Cuddle Application 1: Truth or Dare

©Anna Rae (annardj12)

➳♀♁➳

"Goddammit, Skylar!" I heard one of my best friends scream from across the room. Something - many things, actually - struck my face, and I rolled my eyes in time to see the deck of cards flutter down onto the beige carpet.

I eyed the ace of hearts from my upside-down position on the bed. The swirling design swam in and out of focus.

"What?" I mumbled, but it came out gargled because I was both upside-down, and completely exhausted.

The Jack Daniels bottle appeared in front of my face.

Drunk. Yes, maybe I was that, too.

"Your turn," Lina announced. The only noticeable thing I could see about the face mere inches in front of mine were the piercing blue eyes. The rest of Lina's features didn't quite pop out at me in my drunken state, besides the abominably red hair that was springing out in multiple directions. Lina's blurry lips moved as she morphed the word, "Drink."

A bit suddenly, I sprung up from my position, overtaken by excitement and unreasonable adrenaline. Immediately my head swayed and my eyesight became blurry. The dimly-lit room turned even darker as my head swam.

"Whoa," I slurred, and then I laughed because it seemed incredibly hilarious that I'd sat up too quickly.

"Drink," Lina ordered again, handing me the alcohol.

A small amount of amber-colored liquid sloshed in the bottom of the Jack Daniels bottle. I tipped the glass from side to side, hypnotized by the wet consistency that crashed against the side of the bottle, like waves against the shore.

I looked over to Lina, watching her fiery hair switch from blurry to focused as my eyes failed to separate the two.

"I like this game," she said. "We should play more often."

I nodded, and the movement sent my brain into a hammering frenzy.

I looked to the floor - the only thing that wasn't moving - and saw the back of a blond, curly head.

"Hey Cora," I mumbled in greeting. "What 'cha doing down there?"

Our other friend, Cora - who had long since passed out - recommended that we play Truth or Dare. But I said that "truths are for pussies," so Lina suggested raiding her parents' liquor cabinet. Getting away with this was terribly easy, since neither her mother nor father were home.

So it basically turned into a game of "Do What I Tell You To,"with a gulp of alcohol between each turn. Cora had passed out, sprawled across the fluffy, beige carpet, when the bottle of Jack had still been half full. She had never been good at holding her liquor.

Turning back to Lina, I giggled, "Last one. Make it good!"

I took a large swig from the bottle, finishing off the drink. It burned down my throat, and left my belly in a heated panic.

At the same time, it made me laugh.

"Okay, what do I do, Leaner?" I asked Lina, using her nickname, barely getting out the sentence before my head drooped.

I was on a fast track of becoming Cora - passed out, with my face shoved in the carpet and my butt sticking up in the air.

"Um, lemme th-think," Lina stuttered. A hiccup escaped her lips, which caused her face to light up, and her icy blue eyes sparkle with laughter.

Just then my phone chimed from across the room, lighting up. It was one of the only sources of light in the room - besides the faint strip of yellow beneath the door - since the sky outside had slowly faded to the darkness of twilight.

"I got it!" I screamed in an incredibly phony British accent.Facing in the direction of my phone, I bellowed, "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!"

Tumbling off the bed, and tripping over a math book - which sadly reminded me that school was tomorrow - I crawled over tothe desk my phone was on and grabbed it with greedy fingers.

Also on the desk was a closed computer, purple and sleek, a desk lamp - which was on, illuminating the space around it - and a few papers that were strewn on the wooden desktop in an unorganized manner.

"Maybe it's Superman, calling to let me know he found my cat, Mr. Wombleton!" I bellowed excitedly.

Lina snorted. "You don't have a cat, Skylar."

Staring at the brightness of my phone screen, I was suddenly depressed at this sullen information.

"N-no fair!" I huffed towards my friend. "You are clearly n-not as drunk as m-me."

"Just check your text," she ordered.

Then Lina got up from her seated position - swaying a little - and walked over to her computer.

I looked at the small screen of my phone.

Park: come party wit us

The words didn't entirely make it to my brain for processing. It took me more than a few seconds to understand that Park wanted me to go to him.

Me: why don't you make me

Park: maybe i will. where r u?

The words blurred, and I struggled to comprehend them. I blinked, my eyes dropping from exhaustion, and steadied my hand on the desk. It took me three rereads to conjure up a response.

Me: no wher. I'm havin fun. Lrsve me akome

Park: your drunk

Me: nope

Park: when ur sober, u capitalize everything correctly and yell at me for bad grammar

I huffed. Was I really that easy to read?

Putting the phone down on the desk, I was suddenly very upset with Park, who was one of my best guy friends and also Cora's brother.

I pouted for a moment before looking at the ground beside me. A bag of Goldfish sat abandoned on the floor. I grabbed it hastily, and dug my fingers into the bag. Plopping down on my bottom, I leaned my back against the desk and tapped my feet - which were clad in bunny slippers - together.

"I've got you now, Mr. Fishy," I murmured to myself, tossing a fish into my mouth and chewing loudly. "Die!"

I ate a few more before the bag was snatched from my fingers.

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

Lina just grabbed me by the arm, dragged me up, and flipped me around to face the computer.

