Shouldering my bag, I slammed the car door behind me before staring up at the small residential home before me with a long-winded sigh.
Rather unexpectedly, I was seconds away from entering Blaire and Leon's house.
Why? Weirdly because I'd been invited around for Sebastian's birthday gathering – he was turning eighteen.
It was beyond strange that I was going considering Sebastian's unwavering hatred towards me. But for whatever reason, Blaire had decided to add me to a group chat with her and Leon named 'Sebastian's secret birthday party', and the next thing I knew, I was being roped into going.
I would have said no normally, but I did slightly feel like I owed Sebastian after the dramatic efforts he'd gone to get the pregnancy rumor about me squashed. The only real bright side of the strange gathering was that I had also forced Ava along with me for emotional support. It wasn't like they would mind too much that she was coming considering Leon had a crush on her and all.
Turning back to see what was taking Ava so long, I turned around and knocked frustratedly against the car window. "Ava, come on, hurry up!"
I caught sight of her rolling her large blue eyes at me as she made a face at me through the car window. Soon enough though, she popped open the passenger side door and took her place beside me.
"Calm down, I was just finishing sending a message, chill lax," she huffed, as she brushed and straightened out her skirt.
"I'll chill lax when I want to," I snapped back rudely.
Ava plucked up a perfectly amused eyebrow. "Yikes, what's got you in such a mood. Feeling overwhelmed with excitement to hang out with your new boy-bestie?" she teased. "No, sorry your Sebby webby baby daddy," she snorted as she gave me an overzealous wink.
Knowing she was referring to the fake pregnancy drama that had surfaced earlier this week, I glared at her and wasted no time in giving her an overly enthusiastic whack around the arm – hard.
"Ouch, touchy," she laughed and jumped away from me with a pout.
"Yeah, well tell me you wouldn't be a little touchy, after the whole school thought your childhood friend, and former enemy knocked you up," I threw out with spirit before pushing myself off my car, and making a beeline for the house.
Ava quickly jogged to catch up with me. "Hey, I'm sorry. I was just messing around. Of course, what happened was fucked up," she said with a softened voice as she gave me an empathetic bump on her shoulder.
Turning her way, I let my lips slip into a smile to reassure her. "Yeah, don't worry, I'm just being dramatic, I'm not actually mad," I admitted, my voice softening. "Especially since Sebastian pretty much fixed it for the most part," I admitted with a shrug.
Still walking alongside me, Ava's mouth twisted into a smile. "You can't deny that it's not cute that he convinced the whole school that he likes you to get everyone to start gossiping about him instead of you, hmm. Admit it, Phoebs, he's kinda got to be growing on you, huh?" she probed, as she sent me a playful look.
I gave Ava a weird look. "Yeah, definitely wouldn't go that far," I spat out flatly as we finally came to a stop at the door.
I didn't even get a chance to lean in the direction of the bell before the door suddenly swung open with force.
Instantly the image of a smirking ten-year-old boy with volumes of golden-brown hair came into view. A sickened feeling ran through me, instantly recognizing him as Blaire and Leon's pervy little brother – Austin.
"Wow, fucking hell," Austin chuckled, as his eyes prowled up and down my and Ava's body to an uncomfortable degree.
Ava clearly confused, gave Austin an odd look before shuffling closer to me and nudging my shoulder. "Er...who is this child? And why is he staring at us?" she whispered under her breath.
Before I could answer, Austin cleared his throat and met us back with a smirk. "The name is Austin. Or as I'm about to be known– the guy you two sexy women are about to have a threesome with," he suggested with a wink.
I nearly choked, as I came to the horrifying realization that this literal ten-year-old was literally trying to initiate sex with us and even more disturbingly seemed to know what a threesome was.
Ava clutched my arm. "Phoebe, I'm scared," Ava whispered, while still staring forward at Austin warily.
Behind Austin's head, I caught sight of feet rapidly jogging their way down the stairs, and soon enough Leon's face appeared in view. Oh, thank fuck.
Leon's eyes widened slightly as he took in the sight of his brother at the door, and like that he rushed the rest of the way down the stairs in two long steps.
"Austin, what the hell are you doing? I told you not to answer the door," Leon stammered out as he finally joined his little brother by the entrance of the door.
