Longhorns Ch. 03

Author's Note: This is Meredith's chapter; I plan to write a concluding chapter wrapping up the story from all sides next. This one took me a long time to complete, thanks to a ton of travel recently. Hopefully, it doesn't disappoint. This might take a bit of a left turn for the Romance category, which is somewhat monogamy-oriented, so caveat emptor. As always, I appreciate all your feedback, and I hope this chapter lives up to the story so far. -Theworldspins

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When it got dark, the voices started to blend together more, as everyone competed with one another to be heard. Even with the minimal buzz she got off a single wine cooler—drinking that was the subject of much comedy, to be sure—she felt like it wasn't just the noise itself. It was her. It didn't help that DJ Virginia liked to crank the music so damn loud, either. Meredith never tried to compete to be heard over people louder than she. Since most people were louder, she usually had to be content with keeping silent in situations like this. Parties weren't really her thing.

"When was yours?"

It took Meredith a moment before she realized Lydia was addressing the question to her. She was mildly startled, having grown accustomed to being forgotten at things like this.

"Sorry, couldn't hear you," she replied apologetically.

"Can we turn it down a little?" Lydia begged Virginia.

After first rolling her eyes demonstratively, Virginia walked over to Robert's desk, all the while play-acting as if she was using a walker. Meredith found it hard to always be cool enough for Virginia. Her eyes darted around—bending over to pretend to grip the 'walker' meant that Virginia's ass was sticking out. Meredith watched as, slowly, every guy in the room noticed and did their best to surreptitiously look without being too suspicious. It wasn't just the guys either—their friend Kylie, who would, no offense, fuck anything on two legs, seemed just as into it.

Who wouldn't be with a butt like hers?

Lydia wasn't drunk, not exactly, but she was definitely loosened up. Her wide-eyed face was flushed, and she was that drunk girl thing where she constantly was playing with her tongue, biting it playfully whenever she spoke. Meredith had met her freshman year at a party much larger than this one. Lydia had made a point of seeking her out and striking up a conversation, and Meredith always appreciated it. Though Virginia dragged her along to countless parties when they first came to Austin, it wasn't the easiest for her to meet new people as anything other than Virginia's friend.

"We were talking about when we had your first crush," Lydia continued, now that the decibel level had receded. "When was yours?"

Meredith smiled. She knew she'd get a chance to make Virginia blush, which didn't happen often enough. She looked around to spot where she'd gone—she was bouncing from person to person, playing the part of hostess here at Robert's place.

It seems as much like her place as his now.

"Seven years old," she said. "Howie Gibbons."

To her surprise, Virginia heard her and turned her way.

"No! Not happening."

By trying to prevent Meredith's response, Virginia only managed to draw more attention. Like a flower bending towards the sun, the dozen or so people present all turned towards Meredith. Though not quite silent, they were at least attentive to her for the moment. As far as Meredith knew, no one else had heard this story.

"Howie Gibbons, huh?" Kylie asked, her voice dripping with innuendo. "He must have been pretty hot to get your attention. Like, pre-pubes Timberlake hot."

"I bet he had frosted tips," added Max, Lydia's boyfriend of the moment, to general laughter. "And, like, wore gel in second grade."

"He knew all the dinosaurs," Meredith began, smiling slyly. "Like, not the fake ones, either, the ones that it turned out they didn't exist and stuff."

"The fucking brontosaurus," Virginia said, taking a swig of her beer. "Total bullshit."

"No shit?" asked Pete, their friend Madison's boyfriend. "That was my favorite one."

"Well, sorry to crush your dreams, dude," Virginia responded, "but lots of the cool ones were fake."

"You were saying..." Kylie interrupted, steering the conversation back to Meredith.

"So, he was the smartest boy in school. I remember him reading to all the other kids in, like, kindergarten. So, anyway, I didn't even understand what it meant to like a boy. Boys were totally mean."

"Still are mostly," Robert added, before Virginia pinched his side and twisted. "Damn, girls are too."

"Get a room, you two," Madison, always quick with a cliché, chirped.

"So, anyway, I told Virginia—"

"You two went to elementary together?"

"Yeah—before Caroline put me in private school for a while," Virginia clarified. "That's, like, the only reason we got to know each other."

"Touching—but why's Virginia trying to keep on lid on this story?" Kylie said.

"So when I told Virginia about Howie, she punched him."

