The Perks of Being a Rowling

iv. truth or dare

         This is a long overdue dedication to purifist for editing the last 3 chapters of this book. Thank you so much! 

       College parties are strange. In the movies, they broadcast it as this amazing experience you just have to have. The idea revolves around the fact that getting drunk and dancing around strangers while you have term paper due the very next day is supposed to be amazing. Maybe it will be amazing, maybe I will get so drunk I will forget my own name and maybe I might just make out with a stranger.

            Or maybe I find Jenna and Mason and beat the living shit out of them for ditching me three seconds after we got here.

            Tonight is filled with endless possibilities.

            While squirming my way through the drunken crowd, I found myself randomly thinking about Harry Potter. This is really odd for me, because the last thing I ever want to think about is ‘the boy who lived’. I should probably stop hanging out with Mason so much. 

            After 10 minutes of searching, I take a deep breath and sit down to what seems like a mini-bar. To my left I see a couple passionately making out, and to my right- well, I don’t even want to explain.

            “Would the lady like a drink?” I turn around to find a slightly tipsy guy holding a red solo cup, which I assume isn’t filled with Capri-sun.

            “Um, no thanks, I have a 10 page research paper due tomorrow and I at least want to function enough to spell my name.” I reply. Mystery boy chuckles.

            “Let me guess, freshman?” He asks.

            “Yeah?” I reply half-heartedly. In high school, what grade you’re in always determined your popularity status. I never thought it was something I would have to worry about in college.

            “Ah, the freshman. Trust me, sweetheart, by next semester you won’t worry about that research paper- you’ll even show up still drunk. Just let the college life rub off on you a bit. Obviously, you can’t let that happen while you’re sitting alone by yourself, right?”

            Mystery guy had a point. After all, I did fly over the ocean to experience something new, so why not start now? I picked up the drink from his hand and chugged it all down immediately. The beer burned my throat, but the feeling it gave me was great.

            I start to look again for Jenna and Mason because without my friends I’m a slightly drunk loner.  All this walking around is exhausting. I find a person giving out beers and immediately take one and chug it down again. I know I’m probably going to regret this tomorrow but carpe diem and you only live once is popular these days.

            “Libby!” Jenna calls out as she pulls me into a tight hug. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

            I want to remind her that she left me, not the other way around; lucky for her, my brain is too tired to argue about the ‘friends stick together’ rule.

            “Come on, some people upstairs are playing a game of truth or dare!” Soon enough, I find myself being dragged to a surprisingly huge room filled with drunken college students.

            Let the night begin.

~~~~~~~~~

            “Alright so everyone should know how to play truth or dare, right? If not, here are the rules…” Tara repeats the rules for the fifth time tonight; I’m guessing her drunkenness comes with a side effect of short term memory. She is lucky I’m extremely comfortable on this carpet, otherwise I would have slapped her the second time she explained the rules to the simple game.

            “Truth or Dare?” Tara spins the bottle to Mason first and asks him the inevitable question that might just ruin some friendships tonight.

            “Um, let’s go with dare.” Mason slurs. He has a devious smile on his face, which is something he does before he goes on his Harry Potter rants during lunch.

            “I dare you to go make out with the first girl you see outside in the hallway.” Tara waits for Mason for decline.

            Of course, he doesn’t.

         We all trample over each other to watch Mason slam his tongue down some random chick’s throat. Tara didn’t give Mason a time limit, but it doesn’t matter; he seems to be taking his time. Soon enough, a guy makes his way through the crowd to find his girlfriend making out with some weirdo.

           I have a feeling I won’t be seeing Mason for the rest of the night.

             “Alright…” Tara says, trying to ease her way back in after that awkward first dare. “Whose turn is it to go next?” She carefully spins the bottle and somehow -with my luck- it lands on me.

            “Truth or Dare?” Tara gives me a sly smile. This is the first time I’ve met this girl and I can tell she isn’t good news.

               “Dare.” I say with confidence, hoping I wouldn’t soon regret the words.

               “I dare you to drink 5 shots.”

           I have to admit that I am a little disappointed by her dare. I was expecting something challenging and new, not something as simple as drinking, but of course I accept her dare with all hands.

                  A party isn’t fun if you’re not mind-blowingly drunk, right?

~~~

             “YOU KNOW SOMETHING? BRITIAN IS JUST BULL-SHIT.” Laughter starts to fill the room as I continue my rant. “America is where the real fun is at. What does Britain have anyways? A couple of red telephone booths and a snobby Queen?”

          “Well, Britain does have the legendary J.K Rowling; I couldn’t imagine life without Harry Potter.” One girl chimes.

             Anger seethes through my body. “YOU KNOW WHAT? JK ROWLING ISN’T AS COOL AS EVERYONE THINKS SHE IS, OK. I WOULD KNOW DUE TO THE FACT I AM HER DAUGHTER.”

              Laughter fills the room once more. Everyone is out of their mind laughing while I stand there like some drunken statue. I cannot believe I just blurted that out- and more importantly, that no one believes me.

             “Alright Libby, I think that’s enough for one night.” Jenna grabs my hand and starts to drag out the room, but I stop her.

              “I TAKE IT BACK. I HATE AMERICA.” Of course Jenna just shakes her head and drags me out of the room.

                  So much for a great college experience. 

A/N: 
This Chapter sucks, I know. I was having such a hard time with it and I decided to not let one chapter stop me from finishing this story. Good News is this is the last filler chapter in this book. The rest of the 6 chapters left in this story is going to be the good stuff, so it means I will want to write/ finish this story. Please vote and comment it means the world to me. 

- farah 

(p.s i added tara as the weird drunk truth or dare chick bc it just fits her... in some way) 

 Edited on 12/2/13