Raspberry Liquor

She said her name was Signe. She slid up to me, red solo cup in hand and the smell of raspberry liquor on her tongue, giving me a smile that would put a fox to shame, and she told me my name was pretty.

“Yasmin. That’s really pretty. I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”

Weird for her to say. I’d never seen her before, and there wasn’t a party on campus I didn’t try to at least swing by. And I’d certainly recognize her- those deep green eyes, that honey dark hair. But her lipstick shimmered in the dim light, traces on the edge of her cup and the backs of her hands, her smoky eye impeccable, and I decided it didn’t matter.

“What are you drinking?” I asked, nothing but a cliché tonight.

“It’s called a vibrator.” She giggled. “Wanna try?”

There wasn’t quite enough alcohol in me to try a pickup line, even with something as easy as ‘vibrator’. I took the cup and took a sip, tasting her lipstick before the drink. Both were sweet, smelling like cherries and raspberries.

“Pretty good.”

“Not as good as the actual,” she murmured, and gave me a wink that I think stopped my heart. “What about you, what are you drinking?”

“Uh.”

“Is it good?” Even though I was just staring at her, open mouthed, she grinned and took my hand, taking a drink from my cup and leaving a smear of soft metallic pink along the rim. “Pineapple. Yum. But rum isn’t really my thing.”

“I like flavored rum.” I managed to say. “I’m not a fan of the vodka burn.”

Her eyes flicked down, then dragged slowly back up my front. Suddenly putting on the low-cut shirt earlier that night seemed like the best idea I’d ever had. And here dumbass earlier me had almost put on something more conservative for this party.

“Anything to get a buzz, right?”

“I guess.” I stumbled. And then, a hazarded flirt. “I love your lipstick.”

She smiled. “Thanks, it’s my favorite. You know, it’s really lucky.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I’ve never failed to get a cute girl to kiss me with it on.”

I almost choked on my drink. She laughed as I coughed, stepping closer and putting a soft hand on my back.

“You okay? I didn’t think it was that funny…”

I coughed again, assuring her that I was fine. I didn’t feel fine. Rum burned in my nose, my face red. Holy shit she was smooth.

“So, what’s your major?” I asked, trying anything to draw attention away from me losing my shit over a pick-up line. “I don’t think I’ve seen you on campus before.”

“Oh, you probably have, I’m always running around,” she said, taking a drink and leaning against the wall, so close I could feel how warm she was. She said it so smoothly, so confidently. Had I seen her on campus? She seemed too pretty for me to have missed her. Maybe we’d just always been slightly off in our schedules. “I’m a history major. Focusing on myths and legends.”

“That’s cool,” I said, holding back a cough and drinking more rum. More alcohol was always the solution. “So, what’s a cool monster?”

“What?”

“You know, from a myth nobody knows about, some obscure ghost or monster.”

She laughed, and I got a bigger buzz from that than any cup of pineapple run could give me. “You don't want to hear me talk about myths,” she said, “It's nothing you haven't heard.”

“I don't know mythology super well.” She chuckled, and I pressed my hands together. “Come on, please? I wanna know.”

She pursed her lips, thinking. Then her eyes glinted. “Okay. Have you heard of a huldra? They’re Norwegian.”

I shook my head, and she grinned that smile she’d first given me, all lipstick and flirts. “They’re supposed to look like beautiful young women, with long ox tails and a big hollow in their backs.”

“Sounds pretty weird. Is there anything inside?”

“Nothing. Just an empty hollow.”

“Why do they have it?”

“The stories go that one day a woman was washing her children, and God came to visit. She’d only gotten through half of them, so she hid the unclean ones out of shame. She told God all her children were present, but he knew she lied. So, God decreed that all those hidden would remain so, creating the huldra.”

I paused. “Wow. That sucks.”

The glint in her eye brightened. “Yeah, some of the myths are pretty harsh. But like, if you’re good to the Fae folk, they’ll be good to you.”

“I think that’s a pretty general rule,” I said, suave as I could manage. “That’s cool though, I’ve never heard of a huldra.”

“Not many have.”

Music started to blast from the speaker right next to us. Some frat boy waved his phone, turning the volume up even higher as he tried to get people to dance. The bass thudded through the floor, way too loud for the room. Signe said something muffled. I put my hand up to my ear, apologizing.

“You wanna get out of here?” She shouted again in my ear, standing on her tiptoes. “I can’t stand super loud music. I can’t hear anything!” She grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the wall, making a beeline through the crowd.

I could feel my lizard brain taking over. And lizard brain was bad. Very bad. Lizard brain’s only thoughts were ‘Uh.’ and ‘Girl. Is pretty.’ Stupid lizard brain, making it so much harder for me to be cool and flirty. Her fingers were intertwined with mine, and I swear I could feel something short circuiting in my head. She took me to the back deck, where the music was muffled. The deck was empty, just a few people walking past on the street below and a small group in the kitchen, talking and laughing.

“That’s better,” Signe sighed, emptying her cup before setting it down on the railing. She hadn’t let go of my hand yet.

“We can actually hear each other.” I said, smiling nervously. Lizard brain assured me I was suave, and normal brain informed me I probably looked and sounded like an idiot.

She took my cup, setting it next to hers. “I was thinking we wouldn’t do much talking.” And she let go of my hand and rested hers on my shoulders, guiding me so my back was against the wall, our faces inches apart. “I mean, if you’re okay with it-”

I leaned forward and kissed her.

I felt her lips curve into a smile, giggling through our lips pressed together. Then she sighed, sliding her arms around my neck, kissing me back and all I could taste was raspberry liquor and I definitely felt something short circuiting in my brain. Lizard brain was very pleased. Normal brain was only thinking about kissing her more. Her fingers dragged up my neck, tangling in my hair. I pulled her closer to me, the two of us alone on the deck with the bass thudding in the background and the bare lightbulb above us attracting moths.

My thumb brushed against her hip, under the hem of her shirt. As I pushed my hand ever so gently under the fabric, she pushed me harder against the wall and tangled her fingers further in my hair.

Lizard brain was very happy.

The curve of her back fit the palm of my hand so well. I moved my hand higher, and she hummed softly. God, her skin was soft. So warm.

Thank God I'm gay, I thought, moving up my other hand.

My fingers slipped.

There was a part on her back that was cold.

Hollow.

I felt my fingertips slip into a hole where her spine and her ribs should be and I opened my eyes to push her back because what the fuck? there was a fucking hole in her back and if I had moved my hand down instead of up would I have felt a tail?

She seemed unphased.

“Do you mind?” She purred, unmoving, looking up at me with half closed eyes, her lipstick faded and smudged. I could still taste it. “I can make it up to you.” Her thumb brushed my cheek.

“You're a…” I struggled to say through lizard brain, even through normal good rational brain.

“Yeah.”

She kissed my neck, and my stomach flipped, and the world went fuzzy as I slipped my hand under her shirt again.