Capítulo 69: 69. Ch 69- Play Hard
The girls had a good time watching their movie, a recent live action film based on the Pocketmons franchise starring Brian Kimmel as a golden furred talking mouse trying to solve a murder investigation. When some of the girls weren't gushing over how cute the mouse looked, they were laughing at the antics he got up to or making a mess with the popcorn. By the end of the film, the popcorn was gone and everyone was in awe at the heartwarming finish to the story. They talked about it for a while before they heard Mrs Rosato say that the pizza had arrived, so they quickly went into the dining room. They each took their fair share of the cheesy, meat covered delicacy and sodas and made sure not to let any of it go to waste.
"There's nothing better than good pizza," Joy sighed as she put down her now empty soda can.
"Too right," Kat agreed, then looked over to Stella, who still had a big smile on her face. "You okay there, Stella?"
"Uh huh," she blissfully replied. "I've had pizza before, but only ones made by my parents or my grandmother, or the ones at Gus'. Sure, I like my grandmother's pizza, but… this is probably the best pizza I've ever had."
"Well, glad you enjoyed it," Jordan told her, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Anyway, since we're done with dinner, I'm gonna clear this stuff up so mom doesn't get mad, and then I'm gonna get changed. You guys are free to use the bathroom or my bedroom to do the same if you want."
Her guests all seemed to agree with this, getting up from their seats at the dining table and leaving. Jordan gathered up the plates, cans and pizza boxes, carrying them into the kitchen, where she put the boxes and cans on the counter, before beginning to wash the plates. She turned on the water, letting it heat up just enough before grabbing a sponge, holding it under the running water and putting some dish soap on it. As she began to wash the dishes, someone else entered the kitchen. "Couldn't save any for me?" she heard Jen joke.
"Well, there wouldn't be any left for us if I let you have any."
The older sister faked a gasp at the retort. "Rude!" She could see her little sister's shoulders rise a little with each chuckle, so she smiled. "How come you're doing the washing up?"
"I didn't want to make Mom or Dad do it, and I figured you'd be too busy with high school stuff. Besides, it's my sleepover, so it's my responsibility."
"Very mature, sis. Still, I'll give you a hand." She grabbed a dish towel and began to dry the plates that Jordan put onto the dish rack, then put them away in the cupboard. "So, what are you and your friends gonna get up to?"
"You mean you aren't crashing the rest of the party?" This earner her a soft jab from Jen's elbow. "Hey, come on, don't make me drop this!"
"Fine. But nah, I need to get some work done for my next fashion project." She looked to her sister with a smirk. "You sure you don't want to model for me again?"
"After last time, I'm pretty sure I don't want to see another catwalk again."
"Yeah, I guess. Nearly gave me a heart attack when I saw you fall."
"Hey, how do you think I felt?" She put the last dish on the rack and turned off the water, putting the sponge away. "I'm the one that fell." She heard a slight melancholy hum in response, and looking to Jen, she saw that she was looking ahead in deep thought. "Jen, you know it wasn't your fault right? It was an accident, I stepped wrong and I tripped."
"Yeah… while modelling my outfit."
She heard the regret in her big sister's voice, making her frown. "Jen, it's not like you put me in heels. I tripped because I wasn't used to modelling, not because of what I was wearing, and not because you asked me to model for you." She then wrapped her hands around Jen's waist to hug her. "I'm fine, and it wasn't your fault. That's all that matters."
Jen couldn't help but smile, hugging Jordan back. "Thanks, sis… but couldn't you have dried your hands first?" Both girls ended up laughing as they let each other go. "Now, go on. I'll handle the trash, you get back to your sleepover."
"You sure?" The high schooler nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Jen."
"No problem, kiddo." She watched as Jordan walked away, before putting away the last plate. She then grabbed the pizza boxes and sighed. "Man, they ordered my favourite, too."
It was about ten minutes later when Jordan returned to the living room with her phone in hand, now wearing a white pyjama shirt with a band logo where a pocket would be, yellow pyjama shorts and blue slippers. When she entered the room, she saw that her friends were wearing similar clothes: Mollie had a red pyjama top and brown pyjama trousers, Joy had a purple tank top with pink and black chequered pyjama pants, Kat had a white tank top with black pyjama pants, and Stella was wearing a white pyjama shirt and red pyjama shorts. The odd one out was Sadie, who was wearing a pink onesie with white buttons on the front.
