare.
Gigi, of course, ignored me entirely, her grin as infuriating as ever.
There were nine people in the circle: Ari and Shu at 1 o'clock, Somi to my left, Yujin next to her, Gigi on my right, and the rest—well, I had no idea who they were.
Gigi spun the bottle, and it landed on Shu, who was practically buzzing with excitement.
"Truth or dare?" Gigi asked with a mischievous smirk.
"Dare," Shu replied confidently.
"Brave," Gigi said, her grin widening. "I dare you to hug the person you think is the cutest in this circle."
Honestly, as far as dares go, that wasn't too bad—especially for someone like Shu, who was a very affectionate person.
With a giggle, Shu stood up and started walking toward her choice.
Me.
Before I could even process what was happening, Shu lunged at me and knocked the air out of my lungs with the tightest bear hug imaginable.
"Let go!" I wheezed, squirming in her iron grip as she cooed over me like I was a literal baby.
And all of this was happening in front of strangers I didn't even know.
God, just let me sink into the floor and die in shame.