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*Female Bonding*~The girls of evo are forced to stay in the Institute and *gasp* bond! *The Art Of Villany*~Pietro takes villany lessons from daddykins
GAMES AT MIDNIGHT: A TALE OF TWO GIRLS
Kitty and Marie faced each other, eyes narrowed in determination. Both of them wore their pajamas: Kitty, in a pale pink nightgown, Marie, in a black camisole and baggy plaid pants. There was a clutter spread on the bedspread between the two girls: an open bottle of vodka, a package of cigarettes, a deck of cards, a pair of dice. Kitty seemed slightly nervous. Marie seemed right at home.
The clock outside their door struck twelve.
"Midnight!" Marie announced triumphantly. "And - everybody is in bed."
"Logan might be up," Kitty pointed out.
"Yeah, but he won't care," Marie said dismissively. She reached for the bottle. "OK. Rules - whoever carries out a dare gets a cigarette. Whoever tells the truth gets a drink." She waved the vodka. "If you don't go through with a plan, you're dismissed from the game, and we got to sleep without anything."
Kitty nodded.
"Actually - new rules. If you don't go through with a plan, you go to bed without anything, Ah get all the goodies."
"And vice versa?" Kitty asked, suspiciously.
"Yeah - well, that's only fair, Ah guess."
"And, like, how do we tell when somebody is telling the truth?"
"It's up to the other person to decided. Fairly," she added, seeing the look on Kitty's face. "This game has to be fair, or else it just doesn't work."
"I'm, like, good at being fair."
"So'm Ah."
The girls gazed at each other in the dim pool of lamplight. Over the past months, the two roommates had been coming to terms with each other more and more. It started with a polite greeting or merely not complaing about messes or late nights. After a while, they actually started talking to each other, having decent conversations. Kitty stopped complaining about Marie to her friends. Marie stopped glowering at Kitty whenever she stepped through the door. This game of truth-or-dare had been Marie's idea, spurred on by boredom and finding a bottle of vodka in the back of a kitchen cabinet. The cigarettes were Marie's own.
There was a thump from the hall outside.
Both girls turned and stared at the door, nervous.
After several moments of silence, Marie whispered, "Ah don't think it was anything important." "What do you think they'd like do to us? If they found us?"
"Just write us up." Marie spoked calmly, but she seemed a little tense herself. Lately, she'd been in getting into lots of trouble. Dodging chores, being impudent, failing to make herself part of the family. She had been spending a lot of nights awake, staring at the ceiling. Marie didn't know Kitty knew this, but she did. She was more observant than her Valley Girl exterior let on.
"We'd better get started," Marie announced, and lifted the bottle to her mouth for a drink.
"Hey! Like, no fair! You said we wouldn't drink till we told the truth!" Kitty protested.
Marie casually finished drinking and wiped her mouth with her wrist. "Ah get a little extra at the start, because Ah came up with the idea. And brought the cigarettes." She peered at Kitty. "You've never had vodka, have you?"
"A little. Well. Barcadi and Cokes. Once or twice. At, like, you know, parties."
"Have you ever smoked?"
"Once or twice."
"OK." Marie folded her hands on her lap. Kitty gazed at her, uncertain. Marie had taken off her makeup for the night. Her face was soft, pale, and almost delicate in the lamplight. Her eyes looked more brown and more limpid without the black shadow. Her lips were full and pink without the usual coat of Plum Passion. Kitty fingered the hem of her nightgown, nervously. Really, Marie was almost beautiful.
"What are you looking at?" Marie demanded.
Kitty blushed. "You, like, look different."
Marie reached for the dice. "That's it. We're going to roll to see who goes first." She rolled the dice. "Five."
Kitty rolled. "Ten."
"You win." Marie smiled oddly. "Ask me a question."
Kitty bit her lip, thinking hard. The room was a little drafty. Kitty wished she was in bed, asleep. She had a lot of homework to catch up on. "Um - truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"OK. Let's see. Do you - do you like living here?"
Marie sighed and reached for the vodka. "Kitty - come on, now. This is supposed to be an exciting game, not a soap opera. Ask me stuff that will embarrass us. And no, I don't."
Kitty shrugged, watching Marie's throat as she took a long swig from the bottle.
"My turn. Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
Marie considered this. "Are you a virgin?"
Kitty blushed, feeling her cheeks flame. "What? That's personal."
Marie sighed and shook her head. "Kitty, Kitty. Guess you don't get a drink."
"OK, OK. Yes." Kitty watched Marie anxiously to see what she thought of this. "I mean, like, I've kissed guys a few guys and stuff, but I've never, like, done it. You know."
Marie grinned and passed her the vodka.
Kitty took a cautious drink. It stung her throat and made her blink. When she spoke again, her voice sounded slightly choked. "That's - good-" she managed to get out, and coughed.
"Want me to get some Coke?" Marie asked, half-teasing.
Kitty shook her head. "Truth or dare?"
"Ah'll stick with truth."
Kitty, already feeling the vodka warm in her stomach, took a mean streak. "Are you one, then? Like, a virgin?"
"Yeah," Marie said calmly, and reached for the bottle. "Pretty much."