Mollie saw her host return. "Took you long enough," she joked as her friend sat down next to her. "What, couldn't decide what to wear in case-"
"I think I know the end to that sentence, so don't," Jordan cut in, "and if you'll remember, I had to wait for you to get changed so that I could get changed."
"Whatever, girl. So, what's next on the agenda?"
"Well, there's a game I thought we could play. Give me a second and get your phones out." Most of the other girls were confused by what Jordan was up to, but picked up their phones from the table. Jordan took a minute to set up her home console, eventually putting on a game with the title Mad Fibs. "All set."
While the others were still confused, clarity appeared on Stella's face. "Oh! I know this game!" she exclaimed with a smile. "I think I played this when I was at Clyde's sleepover."
"Yeah, I think Lincoln mentioned that. He told me about this game a while back, and when I looked it up, I thought it might be pretty fun."
"Lincoln did, huh?" Joy asked with a smirk, one that was matched by her friends. "Guess you weren't just doing your geography project together, were you?"
Jordan rolled her eyes. "Har, har, Joy. What, I'm not allowed to have fun with a friend? Besides, as interesting as this project was, we would both agree that it would've been boring if we didn't take breaks."
"Yeah, well, you at least got put with someone you can have fun with," Kat argued. "No offence to Lincoln, but his friend Rusty is useless. I've had to pull his weight throughout this whole project. I'm just lucky he didn't try flirting with me."
"He really needs to stop trying so hard with that," Stella admitted. "He's a nice guy, but he is not a charmer."
"I'd imagine if he wasn't friends with Lincoln, he'd probably try flirting with Jordan, too," Joy added, to which Jordan sighed.
"Wouldn't be the first time. Anyway, are we gonna play this or what?"
"Sure, but how do we play?"
"It's easy. Just search that website, enter the code, and your phone will tell you what to do." The girls all did just that, using the website and the code to join the game, each putting in a nickname. Once she had checked that they were all in, Jordan told her friends, "alright, here we go," before she started the game. The announcer for the game explained that the game worked by players adding possible answers to weird facts, and then trying to guess what the real answer was from amongst the possible answers, which included the other players' answers. They would score points if people picked their answer, and if they picked the right answer. After Mollie chose a topic, the first question appeared on screen:
A Swedish man who worked as a dishwasher received disability benefits for his weird addiction to _
"A dishwasher with a weird addiction?" Kat asked, mostly just to herself as she thought of a possible answer. They all took their time with thinking of answers, but managed to answer before the time was up, and the answers appeared on the screen:
Sweden
Heavy Metal Music
Knives
Dish soap
APPA
Bacon
Bubbles
The girls laughed at how ridiculous some of the answers were. "How can a Swedish person be addicted to Sweden?!" Jordan said in hysteria.
"Same way a dishwasher can be addicted to dish soap, I guess," Stella laughed.
After the initial hysterics settled down, they each guessed what they thought the real answer would be. The first answer was Bubbles, which was selected by Joy, but the game revealed that this was the answer Mollie had inserted.
"Ha! Got one!" she cheered, while Joy simply rolled her eyes. She then saw that she, along with Jordan, Stella and Sadie had all chosen Dish Soap. "I think we've got it."
Kat, on the other hand, simply smirked as the game revealed that she had inserted that answer. "Unlucky!" She boasted as the four girls looked at her in shock. "You'll see that the real answer is actually…"
She watched smugly as the game showed that she had selected Bacon, but her grin dropped when she saw that it was Stella who came up with that answer, the Filipina looking happy with putting her down. "Nope! So, what was it then?" Everyone watched curiously as the game revealed that the correct answer was actually Heavy Metal Music, making them all burst out laughing again. "No way!"
"That's a pretty cool addiction," Jordan couldn't help but admit as the scores appeared on screen. "Well, Kat you're in the lead."
"And I plan to keep it that way."
