Truth Or Dare [girls dorm 4, night]

Faith lay staring at the slats and the mattress of the bunk above her, listening to the breathing of her roommates and contemplating hanging herself. Another night, listening to the snoring of five other girls, wondering if Kizzy was going to smother her while she slept or not... It was too boring to stand, and she rolled over onto one side, glancing around the room. Was there anything, anything to do that didn't involve sneaking out of her room and getting yelled at by security guards? Even a bathroom break was seeming appealing, just to stretch her legs.

Sighing loudly, she turned over and over like an egg-beater, attempting to find a position that was vaguely comfortable and would allow her to sleep. There didn't appear to be one, no matter how many times she flipped her pillow and kicked her duvet around. Rather than sighing again, Faith groaned, loudly enough that any of her awake roommates would be able to hear. "Hey, Laura," she whispered after a few moments, hoping the little blonde was awake. "Come over here."

Her reasoning for picking Laura, of all people, was simple. The kid was most likely to listen and obey, as she was quickly discovering with interesting effects. Whilst the majority of the other girls had at least four brain cells and would say no to the more outlandish ideas that Faith came up with, Laura was very likely to do half of them, apparently just so the others would like her. She had yet to test her theory of just how far the kid would go, but if she would willingly complete chores that weren't her own... There was a definite chance of her consenting to play truth or dare. And if Laura joined in and the two seemed like they were having fun, maybe some of the other girls would, and Faith would really be able to get to know her roommates.

The game had always been a favorite of hers. It was a polite way to ask intrusive questions and get people you hated to do stupid, embarrassing things in public. Faith hated actually being in the spotlight, getting asking the questions and all, but she loved asking and daring. Laura didn't seem to have enough backbone to argue if she twisted the rules, either - and if anybody challenged her, she could always claim that it was how she'd played when she was in care. Satisfied with her plan, she lent against the headboard with her pillow protecting her from the hard wood, waiting for the girl to come to her. "Let's play truth or dare," she encouraged, hoping that somebody else would join in, rather than telling her to just shut up. Whilst Laura seemed as though she'd be...enthusiastic about the game, Faith had the feeling that one of the others, say, the American, would be a lot better. And a lot less likely to ask what her favorite breed of giraffe was.

Maggie was lying-quiet as the grave-on her bunk above Faith. She loved her body when she was lying down, still on her back. Maggie was on top of the covers with her shirt pulled up, doubled over her breasts. Her fingers tracing ever so lightly along her belly. She loved when gravity did it's work, smoothing her out just right,making her stomach dip in ever so slightly between her ribs and hip bones. She traced a vertical infinity sign around her bellybutton and the space above. Over and over again. That was all she needed, just that little bit of help. Surely that was a good sign, that she was so close to perfection. If she could just be strong, be careful. She could be there. On that precipice.

She closed her eyes tight and tried her hardest to wish. Her full lips moving in silent prayer. Because maybe if that part of her was perfect her life could finally follow suit. Her bruises would finally disappear, they'd release her, she'd get a moving, award worthy part on the West End, her family would come back. She wanted to fall asleep with those dreams in her head. She wanted to smile in her sleep.

She tried to ignore Faith's restless movement beneath her. Not out of malice, out of politeness in fact. She didn't want to embarrass the tragic girl by letting her know she was keeping anyone up. That would be terribly awkward. That was until Faith spoke. Maggie opened her eyes and watched the ceiling as Laura was called over. Laura scared Maggie a little. Not like Keziah scared her, but more in an unsettling way. Laura seemed so... lost? Like there was hollowness in her eyes. Maggie wasn't sure if she ought to cry for her or just run away.

Truth or Dare? Maggie's heart gave a little skip. She'd seen that game in movies and such. It seemed... naughty but fun. Maggie wondered if she ought to pretend she was asleep for a while. Wait to make sure it was safe and not some kind of trick. Faith seemed safe enough but there was something about that scar on her face that terrified Maggie. She couldn't fathom what kind of person would walk around letting that show. She was sure there was some level of true wild-eyed crazy lurking in Faith. Maggie never wanted to see it rear it's head. That would be a dangerous day.

The curiosity was a little too much. The lurk of the forbidden game she'd only heard tell of was like a siren song all it's own. Maggie rolled on to her belly at the edge of the bunk and peeked over. All blue-grey eyes with the shadows of bruises encircling them and a long full ponytail of brown hair fallen off the mattress to hang in the air above Faith. Her room-mates were the only ones who's ever seen the full extent of her bruises. She had to wash her face 100% clean before bed, there was no cover-up left from what she was caking on every morning. Every night since her attack she'd simply hurried in and hurried up to her bunk with her head dipped.

"Truth or Dare? Can I play? I've never played before... but I've seen it in movies... what's a consequence? I always wondered... and what's a double doggie dare?"

Laura had been seeing how silently she could touch the slats of the bed above with her toes. Only gently, she didn’t want to upset the girl on the top, but she wasn’t sleeping and she was bored and you couldn’t draw in the dark very well. All the colours sort of became grey. She knew, she’d tried it quite a few times since she’d been taken away from her uncle. And sometimes before, but not very often. She’d slept better there. Besides, if she fell asleep there was a serious danger of her falling out of it with a thump that made people groan and roll over at the very least. She didn’t really understand this obsession with pillows and mattresses and squishy things. You definitely weren’t as stiff in the morning, but how did you know where you were if everything felt like a cloud? She preferred the floor anyway. It made it a little easier to close her eyes tight and pretend she was at home and this was all just a bad dream.

She could hear Faith wriggling, but she resisted the urge to ask her if she was wrestling a python in her bed. Pythons tended to be rare in Highgrove, just like bears. They would have made life more exciting, but Laura was pretty sure other people wouldn’t be so keen to snuggle up with a snake. She perked up as her name was mentioned and fought her way out of her bed and, with a few quick, well-practiced silent steps, perched on the end of Faith’s bed. She’d never played this game before either, but she was glad Maggie was joining in. She didn’t see her a lot, just a Maggie-shaped sleep lump. Maybe Maggie was very tired lots. “I don’t know. I’ve never played it but I think it’s the one with the kissing…” Laura thought for a second and shook her head. “No. Something else. They didn’t play lots of games at my school before and they didn’t want me to play with them. Faith?” Now would be an ok time for a question because they were already talking. “Is there a python in your bed?

