50 - Never Have I Ever

"Ugh, what are we doing here?" Hanna's whining was barely audible over the sound of chatter coming all around them from the people gathered in the long school hallway leading to the pool.

Their little group looked funny to outside observers; Spencer and Aria were still on cloud nine from their time with their boyfriends earlier that day, on Friday morning. Hanna wore a sour face, which nobody really understood the reason for. Ali knew it wasn't because of Caleb, she had spoken to him earlier and he hadn't mentioned a certain fight with Hanna or a reason why she would feel disgruntled.

Alison was a body of nerves, and the people around her found it to be unusual for the sharp and unfazed Queen Bee, so much that they didn't really know how to react. Should they move out of the way, make room for the girl to pass without interruptions? Or should they, dare they ask, come to her and question was what the reason for her sudden apprehensiveness? Nobody chose the latter, of course, afraid for their fate, and all students simply split apart fast enough for the group to maneuver through the hall.

Aria, still mentally high on her part, turned to Hanna, "Han, what are talking about? You used to love coming to Emily's meets last year." The small brunette's tone was cheerful as always with a side of hurt in the count of Emily, who wasn't there at the moment.

Hanna folded her arms in a hostile manner, "Well, yeah, but at that final meet last year, some jerks laughed at me because I didn't know when to cheer or clap. You were there, you remember."

Alison's face dawned in guilt, knowing fully that she wasn't present at that meet. Or any prior meet, for that matter. Whenever Emily used to invite her in the past, she would turn her down in favor of something else, something "better". She had hated seeing Emily's crestfallen face those times she had nonchalantly turned her down, and deep inside she had wanted to come desperately, but at that time she had thought it would do bad for her image, being in those meets where none of the people in the popular crowd spent their time, getting absolutely nothing out of it. After a while, Emily had begrudgingly stopped trying to invite her along, but Alison never forgot about it, silently following along with the scores that The Sharks acquired, and individually, the achievements Emily had obtained.

Aria nudged Hanna's side with a bright smile, opening the blonde's crossed arms and looping her own with Hanna's. "You don't need to worry about that anymore, Han. We've got your back," she said optimistically. Hanna looked over at her shorter friend, feeling her spirit being lifted by Aria's contagious energies.

Spencer's eyes moved from Aria and Hanna to the blonde by her side. She felt her smile falter at the sight of Alison's clutching and un-clutching hands. "Ali," she called and Alison's strained eyes lifted from the floor for the first time, startled. "Are you okay?" Spencer asked concernedly.

Alison sighed, wondering if the thoughts swirling in her head were that obvious or if Spencer just knew how to read her too well nowadays. She shrugged meekly, "I just, I've never been to this kind of thing before, Spence. I feel bad about it. I know how Em always wanted me to come."

Aria turned to the blonde standing in the middle, now listening intently, "Why didn't you? Come with us, I mean."

"I figured the only people who came to a High School swimming competition on a Friday night were old, grumpy losers."

"Or parents," Hanna offered.

"Exactly. Do I look like some mini-van riding soccer mom to you?" Alison commented dryly, hoisting the cardboard under her arm a little higher.

The girls laughed collectively at her remark, shaking their heads as they continued to walk down the hallway that seemed to never end. "Well, now the team anchor and assistant coach is your girlfriend, so you'll have to suck it up," Spencer smiled teasingly.

"Yeah, I expect you to be the loudest in the crowd out there, Ali," Hanna playfully said, giving a small wave and a smile to Lucas as he passed by.

"I could say the same thing for you, Han," Alison chuckled despite herself, referring to Hanna's bubbly personality and quite loud nature.

Hanna frowned in question, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," Alison giggled along with a snickering Aria and Spencer as the four girls finally poured into the pool area, making a beeline toward the bleachers.

