You’d been forced into going to Mona’s makeout party. You weren’t exactly thrilled by the idea, but you went anyway—for Cindy. The moment you arrived, the air felt thick, Cindy looked nervous and excited all at once, she’d made it pretty clear she was trying to get a kiss from Sam Weir—one of the geeks. You didn’t really get why she liked him, but you didn’t want to be rude about it either.

Then you spotted Sam at the door, standing with Neal Schweiber and Bill Haverchuck, his best friends. You paused for a second, watching them, until Cindy confidently approached.

You followed right behind her as she flirted with Sam, taking his hand and pulling him inside. Neal and Bill exchanged uncomfortable looks, and you just shrugged, which made them both chuckle quietly.

As you all made your way down to the basement, Bill and Neal stared at the scene in pure astonishment.

“you okay?” Bill asked Neal. “…let’s mingle,” Neal said with a shrug.

Bill clearly didn’t want to kiss anyone. To him, the idea was gross—germs, spit, mucus, old bits of food. He didn’t even get why people used their tongues anyway. But since his friends were excited, he’d ended up at this party too, whether he liked it or not.

The group gathered to play spin the bottle. Your turn came first. The bottle landed on Bill. He hesitated before kissing the back of your hand, and you hesitated just as much. Then it was his turn. It landed on you. This time he kissed you on the cheek. Neither of you seemed too happy about any of it.

Then came your next turn—and somehow, the bottle landed on Bill again. Your eyes widened slightly. Three times in a row. That meant 7 minutes in heaven. Bill shot Neal a look and gave an annoyed shrug. He didn’t want to go. Neither did you.

“go on guys,” Maureen said, chuckling softly.

You sighed and stood up quickly. “Let’s get this over with.”

Bill nodded fast and followed you into the closet. It wasn’t very big, and he just stood there awkwardly until you told him to close the door.

“Don’t even try to think about it okay?” you said as you both sat there for a couple of minutes.

“I couldn’t be less happy to be in here with you, so quit asking like I’m hoping I can kiss you! it’s actually the last thing I want to do right now,” he answered quickly.

You looked down. “Im… sorry Bill, that wasn’t… nice of me,” you said softly.

A few quiet minutes passed before he spoke again. “uh… can I ask you a question? what’s it like.. being pretty?”

You tilted your head at his question. “I— I’m not sure— This is.. um, the only way that i’ve ever looked.”

He nodded, his mouth half open as usual. He sniffed and took a soft breath. “I think people treat you nicer when you’re pretty.”