"It told me to have fun tonight and it was signed with the letter A." Spencer confesses after we've all gathered on my bed. She takes out her phone and shows us all the message.
Hey Spence! Enjoy the sleepover. Maybe play a game of truth or dare?
-A
"Are these like the ones you've been getting, Ali?"
Everyone turns to look at me then.
"What texts?" Emily says, a frown wrinkling her flawless complexion. "What's going on Ali?"
"I haven't received anything like that." I lie, desperate to tell them the truth but aware that this would most likely result in my secret getting out. "That's really weird Spence, but the texts I got were just from my dumb brother playing a prank on me."
"Maybe we should play the game." Hanna suggests, and it looks like she's hiding a smile; she's probably thrilled that she isn't the one being teased for once. "If that's what this 'A' person wants us to do, maybe we should."
"Is that such a great idea?" Aria asks, talking for the first time since she'd arrived. "I mean, since when did we start taking orders from a blocked number?" When Emily and Spencer agree with her, I find myself snapping, terrified at what the stalker will do if we don't obey them.
"And why is that, Aria?" I question, my head cocked to one side and my eyes narrowed. "Do you have something you particularly want to keep a secret?" Her usually pale skin flushes a scarlet colour as she mumbles 'no' and looks down at her hands. "Great. Well let's play then."
We decide to go around the circle and begin with me, because Hanna says games should always start with the host.
"Truth or dare, Ali?" Spencer asks nervously, her eyes constantly darting to her side to see if her phone's flashing with any more messages.
"Truth." I say, without a moment's hesitation; I remember having to streak around the Hastings' garden last time we played this game.
"What school did you go to before you came to Rosewood?" Hanna asks immediately, sitting up a bit straighter. That question catches me off guard.
"You mean last year?" I try to stay calm but my stomach is churning and I can feel myself going as red as Aria did.
"Yeah." She says, and I notice how her face seems a little bonier than usual, that can't be the result of just a few days of purging, can it? "You never talk about it, or why you moved."
"Um" I bring myself back to the game and can hear my voice shaking. "I went to Ravenswood, and we moved because my Dad got a new job and um so I started at Rosewood."
"Didn't that new boy move here from Ravenswood?" Aria asks timidly, finally managing to relax and making me feel even worse for being mean to her. "Noel Kahn, he started today and he's in our English."
Noel Kahn? Why do I know that name? Crap. He's the guy from the party: the one who knows CeCe. Shit, I didn't even notice him in class today.
"Oh, probably." I say, trying desperately to sound casual. "It's a big school… But now it's someone else's go ...um oh Aria!" My voice goes alarmingly loud as I try to take the attention away from my previous school and continue the game. "Truth or dare?"
"Oh, um dare?" She says, presumably wondering why I was so eager to stop talking about Noel.
"I dare you to tell us why you're so on edge tonight." Tries Hanna after a few uncomfortable minutes of silence. I quickly turn to look at Aria, biting my lip when I see how terrified she looks.
"That doesn't count" I cut in quickly. "Dares can't be questions." I hear Aria let out a small sigh of relief as Hanna rolls her eyes and the others murmur an agreement.
"You normally love secrets, Ali" she says, crossing her arms over her baggy sweatshirt and pouting; she loves gossip. "Why not tonight?"
I'm trying to think of a biting comeback as a reply when thankfully, probably noticing how desperate I am to not mess up my answer and betray Aria's trust, Emily steps in.
"Why don't we stop playing for now and order some pizza?" She suggests, causing Hanna to become the blushing one. "I didn't have time to eat before we left."
"Sounds good" Says Spencer, also probably eager to diffuse the awkward atmosphere. "The usual?" We all nod in agreement and she goes into my bathroom to order the two medium margarita and one large ham and pineapple pizza we always have.
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After eating what felt like our own weight in pizza and cookies (which Spencer tagged on to the end of the order, saying she wanted some form of chocolate to relax after getting the A text) and watching some Degrassi, we decide we need to go to sleep if we want to wake up for school tomorrow.
"I love Drew so much" Hanna murmurs as we all settle underneath my quilt; it's tradition for us all to sleep in the one bed at sleepovers, no matter how much of a tight squeeze it has become.
"Nah, Lola for the win" Aria replies as somebody turns over next to me on the bed. I open my eyes to see that it's Emily, turning to face me. "Her hair is fabulous."
"Zoe Rivas is my all- time favourite TV character" I confess, my eyes locked with Emily's beautiful brown ones. When the only replies I receive are a few snores and snuffles, we giggle as we realise everyone but us too must have fallen asleep.
"I love Zoe too." Emily whispers as she closes her eyes, leading me to smile as I'm drifting off to sleep. I wonder if she'll ever know why I love Ana Golja's character so much, why I relate to her as much as I do. Us both getting wasted and then blackmailed after a party, then falling in love with a girl after only having male partners then… I fall asleep, blissful in the belief that my secret will be safe as long as I do what the stalker wants me to.
Hi! So thank you so much to the regular reviewers for making me smile with another set of comments :) Everyone please tell me what you think and if you'd like more chapters/ whether or not you liked it/ A theories! My AS mocks start this week but as I'm hopeless at revising I'll probably spend my nights working on this so please tell me if there's anything you think I should include :) I hope you all liked it, and Zoe Rivas does just happen to be my favourite character also, for reasons similar to Ali's. Do any of you love Degrassi also?!
You wanna be that girl then go be that girl
Here comes the sun