The game lasted a good twenty minutes, with the girls learning weird facts such as how a university in Canada taught The Science of Batman, and how a restaurant in California served food on iPads. Eventually, Kat won the game, and they played a couple of similar games that came with it: a drawing game that was won by Stella, and a horror party game that was won by Jordan. Once that was done, they decided it was time to move onto something else.
"So, what do you girls want to do next?" Jordan asked.
"Well, we could always do truth or dare," Kat suggested, which was well received from everyone but the host, who bore an uncertain frown on her face. "What?"
"Are you sure that's a good idea? Remember what happened last time we played that at one of our sleepovers?"
"Oh, come on, Jordan! That was one time, and it wasn't even that bad."
"Mollie, that stain still hasn't come out of my shirt."
"Well, we could always have a pillow fight instead. Remember how that went last time?"
Jordan looked at her friend blankly for a few seconds, considering the compromise, before sighing. "Fine, we can play truth or dare." Her friends gave a cheer, but she quickly cut it off. "But! A couple of ground rules. First, everything that is said and done stays in this room. No telling anyone anything, and any dares must happen here. No repeats of when you made Sadie tell Rusty she liked his cologne."
The girl in question shuddered at the memory. "That was so embarrassing."
"Also, nothing food based. No one wants to be sick on a weekend." The girls all nodded to agree. "So, does anyone want to go first?"
Stella shot her hand up. "Oh, I have an idea! Do you have some paper I can write on?"
"Uh, yeah, in my room. Actually, we should head upstairs, anyway. It'll be getting late soon." So, they followed the hostess up to her room, where they all sat in a circle on the white carpeted floor. Jordan walked over to her desk and grabbed a pen and a sheet of paper, which she then gave to Stella. "What did you have in mind?"
"Give me a second." She began to draw something down, using her leg as a rest to do so. The others all looked to each other, wondering what she was up to, before she eventually finished writing. "There we go." She put down the paper, revealing that she had drawn a circle split in eight segments. Two segments had the word all written in them, while the other segments had the girls' names. "We'll go clockwise. This way, we won't end up asking the same person every time, and sometimes we can ask something to everyone."
Though she didn't think it was a perfect system, Jordan couldn't help but agree with her friends that it was a good idea. "That's pretty clever, Stella. Since you thought of it, why don't you go first?"
"Okay!" She took the pen and spun it on top of the paper, everyone watching with intrigue as it eventually slowed down to a stop. "Mollie! Truth or dare?"
"You seem nice, Stella," she thought aloud. "Let's see how nice you are. I'll take a dare."
The others were very invested in this decision, while Stella simply smirked. "Okay, let me see. How about… ooh! I know!" She got up and walked over to her bag, reaching in and pulling out a pair of earphones. "You have to listen to a song of my choosing for thirty seconds."
"Is that all? Bring it."
"As you wish." She put the earphones in her phone and allowed Mollie to out the earphones in her ears. While she waited for the song to start, Stella showed Jordan and Kat what she was going to play, making them titter and gasp. "Alright, Mollie. Three… two… one… go."
She pressed play, and Mollie's confident smirk instantly melted away as the music began to play, making her grimace. Jordan and Kat both told Sadie and Joy what was being played, and they joined their friends in giggling. Mollie bit her lip, refusing to scream as the song continued to play in her ears. She fought to resist it, but it was testing her mental strength. Eventually, the thirty seconds played out, and Stella stopped the music.
"Have I gone deaf?!" Mollie shouted, prompting Kat to lean over and pull the headphones out for her.
"No, the dare's over," she assured her friend.
"Thanks." She then looked to Stella with a pout. "Maybe you're not so nice." Stella stuck her tongue out in response, so Mollie grabbed the pen. "Anyway, it's my turn now." She spun the pen on the paper, this time landing on Sadie. "Alright, truth or dare, girl?"
"Truth," Sadie quickly answered, making Mollie groan.
"If this is for the fish dare, I told you I was sorry. Oh, well. In that case, I've got a good question. What's the most embarrassing thing you've said to a teacher?"
