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She said so herself: Wes makes me feel comfortable. So, the fact that I am excited to seemy frienddoes not warrant a silent conversation with Mr. Caveman over there. And as for the tongue tag comment, that was completely off-side, I don’t know how many times I have to tell Stella there is nothing going on between…
“Words cannot say how much it warms my heart to hear you say that Trip.” Stella’s eyes widen as she takes in the presence behind me. I force the smile creeping over my face into a scowl and whirl around, retort ready on the tip of my tongue.
“Who said I was talking about…” My response disappears and suddenly I’m the one visibly gulping.
Wes
“Are you… are you wearing eyeliner?” The question comes from Stella, who is looking dynamite in her skin-tight pantsuit and frizzed out platinum hair, while Trip continues to gawk at me.
“Sure am. Last time I checked, Billie never performs without it.” My response is directed at Trip, hoping she will catch my reference. My costume is, after all, inspired by her love of punk bands.
From the charcoal around my eyes, gelled spikes in my hair, and black dress shirt / red tie combo; I was going for the lead singer of one of her favourite bands. Well, I don’t actually know if Green Day is one of her favourites, but given they were featured on her t-shirt the other day, I figured it would be a safe bet. Taking in the stricken expression on her face, however, I’m starting to worry I was wrong.
“Billie?” Stella is not helping the situation. I can feel my costume confidence decreasing by the second. Next time I’m bleaching my hair and going as Machine Gun Kelly. Bet she wouldn’t forget him too.
“He’s the lead singer of Green Day.” Saving the day, Trip breaks out of her trance and pats her roommate on the arm. “I’m afraid Green Day doesn’t run in the same circles as One Direction.” Not even attempting to dissect that sentence, I feel relief rush through me. My effort was not in vain.
Stella shakes her head solemnly, “The world would be a much brighter place if everyone appreciated One Direction.” I raise my glass in toast while Trip rolls her eyes. I hide my smirk, secretly pleased I am not the only one who causes that reaction.
Remembering my duties as Cody’s wingman, I quickly pull out the chair next to Trip, forcing Cody to take the one next to Stella. Not my most subtle tactic, but efficient, nonetheless. Stella instantly turns and starts talking to my captain while Trip reaches for the closest trivia sheet.
Having my own costume identity crisis averted, I shift to get a better view of Trip’s fit for the night. 80s style curls bounce along her shoulders as golden highlights tease their way through Trip’s otherwise dark hair colouring. The skin-tight pantsuit appears to be identical to that of Stella’s, but damn do they wear it differently. Trip’s subtle curves are embraced to their fullest, the black leather stretching tight over her rack and emphasizing her slender frame. Her eyes are as heavily made-up as my own – tragic comparison, I know – with some extra sparkly powder glittering at the corners.
She looks like every guy’s leather clad dream.
Sliding the questionnaire over, Trip’s eyes flick to mine, and the swirling shades of grey seem to call my name.
“Alright, rockers let’s get this show on the road! Does everyone have trivia questions in front of them?” Tearing my gaze from the vision beside me, I turn my attention to the MC walking back on stage.
“To make sure everyone has a fighting chance, I am giving you two minutes to google as many answers as possible. Once those two minutes are up, it will be whichever table yells out the answers the fastest. Everyone understand?” I cheer along with the rest of the bar. “Perfect. Phones out, web browsers ready… and go!”
Everyone at our table scrambles to pick up their phones.
“Alright team, listen up. If we do this systematically, we can cover more ground.” Ever the leader, Cody starts delegating questions to each of us. “Stel, you’ve got the first section, Trip the one after that, and Wes and I will handle the last one. Got it?” We all nod in unison, jumping into virtual action.
In a screen lit blaze of glory, my fingers fly over the keyboard, pounding question after question into my search engine. Time flies and before I know it, the buzzer sounds, putting an end to our google venture. Leaning back in my chair, I shake out my fingers, giving them a well-deserved stretch. Trip sees my cool-down exercise and raises an eyebrow.
“How many did you find?” Giving a modest shrug, I casually throw out my number.
“Five and a half. I’ve been told my ability to type fast is uncanny.”
A second eyebrow raises to meet the other, teeth coming down to bite on her bottom lip. I narrow my eyes, completely ignoring the way her lips look in that dark red lipstick and address the reason behind her not-so-hidden smirk.
“How many didyoufind?” Trip’s attempt to hide her smug smile fails and a sly grin breaks across her face.
“Seven.” I gape at her, unable to process how she managed to crush my typing reputation andvacuum all the air out of my lungs with just one smile.
“I found five.” Cody’s voice interrupts my spiralling thoughts while Stella cackles with glee. “Eight for me. I win, losers.” Chuckling, Cody shakes his head while Trip leans over to give her roommate a high five.
I frown good-naturally, “If we’re all on the same team, doesn’t that mean we all win?”
“Sure does, Billie. But now we know who’s the most valuable player on the team.” Stella blows me a kiss and I pretend to bat it away midair.
“Down to the final two teams. Now to make this round a little more exciting, we are going to get the teams to go head-to-head. Can I get the Lavishing Leather Ladies and the Punk Ponies to the front of the stage please?” The bar breaks into applause as our table stands up and walks towards the stage. Our rival table in the far corner gets up to join us. Throughout the trivia game, the Punk Ponies had easily kept up with our Google-searched knowledge, and sadly, some of their players were as enthusiastic as Stella. You would think Stella shouting our answers from atop of a bar stool would be hard to beat, but somehow the Ponies managed. We couldn’t see their table from our vantage point, but I would bet someone got up on the bar to match Stella’s energy.
We line up along the elevated platform, facing the opposing team. I can feel Trip twitching anxiously beside me, so I reach down and grab her hand for support. I hear her breath catch as I thread her fingers through my own, giving them a reassuring squeeze. She squeezes back and a warm feeling envelops my chest. Maybe I’ve convinced Trip I’m not so bad after all.
The MC hops down from the stage and stalks between both teams. Up close, his blonde wig is a lot less impressive, but you’ve got to give the guy kudos for the Guns N’ Roses tattoo covering his forearm. It shows true commitment to the cause.