Austin merely shrugged. "Well, I didn't care. And besides, what do you expect me to do, sit on my ass when two hot girls are standing on our doorstep, ready to be seduced into my bed," he scoffed.
What in the actual....
Leon threw his head back in pain, looking seconds away from breaking into tears. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he threw Austin a helpless look.
"How many times do I need to tell you that you can't flirt with older girls! Never mind have sex with them! You're literally ten!"
Austin frowned. "Don't use my age against me. Fuck you!"
Somehow my eyes managed to widen even further.
Leon's eyes flashed with fury and he swiftly grabbed his brother by the collar and pushed him towards the direction of the stairs. "Okay, I'm absolutely done with you. Go to your room!" Leon snapped, sounding genuinely pissed this time.
Austin let out a childish growl before finally turning around and storming up the stairs while muttering something about how he was sick of people cock blocking him.
Once he'd disappeared out of view, silence filled the air, and Leon slowly turned back to face us with what could only be described as a look of utter humiliation. Rubbing the back of his neck gingerly, his eyes briefly met Ava's before rapidly looking away, clearly embarrassed at all that his brother had said in front of his crush.
It was almost enough to make me smile despite all the creepy perviness that had just ensued.
"I'm so so sorry about him. He's just erm...a...erm...-" The redness that seeped underneath his light brown complexion darkened further, as he struggled for an answer.
"A tiny perv," Ava finished for him with a playful lopsided smile.
Leon blinked twice at her before letting a small smile slip to his lips. "Yeah, that," he mumbled, his eyes drifting to stare at her lips as she smiled.
A second longer ticked by before Ava cleared her throat once more. "So, are we allowed in?" Ava asked with a light laugh.
"Oh crap, yes, yes, of course," Leon rushed out, his voice striking higher as he briefly stepped out of the way.
"Erm. Just follow this way, my sister and Sebastian are in the basement," he explained with a nod of his head.
Stepping in, I closed the door behind us before following Leon as he led us down the corridor and down some stairs that I presumed led to the basement.
As we approached the bottom, the sound of two voices hit my ear. From the recognizable tones of their voices, they no doubt belonged to Sebastian and Blaire.
Once we'd reached the floor level, Leon led us round a corner and instantly my eyes zeroed in on a figure of Blaire and Sebastian sitting on a single sofa while sprawled out and facing one another. The rest of the basement consisted of a tv set, various beanbag chairs, and shelving full of abandoned board games in the corner.
As we drew closer, I became perceptive of the great widened smile on Sebastian's face as he engaged in his conversation with Blaire. Short, and fast a strange feeling ran through my stomach that had me feeling nauseated, and strangely a little mad. Not a clue why I'd felt that I stared on in speculation. Did he like her?
I was snapping out of any bitter thoughts as Sebastian lifted his head in our direction, clearly having heard our approaching footsteps. His eyes scanned quickly over Leon and Ava's before immediately focusing on me with a razor-sharp focus.
Brief shock flashed through his eyes, clearly not expecting me. But somewhere, mid-scanning me, a small smirk slid to his face.
"So I see you're not only a pervert, Brooks, but a stalker," he arrogantly called out, his eyes sparkling devilish over at me as he leaned a little forward on the sofa.
Not impressed by his poor attempt to be funny, I gave him a deadened look. "You're well aware you have no right to be calling anyone else a pervert, right?" I spoke out with light laughter.
Sebastian's grin only grew, and he just shrugged in response. "Perhaps," he mused.
Blaire raised a hand. "And just to add, she's not a stalker. I invited her," she added chirpily. "You're always looking for these pathetic reasons to hang out for her so I thought I'd save you the trouble," Blaire said as she threw Sebastian a teasing wink.
As Leon and Ava laughed from beside me, Sebastian gave Blaire the dirtiest of looks. "Don't be annoying, you know we are just hanging out to break up our siblings," he snapped, seeming a little too sharply defensive.
"umm, hmm," Blaire hummed back unconvincingly.
Leon cleared his throat, thankfully breaking up the awkward tension that was building up in the air. "So, how about we do presents, then," Leon announced as he slid around the sofas and took a seat in the armchair at the side.
