oh baby

he blinked,  surprised that she was willing to carry the truce on forever,  but went along with it.  “ amen. ”  darby was the one who’d seemingly distanced herself,  was the thing.  but that wasn’t worth worrying about.  no point in overthinking anything but his schoolwork.  besides,  maybe it had all been over some kind of misunderstanding.  “ uh,  everything’s pretty much the same.  i’m fixing my friend’s car.  i’ve been assassinating spiders.  and…  i’ve been mingling.  with the rich. ”  he made a face to show her exactly what he thought of that.  “ but it’s not all bad.  this friend’s been helping me through it.  what about you? ”

She still felt odd and uncomfortable around Ari, considering what she had done to him. She had distance herself on purpose, hoping it would be enough to make him hate her. But now, sitting in front of him her strong facade was eroding. “With the rich. You make us sound like we’re a different species,” she mumbled, taking another sip of her drink to steel herself. “Good. I’m glad you’re good,” she muttered. for as cold as she could be, she still has a weak spot for him. “I’m fine, y’know. I’l always be fine,” she rattled off. “Been stressed about school. Been working a lot,” she lied, thinking back to all the nights she had spent high and drunk. “Same old Darby. But, I finally got a cat. Named her Cher. So that’s new.”

that made him laugh a little,  then realized that probably made him come across as a bit of a maniac,  and tried to explain.  “ i was going to say it was weird,  but then i thought that might make it weirder.  so i didn’t. ”  he ordered two more drinks  ––  whiskey for her,  another irish coffee for him  ––  and returned to silence.  she looked tired.  that also seemed like something he shouldn’t say out loud.  her whiskey arrived,  followed by his coffee,  which he raised in a toast.  “ to the truce. ”

Feeling a little more relaxed once he admitted it was weird, Darby settled into her bar stool, pulling the sleeve of her sweater over her hands. She nearly always looked tired these days, almost always on a comedown from something. She grabbed her whiskey, smiling a rare bright smile and clinking their glasses together. “Cheers to a truce. May we carry it on forever,” she stated, taking a sip of her whiskey, placing it back down. “So, um... what have you been up to? Give me the CliffNotes.”

he raised an eyebrow,  but nodded.  “ okay. ”  he’d been there with a friend,  working on a project for class,  and was still there working on that very same project after his friend had gone home.  he didn’t bother sliding his notes out of the way  ––  he didn’t think darcy really wanted to talk.  neither did he,  for that matter.  in an attempt at being diplomatic,  he added:  “ you want a drink?  to signify the beginning of this truce. ”  actually,  he was hoping it’d make their chance encounter slightly less awkward,  but saying that out loud probably wasn’t gonna help.

Darby still couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had made her stop talking to Ari. Perhaps the fact that she had actually developed real feelings for him made her clam up, shut down like a snail crawling into its shell. “Okay,” she echoed, her features as unreadable as ever, the blank mask she wore at all times. “Sure, I guess. Make it a whiskey. Feel like we’re both gonna need something strong,” she muttered, pointer finger absentmindedly tracing a dark circle under her eye. “Sorry, if this is weird. Just thought it would be weirder to ignore the fact that you’re next to me.”

darby: uuhhhhh hate to be this guy but i got ur number from a friend and i heard you can get me stuff?

darby: i lost all my weed and now i'm dry so like :/

darby: rings a large gong

darby: pay attention to me! pay attention to me!

darby: marla im so hungover how did this happen. send help

Maybe the brunette was getting too old for these things or the people at this college had forgotten how to make a good party. Not even the glasses of vodka she drank at night were helping to forget her boredom. “They really don’t do parties like before,” she sighed. He took the final sip from his red glass, as if he were taking courage for the other’s proposal. She hadn’t played anything like that since high school, but she was too bored to accept it. “Anything that doesn’t make me go home and go binge something on Netflix.”

“Right? Like, where’s the danger. I’m considering starting a feral fight with someone just to make it a little sexier,” she stated, heaving out a sigh from her lips, painted bright red. “bingeing Netflix can be fun if you’re high enough. I watched The Office last week on something and I laughed harder at it than ever before,’ she joked, straightening up, getting ready for their game. “Never have I ever fucked someone in a bathroom.”

“Never have I ever? I haven’t played that since like… middle school,” Abby laughed. She only wanted to make an appearance when she got to this party and it was around the time that she’d normally slip away before anyone even noticed, but she figured this might be interesting. She took a big swig of her drink, taking a seat as she looked at the familiar girl. “But hey, I have nothing to hide so I’m in. Never have I ever…  cheated on a test?” 

“We can do spin the bottle next. Find some drugged-up frat boys to french kiss,” she joked, taking another swig of her drink, sharp heels of her boots making thudding sounds against the counter as she swung her legs. “Yawn. Never? I find that hard to believe. But alright, if you want to be a dirty cheat at this game,” Darby joked, taking the obligatory chug of her drink. “Never have I ever had sex with someone I loved. Spicy, right?”

Astrid was on her own planet, seeing through a kaleidoscopic haze courtesy of a little chalky pill she’d washed down with a cherry vodka earlier in the night. “This party is so dead. Quick, someone get me the jaws of life! Wait. No. What’s the other one called? The paddles. Clear! Zzzzap!” She did her best impersonation of the urgency of a doctor before grinning at the proposition. “Retro. Flashes of high school parties. Next you’ll be suggesting we go play spin the bottle. Hmm, never have I ever—” she trailed off, before wildly motioning a bottle of rum left unattended on the counter, almost losing her train of thought.  “—hey, is that yours? If not I’m totally gonna swipe it. Anyway…never have I ever eaten ass. I suppose I don’t have the refined palate for it.”

“Sadly I forgot the jello shots. would have really completed the whole high school picture.” Darby shook her head, kicking her legs back and forth from where she sat on the counter. “It’s all yours. Rum makes me feel like a frat boy named Ryan. I drink it and start spitting out things like “send it” and “where are the chicks”. Don’t know if I’ve mastered beer pong enough yet to become him tonight,” Darby rattled off, making a face like she had just bitten into a lemon as Astrid spoke. “Gross. Who even eats ass? Feel like that’s a recipe for getting pink eye. Doesn’t fit my aesthetique,” She mumbled out, adding a faux-French accent to the last word. “Never have I ever done acid. Not because I haven’t wanted to. Just more of a coke gal. Like to feel like I’m ascending to the fourth dimension when things get dry.”