Capturing the Star's Heart

Boys Night with a Side of Embarrassment

After the concert, Alyssa left for the night to meet up with a few friends. This means that I'm left with Adam and Dex. The three of us haven't done anything together in a while, so Adam suggested we stay at his house rather than at the hotel. Dex and I were both down, we loved hanging out together, so it was perfect. I know that Adam and Dex love having Alyssa as a part of our group, but I can also tell they would much rather do things with just the three of us guys. So, here we are, walking into Adam's house, ready for a night of God knows what.

"I'm shocked your parents agreed to let you come. They've really been on you more and more nowadays," Dex said, throwing his bag down on the floor and collapsing on the couch.

"Yeah," I answered quietly, "But you know our rule. I can do whatever I want after a concert without their pestering."

I heard Adam sigh from the other room before calling out, "It doesn't matter now. You're here now, so let's do something besides mope over your mommy and daddy issues."

I gave Adam a slight glare for pointing out my problems, but I took a breath and nodded, "You're right. Let's ignore that all for the time being."

"Good. Now make yourselves useful and help me grab a couple of things so we can sleep down here."

I rolled my eyes playfully before walking to Adam and standing with him until Dex got up, "Are you coming?"

He groaned at my question and whined out, "Noooo. You two can get everything."

Adam and I shared a glance before he picked up one of the throw pillows from the other couch and chucked it in Dex's direction. It hit him square in the face; he sat up in annoyance, narrowing his eyes and throwing it back on the sofa.

"Get up and come on," Adam said assertively.

"Fine," Dex muttered, pushing himself to his feet and following us down the hallway.

Once everything was how we wanted it, we settled down with a couple of video games and a ton of junk food. After about an hour or so, Dex became bored with gaming and began scrolling through his phone while Adam and I kept playing. During the middle of one of the games, Dex started hysterically laughing at whatever was on his phone. I paused our game, the two of us looking at him with confusion and curiosity.

"What are you laughing at?" Adam asked, putting his controller down and moving to look over Dex's shoulder. I just stared at them, waiting on Dex to answer, but all he did was lean over to whisper something in Adam's ear. A grin slowly began forming across Adam's face, which immediately rose my suspicions. 

"What are you whispering about? What are you planning?"

Both boys just turned to me with evil smiles filling their features, and that's when my heart dropped. Dex has always been a prankster; most of the time, his pranking ways tend to rub off on Adam. With this, the two of them become unstoppable pranking machines, hence why I am now fearing for my pride and my safety.

Dex was the first to speak, "Oliver, you aren't afraid of little dare, are you?"

I contemplated my answer carefully before allowing the words to pour from my mouth, "Why are you asking?"

Adam spoke next, "It's nothing bad! We promise! Just answer the question."

I'm so gonna regret this. "No, I'm not afraid of a little dare."

Their wicked smiles grew, "Then we have a proposition for you!" Dex said in a sing-songy voice.

Why am I always the target?

With a shaky breath, I gulped, "What?"

Dex shoved his phone my way and clicked play on the video loaded on the screen. I watched as a boy around my age was running through his neighborhood, only wearing a feather boa as a shirt and warpaint across his face, while beating on his chest like a gorilla and roaring. His friends were racing behind him, recording the stunt and laughing. As I watched the clip, my jaw dropped in realization. I looked up from the video and saw my friends' idiotic faces.

"No," I said sternly, but already knowing I'm not getting out of this.

"Yes," Adam said, mischievously serious.

Before I could even utter another word, Dex shot up from his seat and bolted off, yelling, "I'll find the boa!"

At the same time Dex yelled, Adam called back, "I'll find the paint!"

Maybe while they're gone I can find somewhere to hide? No, they'd find me in no time flat. Ugh, what did I get myself into?

After Dex and Adam grabbed the things they needed to destroy my dignity, they waited at the bottom of the main staircase while I slipped into the outfit. I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror with horror. I was still wearing the jeans from earlier, but from the waist up, I looked like a total disaster. I was shirtless, wearing only a green boa with bright blue war paint smeared over my eyes and cheeks, and, just to rub it in, they found one of Alyssa's hair ribbons and tied it across my head in a bow. I looked like a walking train wreck. Why am I friends with them again?

A bang on the door followed by a loud shout quickly caught my attention, "Come on, man! We don't have all night!"

I immediately recognized the voice to be Dex, and I could already tell that the second I step out this door, a phone is going to be in my face taking pictures or videoing. I honestly don't know which one is worse. With one last glance in the mirror, I opened up and reluctantly treaded out. As soon as my foot crossed the threshold, all I could hear was roaring laughter. I didn't see Adam, but Dex was practically on the floor, dying.

I grumbled under my breath, listening as he finally choked out a comprehendible sentence, "You look so stupid! Adam's gonna love this!"

"Can we just get this over with, you jerk?!"

"Yeah, yeah," He said in between laughs, "Just remember to start at the top of the stairs and do it all the way down."

I growled but kept silent, watching as he walked down the stairs while giggling. I hate this so much! Why me?! Why not one of them?! I finally sighed out loud, doing my best to swallow the embarrassment. I began moving towards the staircase and stared down below. Adam's eyes looked in my direction before going wide. Like Dex, he immediately burst into loud laughter, clinging to the stair rail for support. Dex kept snickering as he aimed his phone up at me.

"Ready, pretty boy?" He teased, pressing record on the device.

I let out another annoyed breath before jumping into the stunt and making my way down the stairs. I did my best to shut out the obnoxious laughter and moved as quick as I could down the steps. I was so focused on looking anywhere but my two friends that I didn't realize someone else had made their way into the house.

When I finally worked up the courage to look down at the guys, I froze in place. There, standing behind Adam and Dex, was Alyssa. Neither of them noticed her standing behind them and they just kept laughing. She stared at me with her mouth agape, trying to figure out what was happening. When she finally decided to give up on trying to make sense of what we were doing, she erupted into frantic giggles. Dex and Adam finally saw her standing behind them, but didn't care as they continued howling.

My face was getting hotter and hotter, the embarrassment catching up to me. Though, as I scanned the room, my eyes landed on Aly. She was laughing so hard and smiling so bright, it kinda makes the humiliation worth it. Hearing how happy this makes her; it's nice. I hate what Adam and Dex made me do, and I can not wait to get out of this awful costume, but if it makes her laugh this hard at the moment, then I would gladly keep it on for a little bit longer.

"You guys are insane!" She said, brushing tears from her eyes.

Adam wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Insane, but awesome!"

Dex lifted his hand and gave Adam a high five. I ripped the boa from around my neck and yanked the ribbon out of my hair. I threw the two accessories down the steps, aiming to hit my two dumb friends. Sadly though, my aim was off and the items didn't go very far, causing more laughter from the three at the bottom.

I cursed myself under my breath before snapping out, "I hate you guys."