Looking up at the sleeping shape that was Kizzy, Laura hoped she’d come and play. She liked Kizzy. Maybe Kizzy liked games. Laura put her feet on the bedframe and curled her knees up to her chest. Just making sure she didn’t touch anyone. That would be bad. And she really, really didn’t want someone to die in the night. “Is it nice sleeping up high?” She tried to smile at Maggie despite the dark, but somehow it didn’t quite work. She was always more worried at night time.

Faith grinned in the darkness as she felt Laura sit down opposite her, the bed giving way slightly. Good girl. She heard a voice from above, the distinctly American girl. Asking stupid questions (how could someone have not played truth or dare!?) but meaning well, she supposed. Maggie probably didn't try to be so stupid, in fact, she probably couldn't help it. It was genetic. Blissfully unaware of her own racism (it didn't count as being racist if it was true, did it?) she decided not to share any of her thoughts, not until she knew the girl better. At least her name, for starters. Kizzy had seemed nice at first, after all, and had then turned out to be the biggest bitch in existence.

"Sure," she called up quietly to the bunk above her own. "Come down here, though, we don't wanna keep everybody awake." It would get a little crowded on her bed, particularly if anybody else chose to join in, but that was just a sign of success. She loved that people were actually responding to her idea, rather than just ignoring her. It made her feel like the people in her dorm didn't completely hate her.

Faith rolled her eyes at Maggie's questions. How could somebody be that clueless? "A consequence is if you won't answer one of the questions, or if you won't do the dare. Like...running down the corridor naked. And a double dare is just for kids. You don't need to worry about that." Although despairing over the American's education (did they really not teach them how to play in high school over there? In movies it made it look like part of the national curriculum) she liked that she was the one that knew all the answers and was in charge. It felt nice.

"So...what's your name? Not you, Laura," she asked, knowing that it would make the game a little more fun if introductions weren't the first truths. "I'm Faith." Not sure what else to say, she lay quietly for a minute, before wrapping her duvet firmly around herself. If Laura was cold, she could go and get her own blanket and pillow. A sudden vision of how that would look if security came in made her smile to herself. The whole dorm of girls all snuggled up together in one bed... They'd get extra chores for that, she was sure. And maybe room changes - although that definitely wasn't a bad thing. As fun as truth or dare was, Faith thought that she'd much rather have her own bedroom.

Ignoring Laura's question (she was going to be terrible at the game) Faith chewed her lip as she tried to come up with some house rules. As she seemed to be the only person that knew how to play, they could be twisted a little to her own advantage... Not that she'd ever do that, of course. "So, dorm rules...let's see. You can't ask for three truths in a row, if you do, you have to do two dares. And...yep, if you refuse a truth or a dare, and it's, you know, a reasonable one, that at least half the rest of the group say is reasonable-" Faith smiled to herself. There were only three players; if you counted out the one doing the dare, of course it would be voted as reasonable. "-you have to run from one end of the corridor outside to the other. Naked. So let's not refuse to do anything." She wasn't sure how the others would react to that, and hoped that Maggie wouldn't turn out to be a big wimp and back out or something. Faith didn't think Laura would, but then again, she thought Laura would jump off a cliff if somebody else said it would be a good idea.

"So...Maggie, I'll ask you first, then you pick someone to ask, and so it goes on. Truth or dare?"

Keziah had been sluggish getting in to bed that night, she honestly wanted someone to have mercy and take out her uterus so she could beat it for being such an unyielding bastard. She was almost to the fourth day, then it would be all down hill form there, she just had to sleep another night in this room with...those idiots. She didn't count Laura as an idiot, just an unfortunate little kid dumped headlong into a viper's den. She did, however, have absolutely no feeling for Faith outside contempt and seething hatred.

She wasn't surprised the little bitch was at Highgrove, if she were a mother, Kizzy'd dump her in a place like this too. But you are a mother, they just didn't live... Keziah turned her face into the pillow to let out a shaky breath. She didn't have those thoughts often but when the bubbled to the surface, they hurt so much it was as though her heart were actually breaking in two, she always wondered if that were really possible, if one could to a chest scan and discover a heart truly broken into pieces...that would be neat to see in a sick way.

The voices from the Bitch's bunk were not long on her, since she could not sleep she heard everything...God Maggie was almost as ...sheltered as she had been... Keziah listened to the rules and gentle as to not worry the springs, turned over in bed to see a little better the goings on below. Faith was a bitch and she didn't put it past her to try anything with someone like Laura.

Maggie, could fend for her self, the vapid little tool.

So far the crazy bitch was only laying down house rules, making sure everyone danced to her little beat, Kizzy furrowed her brow when she heard the penalty... running around after hours was bad enough, but doing it naked ... that might be a good punishment for Faith, a bare-arsed night in seclusion so she could have a private room, she didn't think any of the others should enture that...than again who knew? She'd thought Faith was a decent-ish person and look what that got her...

"Yeah, it's kind of nice. I always wanted a bunk bed..."

Maggie smiled and picked herself up. It was kind of a weird question but Maggie liked it. It seemed right coming from Laura. Genuine. Maggie came down the ladder on the side of the bed step by step. She was dressed in a little silk and lace pyjama set. Sea-foam green tank and capris with cream lace accents. The polish on her toenails was petal pink and shiny. On the floor she reached up and pulled her quilt off her mattress and wrapped it around her chest, leaving her arms free.

"I'm Maggie Luchak." she said alongside her best smile. She sat down on the floor by the head of the bed. The quilt bunching up around her like a giant puff pastry shape. She was a cream-filled center or something. She reached up to adjust her ponytail. Pulling it tight the way she liked it when she was awake and doing things. Neat, pretty, and out of her way.