She blushed a little as the answer came to her head. "W-well… it would probably be in third grade, when I accidentally… called my teacher dad." Some of the girls sympathised with their friend, though a couple of them had to hold back chuckles. "Gee, thanks."
"Don't worry, Sadie," Jordan assured her as she took hold of the pen. "It's not that bad." Her friend smiled at the support before she took her turn. The pen spun round and round on top of the paper, until it landed on one of the two all segments. "Ooh, we've got one for everybody!" Turning to Stella, she asked, "so, what happens now?"
"Well, I guess you get to decide whether you ask a truth or give a dare."
"Okay. Let's see…" As an idea came to mind, her eyes lit up. "Hope you don't mind if I ask you to answer first, Stella. Who is the cutest boy in our grade?"
A collective "Ooh" filled the room as Stella's eyes widened. "Oh! Uh… I'll be honest, I never thought much about that."
"Well, we're in no hurry," Joy smugly argued. "Now's your chance."
The new girl of the group chuckled a bit. "I guess you're right. Well… most of the boys seem nice, but… I dunno, I guess Trent is kinda cute."
"Yeah, Trent's okay," Kat agreed, "but I think Richie's cuter."
She got a nod of agreement from Mollie and Joy. "Really?" Sadie spoke. "I agree with Stella, I think Trent's cute."
Mollie saw that Kat was going to grab the pen, but she stopped her. "Hang on a second. Someone hasn't answered yet."
Everyone looked to Jordan, who blinked. "What? I don't have to answer, it was my question."
"Actually, it was a question for all of us," Joy pointed out. "I think that should include the person asking it."
"No way, that's not fair. Right, Stella?"
"Well… honestly, I agree with Mollie and Joy."
"Raise your hand if you agree that Jordan should have to answer as well." After she raised her hand, Mollie saw that everyone but the girl in question agreed with her. "It's agreed. Spill it."
The host of the sleepover sighed, bowing her head. "Wish we could've decided that before we started…" She lifted her head again, seeing that everyone was looking at her with burning interest. "Fine, but do not get the wrong idea. I think the cutest boy in our grade is… Lincoln." She felt a blush appear on her cheeks as her friends gasped and giggled. "Alright, that's all you're getting from me, you hear? Joy, it's your go."
"Aww, but…" Joy saw the small glare Jordan gave her and resigned. "Fine." She took the pen and span it around, waiting until it landed. "Well, looks like it's Jordan! Truth or dare?"
"Um… I'm gonna risk a dare."
'Dang it,', the shorter girl mentally sighed, before thinking of what her dare could be. "Alright, in that case… got it! You have to show us a picture of you and Lincoln!"
Once again, a collective "Ooh" filled the room, this time with Jordan looking embarrassed. "Seriously? I don't even have any pictures with Lincoln."
"Oh, really? So, you didn't take a picture with him when you were in that fashion show?"
"Or when you were doing the geography project together?"
"Or when he invited you to the arcade?"
"Or what about-"
"Alright, fine! Fine! I'll show you one picture, and that's it." The others grew excited as she grabbed her phone and began searching through her pictures. 'Which one are they likely to tease me the least for?' Eventually, she settled on one. "Okay, you get five seconds to look, and that's it."
"Come on, show us already!" Jordan rolled her eyes at Joy's blunt request, but obliged. She first had her hand over the screen, but pulled it away, revealing a selfie she has taken with Lincoln at her Halloween party. They were both in their costumes and smiling, making the girls coo. "That's a good picture! Was that so difficult?"
"Maybe," Jordan muttered as she put her phone on her desk. "At least now I might get a break." As if fate had heard her, though, she sat down again as Sadie spun the pen and it ended on her name again. "Oh, come on!"
Most of the girls were laughing at the surprising turn of events, whilst Sadie raised her hands in defence. "I didn't mean for that! I swear!"
With a slight grunt, Jordan crossed her arms. "Whatever, fine. Go on, I'll take a… truth, I guess."
All eyes were on the onesie-clad girl as she thought of a question to ask, then hesitated to ask it. "Well… why do you think Lincoln's the cutest?" She received a look from the girl she had asked, as if to say "seriously", but Sadie didn't change her mind. "Just one thing, that's all. What is it about Lincoln that you find cute?"