Kitty considered this. "Oh."
Marie paused with the bottle up to her lips. "Do you believe me?"
Kitty nodded.
"OK." Marie drank deeply, then studied the bottle. "We'd better do some dares, before we run out of vodka."
Kitty nodded again.
"Truth or dare?"
"Dare," Kitty said.
"OK. Then Ah dare you to - write a love letter to - Kurt. And leave it outside his room."
Kitty flushed. "OK, no. That's enough."
"Aw, come on," Marie laughed. "It'll be fun! Ah can help you compose it and everything. Don't you wanna cigarette?"
"Not that much."
Marie frowned. "You're being a stick-in-the-mud, Kitty."
Kitty shrugged. "Can we stick with truth?"
"Fine. If you wanna be pussy about it."
Kitty blushed even harder. "Well, then. Your turn. Um - who was the first guy you ever kissed?"
"Ever? My dad, probably."
"You, like, know what I mean."
Marie sighed. "All right, all right." She looked at Kitty, eyes narrowed. "Promise not to tell?"
Kitty nodded.
"Scott."
Kitty's jaw dropped. "Like, no way! You're lying!"
Marie seemed a little offended. She reached for the vodka. "Ah am not. Ah kissed him one week after Ah came here. Ah was in his room and he said he wanted to kiss me, so we used an edge of the curtain and we-"
"Have you ever done anything else with him?" Kitty interrupted.
"No fair. Two questions in a row!"
"Fine." Kitty sat back, a little unsettled by this news. She hadn't known Marie was involved in any way with Scott. For some reason, it upset her slightly. She wasn't sure which she was jealous of - oh, this was silly. It was the vodka. "Ask away."
"If you had to sleep with one guy in this building, who would it be?" Marie's eyes glinted mischievously. Kitty gasped. "Like, I'm never gonna answer that!"
"Then no vodka. You've only had one sip."
Kitty ground her teeth. "Fine. I guess - like - maybe - I guess - well. Like, I sorta like - Scott. I guess."
Marie laughed and passed her the vodka. "Are you jealous of me, then?"
"It was only a kiss." Kitty shrugged and took a long, deep pull on the bottle. "OK. Which guy would you sleep with?"
"Logan," Marie shot back.
Kitty stared. "Serious?"
In response, Marie reached for the bottle.
"Oh well." Kitty was starting to get used to these surprises. She felt warm, fuzzy, a little unsual. Ready to take any challenge. "Ask me a question. Like, right now."
"Which celebrity would you make love to?"
"Ryan Phillipe. Would you have sex for money?"
"No. Would you rather have a cute guy bad in bed, or an ugly one good in bed?"
"Cute guy. Would you ever have sex with a stranger?"
"Yes. Would you be a porn star?"
"No. How many guys have you kissed this year?"
"Two. Have you ever watched porn?"
"No. Would you kiss another girl?"
Marie paused, considering this. "Ah don't know," she said slowly. "Ah really don't know." She looked at Kitty and smiled suddenly. "Dare."
Kitty felt butterflies in her stomach. She clutched the vodka. "OK."
"Kiss me."
Kitty swallowed. She was sure was straight - she knew it. She'd had her doubts, back in junior high, but just because she didn't know any better. Kitty looked at Marie, in a dilemna. The vodka made her feel like she could do anything. But this - wouldn't this be too awkward? Too weird? She studied Marie's full lips, pale, childish face, long lashes, and the sprinkling of freckles on her nose. Actually, Marie was really lovely. Beautiful, in fact. And she was nice to Kitty. She'd been nice to her for months. Kitty had always been a little fascinated with the girl - her dark mystery and violent moodswings were so unlike the shallow, giggling, ponytailed girls at school. Kitty found herself leaning forwards.
Marie moved closer. "Wait a second." She opened her drawer and pulled out a scarf, one of the veily kinds that you could read a book through. "Wouldn't want you getting hurt."
In the lamplight, their lips met. Marie's mouth was soft and salty and stained with vodka, slightly grainy and silky throught the scarf. They felt different from the boy lips Kitty had always kissed. A little sweeter, maybe, or softer, or more gentle. Not sucking and grasping. Just there. On Kitty's. Everything seemed suspended in a pool of lamplight, on a bed, at a quarter past midnight.
At last Marie pulled away. She looked at Kitty, and smiled. "Nice."
"Yeah," Kitty agreed, touching her mouth reflectively.
They sat in silence for a while.
Marie stirred at last and held out the cigarettes. "You want one?"
Kitty shook her head. "I think - like, we should be getting to bed. I'm kind of sleepy."
"OK. Yeah. Me too." Marie gathered up the dice and vodka, the cards and cigarettes. Kitty went over to her own bed and lay down beneath the covers, staring at the wall, thinking. She could hear Marie opening and closing drawers. Then the lights went off, and there came the soft rustle of Marie climbing into bed. Kitty bit her lower lip. "Marie?"
"Yeah?"
"Like, just in case you didn't know, I'm not - you know. I like boys."
"Yeah. So do Ah." Marie yawned. "It was just a dare, Kitty."
"I know."
The only sound was the ticking of the clock in the hall.
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