Sebastian's pissy expression instantly changed to one of intrigue, and it didn't take long for his eyes to drift toward the wrapped present I had tucked under my arm.
As Ava and I took a seat opposite Blaire and Sebastian on the sofa, Sebastian's eyes met mine with a smile on his lips. "Wow, and even the princess bought me a gift," he teased.
I rolled my eyes, not even seeing a point in answering him with words.
One by one, everyone started pulling out their present, and Sebastian being the impolite and impatient prick he was wasted no time in ripping them to shreds.
The first present he unwrapped was Ava's. She had gotten him some kind of cologne that Sebastian seemed fairly happy with. Leon ended up getting him tickets for some kind of water sports day out which seemed on brand for Sebastian seeing the boy seemed to take to water like a fish.
Then finally Blaire had rather oddly gifted him with a mini little doll version of himself. Apparently, it wasn't his voodoo doll but from the deeply concerned looks that were exchanged around the room, nobody knew what to make of it.
Lastly, when Sebastian got to my present, he paused and looked up at me with a half-raised smirk before finally ripping open the wrapping. Once he'd fully opened it, he turned over the item in his hands and inspected it in grave detail with a raised-up brow.
Several seconds went by before a snort sounded from his lips, and the next minute he had broken out into laughter. Meeting my eyes, a full smirk took over his face.
"You got me candy love hearts? As in valentine's day love hearts? Is this you finally admitting you have a thing for me, Brooks?" he teased, his eyes sparkling playfully.
"Aww cute," Blaire chimed in unhelpfully.
My face instantly burned like fire. "No," I snapped defensively. "They aren't proper love hearts, read the messaging on them properly," I threw back with a frown.
Sebastian still smirking, let his eyes fall back to the jar. Narrowing his eyes he inspected the words on the candy in detail. Though a loose smile still lay on his lips, his brows pulled together in confusion as he looked back up at me.
"Erm...no offense Phoebs, but I think you picked out the wrong ones. This one is saying rude shit on it like 'fuck you', 'stab yourself', and 'hard pass'," he said, looking up at me under a deeply raised brow.
An instant smile took over my lips. "Nah, they are definitely the right ones," I threw back as I sassily looked him up and down.
Sebastian gave me a sharpened look of unimpress.
Ava raised her hand from beside me. "Hey, in my defense Sebastian, I told her not to buy them."
Still keeping perfect eye contact with me, Sebastian's smile simply grew. "Nah, it's alright. I know insults are just Phoebe's love language," he chuckled as he threw me a wink.
Feeling childish, I gagged.
"Very mature," he quipped back.
"Says you, the boy who throws out a pervy statement at me, every half second," I argued.
"I like to call it admiration," Sebastian said, grinning proudly. Leon put his head in his hands with a groan, unsurprisingly embarrassed.
"Anyway," Blaire said interrupting. "Sebastian's perviness aside, anyone up for playing some games?" she asked, as she scanned the four of us with a smile.
"Yeah, sure, that sounds great," Ava answered politely, with an equally wide-spanning grin.
Sebastian lazily rolled his eyes. "Yes, but if we do. I pick the game. I have it fucking in with playing Pictionary with you. You nor your brother can draw for shit," he spat out rudely.
"Bitch," Leon muttered lowly under his breath.
Blaire rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Fine, then Sebastian, what game does the bouncing baby birthday boy want to play then?"
Sebastian paused as though about to answer, then suddenly for whatever reason he turned to stare at me. Then rather unnervingly he continued to stare before a cunning little smirk appeared on his lips as though he'd just formulated some kind of plan.
"How about we play, Fearless," Sebastian suggested smoothly.
Instantly knowing something was up from the devious look in his eyes, I stared at him cautiously. "What the fuck is Fearless?" I asked with narrowed eyes. Freaking me out more, Sebastian's smile only grew.
Leon let out a long groan from the armchair and threw his head back slightly. "You know I hate that game, it stresses me out."
"Sorry, what is it?" Ava said, repeating my question, clearly intrigued herself.
Blaire let out a long sigh. "Basically, it's just a stupid dare game that Sebastian made up where the aim Is to challenge someone to do something that you know might scare them, piss them off etcetera," she explained while waving a flippant hand around.
