ALEX SPOKE FIRST, A smile playing on his lips as he looked around the room. It wavered for just a second when he locked eyes with Ava, but that charming expression he always carried quickly came back again. Faiza was sitting back, leaning lightly against Sebastian's arm, her brother having stiffened completely. A blush was starting to tint his cheeks, but he feigned nothing was going on, turning his attention towards Alex.
"Never have I ever pretended to not be able to fight and deceived a whole camp," Alex smiled.
"That's highly specific," Elisabeth frowned.
Ella didn't say anything, just taking a sip as she stared Alex right in his eyes. The vodka burned her throat, but she swallowed it and murmured profanities under her breath. As if feeling like she was planning on taking her revenge, Alex quickly tapped Elisabeth's shoulder and she nodded in understanding.
"Okay," she said, narrowing her eyes as she thought," I suck at these things, let me think for a moment."
Alex leaned in to whisper something in her ear and she laughed.
"So," she said," never have I ever been arrested."
Ella took another sip, Levi doing so beside her as well. She slowly turned towards him, but before she could say anything she noticed Will doing so as well opposite her, Sebastian trying to hide his. Ava seemed to be the only one who did so without caring, an amused glint in her eyes when she looked at Alex.
"I thought you were a bad boy," she said, clicking her tongue disapprovingly.
"I am," Alex drawled," I just run hard enough."
"That makes one of us," Sebastian murmured.
"So," Ella said," I'm assuming we all got into public fights and got taken back to the police station for disrupting the public order, or is that just me?"
"Got booked for a gang fight," Levi shrugged.
"Someone talked shit about Mexicans," Sebastian said," so I broke his jaw."
Faiza gently tucked a lock of his hair behind his ears, but didn't say anything. That seemed to be enough to let the rising anger in Sebastian's eyes die down, like a fire deprived of oxygen. Ava glanced at Sebastian, her dark eyes unreadable.
"Got racially profiled," she said," so I told the cop that he was a racist prick and to go fuck himself."
"As you should," Ella said.
"Are you alright?" Mia said, worry coloring her eyes.
Ava shrugged. "All cops are bastardized, but at least I had the chance to kick this one in the balls."
"Remind me to never get you angry," Sebastian said, wincing slightly at the thought.
"She has no mercy," Alex nodded solemnly.
"Wait," Ella said, eyes widening as she remembered," why did you get arrested, Will?"
Will gave her a sheepish grin, shaking his head in shame. "I stole a traffic cone."
"What?" she blinked.
"We were at a party," Will said, covering his face with his hands," and the cops were driving by when I did it."
"He refused to give it back," Levi said," and when they came closer he somehow just decided to whack it at their heads."
"My brain short circuited," Will said, removing his hands slowly," my drunk brain somehow thought the best way to get rid of it was by throwing it away. Somehow I did so at them."
"The aim this boy has," Alex said with a nostalgic smile.
"Please," Will fretted," that was horrible. I still feel guilty for hitting that poor man."
"I don't think the traffic cone hurt him," Ava said," I remember him laughing while taking you along."
"Have you all been friends for long?" Faiza said.
"We're childhood friends," Alex said as he waved a hand at Will, Levi and Ava," we only met Ella here at the camp, but we've gotten very close already. She and Levi, especially."
"Oh shut up," Ella said, but Levi just nodded.
"How do you three know each other?" Will smiled as he looked at Faiza and the new girls.
"Beth and I go to school together," Mia said," Faiza used to tutor us in Latin."
"She used to try to tutor me too," Sebastian said," but I'm a lost cause with languages."
"That's not the only thing you're a lost cause in," Faiza said warmly. When Sebastian looked at her in betrayal she laughed, taking his face in her hands as she shook her head. "I'm kidding, Bash. You know I'm fond of you."
He huffed, but there was no real pain in his eyes. Alex glanced at them confusedly, before deciding to just continue on, looking back at Elisabeth and Mia.
"So?" he said," do you get good grades now?"
