In My Skin

Ch 1 || The Party

The familiar itch spread over my neck as I watched the scene on the other side of the table. Perched high on a lap, Jessica pointlessly tried to pull at the edge of her short black dress that left nothing to the imagination. My boyfriend's lap to be exact. Every now and then he sent me a helpless look. As if that would make it any better. Out of reflex, I reached up to scratch but quickly caught myself. I needed to stop stressing out.

I took a breath and finally realized everyone's gaze was on me. Did—did they notice something?

"It's your turn, Taylor."

"What?"

A red plastic cup was waiting in front of me. There was one for each person. I didn't even know what they'd put in there.

"Truth or Dare," Rosalyn said from my right. Where Jessica was all curves, Rose had the height. Her pointy face was framed by shoulder-length hair, dyed ash blond. The light color horribly clashed with her pale skin, giving her a somewhat sickly look. She'd had beautiful red hair before. Whatever notion had gripped her into turning that into blond was beyond me, but I had my suspicion that it might have been in the form of a different redhead currently happily balancing on top of my boyfriend's legs.

"Oh no." I held my hands up. "I'm not playing."

"Oh, please." Jessica's high-pitched voice cut through the air. "Everyone already agreed."

Apparently, everyone did not include me. Not that she cared.

Shit. I needed an excuse... "I have to drive so I can't drink—"

"Come on, Taylor. Don't be a party pooper," one of the guys said.

"Yeah, Taylor, play or you're gonna have to drink the penalty drink," another guy shouted and pointed at a bottle at the center of the table. The mere sight of the milky brown substance made my stomach churn. 

"...fine."

The guys grinned at each other.

"We didn't expect anything less. So, Taylor. Truth or Dare?"

I frowned. "Truth."

"Alright." Jared leaned forward, a cocky smile on his face. "Have you ever wanted to kiss anyone around this table?"

I stared at him. Then I reached forward, picked up my drink, and took a sip.

The guys howled with laughter. Most of them were on the football team. Jared was the star quarterback who thought being the star on the field entitled him to be one outside of it as well.

"You should have asked if she wanted to sleep with you, man."

"No, ask if she's already slept with someone here."

My nails dug into my palms but I managed to keep my composure. I glanced at Chris from the corner of my eyes.  His hands, resting on the sides of her legs, reached up to grip her waist as she erupted in another fit of giggles.

Yeah. He definitely resembled someone in desperate need of help.

Chris was pretty close to most of the team. He even lived in the same house. With his easy smile and typical guy-next-door good looks he had always been a bit more low-key. Something I liked about him actually. He hadn't even been on Jessica's radar until he'd rejected her in front of everyone. Until now.

The laughter died down when Jessica leaned toward her friend and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "Why make a big deal out of it if she's just going to play anyways?" She rolled her eyes.

My stomach clenched. Of course, she would think so. Jessica simply demanded attention. Wherever she went, heads turned, girls' eyes flashed green with envy and boys drooled over her. And if they didn't she would make sure they did. Just like she was doing now.