Why Now? by Carey Heywood

play a drinking game.”
    “You know I have zero tolerance. I am not drinking more than two beers tonight,” I argue.
    She grins down at me. “With this game, you won’t have to. It’s not like you have to take shots, you can just keep sipping your Black Friday beer.”
    Sounds intriguing.
    Heath beats me to it when he asks, “What’s the game?”
    She moves around the coffee table and back to her armchair. “Never have I ever.”
    Jake, Heath, and I all groan in unison as she sinks back into her seat.
    “What?” She snaps. “Any of you have a better idea?”
    Um . . .
    Jake sits back down. When none of us says anything she lifts her drink and replies, “Thought so.”
    It’s my turn to pipe up. “How do you play this again?”
    Reilly rolls her eyes. “It’s like the easiest game ever. Someone says never have I ever blah blah blah and if you have blah blah blahed you take a drink. I’ll go first. Never have I ever kissed a member of the same sex.”
    Jake, Heath, and I all stare at her as she drinks.
    “You’ve kissed a girl?” Jake asked.
    She nods, “It was no big deal in college. Katy Perry was singing all over the place about liking it, so I thought what the hell. I tried to talk Kacey into kissing me but she refused.”
    Both Jake and Heath’s eyes snap to me.
    “So you’ve never kissed a girl?”
    Blushing, I reply, “I didn’t drink, did I?”
    Reilly frowns at all of us. “We need to rearrange seating. All three of you on the sofa is weird. If Heath leans forward, I can’t see Jake.”
    She stands and walks into her bedroom returning a minute later with her camp chair under her arm. She sets it up on the other side of the coffee table.
    “Jake, you sit here,” she orders.
    He lifts his beer and motions over his body with it. “Really?”
    He does look pretty comfortable but Reilly holds firm and nods.
    He groans, but like the good big brother he is, he stands and moves to sit in the camp chair.
    Reilly moves back to her seat and sits back down. She instantly pops back up and this time walks into my room.
    “Kacey, help me.”
    “Your sister is nuts,” I sigh, before standing up.
    She’s standing next to my polka dotted armchair, moving a small pile of clothes I needed to put away to the top of my dresser.
    “Help me carry this.”
    I take the back while she grabs the feet and we move it out into the living room.
    “Heath, you sit here,” Reilly says, once it’s on the other side of the coffee table. He doesn’t argue but looks at the ceiling for a moment before moving.
    “Isn’t this nicer?” She asks once we’re all sitting back down.
    Jake is across from me and Heath is across from Reilly.
    “This way we can all see each other,” she adds.
    “I’ll go next,” Jake says. “Never have I ever considered strangling Reilly Whitmore.”
    Heath, Jake, and I laugh, before all taking a drink.
    “You guys are so funny,” she huffs after we’ve all taken a drink and we laugh.
    She doesn’t seem amused and says, “Okay Kacey, your turn.”
    My eyes widen, moving from her face to Jake’s and then to Heath’s.
    It’s lame, but after a moment of thinking I reply, “Never have I ever been outside of North America.”
    “Trying to get me drunk?” Heath teases.
    He’s the only one of us who drinks. After high school, his mom and dad took him to Europe. It’s not like I didn’t know he would be the only one drinking, I just wasn’t sure what else to say. Besides, if I had said outside of the US we all would have needed to drink because we’ve all been to Mexico at least once.
    It’s like a rite of passage to go to Tijuana. One time was enough for me. The cab ride from one club to another was the scariest fifteen minutes of my life. That, and Reilly convincing me we were going to be kidnapped and sold into sex slavery or wake up in a hotel room bath tub with our organs removed.
    Sure, Wikipedia confirmed that last one was impossible but she had been pretty convincing at