Chapter 22

Sansa Stark POV

I'm honestly so embarassed that Jon is having friends over tonight, too. I didn't think I needed to ask his permission to have people over, it's not like Robb never had anyone over while mom and dad were gone. At least the girls are showing up before Jon's friends.

Margaery shows up first. When I open the door we immediately go up to my room. Once we get there, I shut the door behind me. "Did you bring the stuff?" I whisper.

Margaery takes out a bottle of wine and vodka. "Cersei and Dany are supposed to bring some stuff too," she says.

We sit down on my bed. "Do you think they'll actually show up?" I ask.

"Of course," says Margaery. "Dany likes you. She thinks you're adorable."

Arya clears her throat. "Oh sorry," I say. "Margaery, this is my sister Arya."

"Hello, Arya," Margaery says kindly. She's so good at being warm and friendly no matter who she's talking to. "How old are you?"

"I'll be 13 in 8 months," Arya says. She hates that she isn't a teenager, so she'll word it in any way to make it sound like she's close to being one. It doesn't help that she looks young.

Cersei and Daenerys do eventually show up around 7:30, and Jon's friends aren't here yet. I'm kind of glad about that, maybe we can just hide in my room all night. Margaery goes to answer the door, she thinks that they'll be more receptive to her even though it's my house. She comes back up with Cersei and Daenerys. Daenerys is actually making conversation and being nice to Arya, Cersei is just buried in her phone. I have a feeling this is going to be a long and awkward night.

"So I hear some of Jon's loser friends are showing up," Cersei says, not looking up from her phone. I don't know how she found out at first, and then I remember I texted Margaery about it when I found out just to warn her. "We'd never hear the end of it if people found out we were coexisting with them."

"Oh please," Margaery chimes in. "You would burn anyone alive who dared say a negative thing about you."

"It's still important to keep that stuff in mind," Daenerys adds to the conversation. "I didn't get this popular from associating with whoever." She turns to me. "Don't worry, one hangout won't make much difference, as long as we don't talk to them too much. He's your brother, so of course we're going to be in the same situations sometimes. We just can't have anyone thinking we're chummy with them." She's trying to reassure me, but it all seems very backhanded and two-faced. I never worried about this party affecting their statuses. Maybe I should have thought about that and just cancelled.

Jon Snow Stark POV

Tormund and Ygritte are the first to show up, with Gilly tagging along with them. When I open the door, Tormund yells, "Let's get this rager started!" Ygritte just looks at me and rolls her eyes.

"It's not a rager, Torm," I say. "Literally it's just us and Gendry."

"I know," he pats me on the back. "Always a buzzkill, Jon." He has beer with him, which I didn't tell him to bring. This will be an interesting night.

…

After Gendry arrives, we're eating pizza and playing Truth or Drink.

Ygritte takes a drink and says, "Gilly!" Gilly looks at her. "Have you ever kissed anyone?" Gilly doesn't say anything, just takes a tiny sip of her beer so she doesn't have to answer.

"That means no," Ygritte says in response.

"I bet Sam could change that right now," Tormund chimes in.

Sam turns beet red. He smacks Tormund on the arm and yells, "Shut up!"

"Gendry!" Tormund yells. Gendry looks over at him. "Would you fuck Lady Mel if she wanted to?"

Gendry immediately says, "No!" He says it with such conviction, even though Lady Mel is attractive.

"Yeah, right!" Tormund takes a chug of his beer.

God, can we talk about anything else? I feel like all anyone talks about in high school is who they've fucked, fucking or who they want to fuck. We don't need to talk about politics, but this is getting old.

I see Daenerys walk downstairs out of the corner of my eye. Everyone falls silent, and they just look at her. She takes a pause before walking into the kitchen, as if she isn't used to everyone at Winterfell staring at her constantly. I decide to get up, partially because I want a beer, and partially because I wonder what Daenerys Targaryen is doing in my kitchen. When I walk in, she's getting some soda from the fridge.

"Is it okay if I take some of this?" She asks me. I nod. "You're Sansa's brother," she says. It wasn't a question, she already knew. I just nod again.

"Yeah," I say. "She really likes hanging out with you guys. She's having a lot of fun."

