5. Sharing Swigs
It never did get easier, the guys never let up about anything, trust me. I guess it builds character anyway, but I was kind of sick of it from my own damn team. I mean, you get enough smack talk from the opponents, getting it from your supposed team mates, well, it was unnerving. I rummaged through the bag once I was certain the rest of them had gone to bed. Even if they hadn't, it's not like they'd be looking for me anyway at that time of night. I was sure the coach had passed out, when he came back to the loggings he seemed nothing shy of intoxicated, I'd know it. Feeling through the layers of clothes, I finally found what I had been digging for. It was too easy to feel for, big and cool and hard and made of glass. It even made a sloshing noise as I pulled it out, the rusty brown liquid swishing around in the bottle teasingly.
I grinned this real devious kind of grin, even just looking at the stuff made me feel pretty bad-ass. Sneaking it onto the trip? That was just the icing, the sweet bad-ass icing. I tucked it into the inside pocket of my jacket, though it didn't really fit since it was so large, and made my way to the back door. At this time, Twilight would probably be deep into her studies, hardy an Earthquake could wake her out of that trance. I slowly pushed the door open so it wouldn't squeak, and let it fall it back into place before I took off into the night.
It felt so good, running through the brisk air with such a taboo clenched between my chest and my elbow. And I knew if nothing else would help, this must. I sneaked between the shadows of the buildings, the porch lights hardly any nemesis of mine. I knew exactly where this sin of mine would lead me, and let it go right ahead and do it. I didn't have to catch much of a breath as I arrived, my fitness keeping my breathing easy enough to hide even if there was eavesdroppers.
The barn was mostly dark except for one light at the top, which seemed to have been on for a while so I took it that it was on all night. In the middle of the barn was this rotting old remnant of a barrel-style table, though most of it was falling apart. There was this stool on one side, but I thought it suited me just well enough. I figured it was a good a place as any, so out of my coat I revealed the source of my rebellion: a tall, thick bottle of the finest black label whiskey I could get my hands on. Not that I knew much about the stuff, but right now that really didn't matter. I just wanted to forget all of this, get away from these awfully confusing feelings, this team, and that Applejack girl.
I cracked the seal around the rim and took much enjoyment on twisting it off. I made it of utmost importance to bring myself a shot glass, I didn't want to get myself so wasted I dropped the bottle from my lips after all. Not that I did this stuff too often to know, Twilight would kill me if she knew, and no one on the team could find out or my athletic career might suffer. Besides, getting your lips on stuff like this when you're under-aged is hard enough. My hands shook as I poured the gloriously deep liquid into the glass, though the smell seemed worse to me than the horse manure I had complained about initially.
"Whiskey?" I nearly spilled the whole lot of it across the table, but got a hold of it and myself before that happened. I looked around into the shadows for the source of the voice, and begged it was not who the accent told me it was. "Well, maybe I had you pegged wrong after all."
"Applejack?" I found myself saying in a somewhat uneasy tone, acting as though I might still have the time to hide the stuff.
"I thought we made it pretty clear that under-aged alcohol possession on the premisses was strictly forbidden?" She leaned her pitchfork against some pillar gently and came over to me.
"If you aren't going to turn me in, leave me alone will you?" I asked her, playing like I didn't care. I did however, notice the oddity that was her denim skirt, something she clearly wasn't used to wearing.
"Turn you in? Nah." She put one hand on the end of the makeshift table and extended the other, grasping a second stool by the seat. "I'm gonna join ya."
"Join me?" I smirked and laughed a bit at the idea. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, farm girl. You wouldn't want your family or church to find out or something."
"What's wrong, city slicker?" Her own grin rose up eagerly at the challenge. "Afraid I'll drink you under the cask?"
"Pfft." I snorted as I took my first shot, holding it down carefully as I poured another one. "Afraid you'll get me drunk and take advantage of me, maybe." I joked as I slid the shot glass her way and tipped the bottle towards her. "Cheers."
"You wish, honey," she replied with a confident expression and a flirtatious wink, downing the whole thing without the slightest stifled cough. I felt the warmth in my stomach as the shot hit home, but since I hardly felt a buzz I went to pour another just as quickly.
"Why are you always showing up around me anyway? Can't a girl have some privacy?" I complained as I polished off my second shot, hoping the conversation might delay the drinking long enough for me to catch my breath.