The blonde looked around, wiping her unusually clammy hands on her skinny jean-clad thighs. She didn't even know why she was so nervous, or why the butterflies in her stomach seemed to have gathered up more than usual for this particular day, but she just knew it had something to do with Emily being the anchor and that day being her first time in one of the brunette's meets.

She was afraid to be like Hanna at Emily's last year's meet, not knowing when to cheer at the right time and embarrassing herself. She really didn't know that much about competitive swimming in general. Not a lot of people knew it, but public humiliation had a high spot in the list of Alison's worst fears. She was simply anxious, and the fact that Emily would be in minimal clothing didn't really help her agitation. On top of that, she was nervous for Emily's sake. It would be her first meet as anchor and assistant coach all at once, a lot of responsibility had been placed on her shoulders.

Her eyes searched for said brunette in the unorganized bundle of people, but she came up short, sulking to herself. They took a seat right in the middle of the bleachers for a better view, and were not-all-that surprised when nobody had to move for them to sit there. It was as if that free space on the metal benches was reserved for them, for Rosewood High's top clique. As if they were at the Oscars, and not at a swim meet.

As soon as Alison sat down, she placed the blue cardboard sign on the floor and scolded Aria, who sat next to her, to not step on it or accidentally break the banner she had spent over an hour making. Aria only chuckled, moving her legs a little away from the sign on the floor and lifting her hands up in defense.

It was fifteen minutes until the meet actually began when Alison finally caught sight of dark hair and tanned skin. Emily. The girl had just exited the locker rooms and stepped into the pool area, her Sharks tracksuit on, goggles and swim cap at hand. Alison wasn't surprised when she saw that the brunette had her earphones plugged in - Emily had told her once how it helped calm her nerves before meets or important tests. At the moment, the swimmer simply looked nervous, if her shaky hands that were visible from afar or the fact that she was worrying her lip was any of an indication.

Hanna seemed to notice Emily's entrance too, as she clapped excitedly and shouted, "Go Emily!"

Aria turned to her sternly, "She's not swimming yet." Spencer merely snickered to herself.

As if she could read Alison's mind, Emily's gaze averted over to the bleachers and she scanned the people, quickly finding her favorite blue eyes. The brunette smiled at her, waving shyly. Alison returned the favor, gesturing for Emily to come. Emily tucked her earphones and phone into her pocket and approached the group, but was called aside by a fellow teammate on the way. She turned around to the girl who called her, and Alison's eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on the intruder.

"Sydney," she muttered bitterly.

Alison was well aware of Sydney's existence, as she had seen Emily talk to her a dozen times before. She wasn't sure what was the girl's deal with Jenna, if she was into her or if she was simply doing her handywork, but the fact that she was even close friends with the gnarly girl, made Alison suspect her. And the blonde didn't like to have to create conspiracies in her head, she liked cold, hard facts. Was Jenna's weird friend into Emily? She was about to find out.

The three best friends were discussing their latest homework from Mr. Fitz when Alison couldn't stop her impulses and got up, walking towards Emily and ignoring Hanna's question as to where she was going.

The blonde approached Emily from behind, quickly clamming her hands over the brunette's eyes and blocking her sight. She ignored Sydney's surprised expression as she spoke in a playful tone, "Guess who?"

Emily instantly recognized Alison by the intoxicating scent of her vanilla perfume. Even with all the chlorine around, she could still smell her girlfriend's divine aroma from a mile away. "Ali," she breathed out with a smile. Alison freed her hands from their position and Emily turned to face the girl, smiling timidly, "You're here."

"I'm here," Alison confirmed, grinning softly. She gazed into Emily's brown orbs for a few moments, trying to read if her presence made Emily more nervous, or the opposite, calmer. Her line of thought was rudely interrupted by Sydney's throat clearing.

When Emily didn't immediately break eye contact with Alison, Sydney tried again. She spoke obnoxiously loud, "You were saying, Emily?"

Emily turned to her this time, her cheeks filling with red as she tried to remember what it was that she was going to say to Sydney next. "I-I was just going to say good luck. I know how I was super nervous before my very first meet," she said in a peaceful tone and a supportive smile, knowing Sydney would need it.

