"Surprise!" I announced, posing like I'd just jumped out of a cake. "Our school is having a joint party with Twin Branches!"
Payton squealed. "I can't wait to meet all of Kimi and Owen's friends!"
Autumn's face turned white as she picked at her cuticles. Gross. That girl was already in desperate need of a manicure, and she just made her unkempt nails ten times grosser.
Mia gave Autumn a sickly-sweet smile. "You'll enjoy being with your old friends, won't you?"
"Y-yeah," Autumn lied. She looked like she was going to throw up. I was torn between laughing and worrying about her puke getting on my carpet.
I went behind the stainless-steel island, extracting a few bottles from the Meneghini fridge. "Let's pregame, ladies!"
Mia grabbed some Tiffany crystal cups from a cupboard—she'd been to my house enough times that she knew where everything was located—and started pouring glasses for the four of us.
I gave a wicked smile. "I think we should kick off tonight with a fun little game before the party starts."
"Seconded." Mia nodded.
"Thirded!" Payton chirped.
"Payton, 'thirded' isn't even a word," Mia chided her.
Autumn's face turned red. "Uh, no thanks," she whimpered.
I giggled, twisting an errant strand of my glossy brown hair. "Why? Are you scared, Autumn?"
Mia laughed. Even Payton giggled.
"N-no," Autumn cried. Then her expression changed as her pale, nervous expression quickly morphed into an angry, violent one. "Bring it on." Her squinty eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms.
But there was something off tonight. The usual air of haughtiness and anger that emanated off her was tinged with a little hesitation—and something else. Fear.
I could read people like a book. Autumn was already scared about the possibility of a certain honey-haired cheerleader turning up at my party tonight, and she was thrown off her game. And the party hadn't even started yet…
I lead them to the living room. Everyone set their glasses and bottles down on the Giorgetti table. Mia, Payton, and Autumn looked at me, none of them daring to say a word until I spoke.
I smiled. "We're going to play a classic, 'Never Have I Ever.' Mia, you start."
Mia tapped her Michael Kors watch, thinking for a split second. "Never have I ever… had a crush on Julian."
Payton giggled, taking a sip.
Autumn flushed, her face turning scarlet red as she hesitantly brought her Tiffany cup to her lips, taking what seemed to be the world's tiniest sip. She obviously didn't want to be drinking...
She set her glass down, crossing her arms and looking at me. "Aren't you going to take a sip?"
I laughed, the silk fabric of my Prada minidress shimmering as I moved. "I never liked Julian, Ratty."
Autumn started to become enraged, her brown eyes narrowing as if she was internally placing a curse on me.
Mia reached out pretended to tap her on the arm, consolingly. "Relax. Just take a sip, and calm yourself. We're your best friends."
I bit down on my lip to prevent the snicker from escaping my DiorKiss-glossed lips. Autumn wanted nothing more than to get in with us, and using the 'best friends' line always worked when we wanted her to do something. Pathetic. She really should know better than that… she would never be one of us.
Autumn took a slightly larger sip, then set the glass down.
"Now that that's settled," I started, acting like it was a small game of tennis at the country club instead of the start of a fight, "it's your turn, Payton."
"Ooh!" Payton grinned. "Never have I gone a whole week without a peppermint latte!"
Mia and I giggled, taking sips. Autumn, sighing, took another as well.
"My turn," Autumn interrupted. "Never have I ever wore designer clothes." She smirked, knowing that we all had to sip.
"That's so obvious, Autumn," I snickered. Mia laughed.
After I put my glass down, I spoke. "Never have I ever… pissed off a cheerleader."
Autumn's face went white once again, her teeth beginning to chatter.
"That's easy!" Payton chirped. "Kara." She took a sip. Mia, a little hesitantly, took a sip as well.
Autumn raised her glass, taking another sip… but this time, she set it down a second longer than necessary.
Everyone in the room, with the exception of Payton, knew that the cheerleader Autumn was thinking about wasn't Kara. A few more rounds, and she'd definitely be off her game tonight. I caught Mia's eye, and she nodded.
"Autumn, do you want some juice?" She gave the hipster loser her heart-wrenching "All-American cheerleader" smile.
"S-sure," Autumn trembled. She was still shaken from being reminded of the memories with Lindsay, I could tell.
Mia went off to get the juice, returning with a crystal glass full of what looked like Hawaiian Punch. She handed it to Autumn with a sweet smile.
"Thanks," Autumn replied, taking a long sip.
Mia and I surreptitiously exchanged a glance, smirking. What Autumn didn't know was that the "juice" wasn't just any juice, it was jungle juice.
"Now, where were we?" Mia asked. "Never have I ever… had something I loved smashed and destroyed."
Payton started to take a sip, but I held my hand out. "Broken hearts don't count, Payton. We're talking actual, physical things."
For a second, it looked like Autumn's squinty brown eyes were going to fill up with tears. Then she took a sip.
For the next half hour, we played, Mia and I asking subtly pointed questions. The longer the game went on, the more Autumn sipped from her crystal glass—until it was totally drained. I eyed her glass of juice, noticing it was empty as well. Looks like someone's thirsty… and it better not be for my boyfriend.
