I pull up a chair from the dining table and ask Alice how old sheis.
“I’m twenty, but Christina sometimes acts like that makes me a child. How old are you,anyways?”
“Twenty-four,” Ireply.
Alice looks between Christina and I with a sly grin. “So if you guys dated Christina would be a total cougar. She’s a whole year older than you. Thescandal!”
“She’s only seven months older than me, actually.” Christina and I have already had this discussion, and she’s lorded her supposed ‘added maturity’ over me severaltimes.
“Also, that’s one cradle I will never be robbing,” Christina adds, nodding in mydirection.
“Well you guys are a fun bunch. I’m getting coke and glasses for us. Christina, put some musicon.”
The two of them get up to complete theirtasks.
“Sometimes I forget that this is my house, not hers,” Christina mutters, as she hooks her phone up to a soundsystem.
“Do you have roommates?” Iask.
“One. Well, one and a boyfriend of hers that basically lives here. You’ll probably...meet them at some point tonight.” She glances down the hall towards the bedrooms with a wary expression, and I decide to drop thesubject.
Alice makes us each a whiskey and coke, and we sip them while making awkward small talk. I steal glances around the apartment, taking in the decor. There’s a framed map of Portugal taking up one of the walls, and the windowsill is lined with houseplants in glazed bluepots.
I excuse myself to the bathroom. The colour scheme inside is way too teal and pink to have been picked out by Christina. Even though I know it’s rude, I open up the medicine cabinet and scan its contents, not really knowing why seeing her toothbrush gives me such athrill.
I walk back into the living room just in time to hear Alice shout, “Oh, Christina! Let’s play the truth or dare Jenga game you have in yourroom.”
“Oh my god no,” Christina groans. “I haven’t played that since college. I don’t even know why I still haveit.”
“I mean, technically youarein college now,” Alice answers, “and we are soplaying.”
She hops off the couch and trots over to Christina’sroom.
“Is she always this...peppy?” Iask.
“Kind of. I think the end of term relief is hitting herhard.”
I sit down in my chair again. “So am I about to learn all your deepest, darkestsecrets?”
She scoffs. “This game was invented for drunk people and horny teenagers. You’re more likely to get dared to give a lap dance than hear any revealingtruths.”
Alice comes back with the game and we spend a few minutes getting it all set up. When we’re ready to start, Alice holds up her glass and calls for atoast.
“To thongs and negligees and boss advertising strategies. You guys are going to kill it at theshowcase.”
We clink our glassestogether.
“Right, so,” Alice continues, “black tiles are truth, red tiles are dare. You can skip your turn if you really don’t want to do what your tile says, but if you do that you have to take two shots. If you skip more than three tiles, you have to strip down to your underwear and play the rest of the game likethat.”
“What happens if you knock the tower over?” Iask.
“You take three shots and the rest of the group gets to make up a dare for you. So don’t knock itover.”
“Or do,” Christinagrins.
“You’re going to lose so hard,Dominguez.”
“I don’t think so,” she retorts. “Winning is kind of mything.”
