ALL BAD ONES.

"What did you think of the movie?"

Michael asks Camille in the car on their way to her apartment.

"It was okay. Thanks for inviting me out."

"You are welcome."

He replies his eyes on the road.

"Did you enjoy it too?"

"I guess, sort of. The only thing I enjoyed was you snuggling up to me."

He winks at her mischievously.

"Look at you. I only did that cause I was scared, you ought to have given me fair warning about the horror part of the movie."

She says, slapping his arm playfully.

"In my defense, I have never watched the movie before, I also didn't bother to read the information on it. You can't totally blame me. You didn't ask what the movie was about either."

"Oh! Now I know. Why do I have the feeling that you chose to ignore telling me about the movie so I could warm up to you?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

He says mischievously.

"We are here."

He announces parking in front of her apartment.

"Okay, thanks."

She unfastens her seatbelt.

"Thanks so much for a wonderful evening. I liked it regardless of the horrors involved."

They both chuckle, with her hand on the door handle, she turns to bid him goodnight.

"Won't you invite me in?"

"Invite you in? I did that last night and you refused, remember?"

"Don't take it the wrong way. I was just trying to show you respect."

"What changed between last night and this night?"

"Nothing, I just want to see your house."

"Okay, let's go in."

Together, they enter the house after Camille opens the door.

The apartment is simple yet stylish. The decorations are beautiful and well-matched, the colors are properly mixed to set off a feeling of a comfortable atmosphere.

Michael plops down on a couch as Camille excuses herself to go and undress. The couches are comfy, surrounding a well crafted, beautiful table. The flat-screen television screwed to the wall at the center of the living room is covered in dust and he guessed correctly that she doesn't have time to watch it. There are picture frames containing different pictures of Camille and her parents, and individual ones of Camille herself. He looks around the living room and concludes it's very beautiful and homely.

Camille reappears from the room dressed in a loose-fitting gown which still does nothing to still his racing heart at the sight of her. She sits on the couch beside him talking excitedly.

"So, what do you want to do? I have movies I never get to watch, we could play games or just sit here and talk."

"I don't know. I am not in the mood to watch any more movies. We could play truth or dare if you are up for it."

"How old are you, 13? Truth or dare really?"

"Do you have any alcohol in the house? We can make it more age-appropriate."

"I have spirits and red wine. What are the rules of the game?"

"Perfect. We should use spirits. The rules are plain simple, if you decide to pass on a question or a dare, you take a shot of drink each time you do. Understand?"

"Yeah, it seems easy enough. Let me go and get the spirit."

She goes into the kitchen and returns with a bottle of spirit and two shot cups. Setting them down on the table, she takes her seat, crossing her legs under her.

"Shall we start?"

"Yes, sure. Do you want to go first?"

"Okay. I pick truth."

"How old were you when you lost your virginity?"

"Eish! You are not playing fair. I was almost 18. Your turn, truth or dare?

"Truth."

"How many girls have you slept with?"

"I can't say. Lots of girls, probably around 100."

"Wow. Are you in competition with someone?"

"Your turn Camille. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"How did you feel when you lost your virginity?"

"Why are you asking me about losing my virginity? It's embarrassing, I won't answer that."

He hides a grin and points to the spirit.

"You know what to do. Shall I pour you a shot?"

"I would do that myself. Just so you know, I can play dirty too."

She uncorks the bottle of spirit, pours herself a shot, and downs it in one gulp, baring her teeth to ease the burning effect.

"Your turn now, Michael. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Wonderful. I dare you to tweet that you are gay."

The grin on his face immediately disappears.

"Wait! What?"

It was her turn to smile.

"You know the rules. Do you want me to pour you a drink?"

"Never. I would tweet it."

He takes out his phone from his pocket, logs in to Twitter, and tweets that he is gay. He shows her his tweet.

"See? Done."

He deletes the tweet the moment he sees she's not looking and slides his phone back into his pocket.

"Hmmm. You don't want to take a drink? You can't escape it."

"I believe it's your turn, young lady. Truth or dare?"

"Dare".

"I dare you to take a nude shot of yourself and post it to Instagram right now."

"You are crazy if you think I would do that."

"You know what to do."

"Screw you, Michael. I am going to get you for this."

She pours herself another shot downing it at once again.

"Your turn."

Hoping he would pick a dare, she's already scheming of what to dare him to do.

"I pick truth."

"What's the craziest thing you have ever done?"

"Let me see, cause I have done a lot of crazy things."

He scrunches his face in thought.

"I guess you would have to take your pick. I once had a threesome with my brother's ex-girlfriend and a girl I was hanging around with, I had sex in a car right in front of a police station once. What else? This might just be the craziest one yet. There was this day I was as high as a kite and as horny as a bitch on heat, my mom's friend came and was waiting for her as she had gone out. Long story short, I seduced her into sleeping with me. The woman was so embarrassed after that she never came to our house again."

He bursts out laughing while she stares open-mouthed at him.

"You what? You slept with your mom's friend? You are even crazier than I thought."

"Don't take it so seriously, it only happened once. I believe it's your turn now."

Several questions later, Camille is dead drunk and Michael is as clear-eyed as one can be, he never even tasted a drop of the spirit since he didn't lose any dare to her."

"Enough of the games, Michael. There's something I want to do."

She says in a voice slurred with alcohol.

"What's that, Camille? I would be more than happy to indulge you."

"I want to undress and fuck you silly."

Moving closer to him, she starts to unbutton his shirt.

He gently pushes her away.

"As much as I want that too, I can't have sex with you while you are drunk. It's not right."

"What do you mean? Don't you want me?"

"I do, but the last time we hooked up, I was drunk too, so I couldn't think straight."

She suddenly grabs his groin from outside his trouser.

