"ready?"

pt. eight

"' chapter energy '"
close to me (the cure)
eyes without a face (billy idol)

everyone enthusiastically agreed except for eddie who was seemingly nonverbal at the moment and richie who was giving bev a concerned, frightened sort of stare.

"democracy," beverly said, looking at rich," four out of six."

"alright, alright," richie said, breaking the eye contact," what kind of game would you happen to have in mind now."

"welll.." she began," we've got a few bottles to choose from downstairs- i was thinking, a round of spin the bottle?"

richie's whole body seemed to visibly untense and the rest of the losers simply laughed at bev's proposition.

"bev, you do realize that this party is like ninety percent guys right?," stan said.

"what," bev smirked," you guys pussy?"

"shit you can't be serious," stan laughed lightly, scanning her face.

she was dead serious and seemed to think their reactions were quite amusing. stan, along with the rest of the guys, saw this and fell silent. beverly pushed off the arms of the desk chair and began to stand up.

"any further objections?" she asked with a smile.

she scanned the room, looking face to face. the guys were quieter than she had ever heard before. she disappeared from the doorway in one swift motion, practically flying down the stairs. eddie started to recover a bit as she left the room, sitting up slowly and rubbing the back of his neck.

"what the fuck's going on now," he inquired.

"you know i'm asking myself the same question eds," richie replied," all i know is, bev's grabbing a bottle and she seems pretty damn determined."

eddie rubbed his eyes, slowly registering what richie had just said. he lowered his hand, eyes wide.

"you're fucking with me," he stated," i'm out for- what, two minutes, and now suddenly we're all swapping spit?"

"right on the money eduardo," richie sighed.

"fuuuuuuuck you guys, goddamnit," eddie groaned, threw himself back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.

a short moment later bev appeared in the doorway once again, a nearly empty vodka bottle clutched in her left hand and hanging at her side. she lifted it up next to her head and scanned the room once more.

"so, anyone decide to pussy out?" she asked them all.

there was a brief pause as everyone nervously looked around at one another.

"shit if no one else is going to," mike said abruptly," i sure as hell will."

"mannn come on mike," bev complained," you don't even have to go all in- i mean you can just give em a kiss on the cheek or the hand. you can handle that im sure."

mike paused for a moment. he looked around at the other guys and saw that, without saying a word, they all gave him the same look: "if i'm doing this shit, so are you."

"fine," mike said hesitantly, leaning back against the wall,"i suppose, if everyone else is going to, so will i."

"see, i knew you'd come around," bev nudged him lightly on the shoulder," a bit of affection won't kill ya dude."

mike rolled his eyes and bev took a seat on the floor in front of the desk chair. they all joined her on the floor between richie's bed and his couch. the rotation was: bev, richie, stan, mike, ben, and then eddie.