No one laughed louder than Robert. Meredith smiled directly at him.

"Best part was why—she told him he couldn't take her best friend away."

"I don't see what's so embarrassing about that," Madison added quizzically. "I think it's sweet."

"That wasn't the funny part," Meredith countered.

"You're dead to me," Virginia intoned, though Meredith could sense she wasn't really embarrassed, just playing it up for everyone's benefit.

"The best part was when she had to explain why to the teacher and her mom. Tell everybody what you told them, sweetie."

Virginia started to twirl her hair girlishly.

"Howie can't get married to Meri," she said in a baby voice, "'cause I'm gonna marry her."

Everyone erupted into laughter.

"It wasn't that funny," Virginia protested. "At least, back then it wasn't. I got the whole 'You can't be a lesbian, you're a Methodist' talk from Caroline. I was freaked."

"So you've been corrupting poor Virginia since way back," Robert said, stroking his girlfriend's shoulders from behind.

"Maybe that's why your mom still hates me," Meredith said, sharing a moment of recognition with Virginia.

She was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable being the center of attention—it was nice to be noticed, but she had a feeling that too much of this kind of talk and they would end up like most parties falling into a reminiscence circle jerk that would probably just cause her a lot of embarrassment and—

"Never Have I Ever?" Madison asked to no one and everyone. "C'mon, Never Have I Ever."

Meredith felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Haven't we played that before?" Virginia asked.

Thank you. Kill this idea before it grows.

"There's a lot of new people," Kylie said, oblivious to Virginia's intentions. "And besides, that was, like, freshman fall. Lot's changed since then."

Meredith watched Virginia turn first to Robert, who shook his shoulders without a care.

He's thirty. He's probably done everything. And the rest of them? Great, it's time for another round of 'pity the virgin'...ex-virgin.

"OK," Virginia said, heading into the kitchen. "Tequila shots?"

"Tryin' to put me in the hospital?" Kylie asked.

Kylie had done everything at least once. If the game continued long enough, she'd be face down and have to crash across the courtyard over at Virginia and Meredith's place.

"Then everyone can choose between beer or tequila—tequilas for the saints and beer for the sinners," Virginia said.

"Can I be a sinner and still drink tequila?" asked a tall, jocky guy, one of Lydia's boyfriend Max's friends Meredith didn't know well.

He was cute in a square-jawed, Captain America kind of way. Meredith didn't really ave a type per se, but athletic without being too muscle-y, clean cut, but with a little rough around the edges was always a good start. Though she couldn't deny his physical attractiveness, Meredith never got too hot and bothered over a guy until she at least got a sense of his personality. She'd have to keep an eye on this one, though.

"Your funeral," Virginia replied.

There were only a couple of single guys there, which was fine as far as Meredith was concerned. Ever since she'd started officially dating Robert a couple of months ago, Virginia had been not so subtly hinting that her next goal was finding Meredith a guy.

Everyone just assumes I want a boyfriend. Do I just scream 'desperation?'

It was just about half couples, half singles. There were Robert and Virginia, of course, but Lydia came with her guy Max (who would never last, they all knew it), and Madison had Pete. That left Meredith alone with Kylie, and the rest of the singles, none of whom she had met before tonight.

Everyone formed a rough circle. Robert had long ago staked out his desk chair, and Virginia sat on the floor beneath him, receiving one of the back and shoulder rubs about which she was always gushing. She wasn't alone on the floor, though; Robert's place wasn't made to accommodate a dozen, and apart from Madison and Pete on the couch, most of the people there were reclined against walls on the floor or leaned against the sides of furniture. The table in the center of the circle was covered in shot glasses, beer bottles, empty and full, and an ominous bottle of El Jimador silver.

"This must be a white people thing," the Asian dude in a basketball jersey snarked. "'Cause I got no idea what y'all are talking about."

Meredith giggled a little to herself.

"I've played this before," a pretty Indian girl countered, "so don't even try. Don't they send Chinese kids to camp?"

"Re-education camp," he responded drily. "Not, like, Camp Anawanna."

"You're from California, not Beijing..."

"It's easy," Kylie butted in. "You go in a circle. When it's your turn, you say 'Never have I ever...blank.' You know, something you've never done in your life. Anybody's who's done it, takes a shot."

"Or sip of beer."