Sydney nodded, "Good luck to you, too, Em."

Alison grimaced slightly when Emily's nickname escaped from Sydney's lips. She seriously hated when people gave themselves the right to call Emily that. Emily caught Alison's expression, and smirked to herself mentally at how proprietorial her girlfriend seemed to be. It amazed her how the blonde got jealous over the smallest things, things like her nickname, things that she probably wouldn't think twice about in her own mind.

Emily's inner timer told her she didn't have much time until the meet began. Her eyes switched a few times between Alison and Sydney, and she bit her lip, turning to the other brunette. "Sydney?"

Sydney turned to her expectantly.

"Can you give us a moment?" Emily asked as politely as she could, nodding her head towards Alison to indicate she wanted to talk to her.

Sydney's eyes flickered to Alison, but as the blonde caught her gaze in a cold glare, she maneuvered her eyes immediately to the ground. Finally, she gave nod, but stayed at the same spot, as if expecting them to exchange a few words so she could get back to her chat with Emily.

Emily looked at Alison helplessly. The blonde rolled her eyes hard at Sydney, before looking past Emily at the other girl. "Alone," she sharply stressed to the girl, her harsh tone causing Sydney to nearly jump.

Sydney lifted her eyes and risked a small smile at Emily as a goodbye, knowing she wouldn't be able to hug the brunette with her pitbull of a girlfriend around, and Emily returned the smile, trying to figure out if she was going to scold Alison tonight at the girls' sleepover for being rude to her teammate. Until then, she watched as Alison's eyes followed Sydney like a hawk all the way to where the coach was standing.

"Ali?" Emily's gentle voice broke Alison from her vindictive thoughts. The blonde averted her eyes to her girlfriend, her expression hastily softening once she noticed Emily grinning sweetly at her, giving her those shy, puppy eyes that could melt her on the spot.

Emily's lips parted in marvel as Alison's wrapped her arms snuggly around her neck. It wasn't that physical contact from Alison was new, in fact, the blonde could be a very cuddly person when she wanted to be and certainly with Emily, but the brunette could almost feel every person's eyes in the bleachers on the two of them, and her cheeks tinted that same familiar shade at being under the mental spotlight.

She merely let out a small, nervous chuckle, not daring to move her eyes from Alison's as she gulped and let her hands find their familiar spot on the blonde's hips. Before she could ask or say anything, Alison leaned up and captured Emily's lips softly, letting her lips convey her excitement for the brunette and her wishes of luck.

Alison parted from her after a few moments, knowing as well as Emily that the brunette needed the last few minutes to prepare for her turn to swim. Besides, she didn't the girl to have a heart attack. She smiled calmly, as opposed to what she had felt merely a minute ago when she was staring down Sydney, and leaned her forehead on Emily's, knowing the brunette loved it when they had intimacy in their own little world.

"Good luck, mermaid. Make me proud," she spoke softly, then gave Emily one more chaste kiss before letting go against her will. She walked back towards the bleachers, turning her head back to find Emily still very much staring at her in an awe-filled gaze. She winked victoriously, believing fully that her girlfriend was going to win this tournament for her team.

Emily blushed cutely, then finally broke her stare, going over to the other side of the pool and preparing along with the rest of the girls on her team. She looked over one more time, giving giddy waves to Hanna, Spencer and Aria, which they happily returned. Some more enthusiastically than others, like Hanna, the swimmer mused.

In the meantime, Alison re-conquered her seat on the metal bench next to Aria. She noticed the three girls' gazes on her. "What?" she asked, only half-irritated.

"Nothing, you just gave everyone here quite a show." Spencer chuckled.

Aria and Hanna agreed by nodding, and the bubbly even showed her enthusiasm by fanning herself with her hand playfully. Alison laughed in good nature, reaching out behind Aria's back to smack the girl on her shoulder. Hanna avoided the hit cleverly, laughing along with the other girls at the faux-glare Alison was giving her.

