"Are you seriously revising?"

I darted my eyes away from my business revision book, to see Ruby peer her head from the door.

"Well yeah? Exams are starting in three weeks," I replied in an obvious tone. I situated my eyes back to my book.

Just as I was getting lost into the world of business terms, it was snatched from my grasp. Ruby launched it over to the other side of the room.

"What the hell Ruby," I protested, pushing myself up from my bed, running to pick up the book.

"Do you not want to go to the party?" Asked Ruby whilst slumping herself onto my bed.

My brows sloped downward and I hesitantly shook my head, waiting for Ruby to elaborate.

"The big party before our exams, it's tonight." Ruby waved her hands, as if she was giving me major news.

I tutted under my breath, whilst rolling my eyes. I ignored her attempts to get me interested. Instead, I seated myself at my desk, once again drawing my attention back to my revision book.

The words in front of me started to look like jumbled shapes, I could feel Ruby's stare on the back of my head. The concentration in me had evaporated and I was no longer able to focus.

"I'm not going," I sighed, closing the book.

"Why?"

"Parties are not my thing-"

"Come on Hannah. Just this once. Let you hair down have fun, and then you can focus on your exams." Ruby came into my line of vision.

Her eyes softened, like a puppy dog waiting for a treat. She pursed her lips, trying to persuade me.

"I've got nothing-"

"I came prepared," Ruby chimed.

She made her way over to the door, picking up a heavy loaded bag. She tipped the contents out onto my bed. A flurry and mixture of different material spiralled out.

"I've enlisted Ava to help do your makeup." Ruby lifted her brows, like she was a mischievous kid devising an evil plan.

She stood there, waiting for me to agree. My mind felt like scales, weighing out the pros and cons of going to the party.

The pros indicated that it would be fun, some relaxation before the hard work kicked in. The cons highlighted that it was the party, meaning Zac would be there. Since our presentation we saw less of each other.

With heavy revision weighing down on us, we spent less time in our classes, and more time to ourselves prepping. There was also the additional factor of Melissa being at the party.

With the need of letting my hair down, I was leaning towards going.

"Fine," I sighed in defeat.

Ruby's face lit up like lightbulb. She excitedly dragged me over to the mountain of clothes and we begun to trawl through it all.

***

After a couple hours of getting ready, with the help of Ava. Both Ruby and I had finished with the final touches of our party ensemble.

Ruby was glowing beautifully in a black strappy satin body-con dress. Her radiant red hair, was slicked back into a thin, tight pony tail. I was in awe at how stunning she looked.

I peered into the mirror and was brought to a sudden halt. I almost didn't recognise the person in the mirror. Ruby and Ava transformed me into a new version of myself.

I opted for a khaki coloured, mini dress, which had a mesh and ruched design to it. It was off-shoulder style, to which the short sleeves were puffed. My hair bobbed effortlessly as it was styled in soft curls.

"I can't go like this," I exclaimed in denial. "This is too much."

"No it's not," Ruby chimed, she nudged for me to turn back to the mirror. "Hannah you look gorgeous. You're going to blow their minds at the party. Don't think about other people, march into that party and own it. Be the confident woman I know you are."

"You might even get a guy to like you," Ava mumbled under her breath.

Both Ruby and I turned, tilting our heads, staring at Ava. Just as she realised what she said out loud, she made a swift exit out of my room.

We then proceeded to make our way to the party. Sitting in the taxi, I nervously bobbed my leg up and down. Dread pooled at the pit of my stomach. Ruby's words echoed into my brain.

Own it. Be the confident woman.

***

The deep volume of the music pounded and slammed into my ears. It took a while for my hearing to adjust, but it suddenly became clear, Dua Lipa's song, Levitating, was bounced around the room.

Various colours of lights were flashed around the room, creating a mixture of hues. Almost everyone from the year attended the party. Each individual danced away, allowing the music to take over their body.

Slowly my breathing became laboured, my chest was starting to heave up and down. I abruptly stopped and fished for my inhaler in my clutch bag.

Finally after locating it, I inserted two puff to regulate my breathing. A sense of calm washed over me.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked over the deafening music. I nodded as a response.

Just as we're weaving through people, like a car trying to get through traffic, a voice called out to us.

We followed the sound of the voice, to which we found ourselves in another room, in a quieter section. Away from all the music, a selection of boys and girls gathered.

"Wanna play dares?"

"Don't you mean truth or dare?" I pointed out the obvious.

I side eyed towards Ruby, who stood there just as confused.

