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Blair breezed through the front door. “Guess what, I'm throwing a party next weekend."
Jo, Natalie, and Tootie turned towards her from the table in the living room.
"That's terrific," declared Tootie. "My first college party!”
"A party?" Jo asked, looking less than enthused. “Here?”
"Come on, Jo, it'll be fun! There’s a theme!”
"A theme?" Jo asked.
"What kind of theme?" Natalie sounded skeptical.
"Ok, listen to this.” Blair arched her hand through the air as if she was displaying an invisible title. “Middle school slumber party."
"What kind of theme is that?" Jo scoffed.
"Seriously?" deadpanned Tootie.
"Hey, come on, it’ll be fun! The invitation says for everyone to wear their pajamas, bring sleeping bags and pillows, and we'll stay up late, paint our nails, watch horror movies, and sleep on the floor.”
"Does this mean there will be no guys at this party?" Natalie asked incredulously.
"No boys allowed," said Blair. "It's a middle school slumber party."
"Blair Warner throwing a party without guys?!" Tootie asked, shocked.
"Don't worry, I'll host another party and invite plennnty of guys,” Blair replied.
"Don't you think this is a little cheesy, Blair? College students having a sleepover? Every night is a sleepover when you live in the dorms.”
"It's all about the nostalgia, Jo."
"Alright, well, if it gets awkward I'll just go upstairs and sleep in my own bed,” Jo said in response
"You'd just abandon me like that?" Blair whined.
"It's your party."
Blair pouted and Jo rolled her eyes in response.
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Saturday evening, guests started trickling in. It wasn't a large crowd, but large enough that people started naturally forming small groups around the room.
"Jo," Blair slid up beside Jo, who was sitting with Natalie and Tootie, and whispered quietly, "This wasn't supposed to happen."
"What wasn't supposed to happen?"
"Everyone was supposed to stay together in a big group.”
“Maybe it's a good time to play a game, then” suggested Jo.
"Oh, good idea."
Blair stood in the middle of the room and announced, "Everyone, it's time to play a game!"
Only a few responded.
"Yo, everyone, we’re gonna play a game," Jo shouted.
More people began gathering around.
"Okay, slumber party games," Blair announced. "Who has suggestions?"
"Spin the bottle!" Kristin, a girl from Blair's art history class declared from the other side of the room.
"No, be serious," Blair laughed.
"Why not?" asked Kristin.
"Because there are no guys here, silly."
Kristin shrugged. "Alright, just a suggestion."
"How about Truth or Dare?" someone else asked.
"Okay, that's a possibility," agreed Blair.
Several other people in the room showed their interest in the game.
"Any other suggestions?” asked Jo.
No one else gave any suggestions, so everyone sat on the ground or furniture and formed a circle. Jo sat next to Blair, Natalie and Tootie were across from them, and a few girls on each side rounded out the circle.
"Okay, rules..." Blair began. "You can't dare someone to do anything illegal, keep things PG-13 and below, and anyone has the option to refuse to answer the truth or perform the dare."
"Blair, it ruins the game if you allow people to pass," said Natalie.
Blair sighed. “Alright… who wants to go first?"
Stacey, a girl from Blair's English class raised her hand. "I'll start."
"Terrific," Blair said.
And then the game began.
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Almost halfway around the circle, Kristin, the girl who suggested Spin the Bottle earlier, called on Blair.
Blair was caught off-guard, not having thought about the fact that she was playing the game and not just hosting it.
"Truth or dare?"
Blair gave it some thought. "Dare," she said finally.
"Okay Blair, I dare you to kiss someone in this room."
Blair laughed. "But there aren't any guys here."
"I know," Kristin answered with a sneaky smile.
"But..."
"Just pick anyone. It doesn't matter."
Blair felt her cheeks get warm. The idea didn’t repulse her; it was just that she’d only ever kissed guys before. And she only kisses guys after they’ve been on a few dates. So her discomfort wasn’t completely related to the fact that she’d never kissed a girl before and now was being dared to do it in front of a crowd of people.
As she glanced around the circle, she didn't feel like she would be comfortable kissing any of them. She barely knew most of them outside of being classmates. She had almost finished considering everyone sitting around the circle until Blair’s gaze landed on Jo, who was sitting next to her.
Jo's eyes widened. "Blair, no. Uh-uh."
"Jo," Blair whispered. "Please, you're my best friend. It would be too uncomfortable with anyone else."
Jo continued to look at her, wide-eyed.
"I've never kissed a girl before," Blair whispered.
"And you think I have?" Jo said, a little too loudly.
“No!" Blair whispered. "I'm just..." Blair paused. "Come on, it will be quick."
Jo held Blair’s gaze for a few more seconds and then nodded slightly.
Blair leaned in and their lips met in a kiss. Jo’s warm and soft lips fit together perfectly with her own. She took a sharp inhale when she felt the butterflies take off in her stomach. Jo placed her hand on the side of Blair’s face, and Blair reached out reflexively to rest her hand on Jo’s waist. She was so caught up in the sensation of kissing Jo that she forgot for a moment that all eyes were on them. Blair pulled back after lingering for a few seconds, and their lips slowly separated. They met each other’s gaze for a moment before Blair reached up to touch her own tingling lips with her fingertips.
