Whispers

Chapter Twelve

12

"Okay," Sam began, her dark eyes sweeping over us. "Never have I ever gone skinny dipping."

A small grin on her face, Chloe took a sip of the water bottle that was positioned between her legs. Sure it wasn't the same as chugging alcohol but the effect was almost worse. The more water you drank the more likely you were going to need to sneak out for a pee break and students weren't allowed out of their rooms after nine-thirty. That, coupled with the whole secret sleep-over thing? Kinda thrilling.

"Really?" I laughed. "When?"

"When I was sixteen," she replied, recapping her drink. "A couple of my friends from back in the day were throwing a rager and long story short, parent's had a jacuzzi and I got to share it with a really hot guy."

"You guys didn't...?"

"Nah. But we did have a really hot make-out session."

I watched Sam pull a strange face before rolling her eyes.

"Okay, my turn." Leaning back on her hands Chloe scrapped her brain for a good question. "Never have I ever... broken into my own house."

I took a swig of my drink. "My mom would sometimes work nights and my dad was always gone," I explained. "Sometimes I'd have to climb in through the front window."

"Your turn, Thompson."

"Okay. Never have I ever stolen money from my parents."

Both girls took a drink from their bottles.

"Lame," Sam booed.

"Everyone's stolen from their parents at least once in their life," Chloe agreed.

I shrugged helplessly. "I don't really play games like this. I have no clue what to ask."

"You gotta ask riskier questions," Sam informed. "Questions like... Never have I ever went out streaking."

We both turned our gazes to Chloe who blushed in response.

"Jeez, you skinny dip with one guy and now everyone thinks you're a nudist," she grumbled.

Then she took a sip.

We both broke out in laughter.

"It was one time for a football game!" she argued, her cheeks flushed red.

"One time is enough," I snorted, a huge grin on my face.

Sam smiled. "It's nice to see that you're feeling better."

"Yeah," I agreed. "This sleepover was a pretty good idea."

"I don't just mean today."

"Huh?"

"You've been acting kinda weird all week," Chloe explained.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You just seemed kinda..." she shrugged. "Sad? Lonely?"

"Did something happen recently?" Sam wondered.

Did I really look that bad? I had tried hiding it all week, laughing at the jokes they told during lunch, my grades have even improved a little. I didn't think anyone would notice.

"Nothing happened."

Chloe frowned. "Don't do that," she said.

"Do what?"

"Play it off like nothing is wrong."

"But nothing is wrong. I'm fine."

She shook her head. "You're not fine," she began, her tone soft and kinda sad. "And that's okay. It's okay to not be okay. We're your friends and we're here for you."