Chapter 35
35
I can’t quite believe it, but we’re out for Lou’s hen party, and the boys are out for Nolan’s stag party, and we’re all hanging out together, in the same place.
Fair enough, there is only one bar in the local town, so without travelling we were all always going to end up here, but we didn’t have to come together, and we didn’t have to decide to sit together. We’re like one big group now, rather than two separate ones – and we definitely no longer feel like warring sides, not tonight at least.
The town bar is adorable – traditional, tiny and completely unpretentious. The drinks are poured generously, the jukebox has nothing we’ve heard of, and we’ve got a big table all to ourselves. It’s like our own private pad tonight.
The boys claimed the table while we got the first round in – another thank you for another dinner – and now we’re all sitting together, hanging out, everyone’s laughing like old friends. The tension from the competition feels like a distant memory. In fact, it’s hard to imagine why we felt so negatively towards them in the first place (I have had a few drinks though, and I’m sure if I think back to the first days, I could probably recall why).
Nita slides a tray of shots onto the table.
‘More drinks,’ she announces.
‘You’re reading my mind,’ Harry replies, winking at her as he grabs one. ‘Do you know what would go really well with these? A drinking game.’
‘Uh-oh,’ Lou practically sings – she’s had just enough to drink where I reckon she’ll go along with it. ‘Are you trying to get us into trouble?’
‘I’ll make sure you don’t get into trouble,’ Nolan reassures her – I suppose he is the sensible one. Oh, and he’s getting married too. There’s that.
‘They’re scared they can’t keep up with us,’ Harry teases, obviously trying to get a reaction out of one of us.
Nita obliges.
‘Erm, excuse me? We are practically professionals. Do you know how much we’ve drunk over the years?’ She nudges me and Lou. ‘Remember those nights out before you two got boring?’
‘We’re not boring,’ Lou protests. ‘We got boyfriends.’
I notice Travis look at me. I need to say something.
‘And I don’t even have one any more, so there’s nothing to hold me back.’
‘You two were legends,’ Nita reminds us. ‘Why don’t we show these boys what they’re dealing with?’
Travis leans closer to me, smiling.
‘Legends, eh?’ he says. ‘That’s a bold claim.’
‘I don’t know about being a legend, but I will happily play a game,’ I reply.
‘I’ve got the deck of cards with me,’ Owen says. ‘You girls ever played Decked?’
‘Everyone who grew up in the UK has played Decked,’ Nita informs him.
There are a few variations of the game, and different people play by different rules, but generally it’s just drawing cards, and doing whatever weird or wonderful thing that card means.
‘I’ll recap the rules,’ Owen begins, shuffling the deck. ‘First rule: no crying and/or chickening out. That’s not in the spirit of the game.’
‘And no refusing to drink the dirty pint because you don’t like one of the things in it,’ Harry adds.
‘Let’s do it,’ Lou says.
I smile to myself. I love how she’s embracing the hen party chaos. In hindsight, we should have brought a bunch of penis-y supplies, and L plates, to really see her off in style. Then again, that might be where she would draw her line.
Nita chooses the first card, a king, meaning she starts the dirty pint. She pours a generous splash of her cocktail into the cup in the centre of the table.
‘I reckon that’s for future you,’ she warns, pointing at Harry, flashing him a sinister smile.
Lou pulls a card for ‘Never Have I Ever’.
‘Okay, okay, okay,’ she says, smirking. ‘Never have I ever… fancied someone at this table.’
I hesitate. I know, you’re supposed to play honestly, but I’m not about to admit that, am I?
As I glance around, I notice pretty much everyone drink, I think everyone apart from Lou. Well, I might as well, seeing as though everyone else is.
‘That’s very, very interesting,’ Nita says.
‘What can I say?’ Harry jokes. ‘It’s Travis’s cute little bum.’
We all laugh – but he does have a great bum.
Nolan becomes the Question Asker, asking Willow a series of questions, trying to catch her out by making her say the word ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – the only two words you’re not allowed to say. Of course, he catches her out right away, by asking her if she knows the rules. She looks furious.
‘Drink,’ Nolan commands her.
Eventually she smiles and knocks her glass of wine back.
By the end of the game – which really has been a blast, and a bit of an eye-opener – the dirty pint finally claims its victim. Harry. We all scream and cheer as he downs the gross-looking mixture in the glass in the centre of the table. Ew, rather him than me, it smells like sick.
But he does it, like the good sport that he is.
‘I’d have that again,’ he says, before burping. I’m fairly sure he’s joking.
‘Have you ever played Paranoia?’ Nita asks.
‘No?’ Harry replies. ‘What’s that?’
‘Basically, one person whispers a question to another, and the answer has to be a person at the table. They answer out loud. Then, the person whose name was said has a choice, they can either play on and ask a question to someone else, or they can ask to know what the question about them was – but, if they do, they have to take a shot,’ she explains.
‘Love it,’ Harry replies. ‘Let’s do it.’
Here’s hoping everyone is gentle, although I have a sneaking suspicion we’re about to drink a whole lot more.
As I look up, I notice Travis catch my eye across the table. His laugher dissolves into an easy smile, then a wink. I smile back at him.
Here’s hoping no one asks me who I fancy at the table, because I would have to say Travis, and if I do say his name, I get the feeling he would be willing to drink to find out…