Their attention was averted at once to the pool as soon as the whistle that marked the beginning of the meet was sounded. Emily's turn as anchor was last, which pretty much concluded how much Alison knew about swimming, so she pulled out the sign she made and held it up, aware that she had some measured time before Emily was in the pool.

Emily's eyes were drawn to something blue in the corner of her eye, and she turned to see Alison holding up a sign that declared, My Mermaid Always Wins in big letters. It seemed so glowing, she wondered if they could see it from outer space. She couldn't help but laugh, plainly because Alison was the most embarrassing yet exquisite and thoughtful girlfriend she could ever ask for. Her smile mirrored on Ali's face as the blonde blew her a kiss from the stands and Emily simply knew she could win this race if Ali believed in her that much.

When it was Emily's turn to swim, the four girls were on their feet along with the rest of the room, cheering loudly since she was the last leg of the competition. The brunette prepared herself on the diving board and then dived in, in one swift and accurate motion, one clean movement. At this moment, time seemed to pause on Alison's part as she held her breath. By the time Emily was slicing expertly through the water, Alison was gripping Aria's hand anxiously and the small brunette watched her from the corner of her eye in amusement. The girls had never seen Alison so agitated, nevermind for the sake of someone else. It was nice to see their blonde friend so... human, for once.

The brunette was ahead of the other swimmers in the lanes beside her, and was moving at a particulary fast pace. One of her favorite ways to swim was freestyle, which was the stoke they were competing in today, so she hoped her technique was perfect as well as her timing. Every time she lifted her head to breathe for a moment, it was like she could hear Alison shouting her name, or at least she thought she did, and that kept her going.

She touched the wall of the pool and briskly turned around, swimming back to the side where she came from, where coach Fulton and every single one of her teammates were on their feet, waiting anxiously for her arrival. Everyone was already acclaiming very loudly as Emily neared the end of her lap.

When she finished, the first thing she did was raise her head out of the water and take a much needed deep breath. Her chest heaved wildly as she listened to the intense cheering around her. For a second, as she exited the pool, she didn't understand what was going on, but then her teammates effectively tackled her, making her realize she had won the race for them. She smiled hugely in relief, and the coach patted her proudly on the back and congratulated her, certainly glad she had made the girl her anchor.

Emily was happier than ever when she saw a familiar blonde approaching her with a jump in her step, her three best friends happily in tow. The brunette took off her swim cap and goggles, allowing her wet hair to fall neatly on her shoulders. Alison was eagerly approaching towards her, dropping the sign to her feet when she was close enough to Emily. She wrapped her arms securely around Emily's taller form, practically jumping on the girl and pulling her flush against her, not caring one bit about the fact that she was completely wet.

Emily's arms wrapped around the blonde's waist, lifting her in the air a bit with an expression of joy and then setting her back down on the ground. Alison cupped her cheeks enthusiastically, looking straight into her eyes, "You did it, Em! You totally kicked ass out there!"

Emily giggled dizzily, receiving a loving kiss on her cheek from Alison. Next thing she knew, she was being hoisted into her friends' arms, squeezed powerfully into a tight hug. She whole-heartedly reciprocated her best friends' pride and love, and was even happier when her parents popped up and hugged her fiercely.

Alison suddenly felt slightly guilty for not knowing the brunette's parents had been there the whole time. She could've invited Pam and Wayne to sit with her and their group. But when the two loving parents greeted her cheerfully, she knew they didn't mind.

They all discussed plans for the evening, and Emily felt like her face was going to split in half from all the amount of smiling going on. She let her arm linger around Alison's shoulder, pulling the girl closer, and the two fit like two puzzle pieces as they all exited the place together.