"This is dares with a twist," Harry from my business class explained. "You take it in turns to pick a dare from the bowl. If the dare requires another person, then you have to spin the bottle and whoever it lands on you have to do that dare with them."

"And if we don't?" Ruby enquired, raising her brow.

"Forfeit," Harry said in an ominous tone.

At first I wanted to back away, but Ruby's words chimed into my head again.

Own it and be the confident woman.

"Alright let's play," I confidently called out.

Ruby backed her head. She shook her head in slight confusion, instead of responding, I shot her a reassuring smile.

Harry clapped his hands, with a delighted grin plastered on his face. "Great! We're split into different teams. You two can be in my team."

He waved for us to follow him. We were set up in the far corner of the room. When I got accustomed to who was in my team, my heart sank. My eyes slightly widened to notice who was sitting, waiting for the game to get started.

At first Melissa's condescending look peered over to me, she snickered with her two besties, Rachel and Danielle. She lifted the corner of her lips in disgust as she noticed me walking over. Irritation started to crackle within me.

In a quick change of emotions, I came to halt when I saw Zac. At first he was in his own world, when he turned his head to my direction, within a second he did a double take.

His mouth slowly gaped open. His eyes travelled from my head to my toes. He then connected his eyes to mine. For a moment we were lost in thought. I couldn't help but notice the open shirt, that showcased his toned chest.

His friend, Josh, nudged him. He shot out of his gaze, which also slammed me back into the room.

"So our team will be," Harry announced, bringing us into the circle. "Me, Josh, Zac, Melissa, Rachel, Danielle, Hannah and Ruby. Who wants to go first?"

"I'll go first." Melissa got up, striding towards the bowl that contained the dares.

She picked up the folded piece of paper. As she opened it up, she scanned the words and scoffed under her breath, as if the dare was no match for her.

"Go on tell us what it is then," Josh called out.

"Perform a seductive dance in front of your group." Melissa rolled her eyes.

This peaked the interest of Josh and Harry, yet Zac was the sat back in his chair, not moving an ounce when Melissa stated her dare. His dangerous eyes were still struck onto me. As first I wriggled uncomfortably, not knowing where to situate my own eyes. But then, a rippling wave of confidence flushed through my body, and I blocked Zac out.

I snorted under my breath, waiting for her to make a fool of herself. But, it was quite the opposite. She started to elegantly sway her hips and roam her hands over her body. Josh and Harry looked like they were in a trance, like snakes being charmed by a tune.

Although Josh and Harry were losing their minds, Melissa only focused on Zac. Her doe eyes seemed to bore into Zac. She slowly made her way over to Zac, who now was captured by her seductive moves.

I couldn't witness anymore of ridiculousness. For some reason my heartbeat felt like caged animal, thumping in my chest.

Melissa's alluring movements were cut short, as Harry managed to snap out of his trance and ushered for her to stop. Rachel and Danielle suppressed their laughter, as she made her way back to them. Her ice-cold blue eyes glared in my direction.

The game was set in motion. We all did various dares. It ranged from; Rachel making her orgasm face, Ruby seductively eating a banana, Josh moaning in Melissa's ear. It was all fun and games as we all started to cackle with laughter.

In a quick change of events, it was my turn. I warily made my way over and picked up a folded piece of paper. My shaky hands opened it up and I froze on the spot.

"Read it out," Danielle let out in a high-pitched voice, whilst chuckling.

"Um... Kiss whoever the bottle lands on for two minutes."

An echo of gasps ruptured from each individuals mouth. Even Ruby was stunned, her eyes were wide, her mouth hung open.

Own it and be the confident woman. I repeated in my head.

I took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. Grabbing the bottle, I gave it a mighty spin with all my power.

"What if it lands in one of the girls," Josh snickered like an idiot. We all shook our heads in disbelief at his comment.

As the seconds ticked by, the bottle was starting to slow down. It breezed past Ruby, Harry and Josh. It then came to a halt.

I followed to where it had stopped and it felt like I almost forgot how to breath. My heart frantically pounded, like a banging drum.

So many thoughts zoomed into my mind. The piece of paper fell from my hand. I closed my eyes, trying to comprehend what I had to do.

There the bottle pointed directly

To Zac.

A/N

So it's the party before exams! Hannah reluctantly agrees to go and now she's got herself in a little situation...

Is she going to go for the kiss with Zac? Or will she forfeit?

Don't forget to share, comment and vote!

Love _xxAMxx