"But.." Oh god... she was going to sound so uncool. But she needed to protest this, running naked? No one could do that. No one. It was as if Maggie was worried someone might burst into flames. In her mind it was just a physical impossibility. People didn't just run around in the buff, least not in America. Something just didn't happen. Like figments of Faith's very bizarre imagination. "But... we could get in trouble or something. You can't just run naked in public. What if we just stay in here or something? We can just play in here right?"

"I'll pick Truth, I guess..." Maggie reached up to tighten her ponytail again. Smoothing her hands over her head to make sure there weren't too many weird bumpies or anything. Truth was good, truth was clothed. Maggie was a little scared thinking of the limited number of truths. What would they ask her to do when they ran out? It made her get a feeling of tightness in her chest. She didn't like the thought of not being able to preform. She was brave that way normally. But this was different. This was risque.

She supposed, come her third turn... she could just quit if she had to. People quit games all the time. It wasn't as if it was a show that needed to go on. right? This was different.

"And I guess Laura, you can pick. Truth or Dare. I'll need to think of something..."

A little groan. Beth was of a Rip Van Winkle. Any sleep was a deep one and coming out of it unnaturally was no easy task. She felt, as always, like she'd been set in jello over night. She was heavy and all stuck together. She dragged her eyelids open and blinked hard at the ceiling, she heard talking. Muttered and mumbled a short ways away. At first Bethany thought it might be trouble. Another black-out? Chaos in the streets? Fire? But the voices sounded calm. Girly even. Beth closed her eyes for a bit. Just listening. It all sounded a little too off. The sound bounced off the walls and ceiling before it arrived to the top bunk.

"What's going on?" She called out. Maybe a bit louder than she should have, Edinburgh accent in full force. She lifted her head to peer over to the middle of the room. Blonde hair a mess and half covering her rather large eyes. Then she caught the phrase. Something about choosing truth. That woke her right up. Before they knew it Beth had thrown herself off the bunk above Laura's, landing with a stumble and damn near almost tripping over the cuffs of her oversized plaid flannel pyjama pants. Charity from her group home that was damn near ready to fall off her slim hips.

"Ya playing Truth or Dare?" She asked, suddenly excited and quickly making her way over. She'd introduced herself to all the girls soon as she saw them but not much more than that. That didn't matter now though, this was how she'd get to know them. With embarrassing questions and tests of daring. She and Ruby used to play truth or dare all the time and though it was a bit silly and anti-climactic with only two people it was definitely one of her favorite games. She was already excited, rubbing the final bit of lingering sleep out of her eyes as she helped herself to a remaining corner of Faith's mattress. She tried somewhat futility to push her messed up wavy hair out of her face. It was looking like something of a lion's mane. It was a wonder she could get all the tangles out every morning.

"I'm in I'm in. Who's first?"

She was a little worried about this game. She wanted Faith to like her, but what if it broke the rules? Her uncle’s rules, that was. She didn’t mind so much with the other kind. Running about naked wasn’t exactly attractive to her, but as long as nobody touched her she thought she could manage. Probably. She picked at the hem of her pyjama top, chewing her nails a bit. She glanced towards the door, then decided that if it opened she’d probably hear it and then she could see who it was.

She was distracted from her worrying by Beth, who seemed really bouncy for someone who’d just woken up, which Laura was happy about. Bouncy people were usually happy people and she liked it when people were happy. It meant things were going right. She giggled and waved at her, wondering if Beth didn’t use the ladder to get into her bed, but bounced up there like a ball instead. All the people on the top bunks seemed to sleep ok, and Laura wondered why that was. Definitely even less pythons up there, or maybe it was being closer to stars, because stars meant night time, or maybe something else. Laura was glad about the game though. She was a little tiny bit afraid of the dark and listening to people talk sounded like a good way to avoid it. And after this she was going to sleep on the floor and everything.

She was cold, but in a sort of ‘it’ll be even better when you go to sleep’ sort of way. Besides, she couldn’t drag everything here, there wasn’t enough room and someone would probably break their neck falling over and it would be all her fault and that would just be bad. But then she had never played this game before… it could really involve blankets. Maybe. Laura stared at her bed and debated the possibility of turning it into den one day. That could be fun.

She considered the two options. “I don’t know… um, Faith? Which one do I pick?” It would be easier, and she could pick things so Laura could do the right thing and maybe then Faith would like her after all, and maybe it would be fun. Games were supposed to be fun, that was the point, and she didn’t want to pick the wrong one and make other people sad.

Ellen was not a heavy sleeper. In this dorm, the only thing she had to worry about were the golden showers from the bunk above, but before, there had been much, much worse things than just getting pissed on. Things like what Nate had done to her. She'd woken in her own puddle a couple of times since then, not that she'd admit it to anyone. This place was supposed to be safe, apparently, and while she hadn't believed a word of that, she had expected it to take at least a little bit longer for her to run into the new equivalent of Travis. That wasn't what was worrying her tonight though.

The other girls in the room, Ellen hadn't bothered to learn most of their names, were being much louder than usual. Playing some kind of stupid game from the sound of it, and as she heard Faith outline the forfeits, she groaned. This was all going to end in tears, with security busting down the door and dragging them all off to seclusion, regardless of involvement in the game. Were they really playing spin the bottle? No, it didn't sound like it, and there was no way they'd have a bottle anyway. Just truth or dare. Wasn't that a great game to play in a room full of rape victims?

Slowly, she sat up, letting the blankets fall away. An old t-shirt and older trousers made up her pyjamas, and as she swung her legs off of her bed, she shook her head. "Aren't there better times to play this?" she asked the group, not particularly caring if she woke the psycopath on the top bunk. She'd have been happier if Kizzy hadn't reappeared after the storm, not that anyone asked, now she was back, Ellen had to go right back to pretending she didn't exist. When it wasn't raining in her bunk at least. "If you're not going to let me sleep, can you at least let me play?" she continued, though she doubted anyone would actually like it if they did let her join. Too many things she'd never talk about to answer a truth, and no chance she'd actually do the forefeit if they tried to make her. She wasn't stupid. Well, not in that sense anyway.

