MSD ch 7, with a shiny new banner!
Title: 'My Salad Days (Green In Judgement, Cold In Blood)' Chapter 7 of probably lots.
Author: sinful_teddy
Rating: PG
Pairing: Tiny bit of Ry/Col that will become the main pairing. One-sided Brad/Greg. Greg/OC. Wayne/OC. Beginnings of Greg/Jeff.
Summary: It's senior student Colin's first day at a new high school in America. He never made any good friends at his last school - will this one be different? Of course it will, stupid. Colin meets some new people he feels like he could fit in with. He is intrigued by Ryan, the shy and awkward junior. WHERE WILL IT LEAD. /lame summary orz
In this chapter, the long-awaited game of SPIN THE BOTTLE! Brad has a problem and wants Colin's advice.
Warnings: High school AU. Some self-inserts of me and my sister that are purely for our amusement. Colin with hair (o: wtf).
Notes: I FAIL with proof-reading, so if you spot any mistakes or inconsistencies, would you would point them out to me! c:
This was supposed to be the last party chapter, and the one where the Ry/Col stuff starts, but my muses attacked me and made me really draw out the spin the bottle game! It pretty much takes up the whole chapter. So, the actual Ry/Col will start next chapter, I'll make sure of it. (:
CHAPTER SEVEN: The Party part III
“Who wants to spin first?” Drew looked around at a sea of unwilling faces. “Should we start with the oldest?”
“Isn’t that you?” asked Kathy. Drew looked unsure.
“Who’s the youngest? We could do youngest first,” said Greg. Jeff looked appalled. “Oh right, sorry,” Greg laughed.
“Sheesh, alright, I’ll go,” Sinead volunteered, rolling her eyes. “You people.” She leaned forward and spun the bottle. Everyone watched intently as it passed by each member of the circle over and over, until finally it came to rest on...
Rowan. The two sisters stared blankly at each other for what seemed like a long moment.
Finally, Sinead gave a sigh. “OK, quick check of the rules...?” Everybody laughed, cutting the tension instantly.
“Just spin again,” said Greg, and, satisfied, Sinead did so.
This time, the bottle came to a stop pointing at Denny, who cocked her head and shrugged. The others all watched on as the two girls half-crawled forwards to meet in the middle of the circle. The kiss was brief, and there was clearly no spark, although tongues were seen to be involved. It did, however, garner a positive reaction from most of the boys.
“My turn?” asked Denny, when Sinead had retreated back to her spot. With a flick of the wrist, Denny sent to bottle into a swirl. It landed on Drew, and neither of them were able to contain a grin. They turned to face each other, and leaned in to kiss, shoulders bumping as they did. It lasted longer than with Sinead, and Denny seemed all the more pleased by it.
Drew’s spin directed him to Wayne. “Oh, boy,” said Drew with mock enthusiasm, as Wayne began to crawl seductively towards him. Drew made no effort to move from his spot as Wayne drew nearer, merely screwing his eyes shut when they kissed, apparently trying his best to pretend it was someone else.
Wayne clearly just found the whole thing amusing, even as he span the bottle and it landed on Greg. Beside Colin, Brad picked at the carpet, apparently not watching this part. Greg’s spin directed him to Rowan, who apologised thoroughly to Sinead before complying with the rules.
Rowan span Kathy, who span Chip, who span Laura, who span Karen, who span Ryan. Colin gripped his trouser legs in anticipation of Ryan’s spin.
“Left hand gr...” began Chip. “Oh, wrong game.” He smiled a goofy smile, getting a laugh out of Wayne. “Drew!” he announced, and indeed it was Drew at whom the bottle was now pointing.
Ryan glared at the bespectacled blond, as if it was Drew’s fault. “I’m not kissing that. I have standards,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Oh yeah? Wouldn’t have thought a guy like you could afford to have standards,” Drew retorted. Ryan shook his head, that familiar muppet grin on his face again.
“Fine, let’s get this over with,” he said, looking away. Their lips met for the briefest of moments and then they both pulled away, seemingly unable to do any more.