"Whoa! Camille. I think it's time for you to go to bed."

He jumps to his feet.

"If you keep this up, I might not be responsible for my actions anymore."

"But I want you."

She replies in a slurry voice immediately drifting off to sleep.

"I want you too but not this way."

He says to her sleeping figure. He bends down and gently carries her in his hands, making his way into her bedroom. He sets her down on the bed, pulling the duvet up to her chin. He heads back to the living room to lock the door before going back to the bedroom to snuggle beside her.

She talks in her sleep and cuddles up to him.

Before long, he also drifts off to sleep thinking of how peaceful it felt to sleep beside her.

THE NEXT MORNING.

Camille wakes up with a banging headache, trying to recollect the events of the previous night. She rolls on her side and sees Michael in her bed,  recalling at once what transpired between them. Groaning, she gets off the bed, proceeding to the kitchen to make coffee for them both.

The smell of coffee drifts into the room and Michael is soon awake. He makes his way to the kitchen where he encounters Camille carrying two cups of coffee to the dining room.

"Good morning, Camille."

Smiling, she sets the cups of coffee down on the table and turns to return his greeting.

"Morning, hope you slept well."

"I sure did."

"Sorry about last night. I feel like I came on too strong. I am almost ashamed of myself."

She takes a cup of coffee and hands it to him.

Accepting it gratefully, he takes a sip.

"It's okay, no harm done. I was almost tempted to take you up on your offer.

"I am never playing truth and dare with you again, you played me."

"I did not. You played yourself. How's your head?"

"Banging, I would have to take some pills."

"You should."

Setting his cup of coffee down on the table, he takes out his phone from his pocket and checks the time.

"I have to run. I need to go home and get changed for work."

"I better not keep you then. Why did you sleep in your clothes."

"I didn't want you to think I took advantage of you."

"I know you would never do that regardless of how crazy you are."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Would I see you later today? After work perhaps?"

"How about tomorrow? I got things to......"

A knock on the door cuts her off. Leaving him to follow behind her, she peeps into the peephole and opens the door with a smile on her face.

"Good morning Lara, how are you doing?"

Lara steps in and she is about to respond when her gaze settles on Michael. Her demeanor immediately turns icy.

"I am doing okay."

She replies slowly.

"Lara, this is Michael my friend, Michael, this is Lara, my cousin."

She makes the introductions between them and they acknowledge each other with stiff nods.

"I would be on my way now, Camille. See you later?"

Michael moves to the door.

"Yeah,sure. Call me."

He nods at Lara and excuses himself.

Lara turns to Camille immediately the door closes and begins to fume.

"What in heaven's name are you doing?"

Ignoring Lara, Camille makes her way to the dining room to pick up her cup of coffee.

Lara follows behind her and takes a seat.

"I am pretty sure you heard me."

She leaves Lara sitting and goes into the kitchen to take two pills of aspirin with her coffee before going back to sit at the dining table with Lara.

"What are you on about?"

"Don't pretend not to know what I am talking about, what was he doing in your house so early? It's not even 7 yet."

"You mean Michael?"

"Yes, I mean him."

"He slept here."

"He did what? How stupid can you get?"

"Don't talk to me like a kid. I am a grown adult and I am responsible for my decisions."

"Then act like it. I warned you to be careful around him, didn't I? Yet you slept with him."

"Why are you stressing yourself out over this issue? I was drunk last night and he helped me to bed, nothing happened."

"Can you just listen to yourself? Guys like him are predators, they wait for the right moment before moving in for the kill. He's just going to use you and dump you."

"How exactly is he going to use me? He's richer than I am, and if you are talking about sex, it's usually enjoyed by two people. So, how is he going to use and dump me? He's a perfect gentleman, if he wanted to sleep with me last night, he could have especially since I was vulnerable."

"Why are you even defending him? You should cut all ties with him immediately, he's not good for you."

"I take an exception to your tone. Why are you talking like you are my mother? I can see whoever I want to without you having a say in it? You might be older than me, but that certainly does not give you the right to make decisions for me. How do you even know he's not good for me? Have you ever been involved with him?"

"You mean you haven't heard all the rumors about him? He's just a playboy with no morals."

"I heard the rumors about him and he owned up to them. So, what's the big deal? He has never been in a relationship and he sleeps with different women, what else is new? I thought you said you didn't know him."

"I mean I don't know him personally, I hear things from reliable sources. I take it you don't know then."

"Know what?"

"That he releases nude pictures of every girl he sleeps with."

Blinking twice in shock, Camille lets out a breath she doesn't realize she's holding.

"That's not true, he would have told me."

"You are so naive. Why would you think he would tell you such since he obviously intends to add your pictures to the mix? Tell me, how long have you known him for?"

"Not that long."

Do you see it? You barely even know him and here you are defending him."

She says triumphantly.

"How do you know all these? It could just be rumors."

"Google is your friend my dear little cousin. That guy is no stranger to scandal. I am sure he even welcomes it."

She adds with a touch of glee.

"You should leave now, Lara. I need to be alone."

"You are sending me out because of him?"

"I just need to process this alone."

She stands and hides a smile, throwing a departing remark for effect.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

She hisses as makes her way out the door.

Camille runs to the living room to look for her phone, she finds it tucked in the arm of a couch. She snatches it and begins to surf the internet for stories of Michael. What she sees there leaves her dazed and shocked. To think she was already starting to fall for him, what a fool she had been.

How can one person be so unlucky with love? Maybe having a serious relationship was out of the cards for her, she always ended up with the bad guys.  Her ex was a complete bastard and the one before him. Is it true what they say that good girls always ended up with bad guys? She thought to herself. But, she wasn't a good girl or was she?

She debates within herself to call him but decides against it instead making her way to her bedroom to wallow in self-pity.