CHAPTER FIVE Ellie Hudson

Oh my gosh, my head is killing me. The music is blaring and I can't even make my way around the room because of all of the people packed in here. My house has been turned into a mini club. I look around for a familiar face but I can't find one. I saw Danny, Andrew, Skylar, and Charlie earlier but now they're gone. I can't believe I let them talk me into this. Stupid Danny. Stupid Charlie. Stupid party.

Speak of the devil. Charlie walks up behind me, swaying slightly, a plastic red cup in her hand. She's drunk. "Having fun?" she asks. Well, she more yells it because it's so loud in here.

"Not really," I tell her truthfully. She furrows her eyebrows at me before grabbing my hand and leading me towards Andrew's room. "Come on," she says, "We're all in here." She opens the door and sure enough, there they all are. Andrew, Danny, and Skylar are all in here along with some other people I kind of recognize. I think they're from glee club. Charlie sits down and drags me to the floor with her.

"Whose turn is it?" Danny asks.

"Mine," Skylar pipes up. "Danny, truth or dare?" Oh, please help us all. This is not going to be pretty.

"Dare," he smirks.

"Okay," she smiles back, just as evilly, "I dare you to run through the crowd in your living room in only a bikini."

He glares at her for a few seconds before giving in. "Fine," he says. He digs through his drawers before pulling out a small black bikini. Why he has that I have no idea, but I don't think I really want to know.

"How…" Charlie starts, looking confused.

"Long story," he shakes his head.

He goes into his walk-in closet and emerges a minute later wearing the tiny thing. It is not a pretty sight. I turn my head away as I hear him run out the door yelling in a battle call type of way. Everyone rushes to the door to see him. They're all laughing their asses off, but I prefer not to see something that disturbing.

He finally runs back into the room and straight to the closet. He comes back out fully clothed, muttering darkly and glaring at Skylar.

"Charlie, truth or dare?" he smiles at her before winking at me. Oh, God. What is he up to?

"Is that even a question?" she says. "Dare."

"I dare you to kiss Ellie." He looks very proud of himself. He mouths 'you're welcome' to me, and thankfully Charlie is too drunk to notice. I think I might puke.

"Okay," she shrugs, before turning to me. "You cool with this?" she asks.

"I – uhh – I mean…" I clear my throat before speaking again, "I guess. I mean, it's just a dare," I try to play off.

She smiles at me and cups my face with one hand as the other one wraps around my waist. She places a light kiss on my lips before deepening it. I respond and put my hands around her neck. We kiss for a few seconds and it feels amazing. As soon as it started, it was over.

"Andrew, truth or dare…"

Her hand doesn't leave my waist for the remainder of the game.

EH

It's now 4 in the morning and everyone has finally cleared out. That is, with the exception of Skylar and Charlie. (And, of course, my brothers). Skylar passed out around 3am on the couch and I moved her to my room so people wouldn't mess with her. Andrew is asleep on the couch and Charlie and Danny are probably sleeping in his room.

I put down the trash bag I was holding and decide to finish cleaning tomorrow. I'm too tired and I don't want to do it alone. Andrew was helping before he passed out. I drag myself to my room and make Skylar scoot over before getting in bed without even bothering to change into pajamas. I can hear Danny and Charlie getting it on in his room. I cover my ears with the pillow to block out the sound. I'd rather not listen to my brother fuck my best friend, thank you very much.

I toss and turn for a while, but unfortunately, the disturbing mental picture of what's going on in the other room is hard to ignore when you're trying to fall asleep. Apparently Skylar is having trouble sleeping with the noises too.

She pounds her fist on the wall. "Oh my gosh, shut the FUCK UP! Can't you learn to bang each other in SILENCE!" I smile at her methods, Skylar can always make me laugh.

Eventually, I hear the noises stop and the shower turn on just as I'm drifting off and I know what she's going to do next. She always does it with my brother, borrows some of my pajamas, and then goes back into his room. I'm too tired to stay up so I get up and find a post it and pen in my room before writing a quick note.

Take what you need, Charlie.

-Ellie

I stick the note to my door before turning off the lights and climbing into bed again. Almost as soon as my head hits the pillow, I'm asleep.

