Yes, of course

Avery heard footsteps and walked into her living room to see her friend Samira staring out her window, "Hi!" She said excitedly.

Samira didn't turn but kept looking out the window, "Aves, I'm so jelly! Every time I come here I can't believe you have this view! Ahh, I wish!"

"Oh, um, thanks," Avery said, 'It's alright I guess."

Samira turned to Avery, "Alright? No need to be modest. You work hard, you deserve it. I just send tweets all day, sorry, X's? Whatever. You...actually I have no idea what you do, but it sounds complicated."

"I Process Hazards Analysis for chemical manufacturing. That means I-"

Samira held up her hands in defeat, "Sorry babe, it doesn't matter how many times you explain it, I'm not going to understand."

Before Avery could reply there was a knock at the door. She knew exactly who it was, everyone else just walked in. She opened the door and looked up. Way up.

"Malik, hi, come in."

Malik was more than a foot taller than her and probably twice as wide. Truthfully she'd been intimated when they first met, but now she knew he was as cuddly as a teddy bear. Not that she'd ever cuddled with him. Avery knew he was way out of her league.

Before they could close the door behind him, she heard the ding of the elevator down the hall and Matt came running up.

Matt was the oldest in their group, but he dressed like the youngest and was definitely the least mature. Sometimes his humor rubbed Avery the wrong way, but he could always be counted on to show up to game night. A bit odd, but reliable.

"Come in, Samira is already here. I'll get some drinks." Avery said, inviting them in.

By the time Avery made it back to her living room another player had joined them, "Hi Laurie!" Avery said.

Laurie smiled back at her, "Heya!"

"Where's Jade? I thought you told us to come for 6." Malik said.

"I did." Avery confirmed.

Samira scoffed, "Since when is Jade on time?"

"Oh ya, she told me she's running late." Matt said.

There was a bang as the door slammed open. There was Jade. She took off her shoes and ran in, sitting down on the carpet by the coffee table, "I'm right on time!" She said cheekily.

"I'm so glad you could all come. Shall we play?" Avery asked.

"So what's it called?" Malik asked.

"I do not know. But it is fun to try new games, is it not?" Avery said, "I did find the rules. It seems simple. We take turns rolling the dice and moving our pieces forward. When we land we draw a card of the same colour and read it aloud. The red tiles are special. You have to stop on them even if you rolled higher." The majority of the board was orange, with lots of blue tiles, less green tiles, and very few red ones.

"What kinds of things are on the cards?" Matt asked.

Avery shrugged, "it said not to read ahead. Spoilers."

"Strange, but I get the sentiment." Samira said.

"Ya. The rules were strange. It says things like...once you start you can't stop...the game is magic...the winner gets a wish...but some games just have weird lore, right?" Avery said.

"Right..." Laurie said cautiously, "Well, let's start. Avery why don't you roll first since you found the game."

"Sure," Avery said. She picked up the dice and tossed it, "2 and 4 is 6," She moved her token forward, but then came to a branch, "So I can go for the side with 3 blue tiles and no red or green, or the side with a green and a red. Either way I'm landing on orange this time. I guess I'll try the red side."

She moved her token to that branch and set it down on the orange tile. She drew her card, "It says...huh?" Avery was confused. What kind of game was this? "It says...Pants on fire - Lying results in a random piece of clothing suddenly feeling like it's on fire."

Everyone else was equally confused, "Does it give you points...or anything? Is it just roll until we reached the end reading weird sentences?" Matt asked.

"Let's see," Samira rolled, 3-3, "Also 6. I guess I'll try the other path." She moved her token and took an orange card, "My Feet Hurt. You will slowly become incapable of not wearing heels unless you are barefoot. Dull but continuing pain occurs otherwise. I don't get it."

Matt quickly rolled, "An 8...ok, let's see what blue says." He moved his token to the same path as Samira and stopped on a blue tile, "Choose. A: Become unable to spend money ever again (you can still give it away) or B: Become totally incapable of budgeting or restraining your purchasing. Uh...I guess if I had to pick...be bad at budgeting?"

Laurie looked around at her friends. "Wait...ok. Avery, tell us a lie."

"Huh? What do you want me to lie for?" Avery asked.

"Just do it. Tell us that you're actually a man."

"Oh...um...well...sure. I am actually a man." Avery said. Immediately her pants felt like they were on fire. She scream and stood up and desperately yanked them down. Once they hit the floor the sensation subsided and she checked her legs for damage. Except there was none. Her legs were totally fine. Her friends watched her in stunned silence.

Finally Matt spoke, "What the fuck?"