Chapter 9;
Kara
I went down to the common room and plopped down on the couch. Soon everyone else had filed in as well. Nina and Fabian were the last to come in and once they did, Amber stood up and demanded everyone's attention.
"Okay, I declare a girl's night sleepover in mine, Nina, and Kara's room tonight!" she said. I stared at her in confusion. Only moments before we were talking about an ancient mystery that could result in life or death, and now Amber was suggesting a sleepover.
"Cool, I'm in." Jerome said, earning a smack from Mara.
"Girls ONLY," Amber clarified to which Jerome stuck his tongue out.
"Sexist!" Jerome shouted. I rolled my eyes, as did Mara.
"Oh grow up Jerome," Mara said. "You know it's not being sexist!"
"No, no," Amber said after thinking for a few moments. "He's right! The guys should come too!"
"But Amber," I said. "It's Monday. We have school tomorrow! We'll be dead tired."
"Eh, we never get much sleep around here, what's one sleepover?" she replied. I was a bit confused but I figured there was no arguing with her. Especially since she was hosting it in our room.
"Okay, but if the guys are coming, everybody has to be responsible!" Mara said. Jerome put an arm around her and whispered something in her ear, causing her face to turn tomato red. Everybody looked at them in confusion, me included.
"So what's the plan?" I asked, changing the subject. Her confusion changed to happiness as she began.
"It'll start at 10:30, so everybody will have to quietly sneak into our room after lights out! Bring your sleeping bags and pillows, I'll handle the snacks and activities!" she said, holding back a squeal.
"Are you sure?" Mara asked hesitantly. "I don't want to get in trouble..." I remembered that Mara wasn't aware of Sibuna and their sneaking around all the time, so sneaking out past lights out wouldn't have been a common thing for her.
"Come on Mars!" Alfie exclaimed. "It'll be fun!"
"Oh, alright," she said. "But I really don't want to be scrubbing the floors with a toothbrush during my study time."
"That's the spirit!" Jerome said, pulling her into a hug. I smiled as everyone continued talking animatedly. I felt a lot better now that I knew I was accepted in this house- sure, the mystery was weighing on my mind, but for the moment I could allow myself to be content.
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It was 10:15 and Nina and I were sitting on my bed watching Amber rush around to get everything ready.
"You know, you could help!" she shouted from under her bed. Why she was under there, I had no clue.
"Nah, we're good," I said, crossing my legs.
"You're doing great!" Nina assured her. She just groaned and came out from under the bed holding a bag of potato chips.
"Whoa! How long have those been under there?!" I exclaimed, slightly disgusted.
"About 6 months! But don't worry, they're completely sealed! No stale chips for this party!" she replied. 6 months? Ew. She continued rushing around until there was a quiet knock on the door. She scurried over to the door and opened it, revealing Jerome and Alfie.
"Hey Beau!" Amber exclaimed, pulling Alfie into the room and into a tight hug. Jerome awkwardly sidled into the room, trying his best to avoid the happy couple.
"Hey Ambs," Alfie replied, kissing the top of Amber's head. She hugged him impossibly tighter as Patricia, Mara and Joy appeared at the door.
"Ew, save it for somewhere else!" Patricia hissed with a disgusted look on her face. I couldn't help but laugh, mentally counting the number of times I'd caught her lip locked with Eddie in the past two days.
Patricia and the rest of the girls filed in just as Eddie, Fabian, and Mick came through the door. How are this many people going to fit?, I thought to myself. My thoughts were interrupted by Amber letting out a small squeal.
"Okay, so I've got our night all planned out! Now everybody get in a circle, we're gonna start off with a game of truth or dare!" she squawked. Nina groaned and everyone else rolled their eyes.
"What's wrong with truth or dare?" I whispered to Nina. She turned to me before explaining.
"Well, last time we played, Amber dared me to kiss Fabian and Jerome to kiss Mara. It was long before either of us were dating. Let's just say that Amber takes this game very seriously and sometimes, playing with her can be a little scary." She said, repressing a shudder.
"Oh..." I replied just as Amber grabbed two bags of chips and sat down at the head of the circle.
"Okay! I'll start!" she squealed. "Patricia! Truth or dare?" Patricia looked quite unhappy at being picked but answered with a challenging look.
"Dare." Amber's face spread out in to a devious smile. As much as Patricia tried to hide it, you could see that beneath the surface, she was terrified. Amber hopped up and ran to her wardrobe, pulling out a short hot pink dress with frills at the top.
"I dare you to wear this until school tomorrow!" she said handing a shocked Patricia the dress.
"No! I take it back! I pick truth!" she exclaimed.