I'm woken up a little bit later by someone climbing on my bed. I squint into the darkness but I can't make out the person. "Who is it?" I ask groggily, getting a little freaked out.

"Shh, go back to bed," I hear Charlie's voice whisper to me. I follow her instructions, lying back down and scooting over to give her more room.

"Damn Charlie, I never knew you were such a freaking animal," Skylar mutters.

Charlie chuckles before lying down next to me, getting under the covers. It's a tight squeeze, but we all fit. Right before I fall back to sleep, I feel her arm wrap around my waist and pull me into her.

EH

"We are the champions, my friends

and we keep on fighting to the end.

We are the champions.

We are the champions."

I'm awoken by Danny slamming open the door to my bedroom and him singing very loudly. And badly. I don't know where he gets his wonderful voice from, certainly not our parents. That was sarcasm if you didn't catch it.

I hate morning people.

I hear Charlie groan next to me and bury her head into my neck. "Make it stop," she whines. It's just now that I notice Skylar isn't in bed with us anymore. Where - ?

"We are the champions.

We are the champions.

We don't like losers.

Because we are the champions

To the world."

I can't help but chuckle at Skylar's ability to get the lyrics to any song she sings wrong. On the plus side, she actually has a really nice voice. On the other hand, she's carrying a metal pot in one hand and a spoon in the other. Might I mention that she has no rhythm.

Charlie holds her head in her hands as Skylar and Danny dance around us, dancing and banging makeshift instruments. It's annoying, but I'm handling it a lot better than Charlie, who I'm guessing has a horrible hangover right now.

I just keep my eyes shut and shake my head as they go over to Charlie and start singing directly to her, also knowing that she should have a hangover right now. She curls into my body more, trying to get as far away from the sounds as possible.

The duo seem sufficiently happy at their methods and stop playing, as Skylar reaches over and ruffles our hair. "Morning, sunshines," she greets. I flip her off and Charlie groans in response.

As they begin to retreat from the room, Charlie rolls away from me and yells "Assholes!" Oh, why did she-

They run back into the room and start another round, this time even louder than before, which I didn't think was possible.

"We are the champions

We are the champions..."

Charlie squeals and practically jumps back on me, using me as a body pillow and the crook of my neck as earmuffs. I hear her mutter, "I hate them."

I hear footsteps running into the room and Andrew appears in the doorway, banging two pot lids together like symbols.

"Why?" I yell to him, "Andrew, don't cross over to the dark side."

None of them seem to care though, just taking pleasure in our, or more specifically, Charlie's, pain.

I hear Charlie complain in my ear, "It hurts, Ellie."

"I know," I tell her, the noise starting to give me a headache myself.

"Can you please stop?" I beg my friends/brothers. Once again, they pay me no attention. I feel Charlie's grasp on my arm tighten considerably, and know the noise is really getting to her.

I lean down and kiss her on the top of the head, whispering, "It's ok."

I look up and give them a glare, and they seem to know I'm serious now, because they stop singing and playing. They quickly retreat from the room, but right before Danny closes the door behind him, he yells, "You're welcome, sis."

What does that even mean? Is he being sarcastic? That asshole.

That's when I realize the position I'm in; holding Charlie as she snuggles into my body.

Fucking Danny.

Charlie's grasp on my arm loosens again, but she doesn't make a move to change the position she's in. "Sometimes I wonder why I'm friends with them," she mutters.

"I'm always wondering that."

A beat of silence passes before she whispers, "Have you ever hooked up with somebody while they're drunk?"

"What? No, why?" I ask.

"Good," she says, "You shouldn't."

I don't know where this random living PSA is coming from but I decide to go along with it.

"Have you?" I ask.

"No," she tells me, "Never. I'll never sleep with someone while they're drunk, ever. Not only is it technically classified as rape, it's just wrong."

"So, last night?" I don't know why I ask about it, but I do.

"He wasn't drunk."

"But you were?"

"I'm really hungover right now," she changes the topic.

"So that's a yes?" I try to change it back.

"You smell really nice, Ellie."

"Charlie," I whisper, "What were you trying to tell me?"

"Nothing," she says, almost too urgently, "What shampoo do you use?"

"I don't remember; I'll check later." I finally let the topic go. I know she's not going to say anything.