Faith was glad that Kizzy hadn't responded to the idea of truth or dare, either asleep or ignoring their little party. She didn't care which, as long as she didn't have to talk to the only roommate she completely hated. What would happen if they played together, anyway? They'd either dare each other to do ridiculous embarrassing, painful, dangerous things, or they'd end up having another huge argument over one of the truths asked. There was no way the two girls were going to get along, she knew; why even bother trying? At least Kizzy appeared to be on the same page.

"Hi, Maggie," she greeted the American, glad to find out at least one roommates name. So there was Kizzy, Laura, Faith and Maggie... Just two girls to girl, another two blondes. One that frowned a lot and didn't look at all friendly -that was the one that slept under Kizzy- and one that was loud, had a strange accent, and was bounding over towards the girls now. Faith smiled at her. Two thirds of the room in. The girl -Beth, that was her name- sat nearest to Laura and Faith watched with interest. It was likely that the little girl was about to become hysterical, due to her apparent aversion to being touched - something she felt was necessary to bring up in every conversation.

Nodding at Beth, agreeing for her to join the game, she pondered what truth to give Maggie. "I'm asking Maggie a truth...and then she's asking Laura." Apparently, Laura couldn't come up with her own answer, and Faith rolled her eyes. "Do a dare. Liven the game up a bit..." Her own truth had to be something exciting, something to get the game going and stop everybody from leaving or getting bored. She was definitely starting to feel the stress of taking charge of such an event. Chewing her lip, she looked at Maggie, who was sitting on the floor beside her. "What can I ask you?" she teased.

It took her a short while to come up with a suitable question, and Faith hoped that Maggie was thinking of a dare for Laura in the meantime. Did she want to ask something about her sex life, boyfriends, home life? The only positive side of being in a foster home, she thought, was that was always an extra question in truth or dare: why are you here? Especially in a foster home for crazy kids; she'd be able to get a diagnosis out of the others if there was truly nothing else to ask.

Her eyes ran up and down Maggie again. "Let's see..." Feeling pressured, she asked the first question that came to mind, the most basic one. "What's something you really don't want to be asked in this game?" In other words: what do you most want to be kept secret. The best part about that question was that it made the next truth easy, and the person who had been asked -if they answered honestly- would be forced to pick dare for a while. Expectantly, she watched Maggie, knowing the other girls were probably doing the same. It wasn't too harsh a question... If she backed out, it would prove that she was a total wimp. Faith wasn't hoping too much of the girl, however. She'll probably back out the second she gets asked about her sex life.

Another girl spoke up, the miserable looking blonde one, and Faith grinned. Everybody but Kizzy playing, then; wonderful. "Truth or dare can only be played in the middle of the night, don't you know that? But feel free to join in," she answered, a little louder once she knew that she wouldn't be keeping anybody awake. Anybody important, that was. "Come on over, room for everybody who wants it." Well, room everywhere but on the bed, unless Ellen wanted to sit somewhere in the middle over their feet. She could sit on the floor next to Maggie. You snooze, you lose.

Maggie slipped her arms and hands under the quilt with her. She felt like what she'd always imagined stage fright to feel like. Maggie had never experienced it herself, after all she'd practically been born on stage. It was like a second home to her. But she'd heard some people got it terrible. Some people to the point of making themselves sick or even simply not being able to put themselves out there and on stage. Right now Maggie felt tight in the chest and jittery like she had too much coffee and red bull. She didn't know what Faith could possibly have up her sleeve. The girl seemed wiser than she ought to be somehow. Inside the blankets Maggie's hands wrapped around her crossed ankles and squeezed. Something to do.

"What's something you really don't want to be asked in this game?"

Maggie's eyes opened a little wider. What a question. Faith was kind of a sneak obviously. She must have played this game a thousand times to just know that was the thing to ask. It was a really smart question. Maggie paused thoughtfully. She knew she could always lie... but she didn't really want to. That's not what this game was for and she didn't want her first ever game of truth or dare to be played wrong, played on a lie. She licked her lips, trying to think of what kind of question she'd least want to answer. She could think of plenty of embarrassing questions: anything about bowel movements really, maybe something about body oder or that time of the month. Those would all make her turn a rather special shade of crimson. But at the same time those... well it was the kind of gross stuff that everyone had and had to deal with. It wasn't as if that fact that ladies poop was actually the national secret some girl's might pretend that it was.

"That's so tough... Umm... I guess, maybe something about why I'm here? But that's something we all have I guess, and it would all come out eventually... in like... therapy or whatever." It all felt like some kind of terrible clique. Why she was here. Maggie thought back to when Cecil shared with her his reason for being at Highgrove.How he seemed so scared to say anything about it. Like he was dreading hearing the words come out of his own mouth. Maggie hadn't felt quite like that telling him why she was there. It seemed to be easier for her. Maybe because there was a tiny part of her that felt like, just maybe they might all be right.

"No, I guess... I really don't want to be asked what I am most afraid of about myself. Yeah, that. Okay, Laura, your turn. I dare you to grab the sock you wore today and shove it all in your mouth. And hold it there for... let's say a minute."

That was pretty gross. Maggie hoped that it impressed the girls, at least a little.

You have GOT to be shitting me! From her bed all she could think was how ridiculous this entire proposal was...that Faith really was an unscrupulous bitch... Keziah realised by the nature of the loud coven of harpies below her(Laura excluded, naturally) that this was all a ruse to get information out of the other girls, to find out things about them even shrinks hadn't managed to force out, all in the name of a 'game'. The more Kizzy learned of that girl the less she liked her and more virulently she prayed the little witch would just... disappear. Faith was right about one thing; there was no way she would join that game willingly, Kizzy refused to subject herself to that wretched little heathen trying to force her to do painful, demeaning, or dangerous things without firing right back, twice as hard.

Ugh do they have to be so loud? The voices of the girls floated up to the only bunk that still had a resident inside. If only she had a flashlight torch she could write in her journal and just relax a little while the other girl played their little game, it was boring pretending to be asleep. But she wasn't stupid, in a room full of six girls, she only had one dormmate that she was positive would not pull either a bitchface or that insufferable 'oh god, she's going to punch my pretty face' look that american always made. Fuck, Kizzy didn't just pounce on people becasue it was Tuesday, each of them asked for it. She had to defend herself, only a fool expected other people to give a level shite about them...probably how the american got her face smashed. You go through the world with a big stupid cow face and someone is going to bash it in.

The first question Faith asked Maggie almost made the little curmudgeon laugh, the only answer that consisted of the judicial and appropriate usage of the phrases "piss off" and "you scrawny little cunt" but Maggie, ever the twit, actually answered. It suddenly dawned on Keziah that she was probably the only person with the guile not to fall for Faith's little game within the game. That Beth girl, who had a voice even a mother would stuff a potato in for relief, was probably a complete moron and fuck Ellen, she wished the wolves would do a little house cleaning, starting with the martyr down bunk. You don't hit someone and then get all whipped puppy at them for weeks after. It was a shit way to introduce herself to her dorm mate and she got what she fucking deserved.

Listening to the dare Kizzy wrinkled her nose and shook her head which was still putting a depression in her pillow and bought her eyes upwards and away form the little slumber party and to the plain ceiling... Kizzy wished she could grab a couple jumpers and throw them on and sneak out someplace and watch the stars for a while. She could not name them or anything like that, but they were pretty, almost like someone had this beautiful dark silk and began to sew diamonds into it...

“Ok!” Laura wasn’t as thrilled by this prospect as she hoped she might have been, but there you were… She was trying to be quiet because Kizzy was still asleep, but it was hard to be quiet when everyone else was being loud. She half bounced and half fell off the end of Faith’s bed and began searching for socks in a manner oddly similar to that of a person bailing water out of a sinking boat while sharks circled and the theme of Jaws played. “Um…” She held up four different socks hopefully. “Did I wear the stripey ones? Or the duck ones? Or, um… the other kind?” Laura’s socks rarely matched and when they did it was more a matter of luck than judgement. She couldn’t see why you would only wear one kind of socks on one day, especially if there were nice patterns. This did make finding the particular pair she’d been wearing a little problematic, but she hadn’t really appreciated this before. You wore them, then you didn’t, then you washed them. Pairs had never come into it before. It was making her a bit worried. What if she got it wrong?

Poking a sock into her mouth, Laura decided she’d definitely eaten worse things. Especially broccoli. And melon. She wasn’t allergic to socks, which was good. Or at least… she didn’t think she was. After what she imagined was roughly a minute she took the wet sock out of her mouth and stood there, staring at it. (It was dark, how could you read the time in the dark? That was why you slept at night time. If you didn’t you couldn’t see what time it was and everyone would be late for everything and then people would get upset. And you walked into less things when it was light. Unless you were blind. Laura was sure blind people could do the same things in the day and the night, which would be very useful if everyone had to live underground or become nocturnal or something.)

“What do I do with this?” Laura was fast coming to the conclusion that this was not her favourite game, but if people liked her maybe it would be ok? She hoped it would be ok. She felt like even though other people hadn’t played before there was some big secret or joke or rule she didn’t know. “Um… am I having fun?” Weren’t games supposed to be fun? Was she supposed to ask someone? What was supposed to happen now? She glanced nervously up at Kizzy. She’d know what to do. She was asleep, but maybe if she woke up… She felt all bad in her tummy. But she wanted people to like her. Why was living other places so complicated?

Beth gave Maggie a look of sympathy. That's was a tough break. Certainly not a question Beth would want to answer. She couldn't fathom what she'd answer with, more over she really didn't want to think about it. And Maggie practically gave two answers. Bad call, but at least you could totally tell she was being honest. Then, as Laura handled her dare like a champ, Beth cringed. Socks could get pretty gross by the end of the day. Still, at least it wasn't the kind of dare who could get a person in trouble. Not like the chosen consequence. That was pretty brutal. Beth wondered if she could manage it if she had too. She was pretty okay with her body, but streaking was always a tall order.

"Grossssss, good job Laura. Now who do you want to poke at, me or Faith?" She grinned exposing slightly crooked teeth that grew in more or less correctly by sheer dumb luck. Beth gave her head a little "bring it on" wiggle to let Laura know she was totally game. Beth was excited to gain some momentum and really let the game get wild.

But something was still bothering her. Beth glanced away for a moment and nibbled on the inside of her lip. She eyed the one bunk that was still occupied. She could see a bit of Keziah's hair peeking out, all curly and wild amongst the blankets and the bad angle on the mattress. How the hell was she still sleeping with all this movement and chatter. She much be a super heavy sleeper, even more so than Beth.

"Should we wake Keziah up?" she finally asked. Looking from one girl to another. Then before anyone could actually answer she made her decision and picked herself up off the floor. "Yeeeeah, don't want her to feel left out come morning. That would be so sad." Beth cleared the distance quickly and reached over the railing into Keziah's bunk. Touching her shoulder gentle and giving it a little nudge. "Hey, Keziah. Wake up sleepyhead. We're playin' truth or dare, yeah? You've gotta come join us." Beth was smiling warmly. She couldn't think of a better way for all the room-mates to bond and she certainly didn't want to see Keziah end up the odd one out. Beth couldn't think of too many fates worse than that.

The disadvantage of looking completely away from the direction of the little convention of girls below was that she did not see Beth's approach. Keziah heard her name mentioned, and then quietly slipped her head under the pillow. She had to live with these people, so she had to tactically avoid constant confrontations, but if Kizzy heard one more fowl word besmirching her character, she would likely have enough blood on her hands to make the boy Aubrey's twisted little dreams come true. Keziah was proud of Laura for doing the gross little dare Atta girl! don't let 'em see you squirm. Assuming the footfalls would pass her by Kizzy very gently rolled onto her side and faced the wall, at least form here she could lay on her right arm and perhaps prevent in the night pulling to a degree.