XXXXX

It was late at night in Spencer's barn, close to 1 AM. The girls had spread out their sleeping bags on the floor and were currently sitting on top of them around a rustic, wooden, low coffee table. A few candles were scattered around the place, Aria was holding a small flashlight, but there weren't any other sources of light, and the girls preferred the dim lighting.

Alison passed the red plastic cup over the table to Aria. "Drink up!" she urged with an easy-going smile.

Spencer had stolen some booze from her father's not-so-hidden stash in his study, and was currently quite tipsy herself, as well as the other girls. Hanna had also gotten some girly, pink drinks from her mother's cabinet, claiming that they tasted the best.

Aria took a generous sip, her ears catching the sound of a rumble of thunder as she grimaced at the vodka's blunt taste. The liquid burned in her throat and she placed the cup down on table, giving the girls a dizzy smile.

"You know what we should do?" Aria asked, her voice coming out extremely mixed with all the alcohol in her blood. "We should go back to the Busy Bee Inn. I heard they have a new brunch menu, and it's awesome."

Hanna's blue eyes pleasantly lit up, "Can we please do that?!"

Alison giggled, turning to Emily, "Hey, Em, remember when we made out all the way there on the bus and Spencer got mad?"

"I remember that," Spencer bitterly muttered under her breath.

Hanna only hid her sassy smirk behind her blue plastic cup as she took another sip.

The sound of another thunder invaded the air in the background of their chatter and Emily guessed that the storm they said was approaching on the news was finally starting to hit.

"Okay, okay," Spencer started, her voice slurred. "Em," she turned to the other brunette, "as the two seniors in the room, I say we choose the next game."

"Hey! That's dictatorship!" Hanna pointed out heatedly.

"Wow, Hanna," Aria turned to her, impressed. "That's a really proper use of the word."

Hanna smirked, filling with self-pride.

"That is unfair, Spence," Alison agreed with the other blonde, sharing a consenting glance with her. The alcohol affected Alison a lot less than the other girls, especially in contrast to Emily, who was a total lightweight when it came to booze. The blonde's body was already adjusted to this level of alcohol, and she wasn't sure if that should be taken as a good or bad thing.

Spencer, already buzzed rather dramatically, declared, "Well, Em won the meet today and it's my house, so I say it's pretty fair."

Alison looked between the two of them, noticing Emily smile a little at the mention of her victory. Who was she to do or say anything that would deny the swimmer of smiling some more? "Fine," she grumbled in fake annoyance.

Spencer looked pleased with herself, making a remote expression as she thought of options for games. Emily silently thought of suggestions, too. Spencer's eyes sparked up in mischief, a look she didn't usually wear while sober. "Ooh, how about Never Have I Ever?"

"You know what?" Aria started in a decisive tone, "I'm pro Spencer's ideas." She smiled lazily at the witty brunette by her side, "It brought us to that karaoke club in the first place, and we won the trip to Paris and met our boyfriends because of it."

Emily nodded, "You're right." She placed a hand on Spencer's shoulder, "Spence -" she hiccuped, "Spence has a good sense of judgment." Emily then giggled a bit and took another sip from her cup. Alison smiled softly at the adorable girl, letting her eyes linger on Emily's mesmerizing smile.

Hanna grinned, raising her cup in the air and accidentally spilling some of its contents in the process. "Never Have I Ever it is."

The sudden sound of a beep was heard, coming from Alison's handbag behind her.

Emily perked up, "Ali! Your phone is beeping!"

Alison laughed wholeheartedly, getting up to grab her phone, "I got it, Mermaid. Thanks for the heads up."

Emily smiled giddily, giving her two thumbs up. Alison rolled her eyes playfully, musing about how Emily didn't follow up on her statement that she didn't like drinking and that she probably wouldn't do it anymore. Maybe Emily meant that she wouldn't drink at school parties with random kids, but drinking around her best friends was okay. Either way, Alison preferred Emily getting drunk in Spencer's barn with them rather than in Noel's cabin with kids from their school, or even worse, some guy that was into her.