“Ahem. Where was the tongue, boys?” Wayne teased, wagging a finger. They both glared at him. “Rules is rules,” he said with a shrug and a toothy smile.
With the utmost reluctance, the two boys moved together again. Drew’s entire face was blushing, while Ryan just squeezed his eyes shut and planted his lips awkwardly on the other boy’s.
This kiss lasted a full four seconds before they both broke away in disgust, laughing. Ryan made a big performance of mock-spitting and wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his sweater.
“Oh, now I have to go again,” said Drew, and spun the bottle quickly. It slipped from his fingertips and spun out into Greg’s foot.
“Guess that means me!” laughed Greg. “Any tips, Ryan?”
“Shut up and kiss me,” Drew said dramatically. Ryan shoved Greg playfully, and he crawled over to where Drew sat. Their kiss was like Denny and Sinead’s; no chemistry whatsoever. Greg liked to pretend there was, though, so he leaned forward, grasping at Drew’s back, and ended up pushing him backwards and lying on top of him. Drew cried out in surprise and burst into laughter, pushing a smug-looking Greg off of him.
“Nobody wants to see that, Greg,” complained Ryan, pulling a repulsed face as Greg returned to his spot.
“Well I enjoyed it,” Greg said, poking his tongue out at Ryan as he reached for the bottle again. Colin looked over at Brad experimentally to see his reaction. Brad looked back questioningly, scratching his nose. Colin smiled. Brad looked back at Greg.
Greg span Jeff, grinned a devilish grin, and beckoned with his finger. Brad made a ‘tut’ noise, and Colin saw a slight frown on his face he didn’t seem to realise was there.
Meanwhile, Jeff shuffled over to Greg, looking around at all the girls in the circle as he moved, as if he was allowed a different choice. Greg sat up and leaned towards Jeff, tilting his head to the side to get the best of the kiss.
Sinead leaned over to Rowan. “Hottest kiss of the game so far!” Colin heard her say.
He had to admit, it was true. Greg and Jeff must both be really good kissers, because they certainly both seemed into it. It was almost ten seconds before they broke apart, and Jeff let his fringe fall in front of his eye, hiding the twinkle in it.
Greg looked smug as ever when Jeff span him again, and a chorus of groans broke out around the circle.
“It’s meant to be!” Karen declared. Ignoring her, Jeff and Greg approached each other again quite happily, and kissed for the second time. It was shorter this time around, and when it was over Greg said, by way of explanation, “Better give someone else a shot.”
Colin was surprised when Greg span him. He had almost forgotten he was part of this game, becoming like a fly on the wall for the action. He looked over at Brad again, but couldn’t meet his eyes, as Brad was staring at the floor again. Colin shrugged lightly and went over to where Greg was sitting, leaning in for the kiss.
He felt a little wary as Greg’s wetted lips pressed against his, and he felt Greg’s tongue dart forwards and part his lips slightly. He kept on his guard during the kiss in case he met a similar fate to Drew, but no such attack came. When he pulled away, feeling a little odd about having just had his first gay kiss, Greg wasn’t even looking at him. It looked at first glance like he was looking at Sinead, but her gaze was elsewhere, while Jeff met Greg’s eyes evenly.
Colin widened his eyes and went to spin the bottle, hoping nobody else had noticed what he had.
Colin’s heart skipped a beat every time the bottle span by Ryan. After seven skipped heartbeats, however, it ground to a halt pointing in between Karen and Brad.
“Uh...what does that mean?” asked Colin. Karen and Brad instantly pointed at each other.
“Hey, you wanted to play this game!” Brad protested, shoving Karen lightly.
“Yeah but not for the reason you think,” she teased back, delivering several pokes to his ribcage. He shyed away from the touch, laughing.
“Stop it, I know exactly why you wanted to play,” said the obviously ticklish Brad. “But you can kiss Colin, because he hasn’t kissed a girl yet.” There was a pause, and Brad looked over at Colin. “In the game I mean!” he added, giggling.
