August 1st, 2015 - 8:00 PM

Tied!" Adley Morgenstern and I shouted for the fourth time that night, sounding more exhausted than happy.

The stars filled up on the TV screen before announcing my and Adley's scores. We then flopped down on the leather couch behind us, where Jessi Alvarez sat, huddling under a gray wool blanket. I tossed a lock of my golden-blonde hair out of my blue eyes as I smiled over at Jessi, who was twiddling her thumbs and looking out the living room window. She was clearly bored out of her mind.

Once again, I felt bad for crushing her score in Just Dance. So, I tried to find something to say that would boost her mood. "You know, Little J, you were really good at that Britney Spears song."

"I got two stars for that dance. You guys got five," Jessi grumbled. She didn't look away from the darkening sky.

"That doesn't matter," I remarked, brushing the comment off. I now realized that wasn't helping – but it wasn't necessarily my fault for being so good at something I barely played anymore.

"Why don't we do something else?" Adley offered. She tossed her white Wii remote dangerously close to Jessi, who flinched as it landed. She scowled at Adley, but Adley didn't seem to realize as she bent down to shut off the Wii.

"I mean," Jessi began slowly as she sat up and unraveled the blanket wrapped around her. "We don't have to. You guys can keep playing–"

"Oh, come on!" I cheered as I walked over to the coffee table. I filled up the empty, pink bowl with more barbeque-flavored chips. "This is our sleepover, which means we decide what to do together."

"Okay. What did you have in mind?" Jessi asked as she plucked a chip from the bowl.

"What about Truth or Dare?" Adley smirked, and as happy as I was about the idea, I caught Jessi's smile drop.

I knew that Jessi hated playing that game with us since Adley and I played at a way more extreme level than Jessi. But Adley always reminded me that Jessi needed to get out of her shell once in a while to have a little fun.

"Ooh, a classic slumber party game! I like it," I stated. Without giving Jessi a second to say no, Adley and I sat down on the floor with the chip bowl between us.

"Um, I don't know, guys," Jessi muttered, biting one of her blue, chipped nails. "I-I was actually looking forward to watching Twilight for the first time."

"Nonsense. I don't even know why Anna suggested we watch that film," Adley chuckled, playing with a lock of dark blonde hair. "If you wanted a rom-com, you should have picked Clueless. Paul Rudd is so much hotter than sparkly Robert Pattinson–"

"Why don't we just play–"

"Truth or Dare is just a game, Jess. Unless, of course, you're hiding something." Adley laughed as Jessi blushed and glanced down at the floor.

"I promise we'll go easy. Right, A?" I looked over at my best friend, as Jessi hesitantly sat down beside me.

"Of course. We'll save the harder levels of this game for the pros," Adley promised, irritation lacing her cheerful tone. She glanced at me with a smile that I could tell was forced.

Something inside of me whispered that Adley wouldn't play nice for long. After all, she always enjoyed making these games a little messy.

However, this only made me more excited to play.

"Fine," Jessi huffed, pasting on a smile. "Someone, ask me first."

"Wow, I didn't see that coming," Adley mused, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Okay, truth or dare?" I asked Jessi, happy to see that she was wanting to play after all.

"Truth," Jessi answered. As confidently as she tried to respond, though, I could see her muscles tense up.

I searched for a question, trying to avoid the many that came to mind that I knew would make Jessi uncomfortable. I soon settled with something that Adley would still approve of. "If you were put in the position to either sacrifice yourself or let someone else die, what would you do?"

"I'd sacrifice myself," Jessi admitted immediately. She didn't even take a second to consider her answer, and my eyes widened in shock. "That's what I'd want someone else to do for me."

I smiled, knowing that Jessi was playing the kindness card.

Adley, on the other hand, rolled her eyes. I could tell that the response was getting on her nerves. "Okay, there, Miss Sappy. It's your turn to ask a question. And, please, go harder. This isn't third grade."

I could see the anger boiling inside of Jessi, but she stayed calm and kept a smile on her face. "You want harder?" she asked with an unfamiliar, mischievous glint in her brown eyes. "Okay, Adley. Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Adley said confidently as if she wasn't afraid of what Jessi could ask. After all, everyone in Ember Falls, Wisconsin thought she was too innocent and kind to even hurt a fly.

"I dare you to take off your shirt. And you must stay shirtless for the rest of the game," Jessi declared with a smirk.

"Easy," Adley purred as she tugged at her gray t-shirt and pulled it over her head. After tossing the shirt aside and fixing her hair, she sat up straighter. She didn't seem to care that she was only wearing her black Victoria Secret bra. "Now, Anna. Your turn. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," I answered, wanting to avoid doing a dare. Knowing Adley, all she wanted now was for somebody else to do something embarrassing so that she wasn't alone.

"Out of the three of us in this room, who do you think would die first in a horror movie?"

Classic Adley and her addiction to slasher films.

"Of course, you would die first, Adley Morgenstern," I teased with a grin, and Adley's jaw dropped as if offended by the remark. "I see you being the character who doesn't look behind themselves before the killer smashes their head with an axe or a shovel."

"Hey!" Adley cried in defense. "After all the movies I've watched, I'd definitely be a Final Girl." She crossed her arms over her chest, scowling. "And if I did die, the murder weapon would at least be a knife like in the classics." Adley sighed, shaking her head. "Anyway, it's your turn to ask someone, Anna."