Jordan was resisting the urge to fume at her friends. She had agreed to the game, and she knew that if she didn't answer now, she'd get asked by them at some other time. With a sigh, she answered them. "His smile. It's… infectious." Even as she said this, she couldn't help but smile in spite of what she was being made to do. "He has one of those smiles that can always cheer me up." She didn't hear anything for a few seconds, and when she looked up, she saw that her friends were resisting the urge to gush. "Alright, you got what you wanted. Kat, it's your turn."
"Okay, fine." She took the pen and spun it, her friend silently hoping that it wouldn't land on her again, and eventually the pen landed on Stella again. "Your turn, new girl. Truth or dare?"
"I'll take a dare."
The raven haired girl thought for a few seconds, trying to think of a good dare, then whispered something to Mollie, who vigorously nodded her approval. Kat returned her sights to Stella. "Here's your dare. You have to call Lincoln, and ask him if there's anyone he has a crush on."
"What?! I can't do that!"
"Stella's right, that's too far, Kat," Jordan scolded. "We agreed that everything would be kept in here."
"So? We're not leaving, we're just calling someone! Besides, aren't you curious?"
"It's not my place to know that! I-" She struggled to find the words she wanted to say, her frustrations getting the better of her. "You know what? I'm gonna go grab some water, I'll be back."
Her friends tried to call her back, but Jordan went straight out of her bedroom and downstairs, where she quickly found herself in the kitchen. She grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it up at the sink, turning the water off before it overflowed. As she drank down some of the water, she sighed out of frustration. 'So much for a fun night,' she thought to herself.
"Jordan?" Turning around, she saw that Stella near the doorway, walking towards her. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just… the game kind of stopped being fun."
"I saw. Sorry about that."
This confused the Rosato girl. "Why are you sorry?"
"If I hadn't suggested we do it the way I did, this wouldn't have happened."
She couldn't help but smile at the apology. "Stella, you're too nice, you know that? It's not your fault things happened like that, and I'm pretty sure my friends would've asked those questions anyway." She looked away as she then added, "wouldn't be the first time."
Stella noticed the inflection in her voice as she said this. "Jordan, you don't have to answer this, but… do you… have a crush on Lincoln?"
Jordan looked back at the girl, who was basically her newest friend, and considered whether or not to answer her. She took another drink as she thought, then answered. "I might have a… tiny crush on him. Not big enough that I would consider asking him out, but… big enough that I always look forward to hanging out with him. He's become a good friend of mine. I wouldn't want to ruin that." She left it at that for a moment, before looking at the Filipina. "You won't, uh… Y'know…"
Stella smiled, doing a zipping motion with her hand over her lips. "Your secret's safe with me."
"Thanks, Stella." She gave her a hug which she returned in kind, both appreciative for the little talk they had, when Jordan noticed Mollie standing nervously by the door. "Mollie? Were you listening?"
"Not… intentionally."
Stella and Jordan released the hug, turning to face the sudden arrival. "So, how much did you hear?"
"Oh, you know, just… everything from Stella asking if you had a crush on Lincoln." She saw her friend roll her eyes, so she quickly added, "don't worry, we won't tell anyone."
She realised her mistake when she heard complaining behind her, making her step aside to reveal that the others were with her. Joy quickly stepped forward before things could get worse. "We weren't here to spy on you, I swear. We just came to apologise."
"Yeah, we didn't mean to take it that far," Kat told her friend. "We just got… excited, you know?"
"Still, we shouldn't have pushed it that far," Sadie acknowledged. "We're really sorry, you two."
The others all said that they were sorry as well, to which the hostess smiled. "Guys, it's fine," she assured them. "I should've known you would ask that stuff, and I know you wouldn't ask if you didn't care."
"So… you forgive us?" After a quick look to Stella, Jordan nodded, making Joy and the others sigh in relief. "Thanks, girl. So, shall we do something instead of truth or dare? I think we've all had enough of that."
"Sure. You guys head back up, I'll join you in a second." They nodded to her and left her be, and as she finished off her drink, she couldn't help but think, 'looks like tonight was alright, after all.'
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder