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Chapter 3
The Game

As the silver van made its way down the leaf-covered street to the Reed household, one of its passengers sat in the backseat contemplating his future actions at his friend’s upcoming sixteenth birthday celebration.
Gazing emptily out the passenger window, Virgil noticed his reflection in the fiery autumn leaves hanging from the trees as they passed on the way to his destination.
“Passion,” Virgil said quietly to himself as he examined his reflection philosophically. Due to the transparency of his reflection, the redness of the leaves seemed to fill his reflection’s core with the fire of desire. The fire, seemingly deeper in color at where his reflection’s heart would normally rest, branched out to all of his limbs and meshed with the azure clothing he was wearing, creating an unusual combination of passion and a sense of calmness within his reflection’s soul. The reflection gazed back at him and tacitly said, “This is you, and you it shall always be. Why run away from me, friend? Running only deepens the feeling. Stop and admit, Virgil Zachary!” Virgil smiled smugly at his reflection; his eyes still focused on its eyes. “You lie, my inner self,” Virgil thought. “I am not as weak as you. I have no desire to admit my feelings to you or anyone, remember this!” This feeling of hiding himself secretly bothered Virgil, but he soon grew bored with believing that his emotions can be discovered through gazing at his reflection and dying leaves. Soon this imagining tired him and he returned to reality with the doubt that his hidden feeling would ever be evoked again.
Upon his arrival to the door of Daniel’s alabaster-colored house, Daniel quickly opened the door and invited Virgil in. Soon Virgil’s calm demeanor he once had dealing with his reflection diminished as he followed Daniel into the house. There was no turning back, and there were no adults to save him. As Virgil crossed the threshold, he found himself in a circular, white-walled parlor. Daniel closed and patted Virgil on the back.
“It’s good to see you here, Virgil.” Daniel said in a welcoming voice. “I actually thought you wouldn’t come,”
Virgil, examining the parlor, let out a quiet “Yeah, I didn’t think so either,” Although it seemed to his friend that Virgil was examining the parlor, the reality was that Virgil was trying to avoid looking at Daniel directly.
Daniel advanced a few ahead of Virgil and pointed up a flight of white stairs. “That’s where the party is,” he said without looking at his friend. From farther down the hall, Virgil could hear several voices from a bedroom. At that moment, a young girl appeared at the top of the white stairs. She was small and slight, no more than five foot five. Her long black hair flowed down to her waist, and her bright smile made even the snowy carpet of the stairs seem pale and dingy with age. Wearing her trademark red shirt designed with a golden peace sign and tattered blue jeans, Virgil immediately knew who she was.
“Maria,” Virgil said to himself. Daniel, catching wind of Virgil’s comment to himself, merely said, “Yeah, she’s been here a while,”
Upon Maria and Virgil’s gaze meeting, the girl’s face lit up and she quickly made her way down the stairs to give Virgil a hug. Upon their meeting, Maria and Virgil embraced and Virgil was overcome with Maria’s vanilla perfume.
“Hi, Virgil,” Maria said, her voice flowing sweetly in the air.
“Hi, Maria,” Virgil responded. “It’s good to see you,”
Daniel watched them both as and after a while casually said, “Let’s go upstairs. It’s much warmer up there,” He smiled the whole time he said this, and, turning to Virgil, he said slyly, “You like the warmth, don’t you, Virg?” Virgil averted his eyes from Daniel again and said “Sure, why not? It is a little…chilly down here anyway,”
Up the stairs they went: Maria leading and the Daniel and Virgil trailing behind. The voices in the room down the brightly-lit hall became much louder, and they all were familiar to Virgil. Upon reaching a door at the end of the hall, Maria knocked twice and the door slowly swung open to reveal its loud revelers. Sparsely distributed around the room like mannequins, the partygoers chatted and laughed. Many of Daniel’s friends were there and many of which Virgil did not know. Even though the dim lights provided little light, Virgil could tell that the room’s walls and floor, like the rest of the house’s, were stark white. Its large, spacious area surprised Virgil. It seemed more of an office room than a party room. Across from the door was a large square window. Framing the sun in a portrait-like form, the window’s white gossamer drapes allowed fingers of waning sunlight to come through, giving the room a dark feel despite the poor artificial lighting from above.
“Why are the lights dimmed?” Virgil asked innocently. Immediately, he knew the answer. Before either of his friends could answer, a boy wearing a black sweater and holding a can of soda departed from one of the mannequin groups and appeared before Virgil. His striking similarity to Daniel became apparent as he came close to the two of them. Maria, sensing a conversation between Virgil, Daniel, and the boy, had already decided to go to the window with the drapes and marvel at the setting sun in its portrait-like state.
“What’s up?” The boy asked. “Daniel said you weren’t coming. I ain’t surprised that you did though,”
“Yeah,” Virgil said calmly. “So Terrence, why are you here?”
The boy in the black sweater took a sip from his beverage and said nothing to Virgil for a minute as if he were sorting out his response in his mind.
“Y’know,” He said, winking and shooting Virgil a sly grin. “I gotta support my cousin. You know how it is, right? And since I heard there was gonna be girls here, I couldn’t stay away. You know how I am, right cousin?”
“Yeah, cousin,” Daniel said as he slowly closed the room’s door. “Virg here came to spend some time with Maria. Don’t you have a girlfriend anyway, Terrence? I thought being seventeen and all gave you a sense of responsibility. Doesn’t that make sense to you, Virg?” Daniel put his arm around Virgil’s shoulder in a sign of friendship. Virgil immediately felt uncomfortable due to Daniel’s friendly gesture. He considered inching away, but moving might make Daniel tighten his grip around Virgil, increasing his discomfort.
The boy with the soda raised an eyebrow. “Oh really,” he said with a half-grin. “I can’t blame you, Virgil. She is attractive. Hell, I can’t stay away from her, although I do have a girlfriend,” Virgil, half listening to Daniel’s cousin, gazed past him and noticed Maria standing in the orange fingers of dying sunlight that passed through the gossamer drapes, making it seem as if she were in a spotlight. From behind, Virgil noticed that her arms were folded as if she were contemplating the meaning of life. Above her head shone the red-orange sun and the pink and orange sky. From a distance, the picture seemed scenic to Virgil. If only he were apart of it.
Far off in the corner of the room, a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes sitting in a chair called Maria’s name. Maria walked to the dimly lit corner of the room to talk with the one who called her name. Virgil sighed somberly and suddenly realized that Terrence was still talking to him.
“Hey, Virgil,” Terrence said after a sip of his soda. “you ready to start this thing? I think it would be best to get it over with right now. It adds spice to the party, you know?”
“What thing?” Virgil asked. Another stupid question.
Daniel playfully punched Virgil in the arm. “You know, man. The game?” Daniel’s mischievous smiled appeared again, and did not disappear as Daniel looked his friend in the eye. For some reason, Virgil did not want to look away this time. From what Virgil could tell from gazing into Daniel’s brown eyes it seemed as though Daniel expected Virgil to say no.
Virgil hesitated, his mind debating on whether or not to obey Daniel’s tacit command. “Sure why not? That’s why I’m here, right?” Virgil said as his chest filled with bravado. “Which version are we playing?”
Terrence took another sip of his soda and calmly said, “Luck of the spin. You know how to play that, right, Virgil? It’s the one in which you spin and you kiss the person no matter whoever it is, boy or girl,”
Virgil’s stomach turned as Terrence finished his response. “Oh okay,” He said quietly.
“Good,” Daniel said with excitement. “As long as we don’t spin on each other I’m cool with this part,” Immediately after he said this, he began to call the other guests into a circle. Picking up a discarded Coca-Cola bottle on the carpet, he placed the bottle in the center of the circle and sat down next to Maria. Terrence followed suit, squeezing between Daniel and Maria. Virgil sat on the opposite side of the circle next to the girl with the blue eyes and blonde hair to stay as far away from both Daniel and Maria.
“Is everyone ready?” Daniel said. Daniel quickly spun the bottle. Virgil’s heart raced as he quickly prayed that it did not point to him. The bottle spun quickly and pointed its neck to the blonde girl next to Virgil. Virgil’s heart raced as he saw his best friend walk over to the girl the bottle had chosen for him. Daniel sat himself in front of the girl as if he were admiring her. Suddenly, Daniel leaned to the girl and gently kissed her lips. Virgil looked away. He couldn’t see his friend kissing another girl. Oddly enough, the sight bothered him on the inside.
“Okay, that’s enough Romeo,” Terrence said while dragging his cousin back to the periphery of the circle. “You don’t need to do her, man. Just a simple kiss will do,” Daniel winked at the blue eyed girl and then slid the bottle to Virgil. Daniel’s eyes lit up despite the dimness of the room.
“It’s your turn, Virgil,” Daniel said through a smile. Soon Virgil’s heart began to beat faster and his head began to sweat. “It’s just a game,” He said quietly to himself. “But what if…what if it happens?”
“Virgil, spin the bottle,” said his irritated friend. “We’re waiting,” Virgil had not realized that he still had the bottle in his hand. Examining the bottle as if he could find the best way to spin it, he noticed his reflection again. Although the curvature of the bottle made his visage look bulged, he could tell his reflection had an underlying visage of pity. “You poor fool,” It seemed to say. “I warned you. But did you listen? No. You decided to continue and not heed my warning,” The reflection seemed to smile at Virgil. “I warned you,” It repeated. “And now we shall see who was right,” Brushing off his reflection’s insidious comment, Virgil gently set the bottle down and reluctantly spun it. The bottle made a full revolution on the snowy carpet. Two revolutions on the snowy carpet. Three revolutions. Each revolution caused Virgil’s heart to tighten within his chest. Each spin seemed to toy with his emotions. Would it land on his fears sitting mere feet away from him or would it pass them over like a spotlight? The tension inside Virgil was coming to a tipping point. On the fourth spin, though, the glass spotlight pointed between Daniel and a girl who Virgil barely knew. Immediately everyone’s eyes became glued to the bottle that pointed between Daniel and the girl. The crowd became silent like the mannequins they seemed to be. Each one, beautiful in visage, became transfixed on the glass bottle.
Terrence’s face glowed as he studied Virgil’s facial expression. He had noticed that Virgil was frowning at the results of the spin. “Well, Virgil? Which is it going to be? My cousin? Or Renee?” Virgil glanced up from the bottle and then from Daniel to Renee and back. This should be an easy answer for me. Virgil thought to himself. But why is it giving me so much trouble? Choose Renee, idiot!
“Renee I believe,” Virgil said quietly. Inching his way across the circle and past the questioning eyes of the mannequin-like partygoers, Virgil and Renee locked eyes. Do it. He thought to himself. Why wait? Get it over with! As Virgil leaned in, he heard a loud smack as if someone had cracked a whip.
“Ahh!” Terrence yelled. “You little…” Virgil pulled back from kissing the girl named Renee and turned to where the sound originated. Immediately he noticed a frightened Maria and an angered Terrence. This was unusual, because Maria was scared by no one, not even at a boy.
Terrence stood up, his hollow, black shadow devouring Maria. “You…” he started. “You slapped me,” Daniel, sensing conflict, quickly stood up. “Cousin,” he said hastily. “Calm down.”
“No, man,” Terrence said, obviously seething with anger. “I’m getting that girl,” he said. Suddenly, the boy in the black sweater grabbed Maria’s arm and pulled her up. “Don’t you ever touch me, got it?” he said, his eyes cutting through Maria’s skin like a saw.
“Let…go!” Maria demanded angrily. Terrence tightened his grip on Maria’s arm, making her collapse to the ground in pain. All the while Virgil and the mannequin-like guests stared in fear. The all, including Virgil, feared Terrence’s wrath. Terrence was six-foot two, and stronger than most of them. Suddenly, Daniel swung his fist and hit the boy in the left eye. Terrence stumbled back and released his grip on Maria and covered his wounded eye with both hands.
Daniel quickly bent down to Maria and said, “Maria, are you okay?” The shock of the incident had scared her. Although she was looking at Daniel, Virgil could tell that she was looking through him. Her eyes had become filled with fear and her soul was not focused. Virgil examined Maria for any damage and noticed that she was bleeding where Terrence’s grip had tightened. Terrence, as if ready for a second round charged at Daniel and punched Daniel to the floor. The mannequins gasped and Virgil’s head became hot. Nobody could save Maria now. With Daniel hurt and Virgil frightened by the conflict, the mannequins knew that Maria had no hope.
Terrence smirked, his eyes still filled to the brim with anger. “I’m sorry, Daniel,” he started to say in a condescending manner, “did I hurt you?” He laughed haughtily and kicked Daniel’s stomach. “You idiot,” he said gritting his teeth. “How…dare…you…punch…me?” Each of Terrence’s words was followed by a swift kick to Daniel’s chest. All the while, Daniel coughed violently in response to the kicks. “You…don’t…stand…a…chance…Danny,” Terrence said. Suddenly, Terrence ceased. Daniel, doubled over, slowly began to stand up. He was panting hard and stumbling due to his pain.
Terrence grinned contemptuously. “Well?” He said in the same condescending voice.
“Daniel, don’t get up,” Maria said pleadingly. “I’ll let him seek his revenge. It was my fault,”
“No, Maria,” Daniel said through his heavy panting.
“Daniel!” Maria screamed. “No!” Daniel was already choosing his next move. His eyes wandered around the room to find something to hit his cousin with. Soon his eyes fell upon the Coca-Cola bottle. Daniel quickly made his move and dived past Virgil for the bottle that was used seconds earlier to find love. Grabbing the bottle and standing back up again, Daniel charged at Terrence and smashed the glass bottle over his head. Terrence yelped and stumbled further towards the door behind him.
“Damn you, cousin,” he said. “I will get what I want! And that’s Maria!” Terrence said as he left in pain. “You cannot protect that girl all of the time! Remember!”
Immediately, Virgil’s heart rate began to fall back to normal and the frightened guests remained in silence like their plastic counterparts. Neither Virgil nor the guests could speak about what had happened.
Daniel, breaking the silence, bent down to Maria and quickly asked, “What happened, Maria?” Maria didn’t answer. She was looking down and examining her wound. “Nothing,” She said quietly. “Nothing happened, Daniel. Don’t worry. I’m fine,” Virgil knew she was lying as she said this because he notice her voice quavering at the end.
Daniel slowly stood up, his stomach aching from the kicks. “Party’s over,” Daniel said reluctantly. Daniel unlocked the door and opened it. “Goodnight,” The mannequins, who were silent through the whole ordeal, mumbled to themselves as they left the white party room. Presently, there were only Maria, Virgil, and Daniel left in the room.
“I’ll go, too,” Maria said softly and cradling her wrist the whole time. “Goodnight, Daniel and happy birthday,” were the last words she said as she left the room. Daniel said nothing as Maria left and soon began to pick up glass shards after he heard Maria slam the door downstairs. After a few minutes, Daniel painfully looked up at Virgil with his one swollen cheek and quietly said, “are you going to help me, Virg?” Virgil nodded slowly and began helping Daniel pick up the shattered remains of the glass bottle and the shattered remains of his friend’s sixteenth birthday as well.