Everything was getting worse here, Highgrove House, the haven for neglected, misfit children was more like the sadistic child with a magnifying glass hovering gleefully over little back ants, delighting in their burned exoskeletons. Everything seemed to be worse here, the only thing she enjoyed was chores, schoolwork seemed harder, people were either complete pushovers or utter bastards and the staff didn't even seem to think you had a snowball's chance in hell of getting better, that Rose one basically said it in her last group session. fuck him. So caught up in her own ministrations of the mind she didn't notice the sound of Beth's weight on the short ladder leading up to her bunk, but she did feel the gentle poke and started, rolling over at once to see...well not much of anything, but she could sense another person there, before she could ask , Beth spoke... Was she high?

"Not sleeping, not joining, no thanks.." ad reached out in the direction of Beth's voice with the flat of her hand, to cover the creepy eyed girl's mouth, "go back down there before you miss your little turn." She wasnt about to go into something where she know out right she was not wanted, especially not an activity run by the psycho little bitch.

Ellen hadn't really been expecting them to let her join in, so when they did, she stood awkwardly for a few seconds. Lacking anywhere better to sit, she ended up on the floor, and even managed to keep the frown off of her face as the game got started. This was kids stuff, which explained the forfeit rule really. They weren't trying to be hardcore with it, they were just being, well, kids. This was probably what she'd have ended up like if she'd actually had a childhood, playing stupid games with her friends instead of sitting around, pretending to join in and wanting them all to shut up so she could actually sleep.

She couldn't help rolling her eyes at Maggie's dare. That was pretty pathetic really, and more than a little disgusting. Still, if it had been her, it wouldn't exactly be the worst thing she'd ever put in her mouth, not by a long shot. Thankfully though, she could just continue to watch, her face blank, mostly. She did wrinkle her nose a little at the sight of Laura actually doing the stupid dare, shaking her head a little once it was done. This was a game that really needed a lot of booze to be played, or some other mind altering substance. Older players too, for that matter.

"Urgh, no, please don't." she said as Beth started to talk about Kizzy. "She'll only piss on someone again. Probably me. Again." she continued, shooting a venomous look over at the occupied bunk. With Kizzy out of the way she could just pretend to be normal, ish, but with someone who scared her almost as much as Nate around? She'd be the one retiring to bed if the redhead actually got involved. "Please don't, I don't wanna get kicked in the head again." she added, frowning as Beth stood up. Watchign the girl, and ready to stand in a hurry if she had to, she breathed a sigh of relief as Kizzy declined the invitation. No fights tonight, at least, not with the sociopath in the room.

Faith didn't let herself look impressed when Maggie actually answered the question, just nodding and then smiling at the girl. She hadn't actually expected anything to come out of her sneaky little question; just something about the last time she'd taken a crap , which was what ninety percent of people answered when faced with the most famous question in truth or dare. What do you least want to be asked? Maggie's answer was something to think about, however, and as she watched Laura shove a sock in her mouth -she hadn't spoken up with her own opinion, just letting the other girls decide which sock she should use, although Faith did think that the ducks one looked dirtiest- Faith pondered over that answer. Technically, she'd gotten two answers to her one queston; why Maggie was here, and what she was most afraid of about herself. That was good. She had plenty of ammunition for the next two rounds, if truth was picked again both times - although that would be breaking the rules. Faith smiled evilly at the thought. They'd really get to test Maggie then, see if she'd stick to the 'house rules' that she had previously designed.

The sock dare was pretty good, and she couldn't help but laugh, just a little. "Nice," she told Maggie appreciatively. "Gross,." Obviously, the American wasn't as dumb as she acted. Faith made a mental note to definitely not pick dare when Maggie was the asker, because the sock thing could easily escalate - into other people's socks, or dirty underwear... Shuddering, she stared at Laura as if the girl was stupid. "Ew, Laura! Throw it onto your bed or something." She didn't want a dirty, soggy sock to be left in her bed all night , no thank you. Faith rolled her eyes at the next of Laura's questions, not bothering to answer and tell the kid that she was or wasn't having fun. Instead, she tried to move the game along. "You ask me, Ellen or Beth 'truth or dare', then give them a queston to answer, like I did for Maggie, or a dare to do, like she did for you, okay?" She didn't particularly want to be picked, especially not by Laura; the dare would probably be something involving wearing a pillow on her head, and the truth about her favorite color. Laura's favorite question. If she hadn't known how mean it would have been, Faith would have tried to kick Laura out of the game, but it was like kicking a puppy or a child in a wheelchair. After all, Laura was mentally retarded or something; it was important to be nice.

Beth had seemed like one of her more normal roommates until the hypothetic question had been asked. Wale Kizzy up? Why would anybody bother to do that? She stared at the other girl, watching in silence as she made her way across the floor, finding that she liked Ellen just a little bit more for not wanting her in the game. However, Faith didn't want to comment, didn't want to be the one to start the fight. After all, if Kizzy bounced out if bed and started a fight, security would appear within a second, and the whole dorm would probably spent the night in isolation - which would put an end to the truth or dare games that Faith was determined would become a regular habit. So instead of arguing, she watched the two girls talk warily, praying that she wouldn't actually agree. How awkward would that be?

She shouldn't have worries. The response was typical bitchy BB; Faith just hoped that Beth would leave it, rather than convincing Kizzy to join the game. "Come on, Beth ," she called quietly across the room. "Might be your turn to put a used sock in your mouth, next..."


[right][[OOC: Sorry about any horrific typoes... Written on a laptop, then copied onto an iPhone. That's how much I love you guys. ]]

She wasn't expecting Keziah to say no. Especially so curtly. Beth's eyebrows arched up in surprise like the back of a cat as a hand mooshed over her mouth. Even though she was the one instigating the touching, with her reaching out and giving Keziah a nudge but she wasn't expecting hands right up in her face. It was weird and awkward at least too Beth to the point where the best she could do was give a little giggle. She pouted her lips out behind the hand and offered a muffled whine. Clearly disappointed but also just kind of amused by the way in which she was being rejected.

It was really no wonder why Keziah didn't want to join in, with a welcome like that. Beth had chosen to ignore the sounds and protests that had come from Ellen. She understood that there was some bad blood there, but what better than a silly, girly game to repair a few burnt bridges. Sure it could cause some strife if the girl's chose to attack each other in game, but that was their choice. Beth could at least say she tried. That was what counted, at least in her mind.