She reached for her phone, opening her text.

Jason: So what happened with Emily's meet? Did she win?

Alison gently grinned down at her phone, savoring Jason's concern about her own life and about Emily's. She typed out her response.

Ali: She did. Not that that's a surprise, she's such an amazing swimmer. We're @ Spencer's barn rn.

Her phone dinged with a few new texts not more than a couple moments later;

Jason: Way to go! Give her a hug 4 me

Jason: By hug I mean hug, Ali. Not any more than that

Jason: great, now I'm just putting ideas into ur head.

Alison giggled to herself at Jason's texts, shaking her head at his goofiness. She glanced back at Emily, watching as her girlfriend took Hanna's cup from her, holding it away playfully as the blonde tried to reach across the table and grab it back.

"Em!" Hanna whined restlessly. "Give it back!"

Emily only giggled carelessly, holding it further away from Hanna and sticking her tongue out childishly at her. Alison turned back to the phone in her hand.

Ali: Don't worry, I'll give her a hug in your name

Ali: And maybe something more...😏

Ali: Good luck going to sleep with the thought of that in you head 😈

Alison laughed sinisterly, inserting the phone back into her bag. She reclaimed her place on the floor, around the table. Emily had finally given the cup back to Hanna, who was gulping away happily. As soon as Alison got comfortable, Emily wrapped her arm protectively around her, pulling her into her body. Alison followed along, closing her eyes contently as Emily kissed the top of her head. Somewhat sloppily, but Alison didn't mind.

Hanna finished her cup, setting it down on the table with a thud. "Okay," she declared, "now we can finally start playing."

Aria looked around, fetching a mostly full bottle of a sangria flavored wine cooler that no doubt had been contributed by Hanna. She filled her cup, then turned to Spencer, spilling the rest into hers and finishing the bottle. Hanna did the same with hers and Emily's, and Alison's was already almost full, so they were set to begin.

"Who wants to start?" Alison asked, eyeing the girls around the table.

Each girl thought carefully about a way to commence the game, thinking about something they'd never done before. Nobody said anything for several moments, then Spencer quipped up.

"Never have I ever," Spencer said, looking at each girl in the eye over-dramatically, "been trapped in an elevator."

Emily was the only one who raised her cup to her lips. They turned to watch her expectantly. She sighed, explaining, "When I was little, my dad and I went to the hospital once to get some of his paperwork for the military done, and the elevator got stuck on our way down when only the two of us were on it."

"Well," Hanna smirked, "did soldier Fields rescue little Em?"

Emily chuckled, "Yeah, he pushed me up the shaft then climbed himself. By the time we were out, the firefighters nearly begged him to join the force. They said they needed more people like him."

Alison grinned softly at the thought of Wayne rescuing a mini Emily out of the elevator. Something told her they hadn't told Pam about that little incident, because, well, Pam actually allowed Emily to ride more elevators in her life. They all knew how high-strung the woman could get.

"I got one!" Everyone's attention turned to the petite brunette. "Never have I ever broken a bone."

Alison, Emily and Hanna took sips, and Spencer eyed them curiously. "Wait, Em's an athlete since before she could walk so breaking a bone isn't so out of the norm, and Hanna's clumsy-"

"Hey!" Hanna interfered indigenously.

"Do you prefer accident prone?" Spencer challenged, raising her eyebrow. Hanna simply sulked and huffed, knowing the witty brunette had a point. She did sometimes have the tendency of being a klutz. "When did you break a bone, Ali?"

"I was around three maybe," Alison told truthfully. She pointed to her right elbow, "My elbow, this part of my arm, I once broke it and it never completely healed."

"I broke my wrist once," Emily commented thoughtfully.

"And I've broken two of my fingers." Hanna exclaimed, catching their drift.

They looked at each other in amusement, Aria stating, "So, together you've practically broken a whole arm?"

They nodded in unison, the alcohol making them hazily overthink things.