"I should be sayin' the same thing, I was just out here finishin' up my day's work when you crept in here like you were buryin' a body," she argued, and I guess it made sense. "Hit me already." She teased me, but from the way her fingers drummed at the barrel I imagine she wanted another shot, nothing else. Nothing else she'd say, anyway, I was still convinced this girl was some kind of siren or something. That became all the more likely the more that I drank. "What's with you, any who? D'you have some problem with me?"
"Playing dumb, are you?" I spat as my hands began to move of their own accord, seeming entirely possessed by the idea of getting the girl across from me drunk. "Clearly it's you who has the issue, I haven't done a thing to you."
"That goes double for me." She nodded as she took a shot I was not even certain that I poured.
I suppose we were both a little too stubborn to admit that either one of us was at fault. Maybe we had a lot more in common than we thought, which was probably why we butted heads like we did. Still, even when we fought, for some reason, I was happy to have her company at that moment. Not that I'd admit it.
"Whatever, don't think I'll forget about you free-loading off my whiskey, Freckle-face." I found something of a name for her as my vision blurred a bit and the marks on her face looked something like stars to me.
"Disregardin' that name..." She frowned as she heard it, which only sealed it in my mind as her new official nickname. "The way I see it, I'm saving you from drowning yourself and gettin' a massive hangover tomorrow." Applejack was probably right, but I wanted to be righter. I grabbed the whole bottle and smiled, watching her expression settle into a serious one.
"Oh yeah?" I said through my teeth before I brought the whole thing to my lips, almost tipping over from the mere fumes. "We'll see about that." I bluffed as I tipped it back, trying my best not to breathe as I gulped sip after sip.
"Quit that!" Applejack grabbed my wrist and yanked me forwards, letting the liquid fill back into the bottom of the bottle instead of the neck and making me hit the barrel of a table with a light thud. She pried my hand off of it and took a big old mouthful of her own, which I watched with a pout and a frown. "Why are you always turnin' everything into a competition?"
"It's who I am," I told her as I peeled myself off the wood of the barrel. "You don't like it, get out of here, but leave the bottle."
"Rainbow Dash," she gently spoke my full name, and it tickled me to hear. "I'm only gonna think less of you if you drink yourself into a coma. Relax, will you?" She leaned forwards and poked my nose, my damn nose! "You already have some good qualities. You're cute, al'right? Drinkin' doesn't have to be your specialty too. Give yourself a break."
My face heated up at that, and I wasn't sure it was entirely the whiskey's doing, no matter how quickly I was downing it. I didn't get compliments like that as often as one would have thought, but it made me all giddy to hear it coming from someone as beautiful as she was. Not that it should have mattered. Nevermind.
"You said I'm cute." I grinned as I heard the words, taking them quite seriously. "I knew I wasn't crazy, you're making a pass at me, aren't you Freckle-face?"
"Dream on." She huffed and took another swig to hide her embarrassment behind her flushing. "What are you doin' with all this whiskey, any who? You don't strike me as the drinkin' type."
"Beats me, I guess I just needed some means to get away," I found myself reciting, pouring another shot as if it would stop the questions and the aching unhappiness I disguised as anger. Applejack just continued to stare at me intently, like she could see through it.
"Isn't that why you're here on the ranch? To get away?" I smiled at that, and maybe that was what Twilight intended for me the whole time. I was too blind to really notice, I guess. With everything that had been going on with the team and the stress of possibly not getting into any college, maybe I was a little more than stressed. "If it's any consolation, I'm kinda glad yer here," I could hear her lips going numb from the cool liquor on her words. "I spend every vacation at home with my family, it's kind of nice to meet somebody new, y'know?"
"You gonna get all mushy on me?" I raised my eyebrow at her, but she reached out and punched me on the shoulder roughly instead, which actually rattled me with the booze sinking into my veins.
"Hush, you." She finished off her sip and nearly shoved it in my mouth that time. I just sort of laughed a bit and did as I was told, tipping it back nice and far. I must not have been paying such close attention, as I just then realized how low the bottle was getting. "Hey now, don't go hoggin' it!"
She reached out again and plucked it from my lips, her fingers nestling nicely into the grooves of my own. We just sat there for a moment, looking at each other with the heat of our hands nearly glowing in the brisk evening air. I could see the barn swaying around us, and it suddenly became all the more apparent. I wasn't sure how long we sat like that, as I hardly had any conception of time by then. She was the one to move away first, her hand sliding down mine and gripping the larger part of the bottle.
"Or what?" I asked slowly as my teeth peeked out between my upturned lips.