“Yeah, thanks,” said Colin, rolling his eyes. He shuffled over to an only slightly disappointed Karen, who planted her lips on his in a shy and short kiss. Colin wondered guiltily if it was her first, but batted the guilty feeling away as he reminded himself it was her idea to play.
Karen span Greg on her turn. He somehow incidentally managed to spin Sinead. (“Boring!” whined Kathy.) Sinead span Chip, and the resulting kiss looked very awkward somehow. Chip span Wayne, which was...less awkward.
Wayne span Greg, who was obviously turning out to be the most frequent player. Colin could tell that Brad was getting tense, wondering if Greg’s next spin would point to him, or if he would even get a turn at all.
“I need to pee,” said Ryan, shifting out of the way as Wayne flung his arms around Greg.
“Yeah me too,” said Drew.
“Me too!” said Rowan brightly. “I’m going to the toilet.” She got up and headed for the hallway. Ryan leapt to his feet and chased after her.
Drew stood up and followed them. “We have two bathrooms, y’know!” he called.
“Should we stop playing?” asked Denny, leaning back on her palms.
“Maybe they still want to play,” said Laura uncertainly, as Greg made his spin.
“Hey, you guys wanna do something else?” asked Drew, popping his head around the doorway.
“No!” Brad exclaimed, as the bottle came to a stop pointing at him. Greg, however, was no longer paying attention.
“Yeah, it’s getting kinda old I guess,” he said with a shrug.
“I think you’re the only one who can say that,” Kathy said.
“Hey, wanna go down into the yard? We can turn up the stereo and dance,” suggested Drew.
“Sounds good,” said Laura, and Drew smiled warmly at her as the others agreed - except for Brad and Colin.
Colin turned sympathetically to Brad. “Hey, maybe next time,” he said.
“Maybe next time what?” Brad demanded, but the pretense crumpled under Colin’s gaze. “Yeah, maybe,” he sighed, and Colin gave him a warm pat on the shoulder. “If there even is a next time.” He continued talking as the others all stood up around them, and Colin got up too, helping Brad to his feet. “But...” he drew closer to Colin in order to speak more quietly. “There’s Sinead at the moment,” he murmured, “but you saw the way he and Jeff were looking at each other. The way they kissed. Right?” Colin nodded slowly. “What if they get together, and I miss out on another chance?” Brad stepped back, worrying his lower lip.
Colin was quiet for a second. “Oh, Brad,” he started, pushing his fringe back out of his eyes. “I dunno what to say... I’m not good with the whole comfort thing.” He sensed Brad’s disappointment at this, and quickly said, “But...maybe, y’know, maybe it’s not so far off. What you want.” Colin shrugged as the others all filed past them into the backyard, and lowered his voice. “Look, Greg may not notice that you like him now, but maybe it’s just because he’s got a girlfriend already?”
“What about Jeff?” Brad pouted slightly, unconvinced. He shyed away, realising he was speaking too loudly, as Denny glanced over curiously at the use of Jeff’s name.
“I think that’s mostly just...” Colin took a pause to figure out how to put this into words. “You know. Like, he’s exciting because he’s the new guy...” He trailed off, not sure if that made sense.
“So, what are you saying I should do?” asked Brad, seeming to accept that.
“Well, maybe don’t come right out and say it,” said Colin with a frown, unused to being the one to give advice. “But if you sort of...I dunno, spend more time around him...maybe he’ll get the hint?” He shrugged again, slightly defensively, nervous at having to come up with something useful to say. Everyone else had already made their way outside, and they were alone in the room.
Brad nodded at this, then, completely unexpectedly, pulled Colin into a big hug. “Thanks, buddy,” he said, and Colin reached up to pat him on the back, uncertain of whether the situation really called for a hug. Who was Colin to give relationship advice, anyway? He’d only ever had one girlfriend, and that relationship was neither long-lasting nor very difficult.
Nevertheless, Colin was in slightly higher spirits as they walked out into the backyard, away from the source of the pounding rock song. The other partygoers greeted them with cheers and barely-passable dance moves, and Colin grinned and stood in the corner. He was happy to watch just for now.