"Come on, Beth"

The blonde cast a last look of faux-heartbreak towards Kizzy before turning and hopping off the ladder. She gave a long, drawn out "eeeeeeeewwwww....." to the mention of her turn to eat socks. She personally hoped that dare wasn't repeated. She'd had nights with Ruby where their game just became a one-up-manship of the same dare for the rest of the night. That would be brilliantly unpleasant. Beth shook a hand through her hair, trying to brush out a few of the messy knots. She came back to the group and sat back down in what was deemed her spot. She straighten the hem of her tanktop and eyed Laura. It was her call what happened next and Beth was hoping for something along the hilarious and creative line. That way the game could gain some real momentum. That's what they all wanted right. A night full of giggles and daring. That's what girls like them needed sometimes.

Dropping the sock on her bed, she wondered what the staff people would make of it. It’d dry before morning, wouldn’t it? She nodded at Faith’s instructions. “Ok!” She’d forgotten all about the daring other people thing. Shyly, after a brief panic over who to pick, she pointed at Ellen. “Um. Do you want a truth or… the other one?” Suddenly aware that she may have butchered the name of the game in front of everyone, she sat back on the bed and began to chew away at her nails again, with a rather fixed smile. She wanted people to like her. If she had to do this, that was it. It was better now Kizzy was awake, although she didn’t expect Kizzy to do anything. She said she didn’t want to play and that was fine with Laura. But it was nice that she was there anyway, she felt a little better. She didn’t know why.

Smiling, she waved up at Kizzy and wondered if it would be ok to go and sit by her. Probably not, Faith didn’t like her doing things and it was up and Laura was fairly sure she’d fall off. She was fairly ok at tree climbing by now, but trying to climb a bed in the middle of the night in the dark with everyone watching might not be the best thing in the world to do. She wondered if they’d mind if she went to visit the cows at night. She felt like she needed to talk to them, ask them if they tried truth or dare. Or troooooooth or dare. She giggled quietly at her own little joke.

She bounced gently on the bed, wondering when the game finished. Did it last until they all got bored or forever or when people started to fall asleep or… what? Her bed suddenly looked far more inviting than it had done when the lights had been switched off. She wondered what you were supposed to ask in this game. Was this really how you got people to like you? Everyone seemed to like Faith at least a little bit. What if she got the whole game wrong and everyone hated her? It wasn’t like she could go home and hide under the kitchen sink while working out what to do. She was fairly sure sitting in a cupboard under the sink was frowned upon here, even if you explained. They hadn’t liked it at the last place either. She wondered if they could play a different game afterwards. “When we finish this can we play hide and seek?” It was a game after all. And it was fun, much more fun to her than this game. This one was a little baffling in Laura’s mind.

"Dare." Ellen replied with a distracted shrug as Laura spoke to her, watching Beth's return to the group. No Kizzy meant this might be fun, but she had a feeling it was just going to be childish again. Still, at least she was socializing, that was a first for her. It wouldn't even end with a trip to a&e, or whatever this place called it's hospital wing. It was amazing she hadn't been to visit that yet, but there was plenty of time for it in her future. Nate would undoubtedly put her in there at some point, probably for several months knowing her luck. Wasn't that going to be wonderful fun?

Laura spoke up again, and Ellen frowned. Hide and seek? Was she serious? It wasn't that hard to figure out there was something not quite right about the girl, and things like this just confirmed it. "There isn't enough space to play that in here." she said, shaking her head and trying to be diplomatic. The scorn in her voice was easy to hear though, they weren't kids, however the rest of the residents might act, why should they play games like that? She had a horrible feeling she'd be outvoted though, her eyes darting around the rest of her roommates, trying to work out which one of them would be the first to support Laura. Whoever it was, she'd be avoiding them just like she would Laura (and Kizzy, but that was a given). Nate was almost preferable to these idiots right now.

Whoever it ended up being, she'd have no part in it, even if that meant crawling back to her bunk and awaiting the next golden shower from her insane bunkmate. The others could go hide from security if they were going to play, she wasn't that stupid. The guards weren't capable of catching a rapist like Nate, predictably, but they'd certainly be able to dig out a bunch of stupid girls playing stupider games. Goons like them had nothing better to do, half of the idiots would probably end up getting felt up too, if her experiances in life were anything to go by.

Dare? What was she supposed to do? Laura continued to chew her nails nervously while she had a small think. “I dare you to…” There had to be something, not just a gap. Something people could do, not like flying. “Draw a picture of a moose.” There had to be more than that, didn’t there? “Flying over a pond. With a peacock on his shoulder.” A bit longer? “Called Clarence.” She couldn’t remember any more how long hers had been. Would that do? She watched nervously, just in case she’d got it wrong. She wasn’t sure what you were supposed to say. What if people didn’t like drawing and it made them sad? Her stomach knotted and she chewed harder, looking up at Kizzy. Maybe Kizzy would explain. Later, when they had time and everything. And when they weren’t supposed to be sleeping. She didn’t feel very good, but that was just because she was worried.

“Oh. Ok.” She would have liked to play hide and seek, but if there wasn’t enough room that was ok. Maybe they could do it a different day. Outside? That’d be nice. She did hear Ellen’s tone of voice, but lots of people sounded like that when they were talking to her. It was easier to pretend it didn’t make her feel sad because she’d done something wrong and didn’t know how to make it better. She’d asked people how to stop getting things wrong and she’d given her a big long talk about how she had only been around her uncle for a long time so she hadn’t learned like other people, which was true. She was still fighting fractions in maths and she didn’t know things about geography much. But the lady had said they didn’t mean like that, and Laura hadn’t quite understood. As far as she could work out it all boiled down to her being evil again. At least that was something she could understand.

Nibbling away at her nails kept her a little occupied at least, so she could pretend to know what was going on. Maybe if she saw other people do it right she could learn it too? It hadn’t worked so far but there you were. Laura watched Kizzy out of the corner or her eye, just in case she could explain or… something. Kizzy didn’t seem to think she was stupid, at least not as stupid anyway. All the other people did and she didn’t like it, she didn’t mean to be. Would they mind if she started drawing things? It was a bit dark though. She glanced at Faye. What happened now?

