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"I'll start!"
Em volunteers, holding her hand up to let everyone know. Everyone murmurs in agreement and then she grins. "Never have I ever pissed in a pool."
Well, that's great. I look around to see that everyone's looking around and then everyone's attention focuses on a single person - Eric. He grins sheepishly, his cheeks tinting red in embarrassment. He removes a sock and then mutters, "Stop looking at me with those judgmental eyes, you fools. I was a kid when it happened okay!"
Everyone laughs at him. Kiara pinches his cheeks, kissing his cheek affectionately. "Aww, don't be so embarrassed baby. You have a companion, see." She says, pointing her finger towards Neil, who is caught in the middle of removing his beanie. He looks at us sheepishly, caught red handed. Scowling at Kiara, he mutters, "It was all going well, but of course you had to tell everyone."
"And let Eric suffer alone? Hell no!" Kiara exclaims, shaking her fingers in a no sign.
He rolls his eyes in annoyance. "I don't like you right now."
"It's okay." She chuckles, shrugging her shoulder.
"Okay folks, my turn." Bruce interrupts, snapping our attention to him. Everyone looks at him, waiting. "Never have I ever gotten arrested."
My eyes find Em and Tanner who are both looking at me. And together, we burst out laughing, clearly remembering the crazy day we got arrested. Oh boy, what a day it was!
I remove my socks, while Em and Tanner do the same. Everyone looks at us with curiosity.
"Hello guys, explanations please." Trish says, looking at us in confusion.
Em gestures me to tell them with her eyes so I raise an eyebrow at Tanner, silently asking if it's fine that I tell them about that day. Because he was the one who got us involved in the first place. He nods at me, grinning. Okay. "It was at a party Tanner had thrown at his place. We were shit faced that day, but Em had been the designated driver so she was sober. We drank too much but we wanted to do something more fun so we decided to drive to our school, drunk. And when we reached the school, Tanner insisted that we decorate the school walls because according to him, plain white is boring, so after a few please, we graffitied one side of the school building using spray paints in Tan's car. But alas, the school's janitor caught us." I chuckle, remembering the look of horror on his face, then continue, "we were so scared, god. I thought I was going to get arrested and get locked up forever but then we ran away from there, leaving the spray bottles and his car but unfortunately the police caught up to us. We were in the lock up for a few hours before my dad took care of it and we were released with only community service which included cleaning of the walls we damaged." I finish.
"Damn." Bruce wolf whistles, looking at us in awe. "You guys are my inspiration. Even I haven't done something this daring."
Em chuckles. "Don't worry, we are very influential. You'll learn soon enough."
"Well, I'm taking lessons." Trish mutters, laughing. Everyone else laugh along with her.
"So that means, my girlfriend is a rebel." Ridge whispers in my ear, his eyes twinkling with mischief and something else that I cannot quite decipher. "I think I like that very much."
My face turns feels warm on his comment. But I don't let it show on my face and try to act as nonchalant as possible. "You're lucky then, boyfriend."
"If guys are done flirting, shall we continue?" Ashton's teasing voice snaps our attention. I look around to see everyone looking at us in amusement. I roll my eyes at them.
"We weren't flirting." Ridge mutters, though there's a smirk on his face.
That damn beautiful, ugly face!
"It's my turn now. Never have I ever fallen in love." Trish states, looking around. Ashton, Eric, Erica and Kiara take off their jackets simultaneously. Everyone else just look at each other as the atmosphere gets awkward around us when Neil gets up abruptly. He mutters something under his breath, then looks at us. "Sorry, I just need some air. I'll be right back. You guys should continue without me." He mutters dejectedly and walks out of the room. We hear the front door slam shut, indicating that he's gone out.
"What was that?" Tanner asks, breaking the silence.
"I don't think that it's our story to tell." Eric's lips press into a straight line. "He'll tell you guys whenever he feels like it."
I nod, understanding where he's coming from. It's not easy to open up for some people. Especially people who have a closed off nature like Neil. "It's fine. We understand."
"Yeah." Em agrees with a nod.
"God, I'm such a heartless person. I knew that love is a sensitive topic for Neil. Still I did it." Trish whispers, frowning. She holds her head in her hands. "I'm such an idiot."
"That you are." Bruce mutters, putting his arms around her shoulder, making her look at him. "But you don't have to beat yourself up for it so much. No one knew that he would react like this even after a year."
"Yeah, but still. I ruined the mood." She frowns, before standing up. "I'll go talk to him." Before anyone can object, she runs out of the room to find Neil. Everyone just look at her running out until she disappears through the main door. No one says anything, just looking at each other.
"Phew, that was interesting." Tanner mutters, breaking the awkward silence.
"Do you think ice cream or chocolate will lighten up his mood?" I ask, biting my lip in worry. Everything turned out to be good tonight, but something always has to turn out wrong. "I know it helps me."
Ridge chuckles at me, his arms squeezing my shoulders, bringing me close to him. "You're too cute. And no, he'll come back now that Trish has gone out to get him back. No one can say no to her."