I mentally sighed, feeling divided between having fun or playing things safe. I wanted to loosen Jessi up – she seemed ready for it after daring Adley. But I didn't know what question to ask.

"Truth or dare–" I stopped myself mid sentence as I heard a creak from nearby and caught sight of my annoying twin walking down the main staircase. He passed quickly in front of the living room on his way toward the kitchen. "Ethan!"

My brother rolled his eyes exaggeratedly as he slowly retraced his steps and entered the living room. He poked his head inside, taking a long glance around the room before spotting Adley. For the longest second, I then caught him staring at her chest, his eyes wide in shock, and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from laughing.

His face turned red before he looked down at the ground, and then up at me as if trying to act cool. "Um, y-yeah?"

"Truth or dare?"

"Ugh," he moaned, glancing between Adley and me as if finally understanding what was going on. He then walked into the room with a horrified expression on his face. "Why am I playing?"

"Because it's fun when you play," I laughed, hoping the fact would make him more intrigued. "Come on, it's just a game."

The truth was, though, I just wanted the opportunity to embarrass him in front of his crush. He always acted as if I didn't know that he was in love with my best friend, but I had known since the night of the ninth-grade dance – even before he had asked Adley to dance with him. The look that had been on his face when she rejected him made it obvious that he wasn't looking at her as just a friend.

"Fine, dare," Ethan sighed as he sat down on the couch. His arms were crossed over his chest as he attempted to look cool, though I could see through his façade that he was nervous. "I don't trust you when it comes to dares."

"Okay," I responded with a giggle as I glanced around the room. "I dare you to compliment the prettiest girl in the room."

Ethan shifted uncomfortably as if I had asked him to dance naked in the middle of the road. He cracked his knuckles, and I could see the veins pulse on his neck. "Okay. Um... A-Adley," he began as his face immediately turned as red as a tomato. I watched as he licked his bottom lip slowly before his eyes fell upon Adley's chest. "I, um, like your, um, bra."

The room went silent, and Adley's face flushed crimson before Jessi and I burst into a laughing fit. As we did, though, I noticed how we were the only two who were laughing. Ethan and Adley sat awkwardly, barely moving and avoiding making eye contact with each other.

"Okay, so I can tell that the dare was a little mean," I concluded as I stopped laughing, and so did Jessi. I didn't regret what I had asked Ethan to do – it had turned out even better than I imagined it would – but I didn't want to seem cruel. "To make it fair, it's your turn to ask, E."

"All right," he replied with a grin on his face. "Anna, truth or dare?"

"Dare," I told him right away, having predicted this happening.

"Okay, Miss Confidence. I dare you to kiss a girl in this room." It was now his turn to smirk with satisfaction.

"I have a boyfriend," I reminded Ethan, hoping that bringing Drake up would change his mind. The thought of choosing which friend to kiss made my heartbeat speed up way too fast.

I would do anything but that.

Spin the Bottle was one thing, but when it came to picking who was "better," it didn't seem right. Especially when my mind always leaned toward one person in particular–

"Since when have you backed out of a dare?" Ethan laughed, shaking me from my thoughts. "Remember, it's just a game." He was becoming an asshole, and he knew it.

But maybe I was just overthinking everything. Maybe I was the only one who believed that choosing between which of my two close friends I should kiss would change things between us. It was just a petty dare, after all. I didn't want to back out – it would go to Ethan's head way too much.

"Fine," I replied as a knot formed in my stomach.

As I was about to lean toward the person that I had chosen, though, Jessi exclaimed, "I'm really thirsty. I-I need a glass of water." Before anyone could tell her to wait, she stood up and ducked out of the room.

I caught myself sighing in disappointment.

"And I need to change," Adley added, still obviously feeling uncomfortable from Ethan's comment. She stood up slowly, picked up her wrinkled shirt, and marched up the stairs, hugging the shirt to her chest so that the front of her wasn't exposed. A few seconds later, I heard the faint sound of a door slamming shut.

Ethan looked over at me, concern painted all over his face. "I-I should go after her?" he said, though it sounded more like a question than a statement. "I probably just made her feel uncomfortable–"

"No, stay," I insisted as I stood up. "I will go see if she's okay. No offense, but you'll probably only make it worse." Before Ethan could add anything, I zipped past him and ran up the stairs.

The upstairs hallway was dark and eerie. But I was positive that Adley was inside my bedroom once I found the door closed and heard crying coming from behind it. "A?" I whispered, hoping that she would stop whimpering and answer the door. "A?"

Realizing that she wasn't planning on answering me, I took a seat on the beige carpet that covered the hardwood floor like soft grass. I then leaned my back against the cold door–

That was when I heard it.

Whispers.

"Leave me alone. Leave me alone! I don't want any part in this fucking plan. Just stop, please!" The voice was definitely Adley's, and it sounded as if her sobs were weakening her willpower. I wanted to bust down the door and save her from whoever was hurting her–

Wait... is nobody else in there?

After a moment of silence, just to confirm my revelation, Adley added, "I'm going insane! You're just a voice, and there is no way that I'm going to hurt anyone."

The remark frightened me, but I knew that she wouldn't do such a thing. Adley could be crazy, but she wouldn't do something like that willingly.

It was just the little voice in her head that was commanding her to do so.

I hadn't wanted her to get involved. I had never wanted her to turn into what she was now becoming. As positively as I tried to think, though, I knew that I was too late to save her.

Even the voice in the back of my head agreed with me as it shouted, "You've been warned, Annabeth Landers. Watch out!"