"Yeah, whatever," Kylie continued. "Basically, all the cool people get drunk and pass out in twenty minutes."

Meredith scowled.

Thanks a lot.

She had two good reasons to hate this game. First, it made a big public show of how innocent and inexperienced at pretty much everything fun and dangerous she was. Second, this fact inspired not only pity but also some degree of animosity in others. Like the sober person in a room full of drunks, she was the little angel whose purity made everyone else seem like devils.

"You'll pick it up quick," Virginia promised. "Just follow along."

"Why not Truth or Dare?" asked the cute jocky guy, whose name, it turned, was Rick.

"Because this isn't going to end in some orgy fantasy for you, buddy," Kylie replied dismissively, "and we all know Truth or Dare isn't much fun unless that does happen."

"Me first," Lydia called out. "Never have I ever...shoplifted."

Her criminal record spotless, Meredith watched as a wave of people drank. She had a feeling this would be her experience tonight.

"Alright," Max called out, "I'll start slow. Never have I ever kissed a guy."

That would prove to be Meredith's last chance to drink for a while. She was grateful for the opportunity to drink along with all the other girls; what she hadn't expected to see was Rick quickly downing a tequila shot in response.

"Truth or Dare gone wrong," he admitted sheepishly.

"You're up," Virginia informed him.

"Never have I ever broken a bone," he said, as a handful of partygoers took shots.

As each person took turns, the questions got more and more scandalous, leaving Meredith's narrow range of experiences behind. Round after round, her friends, loosened up by booze, confessed to bondage, role playing, anal sex (including girls giving and guys receiving!), assorted juvenile crime sprees, and the like. Meredith sat there, passively smiling and hoping no one noticed that, if this were a game, she'd have come in dead last by a landslide.

Only Robert seemed to understand her discomfort. Every so often, he'd look over at her and flash an apologetic smile. Meredith had hoped that maybe he'd been a wallflower like her, but it wasn't to be. He was right in there with the rest of them, if not more, given his roughly ten year head start on sex and other debauchery.

After admitting to receiving a finger up his ass during oral sex, Robert looked over at Meredith, as if to say he hoped she didn't think less of him. In truth, Meredith wished she could do half the crazy things they'd admitted to tonight, only with someone she really trusted. She may be shy, but she made up for it in repressed horniness.

"Do you have something to tell me?" Virginia asked her boyfriend in response to that one.

"I didn't think explanations were part of this game," he replied confidently, seemingly enjoying Virginia's confusion.

"Damn Virginia," Kylie laughed, "I just figured it was your finger up his ass."

"Not yet, but soon," Robert responded, crossing his fingers, and soon the entire room had erupted in laughter.

"I'm afraid what comes next," Madison joked.

"Never have I ever...had a crush on a professor," Robert said.

The response was even more lopsided by gender than Max's question. Every single girl, including Meredith, had had a crush on a professor, while not a single guy had.

He knew the answer. He wanted me to have a chance to drink again.

"That why you in grad school?" the Asian guy, Jared, asked Robert, who only shook his head in mild embarrassment.

All eyes were on Kylie, and everyone who knew her was thinking the same thing: if she hadn't done it, nobody had.

"Never have I ever been in love," she said, arching her eyebrows as if proud of surprising them all.

Madison and Pete turned to each other and downed a pair of shots. She was painfully aware that Virginia found them both annoying, but Meredith was glad she was still their friend. She knew that deep down Madison was a little insecure that the 'cool kids' would ditch her once they got to college. In part, this was the only reason she incessantly reminded people of their shared past. It was nice to see her and Pete, moreover, feeling comfortable enough to say that they loved each other.

Meredith wasn't surprised to see Robert drink; after all, he'd been with his ex-girlfriend for years. But she was a little sad, in a way, to see Virginia not drink. Meredith had known that Virginia liked Robert well before Virginia knew herself, and once again it seemed like she was ahead of the curve in understanding her best friend's emotional state. It would only be a matter of time before Virginia admitted to herself and to Robert what was already obvious to Meredith: she was crazy about 'Robbie.'

Having gone through so many rounds, the people drinking tequila shots were starting to feel it. The beer crowd—Kylie, Virginia, and Robert—were a little more coherent, though just barely.

"I'm learning all sorts of things tonight," Virginia said, seemingly relishing the prospect of peeling back the layers of her new boyfriend.