"Woah," Spencer remarked, "maybe you were all the same person in a past life. A person with a broken arm."

"Okay, things just got creepy," Emily said, momentarily sober. "Moving on."

"Never have I ever," Hanna began, "been on the phone with someone for more than two hours. And that includes Caleb."

Alison and Emily shared a guilty look before taking a sip.

"What?" Spencer screeched. "Your phone bills must be huge!"

"Hey, it's not my fault Em's fun to talk to, okay?" Alison defended playfully, letting her head fall on the brunette's shoulder. She inhaled subtly, closing her eyes and sighing peacefully at the sensational combination of chlorine and Emily's new coconut shampoo. She knew she had done right by recommending it to Pam when they had all met up for coffee at the Fields' home a while ago.

"Never have I ever finished a whole novel in one day," Emily murmured, feeling the alcohol really sinking in this time.

Spencer and Aria smiled at each other and took their sips. Moments later, Alison took her own sip.

"Really?" Hanna asked, shocked. "Ali, I didn't know you were a book worm!"

"Depends on which book," Alison shrugged, unaffected by the adjective that would've gotten the old her to angrily snap at Hanna. "I finished Lolita in a day."

"Oh, I love that book," Spencer beamed, glad to have someone with the same taste in literature. Alison grinned at her in response. They really did have even more in common than they had thought.

"Never have I ever shot a gun," Alison pointed out.

Emily slowly raised her cup, knowing that it wouldn't take much more for her to lose the game once her cup grew empty. Alison bit her lip, thinking about how absolutely hot Emily would look shooting a gun.

"I bet you look so good doing that," Alison turned to her, winking.

"I was actually thinking about going down to the shooting range on Sunday. I can finally go alone, now that I'm sixteen, instead of my dad taking me," Emily started enthusiastically. She cleared her throat shyly, "Would you want to come too?"

Alison placed her hand on Emily's, the one that wasn't resting around the blonde's shoulders. "Count me in," she smiled reassuringly at her girlfriend.

Emily nodded, smiling genially to herself.

They watched in amazement as Aria took a gulp, obviously trying to do it discreetly while the attention was turned on Emily and Alison, but she failed miserably.

"Care to explain, little miss Aria?" Hanna snickered, wide-eyed. It was hard for her to picture her shortest friend holding a gun, not to mention shooting it.

"Relax, I just went to some hunting trips with my dad and Mike. My dad said it might come in handy one day," Aria explained.

"He might be right, you know," Emily pointed out. "You never know when you're gonna need to protect yourself in real-time."

"Please," Hanna dismissed. "We live in Rosewood. To think how many people have died or disappeared in here."

The girls shrugged nonchalantly, agreeing with her.

"Besides, I don't need to protect myself. I've got a Caleb for that," Hanna smirked.

After a few more rounds, they couldn't come up with any more questions as their heads began to spin. Alison begrudgingly looked up questions for Never Have I Ever online. She stumbled upon a website that randomly quipped up questions for players. She placed her phone in the middle of the circle, then tapped a few times on her screen. Then, the phone showed, "Never Have I Ever Kissed a Person of the Same Sex."

Emily and Alison smirked at each other, clinking their cups proudly and practically gulping down their drinks.

A few seconds passed before, much to everyone's dismay, Hanna took a generous sip.

"Wait, what?!" Emily blurted, her eyes widening. Her best friend had never told her this.

"I have a lot of good memories from fat camp in 8th grade," Hanna grinned mischeviously.

The girls laughed together in disbelief. Emily and Hanna fell into a conversation regarding the identity of the girl Hanna had kissed and how it was. Emily would have probably never been this forward to ask had she been sober.

Alison noticed Spencer and Aria uncomfortably stealing split-second glances at one another even though they didn't take a sip. She had trouble understanding what was going on through their heads. She wondered if there was something those two weren't telling them. Spencer and Aria... Sparia. It's catchy, she mused, fighting a smirk.