You made your way up to the house, asking yourself for what had to be the hundredth time, what you were doing there. Parties were not your thing, but your friend invited you, saying she got the ok from her friend. It’s not like you knew anyone but your friend, why would you even agree to this?

She kept telling you to be more sociable, which you supposed would be a good thing, but you weren’t as outgoing as she was, which the whole issue was of course. Initially you’d told her no, but she kept pushing and insisting so you had no choice really. You figured you’d go in, make an appearance, stay for an hour and then leave.

You texted her before leaving and she advised you she was already there, had helped setting up, so to just come over, people had already started to arrive. You turned to look at the crowded driveway and sighed, you just wanted this to be over.

Heading up, you rang the doorbell and waited, hoping desperately that your friend answered. The door swung open, no such luck.

“Uh hi, I’m Lauren’s friend,” you said, feeling insanely stupid.

The young woman smiled and motioned you in.

“Oh hey! I’m Janette, c’mon in, you’re just in time,” she grinned as you made your way in past her.

You looked around at the crowds of unfamiliar faces, just then Lauren made her way through the group of people and over to you.

“There you are! I was afraid you’d gotten lost,” she grinned. “You have perfect timing, we were just getting ready to play,” Lauren smirked.

You frowned, “Play what?”

“You’ll see, c’mon,” she said, leading you over to a couch, sitting.

People looked at you, smiling, and nodding their hellos. You felt sorely out of place and just wanted to go home when suddenly five men made their way closer, they were talking and laughing amongst themselves. You’d seen guys like them before on TV, but never thought they existed in real life. They were extremely good looking, too good looking in fact and looked to be of Asian descent. There was one however, who caught your eye. You couldn’t stop staring and suddenly he turned and caught your eye, giving you a small smile and bow with his head. You could feel you face burning, you gave him a small smile before looking quickly away.

“Hey everyone, we’re going to get started! As you may have noticed, all the men were asked to put something personal of theirs in a hat when they came in tonight, well that’s because we’re going to play the classic 7 Minutes in Heaven!” 

The room erupted in murmurs and Janette held up her hands.

“Anyone with boyfriends, girlfriends or spouses are exempt and can step back, everyone else come forward and take a seat on the floor, guys just remove your things from the hat over there please.”

Lauren pulled you up, “C’mon, let’s play!”

“No!! I don’t know any of these guys,” you stated through clenched teeth, but found yourself looking over at the guy, unreasonably relieved to see him step forward and sit on the floor.

“What better way to meet him then? Don’t be lame,” Lauren said, grinning, pulling you down to sit on the floor.

You looked around, there were a several women and men and everyone looked excited, people already hoping to get a certain someone.

“Ok so, it’s going to take place in this closet here,” Janette pointed to the closet behind her. “Women are to pick an object out of the hat, hold it up for everyone to see then go into the closet. Ladies when in, stay with your back to the door and wait for you guy to come in behind you. Be careful, it’s pitch black in there with the door closed, there isn’t anything sharp or anything you can hurt yourself with though. I’ll ring a bell once your guy has gotten in and then you can turn and go at it. You can do more than kiss if you want, but no full out , other people have to be in there after you and that’s just gross. Guys if she says no to anything other than kissing, leave it, or else I’ll kick your out so fast you won’t know what hit you, the same goes for you too ladies, got it?” Janette said seriously.

They all nodded.

“Good, I’ll knock on the door when the seven minutes are up and men that’s your signal to leave first. Women, you turn around while he leaves and when you come out, you will give the item back to its owner and see who it was. Who knows, there may be a new love connection made!” She smirked. “Everyone goes once.”

Your sense of dread increased and you felt the very real desire to bolt. You looked over and found the guy watching you and you stilled, he smiled and you felt your heart race. If you had to get anyone, you wanted it to be him, but the odds of that were so slim, there was no way you’d be that lucky.

“Let’s get started!” Janette announced, grabbing the hat and holding it out in front of a woman.

You watch as she reached in, grabbing something, she held it up and then headed into the closet, grinning. A few seconds later, a guy stood and made his way in after her. Janette used her phone to make the sound of a bell ringing and then set the timer on her phone. There were murmurs and giggles while everyone waited.

After what felt like forever, the timer went off and Janette knocked on the door and the guy came out, grinning broadly as he made his way over to sit. A few seconds later, the woman followed, looking slightly disheveled, she held up the item and the guy stood, taking it from her and she smiled, giving him a wink.

You sighed shakily, your horror growing as couple after couple went until finally it was your turn next. Miraculously your guy still hadn’t gone, you felt a small glimmer of hope until you saw Lauren pick her item, your guys eyes widen as he watched her stand and head into the closet. A few seconds later a different guy stood and made his way into the closet. You let out a sigh of relief and a few people looked at you, grinning knowingly, including your guy, you blushed bright red. A few minutes later the guy came out and then a few seconds after, Lauren. She handed the guy his item and came back over and sat next to you.

“That was great, we’re meeting up after. You’re next,” she grinned.

Your heart dropped and suddenly the hat was in front of you, you had to fight the very real urge to refuse and leave. Hesitantly you reached in, your hand closing over the first item it came in contact with and suddenly you looked up and found that same guy watching you intently. You pulled the item out and looked down at it…

Necklace

iPod

Bracelet

Watch

Keys