For her part, Meredith was trying to stay in high spirits. They'd gone around twice, and, given the way that some of their friends were slumping over, her final question would probably be the last.

"OK OK OK," she said, taking the floor. "Never have I ever...had a threesome."

No one was surprised by that point when Kylie and the people she'd brought drank.

"Kylie probably had one this morning," Virginia quipped.

Rick, Mr. 'Truth or Dare Gone Wrong, took his final shot of tequila, too, and given how many guys he'd kissed and more, Meredith was pretty certain they weren't all two-girl threesomes either. Then Madison and Pete took shots, and everyone was shocked. The happy couple in love had invited someone else into their bed already.

"Madison?" Virginia asked in disbelief.

"What? I'm not Ms. Goody-Goody like you think," she said boldly.

Nope, that's me. Poor pathetic me.

"I mean this in the nicest way possible," Kylie said to Madison, her voice finally beginning to betray her creeping inebriation, "but I like you so much better after tonight."

Rick got up looking wobbly and headed to the bathroom.

"Don't worry Meredith—one day, you'll find the right guy," Kylie slurred. "And he'll bring a friend over, and they'll bend you—"

"Holy shit, Rick just puked all over the bathroom floor," Jared called out, pointing towards the gruesome sight.

"Goddamn it, Max, that's your friend," Virginia snapped.

"Hey, I'm not responsible for everything he does," Max countered.

"That's why the floor's made of tile," Robert said. "Go take care of him, and I'll clean it up. It's not a big deal."

Kylie looked over at Meredith.

"Party's over, huh?"

"Looks like it," Meredith replied.

Kylie came over and gave Meredith a hug. She smelled like booze and perfume.

"It's OK, baby," she whispered in her ear. "You just need to find the right guy...or girl."

Kylie kissed her on the cheek, a lingering kiss that Meredith couldn't help but take as an open invitation. She froze.

She's just drunk. She's just drunk. She's just drunk.

Meredith watched as everyone filed out, Rick, her 'prospect' for the night, being practically dragged out by his friends. Virginia was alternately apologizing to Robert and fuming about Rick, and Meredith didn't want to interrupt to ask if she planned to come home tonight. Meredith assumed Virginia would stay over at Robert's as usual, and consequently she wanted to take the bed again tonight.

She got up to leave, but Virginia called out for her to stay. It was probably for the better, as even with her limited drinking, she'd still felt dizzy when she stood up too fast. The unexpected clean-up complete, Robert and Virginia came back into the living room, him to his desk chair and her to the sofa.

"Come here and cuddle with me since my dumb boyfriend won't," Virginia said, pouting.

"Coming dear," he said in a facetious tone.

Soon, Virginia was sprawled out across the sofa, her head propped up on a pillow in Robert's lap while her legs draped across Meredith's thighs. Robert was stroking her hair, and Meredith suppressed a strange urge to run her fingers across the smooth skin of Virginia's legs.

"This is better," Virginia cooed. "I feel like royalty."

"Quick, Meredith, smother her with a pillow," Robert joked.

"She's too pretty to kill," Meredith responded.

"See, somebody loves me," Virginia said petulantly.

"Maybe I should have taken a shot that round," Meredith said quietly.

She knew immediately that everyone was thinking of the results of that round, the 'love' question, when Robert had drank and Virginia hadn't. Meredith had talked to Robert about his ex before, but she wasn't sure that Virginia had. Meredith was always surprised that, whenever Virginia learned something new about his past, it was usually something she'd known long before his girlfriend did.

"Well, me too," Virginia said, "'cause I love you too, sweetie."

"Trying to steal my girlfriend?" Robert asked Meredith jokingly.

"Maybe I'm trying to improve my performance next time we play," Meredith quipped back.

Please don't actually think through what I just said...

Virginia grinned.

"Good one!" she said. "You, Kylie, and that bi chick from the third floor could definitely make for a hot three-way."

"Two girls? No way."

Oops.

"Meredith Elizabeth Reynolds, are you saying you want two beefy studs to have their way with you?" Virginia said in faux outrage. "Why, what will they say at University Methodist?"

Meredith was turning red.

"Don't listen to her," Robert said warmly.

Meredith was eager to take the heat off of herself.

"I noticed you didn't drink on the threesome question either, Miss Virginia. Maybe I'm not the only prude around here," she said in a bratty voice.