"I'll trust your judgement this time." I mutter, putting my head on his shoulder. No one says anything after that. Everyone just sits silently, busy with their own thoughts, waiting for Trish to come back with Neil. Soon enough, both of them come inside, both of them laughing about something. Neil looks at us and his smile drops, replacing with a confused look. "Why is the atmosphere so gloomy? I did not die. Let's continue the game."
Everyone's face breaks out into a smile on seeing him back. Both of them take their places and the game begins again. We go a few rounds and soon enough we have limited clothing left. I'm just wearing a tee and my leggings.
"Never have I ever been in a serious relationship." Bruce claims. My mind drifts off to my previous relationships. I don't recall being serious with anyone else except for my last boyfriend, Matthew. We dated for eight months but it didn't work out in the end because he cheated on me. I thought it would work out well, because I actually liked him a lot but you don't always get what you want. So, yeah, I have been in a serious relationship before. With that thought, I take off my tee, leaving me in just my black sports bra and the leggings.
Everyone looks at me when I do so. Ridge nudges me in the side, his eyebrows furrowed in curiosity. "Do I have to worry about any stalker ex boyfriend?"
"Who do you thing I dated?A Mafia boss?" I mutter sarcastically.
He chuckles, giving me a lopsided grin. "It's you. It can be a possibility."
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but no, I didn't date anyone from the mafia so you're safe. No one's coming after me, or you for that matter." I reply, giving him a sarcastically sweet smile.
"You guys are flirting again." Ashton interrupts, smirking.
"Why are you so jealous?" Ridge remarks, smirking. "Is your girlfriend not satisfying you?"
Bruce chokes on his beer, then starts laughing. "Burn."
Ashton scowls at him, glaring. "Fuck you."
"Sorry, I'm taken." Ridge retorts, holding his hands up in surrender. He then puts his arms down wrapping them around me. "I have a very beautiful girlfriend and my mom taught me not to cheat."
Everyone else starts laughing at them while Erica just sits quietly, her face turned red due to embarrassment. "Can we continue the game?"
"Sure." Neil mutters, giving her a grin. It's good to know that he's back to smiling, even though it's for a little while and a little forced. "Never have I ever kissed someone of the same gender."
A sigh leaves my lips when I realize that I have my sports bra on along with a leggings. What the hell do I remove now? I look around to see Em removing her top, leaving her in her lace bra. Good choice! I get up and remove my leggings, leaving me in my bra and boy shorts which I wore after I took a shower for no apparent reason. But now I'm glad that I put them on. Everyone looks at me with big, wide eyes. So I decide to explain. "It was a dare."
"And you?" Eric asks, raising an eyebrow, directing her question towards Em.
Em shrugs her shoulders and answers, taking a swig of her beer. "I'm bisexual."
"Oh." He nods, looking at her in silence for a moment. Then his face breaks into a grin. "I've never had a gay or a bisexual friend before. This is awesome."
Em chuckles, winking at him. "Well, now you have me."
"How unfortunate. I feel bad for you guys." Tanner pipes in, putting his hand on his chest, right where the heart lies. "I've been trying to get rid of her for years."
Everyone chuckles at him, but Em holds a deadly glare. Uh oh. "Would you like to repeat that, Tanner Leeds?"
He stops laughing abruptly, looking at Em in silence, pressing his lips together. "Oops."
He prepares himself beforehand, getting up on his place. "I'm not scared of you or your glares or your expressions."
Where is the popcorn when you need it the most?
Everyone is looking at the scene in amusement because they don't know what's going to happen next, but I know. They do this all the time. Tease each other, then run away from each other and the person running would hide behind me and then we would all have a fight resulting in Em and I crushing Tanner under our weight. But this time, I'm sitting and watching them entertain us.
"Are you sure about that, Tan?" Em takes a step forward, her eyes never leaving his face. And she looks scary as fuck. Hell, even I'm scared on behalf of Tanner. Before he can reply, she launches at him in full speed, but Tanner recovers and turns around and runs away, screaming sorry all the way. Oh god! This is hilarious.
"They fight like a married couple." Erica mutters, laughing. "It's cute."
"Yeah, but Emilia is scary." Kiara adds, her eyes glued in the direction they both ran off to. "Do you think they'll kill each other?"
I crack up at her question, and take a deep breath, shaking my head. "This is very normal for them. They'll be back in a minute, just wait." And just as I said, they get back a minute later, Em holding Tanner by his ear, dragging him towards us while he tries his best to get out of her grip.
She pushes him forward, leaving his precious ear alone which is red now due to Em's cruel actions. She hits the back of his head once then plops down on the floor, resting her head on Kiara's shoulder, closing her eyes. "Oof, I'm tired. I need a beer."
Kiara shakes her head at her, then hands her the beer bottle which Em takes happily. Tanner rubs his head and sits down, away from Em this time and mutters something under his breath. He glares at her, frowning like a child. "I hate you."
Em picks her head up from Kiara's shoulder. "Why?I'm awesome!"
And they the starts bickering again and soon enough everyone joins them. I sigh in contentment, as my eyes drift around each and everyone's face and see that everyone's smiling and laughing. I feel good on the inside to know that everyone likes Em and Tanner. It means a lot to me that they are getting along well.
For the first time in a while, I'm happy to see how things have turned out.
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