Strings | s.m (✔️)

Chapter Six

"You barely even said anything and yet I shook in my little green alligator snuggie!"
I was listening to April talk about how I "single-handedly roasted probably the hottest guy ever", as she put it. This conversation had gone on for a while, and although I barely even did anything, April was still making a riot about how "amazing" that was.

"April let's be real here. You and I both know I could have done way better that that." April is quick to defend her reasoning of why I was a queen at slaying, and I had to admit that my best friend could talk about practically anything and it would be the most interesting story you'd ever heard. That's why we're such good friends. Well, that and the fact that she had faked it to make it, just like me.

Suddenly, April stops talking, which is pretty strange because um, she's April. I start to call out her name, wondering if the line disconnected.

"Arabella. Marie. Stone. Get on Twitter at this very moment and look at Shawn's page. Like, now."

"If it's about his new songs, I've already heard them." (A/N OH MY LORD MEMORIES AND RUNNING LOW ARE NEW FAVORITES)

"Bella get yourself together and go on Twitter!" April ordered me, and I do as she says without a second of hesitation.

"Oh." Is all I'm able to shove out of my mouth. April doesn't seems pleased with my one syllable response.

"Oh? Oh?! Arabella Stone, may I remind you that this is Shawn Mendes. Who is super hot, pretty famous, and a freaking amazing singer! If you're not the slightest bit touched with how cute this is, I'm walking to your house right now and jumping you. Look at all these tweets!"

April was purely freaking out at the moment, her being the hopeless romantic she is. And it's not like Shawn threw pebbles at my window in the middle of the night, begging for forgiveness with a giant teddy bear in his arms. No. All he did was a few indirect tweets about me, saying how "he's sorry" and "we have history" and a bunch of other tweets that I've gotten from many boys before. I'm not a player, I swear, just this is a tactic of forgiveness I've seen a few more times than I've liked.

"Okay, it's cute." I lied, quick to change the topic. "Hey, me, you, Skittles, and a game of truth or dare tonight?" I ask. These meet ups were practically a ritual between us, and a little Shawn drama wasn't going to change anything.

"And miss a chance to dare Ms.I-Never-Pass-Down-A-Dare? Yeah, I'll be there." I hear distant shouting, and a few seconds later April is back, saying she has to go.

"Alright, see you later!" I tell her, and hang up.

This was going to be one interesting night.

-

"Oh my God. I can't believe you actually did that!" I practically shriek at April in pure enjoyment. She had just finished calling her middle school crush and confessing her undying love for him. Yeah.

April only shrugs and looks at her perfectly painted nails, "I mean, it wasn't that hard. Okay, your turn. Truth or dare?" We had a rule whenever we would play truth or dare. You can't do two truths in a row. And since I had just finished telling April that I would rather jump over an angry chicken than a cobra, my only option was dare.

"Oh, this is going to be good." April tell me after I pick dare. I just smiled, knowing April never gave a dare I couldn't do. This would be easy, and I would get to torment April right after whatever sacrifice I was about to complete.

"I dare you to run around your tree and sing to 'Strings' at the top of your lungs." April whispers with a devious smirk on her face. Okay, so maybe a small problem.

"I would wake up the neighbors." I tell April, making up an excuse.

"Yeah, you're right. Because everyone is napping at eight pm. But okay, if you say so! I'll just text everyone that the Arabella Stone didn't take a dare. No biggie!" Sighing, my best friend grabs her phone as I start to see her fingers tapping. And April is a fast typer.

"You know what? You're right! I'll be outside,soseeyoulaterAprilbye!" I spit out quickly, then sprinting to grab my shoes and run out the door. That way when April comes out I'll be halfway done with the chorus and she'll think I actually sang it. Which, of course I didn't. But hey, who's looking?

"darling i want all the strings attached" I mumble, pacing around my tree.

When I see April's head peek through my curtains, I realize she isn't coming out. So I continue to mumble, but walk faster. April then swings the door open and tells me that if she can't hear me, I never did the dare. So I say the lyrics a little louder, and she knocks on the glass, pointing to her ear.

By the end of the chorus I'm practically shouting, then April rushes out.

"Bella honey! You're doing it all wrong!" She scowls, sounding and looking exactly like our dance teacher. Before I can react she rushes over, tells me to do stretches, then spending ten minutes outside with me teaching me how to properly sing and dance to 'Strings'. Let's just say April has a unique way of teaching.

"Can we get back to truth or dare?" I ask finally, my throat hurting from the intense yelling. April only giggles and before she opens her mouth she gasps, standing still and staring into space.

"April? Um, Ms.Baker? Hello?" I wave my hands in front of her face until she grabs my hands.

"Arabella Marie Stone, I promise I won't give you any more dares for the rest of the game if you complete this task for me." That was a deal I couldn't miss. I agreed until I realized it was too late to take back my words. I now noticed that my orange haired best friend was not staring into the stars, but instead the old treehouse in the Mendes's backyard.

"Climb in and sleep there for the night." She whispered, her eyes glistening under the moonlight. I wouldn't be afraid, I swear I wouldn't if the one problem wasn't present. The fact that no one had been in that treehouse for over nine years, and according to Aaliyah, it was pretty unstable.

I don't know what got into me. Maybe it was the fact I had just danced around a tree to the song of my practical enemy, or that April had never looked more alive that moment, but I found myself hopping their fence, and then standing at the ladder that would lead me to the small box I spent so much of my childhood in.

"If I die, don't come to my funeral." I whisper harshly to April, thinking that if I spoke any louder the whole tree would fall down. April only giggles and as I start climbing the very wobbly structure with a book bag on my back, I notice that my fellow friend wasn't howling words of encouragement. When I quickly turn to see if she'd bolted out of there, I noticed April was not beaming with excitement. Instead she almost looked worried.

I continue to climb the ladder until I reach the actual treehouse, and pull myself up to look at it. I notice all the pictures Shawn, April and I would draw, then hanging them on the wooden walls with tape. I start to feel myself smiling, right until I notice the shadowy figure a foot away from me. I scream as loud as humanly possible, and without thinking, let go of the walls my hands were so desperately clinging onto.

And as I scream louder than I ever have, April joins me.

-

A/N

OH MY GOD SO FIRST OFF YIKES I HAVENT UPDATED IN FOREVER UM SORRY AND SO YEAH CAN I START WITH HANDWRITTEN REVISTED BECAUSE OH MY GOD SHAWN IS TRYING TO K I L L ME

yeah this chapter is much more detailed than the others but I will be updating them so ummm yeah :)