Daenerys smiles. "She's adorable," she says. "We like having her around."

"Be nice to her," I say with a smile. I don't want Daenerys to think I'm being too serious. She starts to walk towards the kitchen door. I get a beer out of the fridge and open it.

She turns around and asks me, "Are you dating that redhead girl?"

I stop drinking my beer and pause. Why is she asking me that? "No," I say, avoiding eye contact. "We're just friends. Why?"

"Just curious," she says. "I always thought Jon Snow didn't date, but it looked like you guys might be."

"We're not," I say. "She's awesome, but just a friend."

"Because Jon Snow doesn't date, right?" She asks me jokingly.

I just roll my eyes. "Everyone thinks they know me so well."

"Maybe you should let people get to know you."

The yelling from the living room breaks us from our conversation. We both walk out of the kitchen and Sam has started to set up Cards Against Humanity. That's a relief, I was getting tired of Truth or Drink.

Sansa Stark POV

"We should do a shot," Margaery says. I'm not sure that's a good idea in front of Arya, plus I've never done a shot. Daenerys went downstairs, but I'm sure she'd be down. Cersei is completely hogging the wine bottle that Margaery brought, just drinking straight from it. She loves wine for some reason, I swear she's the most adult high schooler I've ever met.

"Let's wait for Dany," Cersei says. She then snickers. "She's probably trying to fuck your brother," she says to me.

"What?" I have no idea what she's talking about.

"I know she wants to hit that," Cersei continues. "She'll just never admit it, because she's popular and he isn't." I'm so uncomfortable.

"Would you rather she fuck Jaime?" Margaery asks. Cersei shoves her in the shoulder. Right in time it seems like, Daenerys walks back in with some soda.

"Did you finally lock down Jon Snow?" Cersei asks her.

"We've been over this," Daenerys says, walking over to them where they're sitting on my bed. "I had a crush on him in 8th grade."

"Like you wouldn't fuck him if he asked," Cersei continues.

"There is a child in this room," Margaery interrupts. "Keep it appropriate."

"Oh, whatever," Cersei responds. "I'm not going to let a middle schooler censor me. She probably doesn't even know what fuck means." I know Arya isn't going to like that. I'm proven right when she gets up and walks out of our room. I feel so bad.

Of course Cersei has to get one last remark in. "She's probably secretly a lesbian," she says after Arya leaves. I know Arya could still hear her. God, I could punch her if I wasn't so terrified of her.

Gendry Baratheon POV

Everyone is getting so loud at the party, I can't believe Daenerys Targaryen is here and she was actually having a coversation with Jon. I always expected her to be snobby and entitled, but she actually seems nice. The party is fun and all, but I really need to take a breather. I'm sitting on the grass in the Stark's backyard when the door opens. Arya is coming out here.

"Oh, sorry," she says when she sees me. "I didn't see you there."

"It's okay," I say. "I can go back inside." I start to get up.

"Don't worry about it," she says, sitting down on the grass next to me. I sit back down. "I just came out here to read and get a break from Sansa's stupid popular friends."

I chuckle. I remember being like that when I was her age. I still kind of am like that. "You don't like them?" I ask her.

"It's not that," she sets her book down beside her, as if what she's going to tell me will take a while. "I know that Sansa being popular will help me in high school, but I really don't care about that at all. All they talk about is boys, sex and parties."

"Yeah, sounds like Winterfell," I respond.

"I would much rather focus on my fencing and growing as an independent person," she continues. "There's so much of this world to see and experience, and that's what they choose to focus on?"

"I hear you. I feel that way about almost everyone at school. At least Jon and Sam are smart, your brother is a great guy."

"Thanks," Arya smiles at me. "We love him, too. There's a pause. "I can't wait to grow up," she says, very quietly.

"What?"

"Nothing, sorry," she seems embarassed, like she wasn't even talking to me, only to herself. "I just can't wait for when I can stop relying on my books for adventures and actually go out and experience them."

"Don't grow up too fast. Just be yourself, it'll all be okay."

She chuckles at me. "Yeah, yeah. I've heard that one before. Profound stuff."

I like her vibe, she reminds me of how I was. I hope Winterfell doesn't ruin the spark she has when she gets there.