Z.

I remember thinking, isn't this game for timid high school kids?  I felt so adult, then. I wasn't even 21.  And honestly, when it started, I really wasn't all that aware of you. Someone got the empty alcohol bottle. A large circle formed around it, lying still on its side, waiting to be spun. Maybe it was a game for timid high school kids—but even then, it wasn't a game I had encountered at any party I ever went to. Some of those parties would've regarded spin the bottle as tame. At still other parties, it would have been far too ambitious. Here, it unfolded naturally. Were you involved? I can't remember.  The drinks helped. Don't they always? Makes everything much easier to say 'yes' to. Even if it is a little silly. Even if it is a little juvenile. Who goes first? A hand enters the circle, reaching for the bottle, then twists it with a sudden jerk. It glides silently around on its axis atop the soft beige carpet. Friction slows it, it rolls and lan...