Blair turned forward and glanced across the circle and saw Natalie and Tootie covering up huge smiles, their eyes wide with disbelief.
Jo nudged her. “It’s your turn.”
“Huh?” asked Blair, her heart rate picking up again.
“To pick the next person.”
“Oh,” Blair cleared her throat. “Tootie, truth or dare?”
Tootie chose “Truth” and the game carried on, but Blair couldn't concentrate. Why had that kiss felt so... good? She'd never even felt that way when she’d kissed a guy before. When a few minutes passed by and she still felt herself trembling, she quietly excused herself, saying that she needed to use the bathroom. In reality, she just needed to think.
She walked into hers and Jo's shared bedroom on shaky legs and sat on her bed with her back against the headboard and her forehead resting on her knees, which she had pulled up to her chest. She took deep breaths while she replayed the kiss in her mind.
The way Blair had felt like she was falling from the sky when their lips met. The way kissing Jo was softer than any kiss she'd ever received from a guy. The softness of her lips and the way Jo had gently laid her hand on Blair's face holding it close to hers while they kissed. It felt familiar and comforting and intense at the same time.
After a couple minutes of Blair running the kiss through her mind over and over, she heard the sound of the doorknob turn and looked up briefly to see Jo carefully coming into their room.
"Blair?"
"Yeah?" Blair responded after placing her forehead against her knees once again. She felt the bed dip when Jo sat down and after a few seconds Blair raised her head to look at Jo.
"Jo, I'm sorry I made you do that. I realize now that it probably made you as uncomfortable as I felt, being dared to kiss someone."
Jo turned so that she was sitting cross legged on the bed in front of Blair. "No, it's fine. But are you okay? You zoned out for a while there and looked like you could barely stand when you left the game.”
Blair hadn’t known what kind of reaction to expect from Jo. Maybe some annoyance, maybe even awkward avoidance, but she definitely hadn’t expected this openness and care.
“I- don’t know, to tell you the truth.”
"You don't know?"
"I-" Blair began and then sighed in frustration. She didn't know if she should tell Jo how she really felt or if it would make things even more awkward between them. But she also needed to talk about it; to process it with someone else rather than just running in circles in her mind.
"Jo, I liked it more than I think I'm supposed to."
Just then Natalie and Tootie barged in through the door that connected their rooms.
"I knew it," Tootie declared. "I knew Blair liked it!"
Natalie stood next to Tootie, grinning. “This is so cute!”
“Guys…” warned Blair.
“You couldn’t pay me to kiss Natalie,” said Tootie.
In agreement with Tootie, Natalie shook her head. “Nope.”
"Guys get out of here, we're trying to talk," Jo's annoyance with them was evident.
Tootie scoffed, and her and Natalie sulked back down to the party.
Jo turned back to Blair, who still sat back against the headboard but was no longer hugging her knees to her chest.
"Okay, what do you mean that you think you liked it more than you were supposed to?"
"First of all, I'm not gay. Or... I don’t think I am. Second, you're my best friend. I don't think it's normal to feel... this way... about kissing my best friend."
Jo paused. "I have a couple of things to tell you."
"Okay," replied Blair, sitting up a little straighter, eager to hear what Jo was about to say.
"Alright. No one else knows this, but I like both. Guys and girls.
Blair's mouth dropped open in surprise.
"Close your mouth, Blair, you look like a fish," Jo deadpanned.
“Sorry,” Blair said sheepishly.
“I was really confused by it when I was younger,” Jo continued, “but eventually I just accepted the fact that I like who I like and maybe it doesn’t need an explanation. I’d never acted on it with other girls, but the attraction is there.”
Blair nodded. “Okay, what was the second thing?"
Jo cleared her throat. “Our kiss… I liked it too."
Blair couldn't hide a small smile. "So, what does this mean," asked Blair.
"I really don't know." Jo replied. "All I know is that we just found out that we both like kissing girls and kissing each other."
Blair smiled shyly and looked down. "What is up with Kristin, anyway? Why does she want to see me kiss a girl so badly?"
"Blair, she's into you."
"What?!"
"She suggested Spin the Bottle because A, she likes kissing girls, and B, she was hoping to kiss you. And then she dared you to kiss someone because she was hoping you'd pick her."
"How do you know?"
"Because I see the way she looks at you sometimes in class. I can tell she's into you.”
Blair wasn't sure what to say. Or even what to think.
"Blair, it's not only guys who are into you. I know for a fact that there are girls at school who find you really attractive."
Blair felt herself blushing. "Jo, I don't know what to do with all of this information and with what I've discovered about myself tonight."
"You'll figure it out."
And what about… us?”
“You want there to be an ‘us’?”
“Can we at least talk about it?”
“Yeah, ok. Tomorrow after everyone goes home.”
Blair nodded.
“Alright,” Jo said, swinging her legs off the side of the bed to stand up. “Ready to go back to the party?”
Blair stood up and took a deep breath. She ran a hand through her hair and glanced in the mirror. “Okay.”
As Jo reached for the door knob, Blair caught Jo’s hand for a moment.
Jo gave her a questioning look.
“Thanks, Jo,”
Jo smiled before opening the door, the two of them walking back down to the party together.