"Or I'mma spank you silly, give it here you greedy goose." She yanked it from my clumsy hands then and took the last few sips away from me. I had to admit, under the fog and haze the idea actually intrigued me, which would have frightened me if I was not too drunk already to feel it. "Well, I guess that does it."
"You got any secret stashes around here?" I found myself prying as I extended my arms out over the barrel and grasped the far end, making Applejack scoot back a hint. I could feel myself becoming more obnoxious, but I kind of liked it honestly.
"I dunno if that's such a good idea, sugar," she replied as she found her way to her feet, and I could tell she herself was not entirely sober. But then again, I must have had more than she did, and I wasn't feeling all that bad.
"Come on, we should—" I stood up to go and get her by force, but suddenly the whole force of the whiskey knocked me silly.
My legs felt like jelly, my head rung about and my eyes almost went black. Perhaps I had been drinking a little bit faster than I was used to. Next thing I knew I was sitting in the hay and Applejack was saying something to me, her face not far away. I felt like I couldn't really focus on anything, but no matter where I looked, she was always there, and attracted me right back to her gorgeous, speckled visage.
"Dash? You okay?" sounded very distant, but her concerned expression had me grinning.
"I knew you were gonna try something, Freckle-face," I murmured as I brought myself closer, smelling either her laundry soap or shampoo. She tried to push me off but I grabbed on tighter, and she succumbed to the grips. "I can see them up real close now, those freckles, Freckles." I snickered and reached up to touch them, noticing the way she twitched when she felt me against her, but again, didn't pull away. "They look like sprinkles, I want to just lick em off your honey skin." I laughed loudly as her face went bright red.
"What the—? Rainbow get a hold of yourself!" She shook me a bit and it rattled me around. "Good lord, you're really drunk ain't cha?"
"No!" I sat up suddenly, almost smacking her in the head as I gathered myself to my feet, grasping her tight, plaid shirt for support as she helped me up reluctantly. "I'm really thirsty, you got any more of that sweet, sweet poison?"
My finger trailed over her jawline temptingly, and her eyes followed my advances without falter. I could hear how sensual my voice resounded in the dark barn, and even I could not have resisted my charms. She, however, swallowed hard and bit at her bottom lip like she was trying to distract herself.
"I ain't givin' you one more drop, come on I'm takin' you back to yer room before you do somethin' stupid." She laughed a bit as her arm came up around me, letting me feel that hot radiance of her body.
"Stupid like what?" I asked her with a shove, but she did not let me go. Probably in fear I'd fall over without her.
"Stupid like runnin' into the fields naked or gettin' yourself mixed up with one of those guys down the hall from you, come on now." She gently pulled me along as she spoke, her voice lulling me with ease.
"Those guys don't like me anyway," I growled as I helped myself along, my head hanging down as I did. She let up a bit on the dragging me around, and paused as I got myself together enough to speak again. She looked at me too, just really looked at me, you know? "You like me, don't you?"
"I don't know if that's a question you should ask or answer right now," she simply said as she moved us from shadow to shadow towards where must have been the loggings, I really couldn't say. "But you ain't half bad." Came with a whisper as she smiled a bit, apparently trying to make me feel better.
"Thanks, you're pretty yummy too," I murmured into her ear as I let my lips brush against her.
Her forced chuckle sounded rather awkward, but she hugged me closer like she didn't want to let me go. She shuffled me around a bit on her shoulders while she reached out towards the back door or the loggings, but after she pulled once, then twice, then once more, it was apparent that it was locked up tight.
"Shoot, Mac already came around and locked em. We gotta get someone from inside to open it up," Applejack grumbled in a hush.
"Twilight will do it!" I spoke up, only to find her fingers pressing against my lips to keep me in a whisper, which crept out beneath giggles I could not stifle. "Her light was on too, I saw it. She'll still be up reading, she always is— is reading." I repeated the word and thought about it, as it even sounded weird to me but for some reason my mouth was saying things.
"All right, come on." She dragged me back around to the side and leaned me against the corner of the building, seeing as how Twilight's room was a corner one. I could see the raised ledge sized balcony of her window from here, light casting out across the farm but leaving the two of us in shadow underneath. Why they had such high windows, I couldn't tell you, must have been some security thing. "Stay here, will you?"
"Aye aye," I gave a salute that almost slapped me in my face before she pried my other hand off her shirt, where I hadn't really noticed I was wandering.