"Now you've done it." I informed her, stumbling. "Now Dr. FishFry is going to take over the world with his goldfish minions at his side!"

I had no idea what I was saying, but I figured somewhere deep down it made sense.

Lina shoved me into the black swivel chair, and maneuvered my head so I was looking at the computer and not my beloved fishy treat.

"Ow," I yelped. The computer screen seemed to be at maximum brightness in the dark room. "Leaner, your c-computer's on fire."

Lina's red hair formed a curtain between her head and mine as she leaned down to type something into the search browser.

"No it's not. Now read the screen," she demanded.

"Are you even d-drunk?" I stuttered sleepily.

Smirking, she turned, skipped towards her bed, and executed a perfect nose-dive right into her flowery comforter.

"You belong in the Olympics," I said, staring at the blob that was lumped on the top of the queen-sized bed.

"Skylar, read the screen, fill out the questions, and submit the sheet," she said, burying her head under a pillow. "That's your dare. Do it."

"Pushy."

I looked at the screen, which still seemed much too bright for my intoxicated eye site.

Peeking down at the computer mouse, I was overcome by a fit of giggling laughter.

"Aw, cute little mousy." I ran a finger over the wheel of the mouse. It moved, and with it, the small, arrow cursor on the computer screen. "Cute little guy. Do you like cheese?"

"Sky," Lina warned. I snapped out of my trance.

"Fill out the sheet," I repeated. "I got it." I stared at the screen. I squinted. I leaned closer.

I paused.

"Lina, I don't know how to read."

In the silence that followed, I attempted to study the letters typed on the screen. Nothing was making any sense. I tried to pronounce a word in the first sentence.

The.

"T-he," I murmured. "Tee-he. Teh-heh. What the hell?"

She sighed deeply in response to my earlier statement. "Yes you do."

"Nu-uh."

"Skylar, you're seventeen, not four - you know how to read."

I looked back at the computer, blinking to try and clear the fuzziness that clouded the edges of my vision.

It appeared to be a website; that much was obvious. A form composed the webpage I was currently staring at. It seemed suspiciously similar to a job application or questionnaire.

I looked at the top, and the website logo stared at me from the screen.

"HugMe," it read in blue bubble letters.

"Oh my god, I can read," I said aloud.

Next to the HugMe brand name were two little bears, one pink and one light green. They were both facing each other, locked in a hug.

"This looks like a website for diapers," I commented. Lina scoffed loudly.

I looked at the sheet.

"CUDDLE APPLICATION"

What does that even mean? I thought to myself.

"Lina, where'd you get this?" I asked in her general direction, suddenly feeling a little more awake.

When she didn't respond immediately, I looked over at her. She was face-down on the bed, pillow pressed to her face so her cheeks squeezed together. Her curly hair was splayed across her face in a very non-ladylike manner.

"Lina? Are you awake?" I asked.

"I got it online," she finally answered groggily. One of her eyes slid open to look at me. "I thought it was s-super cute so I saved the website." Her eye drooped closed again. "I thought it might come in handy."

I turned to face the computer again, satisfied with her answer.

"Handy," I heard her mumble behind me. "Handy. Handy. Is that even a word?"

I poked the mouse. The cursor moved.

"... Handy."

I read the rest of the questions on the sheet. They were pretty basic, most of them "yes/no" questions.

"Okay," I started. "So I fill this out, submit it, and boom - what happens then?"

"Why do you keep talking?" Lina asked. "I'm trying to sleep."

"What happens to the application when I click submit?" I repeated.

"It goes into the website, and people can see it. If they l-like what you answered-" she yawned "-they'll send you a CuddleRequest."

"What the hell is that?"

I was met with silence, and then a deep snore.

Great.

The Cuddle Application, although I had pretty much no idea what it was, suddenly sounded like a great idea.

I like cuddling, I thought. This is perfect.

I began to fill out the questions.

Name: Skylar Lane

Age: 17

Gender: Female

The whole process seemed incredibly easy. The only thing I had any problem with was filling out my phone number - which seemed near impossible to remember in my drunken state.

I moved on to the "yes/no". The first few were basic, such as,"Do you have a current boyfriend/girlfriend?"

I couldn't remember having anyone, so I pushed the "no" button with such force that the mouse crashed into the wall behind the desk. I startled, drunken eyes wide, and searched the room for any signs of disturbed life. Cora and Lina were still snoring, bodies glued to their beds. I turned back to the computer, glaring at the mouse.

"You almost made me wake up my curly fries."

Towards the end, the questions started to turn to mush in my head. I was exhausted and about to hit the sack - hard.

I stared at the last four questions and filled them out groggily.

Do you mind if I give you a cute nickname?

I clicked "no."

Can we build cute forts?

I clicked "yes."

Will there be junk food and random food fights?

I clicked "yes." After all, who didn't like food?

And last:

Do you mind kissing?

If there had been an option that read, "I don't mind kissing at all - come at me, bro," I would have clicked that.

Instead, I clicked "no".

Then, after rereading my name to be sure I spelled it correctly, I clicked the blue "Submit" button.

And, without knowing who would see my application, or what would become of the sheet I had just filled out, I stood up from the chair and plopped right into a striped, pink and yellowbeanbag.

There, buried in blankets, was where I fell asleep.

➳♀♁➳