Faith breathed a quiet sigh of relief when Laura picked Ellen. Although she'd get away with more if Laura had picked her, she wouldn't have to do a stupid dare - and she wouldn't have to move from her bed, which was warm and comfortable with all the girls (except Kizzy) in or around it. Ellen seemed like a smart girl, more so than the others, and Faith wasn't excited about the idea of getting picked by her when her dare was complete. While Beth would probably do something silly but nice (the fact that she'd tried to include Kizzy, of all people, proved that she was soft-hearted) Ellen and Maggie would probably come up with something worse. The American's sock dare had been pretty good, but disgusting. Faith definitely wasn't doing that. On the other hand, the penalty that she'd invented herself was an undesirable one... Faith sighed again. Hopefully she'd be ignored for the majority of the game.

Laura was bouncing around, looking a little crazy, and Faith considered yelling at her briefly. No, she'd look like the mean one... Hopefully, the kid would get tired and go to bed sooner rather than later, because she really wasn't up to babysitting a sleep deprived fourteen year old throughout class the next day. That reminded her - she had to tell Laura that, under no circumstances was she allowed to tell anybody about the game the night before, particularly if things progressed beyond a sock in the mouth. It would get her and the other girls into a shit load of trouble - except Kizzy, of course, who would probably come out of everything smelling like a rose, stupid little liar she was. Ignoring Laura's question about hide and seek (she seemed to be doing a lot of ignoring Laura) she lent her head back against the pillow, watching Ellen's face when the dare was announced. Jesus Christ.

Obviously, Laura had serious mental health problems (didn't they all?) and Faith left it, wondering if Ellen would actually bother to complete the dare. Rolling her eyes, she began shuffling around, trying to find a comfortable position on the bed without kicking anybody. It wasn't working, and after a few seconds she resigned herself to being uncomfortable, knowing that the game would probably end soon anyway. Particularly if Laura kept on giving out dares that involved drawing a picture of a moose called Clarence. Faith decided to spare Ellen the idiotic idea, that was, unless she actually wanted to do it. "That was a great one, Laura," she smirked. "Maybe Ellen can do that dare tomorrow, when there's more light, and we'll move on." Raising her eyebrows at Ellen, she waited for her response.

Keziah couldn't help a rueful sucking of her teeth, her her hand sat over Beth's mouth, listening to the not-at-all-quiet voices making less-than covert commentary about her wafting through the dorm. If she was such a psychotic bitch as several members of her dorm seemed to think, why were they so bold in being complete assholes to her? If she really was as unbalanced as terrible as they claimed, none of those cowards would have the stones to be so openly mean. No one slapped a bear, or called a raging serial killer a whore.

How conveniently it worked out for the little bitches that she was the sole problem in the first girl's dorm. Faith wouldn't have humiliated her in the dining hall if Keziah was actually that cruel. Kizzy knew what it meant to live in true fear, all the time, of someone who could utterly and completely destroy your...you. A world where a look could leave you reeling, nauseous and anticipating some fearful consequence and everything had a sub-language of filial compliance, or else. Maybe that was what the girl should become, maybe they needed to know what real fear was... the kind that made you physically sick and afraid with the memories, as thought it were happening all over again.

At the same time, what was the use? the die has been cast and it was mostly her fault, but then Ellen had been about as compassionate as a hernia ad Faith was really crazy at this point, using a situation she started to wrap herself in a pity flag. Keziah decided that Beth was strange, not in the creepy way but just.odd, who made pouty lips when someone put a hand over their lips? then again this wasn't the Highgrove Home for kids on summer holidays, this was a place for weirdos like them. When Beth left she adjusted in the bed quietly, this time to actually be able to see what was going on, Laura's wave made her smile and even stick her hand out just enough so the girls could see her wave back. Laura really shouldn't be in the middle of that game, not with Faith at the helm. the duplicitous little monster.

As she watched the girl leave and take her half-hearted attempt at an invitation with her, Keziah watched the group below with fresh eyes, slithing a littel further back into her bunk, still looking down but just so very mildly obscured, she waved back at Laura, at least she had one friend here, but she coudl not silence a small but growing voice in the back of her skull, echoing softly just above the low hum of the mind's endless flow of thoughts. With a different constellation of girls, minus the martyr and the cunt...
she would have liked to join.

As Laura spoke, outlining a 'dare' that wasn't even worthy of a preschool version of this game, in Ellen's opinion anyway, the peroxide blonde brummie shook her head. "I don't draw." she replied flatly. Thankfully though, Faith had enough sense to give her an easy out, possibly without turning yet another of her psycho roommates against her. The less people who wanted to smother her in the night, the more chance there was she could actually get out of this place alive; not that she had even the slightest clue what she might do afterwards. Knowing her luck, it involved Nate's kitchen, children and a lack of shoes. Better than dying to one of these harpies though.

"Yeah, tomorrow." she said, giving a small nod. A lie, of course, not even a good one given what she'd just said, but she really didn't care. Giving Laura a fake smile, she idly wondered just what was going on in her head, but she doubted she'd ever know that. A nod to Faith followed, and she glanced around at the others in the little group. Bouncy girl was too easy, but Maggie had already been asked once. She'd get the american next time around, she supposed, assuming the staff hadn't burst in to break some heads by then. "It's my go, yeah?" she asked, looking to Faith, who seemed to know what was going on.

A glance up to Kizzy, and with a grin on her face, she turned to Beth. Given the level of energy the girl seemed to have, Ellen didn't think there was any question she'd pick a dare, and what better chance was there to fuck with the sociopath who wouldn't stop pissing on her in the night? "Truth or dare?" she asked, faking another smile, trying to look innocent. Not her strong suit, there was almost always something she'd done wrong somewhere, or at least something she was planning, like this. Odds were it would come back and bite her later on, but she could only hope it'd be worth it. After all, who wouldn't want a bit of attention when they were hiding in bed like the redhead was?