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Doll generally disliked any room with more than ten people in it, and this one probably passed that threshold.
Jokes aside, dozens of dumb, probably drunk people were strewn about er, somebody’s house? Lizzy had dragged her to yet another party. It was loud, hot and crowded like any other, and yet Lizzy seemed to thrive in that environment.
Doll had spent some unknown amount of time staring out at the forest of people she hardly knew, letting the conversation spin on without her until Lizzy dragged her back in.
“Isn’t that right, Doll?”
[Haha, yeah...] Doll smiled and pretended to know what they were talking about. Lizzy's so-called friends had the privilege of taking up the host's living room. Her, Rebecca and Doll sat on the couch while a couple guys Rebecca knew surrounded them like a royal court.
Rebecca complained, “This party is so dead, nobody’s done something stupid in like half an hour.”
“Hey, I'm in the mood for something stupid, just give me an idea or something. And get me another drink!” Lizzy barked at one of the guys. The trio snickered as their loyal servant ran off to the kitchen in response.
[I'm sure you're gonna regret that,] Doll warned. [How drunk even are you right now?]
“Not as drunk as these idiots,” Lizzy replied, though that was a pretty low bar to clear. “Have some fun for once! People like us don't have consequences, Dolly. People will allllllways like us, we’re too high up!”
[I think that guy's too high up.] Doll pointed to a spacey-looking boy across the room, mentally shooing away her nervousness with the joke.
Rebecca had been leaning over the other side of the couch chatting with one of the jocks. She returned with a cheeky expression, suddenly resurrecting Doll’s nerves.
“Wait, wait, I have like, the perrrfect idea, oh my godd! I like, dare you two to toootally make out right here.”
[What? Us?] Doll tensed up and laughed stiffly. She turned to Lizzy for her input, as she would in any awkward situation, but her typically confident friend was unreadable. [Im—or, well, we're not…]
“Well yeah, that's why it doesn't matter!”
The guy Rebecca had been whispering with chimed in, “Cmon, I'd pay to see that! Lizzy, would you do it for five dollars?”
Lizzy's face hardened. “Just five? Jason,
I know you can do better than that.” Doll was grateful for the refresher on the identical jock’s name, but a little surprised (scared? excited?) Lizzy hadn't shot down the dare immediately.
“Alright, fine, how’s ten?”
“Mm, nope.”
“Seriously? You can watch girls
make out on the internet for free you know!”
“Not girls as pretty as us!”
Doll found the power Lizzy held over people even in a state like this fascinating. She could say something blatantly untrue with a straight face, and everyone treated it as absolute fact, another scientific law right next to those of gravity and motion. But she was distracting herself. Again.
“Ugh, is twenty bucks enough for you?” Jason broke the momentary spell, returning Doll to her apprehension and cluttered thoughts.
“Twenty each, Doll’s a person too!”
“Fine, deal.” He took out his cruddy wallet and gave lizzy her $40, who put it in her bag smugly.
“Ohmigod, you’re actually doing it?” Doll didn’t know what Rebecca expected, she was the one who proposed the dare after all.
“Twenty bucks is twenty bucks Rebs! Besides, it's not weird or anything, we’re best friends! You said it yourself.” Lizzy's head was turned towards Rebecca but her hands were on Doll's shoulders, reminding her this wasn't another strange dream, this was really happening.
Doll knelt next to Lizzy on the couch, nearly on her lap. She hunched over a little to match Lizzy's height, looking into her pink eyes for a moment before forcing hersef to glance away.
[Yeah, totally not weird, we’re just friends.]
“Yeah, friends,” Lizzy seemed to feel the need to repeat it like a mantra.
Lizzy suddenly pulled her in and kissed her. Doll might’ve heard cheering, or laughter, or music, but she could only hear her core pounding in her head. Doll pulled away just a moment and tried to speak, but when she reached for words, she found nothing but a dry throat. She only wanted to lean back in and kiss Lizzy, a thought she never thought she’d have, yet one that made perfect sense, one that fit into her consciousness like the final piece of a puzzle.
But Lizzy was only her friend, of course. Of course, this was only a stupid dare, something just to shock the guys. Yes, exactly, it was just something stupid. Funny and stupid and stupid.
Doll felt an odd stab of panic and leaned away from Lizzy, back to her side of the couch. That unreadable look returned to Lizzy's face, and Doll wondered if she was thinking the same thing.
“What, you two aren't gonna really go at it?” said the idiot paying to see this.
Lizzy moved closer to Doll and cupped her face with one hand. “Well, um...” she stammered. Doll felt like a radiator.
[It’s just twenty dollars.] Doll tried to discourage Lizzy. She'd need to leave if she got too warm, she couldn’t risk hurting anybody because of something so stupid.
Lizzy only continued to sputter, searching for anything that could allay suspicion while continuing to lean towards Doll, only doing the opposite.
[Don't you have your parents’ credit card?]
Lizzy opened her mouth, but there was
nothing left she could say. Lizzy only stood up and walked away, followed only by eyes.
Doll had no choice but to find Lizzy, she had too many questions. The other boy had finally come back with their drinks, she could hear the group talking about how he missed some “crazy girl-on-girl action.” She rolled her eyes at the comments while making a beeline for the door.
She found Lizzy in the hallway outside the house. The cold air was bracing, but it hardly made her feel any calmer.
“Oh. Hi.” Lizzy blushed and stared intently
at the icicles dripping from a vent overhead, avoiding eye contact with Doll at all costs. “This’ll all blow over in a week, right? Yeah,” she answered her own question.
[Maybe— Maybe it shouldn't… Or-well, I mean—] Doll hadn't said a single coherent sentence but Lizzy understood her perfectly.
“Yeah. You're right.” The muffled music behind the door underscored the now comfortable silence between the two girls.
[Nobody's watching now.]
“Yeah, this is better.” Lizzy laced her hands through Doll's hair and kissed her, now free from the veil of some stupid dare.