"Oh no," Elisabeth said," I dropped out."
"I'm still going," Mia said," I enjoy the sitting in silence as you murmur words of a language no one speaks anymore." She shook her head. "It's a whole aesthetic, though I'm unfortunately more invested in that than actually studying at times."
"You seem like the type of girl who has the prettiest notes though," Will smiled at her.
Mia blinked in surprise, her expression just as softly warm as his. "You're too sweet."
"If only you knew the half of it," Ava said.
"Okay Will," Alex said," ask your never have I ever. Spice it up, homeboy."
"You're my homeboy as well, Alex," Will beamed at him, before thinking for a moment. "I got it. Never have I ever loved someone."
A silence passed through the room with the wind, Alex choking on it. Though it was a simple question, it was loaded, so heavy even Levi's eyebrows knit together. Will didn't seem to notice the tension in the air, instead being the first to take a sip from his drink. Sebastian stiffened when Faiza followed, but still took one himself, not daring to look at her.
Ella's grip tightened on her glass, her ex flashing in front of her eyes, and she took a sip then. Levi's eyes burned on her, but she just placed her own hand around his, the callouses familiar to her touch. When no one else moved, she parted her lips to let them move on, but Alex and Ava both drunk at the same time. They looked at each other for just a moment, something undecipherable in their eyes, but then glanced away again.
"Anyway," Sebastian said, scraping his throat," let's continue."
"You don't want to discuss?" Will blinked.
"Actually," Ava said," I am curious. Who have you fallen in love with, Will?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Will beamed," I love you guys, of course." He looked at Levi then, pouting. "I was surprised to see you didn't drink, Levi."
Levi frowned. "You misinterpreted your own question, Will."
Will's eyes colored with confusion, before lighting up as he realized what Levi meant. He parted his lips, looking around.
"Wait," he said," who do you guys love?"
"Okay, next question," Sebastian said," Mia, go."
"I'm boring though," Mia confessed," I haven't done a lot."
"Just ask an easy question," Sebastian said, raising his glass," like never have I ever kissed someone."
At that all of them drunk, all of them except Mia and Will. Sebastian froze, but Alex and Levi didn't seem that surprised. Right when her brother parted his lips to ask them questions, Will flashed him a grin, not looking ashamed at all.
"I just didn't want to yet," he said," I like the idea of an old-fashioned love, of being each other's firsts. Now it's just waiting until I find one."
"You don't need to explain yourself," Ella said.
"I know," Will smiled.
Mia's eyes lingered on him for a second longer than needed, before she turned away her focus.
"Well," she said," mine was less of a choice, more of a I don't go to parties and don't like meeting new people so I can't find anyone I like thing."
"Trust me," Elisabeth said with a shake of her head," finding people you like at parties is difficult as well. I'd rather meet someone at a cute place like a small coffeeshop."
"Or here," Alex supplied, smirking at her.
She raised her eyebrows at him, before laughing and slapping him amicably on the shoulder.
"Calm down, Romeo," she teased," you've flirted with me, Faiza and Mia now. Soon there'll be no girls left."
In response to that Levi placed a protective arm around Ella's shoulders, pulling her closer, and she chuckled. She knew he was still curious by who she had loved from the look in his eyes, but that was a conversation they would have in private. Alex was looking amused by Elisabeth though, a light-hearted surprise in his eyes at her answers she didn't see often in him.
"You're too young for Faiza, Alex," Ella said," so unless you can quote Kafka and write in candlelight, I don't think she'll like you."
"You know me so well, Ella," Faiza said, placing a touched hand on her heart.
"He flirted with us?" Mia blinked.
"Oh, my sweet summer child," Ava sighed. She waved a hand at Levi then. "Never mind, I'm curious what you've come up with, Peterson. You usually refrain from saying anything when we play these games."
"I usually don't care enough," he shrugged.
"What about now?" Ava asked.
He didn't talk for a moment, before turning his gaze towards Ella, his low voice clear as glass.
"Never have I ever liked someone in the same room."