"Nice try Trixie but you know the rules!" Jerome laughed. Patricia groaned and grabbed the dress before going into the bathroom to change.
When she came out everybody burst out laughing. The dress was super tight and really bright. It was a tube top that came down mid-thigh. Patricia looked as though she was about to rip Amber's head off for making her wear something so atrocious.
"Awwe! You look so pretty Patricia!" Amber squealed.
"Yeah, it's a great look on you Yacker! It really goes with those green streaks in your hair!" Eddie said clutching his stomach from laughing so hard.
"Shut up! All of you!" She yelled before stomping back to her spot. "Anyway, it's my turn," she scanned the circle for her victim. A grin spread across her face as she called on Eddie. "Truth or dare, slimeball?" He looked absolutely torn between decisions. He knew that no matter what he chose, Patricia would do something to embarrass him.
"Come on Eddie, time is ticking!" I said.
"Erm... Um... Uh... Er..." he stuttered. "Um, truth?" he asked with a slight squeak. Patricia's face broke into a sly grin.
"Name the three sappiest things you've ever thought about me." she said crossing her arms. Eddie's cheeks turned bright pink as a chorus of "oooh"s echoed through the room.
"Um... Well..." he started before murmuring something unintelligible.
"What was that Eddie? I didn't quite hear you." I said, putting my hand to my ear.
"I said," he started with a determined look. "You have the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen, I live for the way you joke with me, it makes me feel like I've found my missing half, and I love you!" His look of determination faded and he looked down, embarrassed. The room was silent and everybody was looking from Patricia to Eddie. He started to rub his neck awkwardly.
"Um..." he started, but was cut off by Patricia launching herself at him, crushing her lips to his. A chorus of "awww" was heard from Joy, Mara, Amber, Nina and I. After what felt like forever, Patricia buried her face in his shirt before muttering;
"I love you too doofus".
"Okay, that is literally the cutest thing I've ever seen." I cooed.
"You see how this game just brings people together?" Amber sang, receiving glares from Jerome and Nina. Patricia blushed and went back to her spot in the circle, tugging at the bottom of her pink dress.
"Okay, so, my turn! Mara!" Eddie called.
The game continued for a while before anyone called my name. Finally, from behind the goth makeup Jerome dared her to apply, Joy called upon me.
"Kara, truth or dare?" she asked. Normally I would have picked dare, but these guys are hardcore.
"Truth!" I said. Joy thought for a minute before asking me a question that for anyone else would have been simple and un-embarrassing.
"Describe your first kiss. The whole 5 W's! Who, where, when, why and how!" my face turned pink as I replied.
"There's nothing to describe..." I said.
"Come on, you have to come through with it Kara!" Alfie said.
"But..." I started before being interrupted by Amber.
"It's an easy truth, just answer it!" she cried.
"There's nothing to describe because it never happened!" I said, burying my face in my hands. I expected laughter and teasing. There I was, a year away from graduating and I'd still never kissed anyone.
"Awe! You poor soul!" Amber said. I looked up at her with a confused glance.
"Nobody? You haven't kissed anyone?" Jerome asked. I shook my head.
"Seriously?" Patricia asked. "Even these nerds have!" she said signaling to Fabian and Mara. I laughed at the expressions on their faces.
"Serious."
"Oh," Joy said. "Then let me change the question. Who out of the people in this room would you kiss if given the option?"
"Dude! I can't answer that! Practically everyone is in a relationship! I'd get slapped!" I exclaimed. Nina burst out laughing and fell over. When she was done, she sat up and whispered in my ear.
"No worries. The one you want doesn't have a girlfriend to slap you." I blushed.
"Is it that obvious?" I asked aloud.
"What?" Amber asked. "Nina knows?!" she said, appalled that I would tell Nina and not her.
"Let's just say I'm a good guesser." Nina said with a wink.
"Well, who is it?" Joy asked me. I looked at Nina who gave me a reassuring nod.
"Let's just say, I wouldn't get slapped..." I replied.
"Wait what? I don't ge- oooooh!" Amber said. "AWWWEE!" I blushed and looked at my feet. I peered up from under my hair and saw Mick with a shocked smile on his face getting a slap on the back from Alfie.
"Anyway..." I said, but everyone was still too busy talking about my answer ("Good going man!" Alfie exclaimed. "Have to admit meathead, got yourself a good one." Jerome said. "Omg, they could be Kack? No no no.. Mara? Pfft, obviously not! And it can't be Mickara because that's been used before... Maybe Karick? Yeah... Maybe..." Amber was saying.)
"ANYWAY!" I yelled. Everybody turned to me quickly and I lowered my voice, checking that we didn't wake Victor. "Fabian, truth or dare?"