John's

"You all right?" You asked the fallen drunk, catching him in your arms so he wouldn't hit the ground with a thud.

"Iasfksljlsafmlkj..." Nothing but gibberish came from him. You knew you had to find a couch or something for him to relax on. Looking around though, finding a spot was easier said than done. Way easier said than done.

"Just try not to throw up on me." You told him, not that he'd get that into his head. All you could do was hope that your most stylish and expensive clothes survived the night. At the very least, Miranda's singing voice kept you entertained during this ordeal. After spending a long time crushing on her, something as small as her vocal chord could turn you on. Sadly though, she doesn't seem to be aware of your crush, and you couldn't blame her.

With all of those opportunities, you fell flat of confessing. Sometimes it was your lack of courage. Other times, someone had to interfere and ruin the moment. You could never find the right time to tell her. But that would change tonight. Miranda was single, and with the amount of attention she received from other men, you couldn't let this chance slip by. Because sooner or later, you would lose if you didn't make a move.

Soon you found a single wooden chair positioned in a hallway for some reason. You were decently strong, but carrying another person for a good minute could tire you out. A sigh of relief escaped from you. "Just relax here, okay?" Once he was settled onto the chair, you rushed into the kitchen to grab a water bottle before returning. "This should help." With the bottle placed into his hand, you give the lad a departing smile before going back into the living room.

As you walked back into the now-smaller crowd, you see Miranda getting off the dancefloor and you knew very well this was a good opportunity if you could see it. With one deep breath, you used all of your courage to approach her. "Hey. How was the dancing and singing?" That was a good conversation starter, you thought. At the least, you two had established some friendship, so it wasn't like you were starting from square one.

Miranda returned a beautiful smile. "Hey John. I had so much fun up there. I felt like a young girl having the time of her life." She looked back at the next person getting onto the dancefloor. "You know, I thought performing in front of a crowd would be nerve-wrecking, but it's not as bad as I thought."

"Well you definitely did great." You complimented her. "I guess it's like making a public speech. You get nervous preparing and then you have fun when you actually do it, and once it's all done, you can smile in relief."

"Well unlike Mr. Claude's class, I actually want to do this again." Miranda replied.

"Psh. Mr. Claude wasn't that bad. The lectures and exams were easy." You grinned a little playfully.

Miranda raised an amused eyebrow. "Sure, I'll give you that. But his voice makes you want to fall asleep. Sometimes I think he's a robot disguised as a human."

You couldn't find a rebuttal to that. Mr. Claude did have a boring and dull voice. "Fair point. On the bright side though, that's an extra hour of sleep. I could've used some of that during midterm season."

"And we did well, didn't we?" Miranda added. "It was all worth it in the end, and I don't regret buying Starbucks every morning."

"Careful now, Starbucks addiction is an actual thing." You informed in a banter-like manner.

"You really sound like my dad right now." Miranda returned a playful grin of her own. Then the two of you shared a laugh together. All seemed to be going well for you right now. No awkwardness, no tension, you were having a fun and genuine conversation with her.

Once the laughter died out, silence followed. Although there didn't seem to be any sense of awkwardness, you still wanted to keep the chatter going. "This party is fun. Nicole really knows how to throw a party." After all, you and her have been friends since kindergarten.

"I know she's rich, but I still can't believe she actually has a dancefloor and a karaoke booth." Miranda had a bit of surprise in her voice. You couldn't blame her; what doesn't Nicole own in her main house at this point?

You let out a small chuckle. "She's full of surprises. Just when I think I know everything about her, she does something very unexpected... none in a bad way though." As you continued to talk to Miranda, you couldn't help but wonder if Nicole had anything planned for the afterparty.

Flash forward to the afterparty, one hour later.

"Let's play a game!" Nicole announced while you were in the midst of a conversation with Matt. Yup. She had something planned all right.

"A game?" Matt was the first and probably the most intrigued. He was into video games, board games, card games, you name it. "What kind of game?" You were less of a gamer than he was, but you understood his passion very well.

"It's not one of those geeky puzzle games." Tom rolled his eyes as he sat across from you. Well, you couldn't win everything, and Tom was one of the few people you genuinely disliked. It was hard for you to actually dislike someone, but he managed to end up on that list. How? By simply being a nasty bully. It didn't help that he taunted you about Miranda whenever he had the chance. He definitely wanted to bring the worst out of you.

But before you could tell him off, Miranda beat you to the punch. "All he did was ask a question. You don't need to be rude all the time." She scolded him like what a mother would do. You saw her and Matt share a smile with each other.

"Now now, Miranda. You don't need to keep playing mom. I think we should let these two boys go at it. Fight for your affection." Sarah smirked from ear to ear. Of all the people in this room, you knew her the least. All you knew was that she was easy to score. She probably experienced every kink and fetish known to humankind. Though that was a rumor, alongside the rumor of her sleeping with hundreds of men.

When you looked at Sarah, she winked at you. Immediately you whipped your head away from her, blushing a bit in embarrassment. You swore you could've heard a giggle come from her, but you paid no further focus to her. There was no denying that she was attractive, and she had some charm that could make you blush from a simple wink - you shook your head. No. Miranda and only Miranda.

"Psh. Easy win for me. This twig will say some cringey simp shit." Tom smirked at Matt, though he seemed to be calm and unfazed. As if it had no affect on him.

Matt shrugged. "Okay." Definitely not something Tom wanted.

"So Nicole, what do you have in mind?" You chimed in. Just in case Tom somehow loses his shit and actually tries to fight your best friend.

"I call it: High Card, Low Card!" Nicole produced a deck of cards. It was fresh and in brand new condition. "We're gonna combine cards with dares!" Now she had all of your curiosity. She didn't want truths to be involved?

Nonetheless, you awaited for her explanation. This would be a great opportunity for you and Miranda to bond, grow even closer, and hopefully much more.