"Yeah, there's no way in hell I'm playing that with Sebastian present," I spat out flatly without missing a beat.
Still having kept eye contact with me, Sebastian snickered. "Wow, never took you as being a scaredy cat, Brooks? I guess it makes sense considering you still haven't found the guts to deliver up on your end of the bet we made that day at the pool, hmm?" he teased, his eyes shining merrily.
I went incredibly still, remembering all too well that I was supposed to have shown him my boobs as payment for the bet I'd lost. I'd assume he'd forgotten about it, but clearly, the memory still sat at the very top of his mind.
Swallowing hard, I ignored the confused stares around the room, and instead composed myself by focusing on glaring Sebastian down. "I'm not scared of you, don't flatter yourself," I snapped back defensively.
Sebastian arched a perfect brow. "Really? Then prove it, and play," he goaded with a smile.
We engaged in a stubborn stare-down, and I don't know if it was stubbornness or my irritability at being seen as a coward, I found myself nodding my head. "Fine but if we play everyone can veto out one thing they don't want to be challenged to do," I argued.
Sebastian paused and seemed to analyze my words. Finally, he rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever, what's your stupid veto then?" he sighed.
"You can't involve me in any challenge to do with kissing," I stated firmly.
Sebastian's eyes immediately seemed to shine with amusement before he let out a chuckle. "Is that what you're scared of? You think I'm going to challenge you to kiss me?"
Feeling everyone's eyes on me, I felt my cheeks burn, realizing how kind of pathetic my veto sounded when I said it out loud.
I cleared my throat slightly, to gain back a bit of my confidence. "Well yes, I'm not stupid you're certainly pervy and irritating enough to dare me to do that," I said as I threw him a sharpened look back.
Sebastian's brow raised higher.
Ava turned to face me. "You know he could still technically dare you to like suck his dick or something, right?"
"She's got a point," Blaire nodded along unhelpfully.
My eyes widened. "Ava," I gritted out under my breath, giving her a warning glare. The last thing I needed was for her to put any more pervy ideas into his head.
"Sorry, I'm just saying Phoebs?" she said, holding her hands up to feign innocence.
Sebastian chuckled. "As fun as that sounds, relax, nobody can challenge anyone to do anything illegal or any non-consensual sex acts.
I found myself breathing in a breath of relief, glad Sebastian hadn't completely lost his mind. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have done it if he challenged me, but I didn't even want to stomach hearing him propose it.
"Okay, great I'm going to stick with my veto then of no kissing," I repeated.
Sebastian chuckled. "It's cute that you think that's one of my challenges, but as I've said before, the only way we're ever kissing is if you kiss me first," he said with a wink.
Irritation, immediately rushed through my blood, hating how he kept saying that. "Excellent, then that basically means we'll never kiss," I snapped.
"We'll see," Sebastian hummed obnoxiously.
Rolling my eyes, I turned to face the others. "What's everyone else veto-ing?"
"Food challenges, I won't eat anything disgusting," Ava answered.
I shrugged. "Fair enough, Blaire?" I asked as I turned her way.
"Erm...," she started. "Nobody can ask for me to destroy their voodoo- dolls," Blaire finished with a smile.
"Brilliant," Leon muttered miserably, clearly having wisely wanted to ask her to do that.
"And, Leon, your veto?" I asked, turning his way.
"No, ice in boxers," he said immediately without missing a beat as he sent Sebastian a particularly spiteful look.
Letting my eyes reluctantly drift back to Sebastian, I sighed. "And your veto?"
Sebastian stared at me in that unnerving way of his for a second or so before shrugging. "Nothing, I'm not scared of anything," he stated simply.
Feeling like he was clearly trying to show himself off as some kind of daredevil, I glared him off in irritation. He was such a cocky son of a bitch. There was no way I was letting him win.
"So excellent, everybody ready to begin? Or does anyone have any more cowardly protests?" Sebastian said, seeming to stare at me more than anyone else as he said that.
While everyone else nodded and murmered in agreement to start, Sebastian seemed to take my silence glare as a yes.
"Excellent," Sebastian smiled. "Then let the games begin."
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Next Update: Thursday