I licked my teeth inside my lips, watching her turn around and brace herself against the wall. It was still pretty dark, but I could make out the basic design of her denim skirt, something I found odd to see on a country girl so serious about business as she was. I let her slip around the corner and grasp at these warped pieces of wood along the wall. I was impressed by her acrobatics under such conditions, but even more impressed as I watched her toned legs climb up past my face. Her one leg bent at the knee, and gripping the lip of the window as she tapped on the glass. We held our breaths for a moment, but Twilight never came by. Again, her knuckles rapped against the glass gently, and even through the exterior wall I could hear Twilight cry out in surprise.
"Is she naked-nude or something?" I whispered and Applejack gave me this horribly spiteful look, which told me no. I shrugged, I mean after all it was just a question.
"Applejack, is that you?" I heard Twilight's voice as she cracked the window open.
"I have a bit of a problem," she started vaguely with a sheepish grin, before I finished it off for her the way she did my whiskey.
"Freckles had me out late drinking, we're locked out Twi, can you get open or, like, just, open the door!" I called up with my words all jumbled, putting my hands around my mouth as if it would muffle or direct the sound.
"Freck—" I heard Twilight's skeptical and incredulous repeat, but Applejack kept going.
"Don't ask. Think you can get her inside quietly? I think if her coach hears about this she might be in some pretty deep mud, and her other team mates don't seem all that sympathetic," she tried to explain for me, but I was too busy just looking up at her in that position, trying to get an accurate read on just what bright hue of delicious red her undergarments were.
"You can get inside me quickly," I misinterpreted the words intentionally, and watched Applejack's face become pale.
"Sh-Shush!" she hissed back at me in a surprisingly high voice.
"Leave it to me, I'll meet you at the back door," Twilight agreed and closed the window up once more.
Applejack jumped back down as I averted my gaze, feigning disinterest. She smirked at me as I crossed my arms and pretended to be in no hurry, and she pulled me off the wall and walked me to the door once again. I heard the creaking as Twilight got the door open and leaned out, gesturing for us to hurry along. Applejack led me by hand into the building before knocking open my door and pulling me into my own room. Twilight followed quickly after us and closed the door with her back, giving me this irritated face. I was placed by Applejack onto my less than comfortable bed and felt the mattress squish about between my fingers. Looking back up at Twilight, I felt my smile spreading and pushing my red cheeks around, mimicking some innocent childish expression. She did not seem interested in talking to me, though.
"What happened to her? What did she do this time?" she asked Applejack with a serious tone, the kind of tone I expected before one hell of a lecture.
"Well," Applejack started to explain, but she looked me in the face as she did.
She looked concerned, or perhaps something more. My own usually defiant expression softened as I met her gaze, and for a moment, we just saw each other. She could have ratted me out without a second look, but for what seemed like a once in a blue moon occurrence for her, she lied.
"I was out drinking in the barn, and she walked in on me. Said she was gonna turn me in, so I bribed her with a taste or two," she fabricated, and I was impressed by her audacity. Something about her had seemed so honest, but her selflessness seemed to extend beyond merely right or wrong in this case. She was protecting me.
"I don't believe a word of that." Twilight shattered our illusion without an issue. "I know Rainbow Dash, this has her name written all over it."
"Damn it Twilight, you're so smart," I murmured as I hung my head a bit, going for the flattery discount.
"Don't give me that, go to bed. I'll deal with you in the morning when speaking to you causes physical pain," she warned me and I tensed up. She was probably right about that. I just nodded in acceptance and grabbed on to the wooden ladder to the top bunk, pulling myself up a step or two. "I'm sorry if she caused you too much trouble."
"It was no trouble, I got a good look at some apple-coloured underwear!" I snickered as I got myself into bed, loving the way it made Applejack squirm.
"Hey now, better keep those sneaky peeks to yourself unless you want a smack, y'hear? Don't worry about it, Twilight. It was my fault, I shoulda known better than to challenge someone with so much to prove." She half smiled as she looked back over at me, and I could tell she was looking at me in the eye despite the fact I was mostly hiding under the covers. "I'll come back early and check on her in the mornin', you should get some rest too. Thanks again for your help."
"Any time." Twilight nodded in affirmation as she opened the door for Applejack, and it pissed me off for some reason.
I rolled over in my bed and looked up at the ceiling, hearing Applejack's voice trailing off as the door was closed behind and she went back to the ranch house. I finally closed my eyes, and overwhelmed with the realization of the embarrassment, never wanted to open them up again.