The Dancer, Part Twelve
Part Twelve
Luckily, I had worn more practical undergarments, as this was supposed to be a dance gig and nothing more. Still, I was nervous about the waistband tearing and could only imagine how loose underwear would make a bad situation worse. With how much I had already suffered through wandering hands, something told me that any number of the drunk and horny guys present would react in a less than pleasant way to something like that.
“Better,” Autumn said.
A wave of murmurs in the crowd was painfully telling. They were picking up on the fact that I was stuck doing whatever Autumn told me to do, rather than simply being the stripper I was hired to be. It was a bit of a revelation for me as well, now that I was on the spot in front of so many former peers of mine. I wanted so badly to leave right then and there, but I didn’t know where any of my things were. No keys to drive myself home, no phone to call a friend to pick me up. With Heather involved, I was also in way too deep to flee for a second time, even if I had the means.
Autumn walked over to me with a cheap plastic New Year’s hat full of folded up slips of paper, holding it up so I could reach it from the table without too much trouble. “Now, whoever you pick gets a kiss at midnight. Let’s see who the lucky girl is,” she said. In a much quieter tone, she added, “And if it’s not an amazing kiss, you’re not getting your clothes back.”
It was such a simple threat, and this was the second time she had used it in a matter of seconds. As repetitive as it was, however, it was still perfectly effective. My house was miles away, and it was cold outside; did Autumn even know about the other reason I needed to stay? I could only hope that the original deal was still in place–I was only supposed to be the party’s ‘stripper’ until midnight. Just one awkward girl kiss to round out the mortifying night, and then I could be done.
I reached into the hat and pulled out a slip of paper. “Umm . . .” I recognized the name immediately. Every time it seemed like the night couldn’t get any worse, something else proved that it very much could. My face flushed even more than before, as I was already flustered from having to stand half naked for the whole room without the pounding music to distract me.
Autumn took the slip from my hand. Upon seeing the name, she smirked. “Zoey!” she called out, to a few gasps from the crowd.
Autumn’s younger sister leaped up from one of the sofas, her lips pursed in a small smile that was reminiscent of the older blonde’s expression who just called her name. The girl was literally still in high school; I knew so, because Zoey was on the dance team as well. She was a junior when I was a senior, which meant she was halfway through her last year there. While Autumn had the obnoxious ‘hot girl’ look, Zoey’s features were more cute in comparison.
She might have had a more innocent appearance from the neck up, but her crop top and tight jean shorts were evidence that she didn’t mind flaunting her body at a crowded party. I also vaguely knew Zoey from practice, and she certainly wasn’t shy. “You SO picked me on purpose,” Zoey said. She stepped up onto the table next to me, to the cheers of everyone else. Once she was on my level, I was surprised to see that we were almost exactly the same size. Like, not just in height.
“Please. I didn’t even know you entered the raffle, sis! You are eighteen, right?”
“As of a month ago,” Zoey grinned. She tossed her hair back, then looked right into my eyes, “Although if I knew Bella was into girls, I would have made my move sooner.”
“You don’t even like girls!” Autumn exclaimed, “It’s just a phase.”
“Tell that to the girl I fucked last week.”
It dawned on me way too late that they were just playing the crowd, instead of actually bickering as sisters. Every reply caused some kind of amused reaction, especially from those that actually knew Zoey. She was a total flirt, and been openly bisexual for years. Obviously, Autumn would know that, and was just echoing the cliché adult phrase for such things.
“Do you want to fuck Bella?” Autumn asked.
“Stop stalling, sis!” Zoey replied. I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t deflecting. If anything, she was just getting impatient. The need to be the center of attention certainly ran in their family. “Start the music.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Walking over to the guy who had been DJing all night, Autumn placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear.
A few seconds later, that same fucking remix of ‘I Kissed A girl’ started playing.
It was one thing when I was giving a lap dance to Autumn, but the song was much more fitting for what I was about to do with her younger sister. Any hopes of getting my blush to go away were dashed when I looked into Zoey’s eyes and fully realized that I was about to make out with her in front of everyone. Turning beet red, I totally froze.
She didn’t seem as bothered. “Come on, Bells.” Starting to sway her hips, she took my hand and tried to get me back to the effortless dancing that we both knew I was capable of doing. “It’s just one song. Look.” She nodded her head towards the TV across the room.
11:57.
Just three more minutes, and this would all be over.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed a smirk on my own face and began moving to the music.