Make My Way

Chapter Fifty-Three

Stella's POV

Merrick's dad and step-mom greeted us at the door. I had never really met them before but they were super nice. The gave us food and we went downstairs. Everyone talked for a while and got comfortable. I claimed a couch and laid down, wrapping myself in Merrick's old dinosaur comforter. When we started, Easton was on the recliner next to and Xavier couldn't seem to sit still and was alternating between sitting on the recliner next to Easton and an excercize ball in the middle of the room. Past him and across from me was Everly, Laine, and Merrick on the other couch. The third recliner, next to Xavier's, was taken by Aria. Aurora made me move my legs a little bit so she would have somewhere to sit. Blake hadn't been able to come to Merrick's for Aurora, sadly.

We started the game off pretty mildly with a few truths. I asked Aria who she would pick to go out with in our school if she had to choose one person. Somehow, I never knew how, she avoided the question completely. She started talking about how she wasn't really sure and then got us all off topic before moving on to ask her question. I realized that she never answered right as she was asking her question and it was already too late.

"Xavier, truth or dare?" she asked. This year, she had kinda become know as a threat. She could come up with dares that could make people run and hide and she knew enough about everyone to think of a truth question that they wouldn't want to answer but would be very interesting if they did.

"Truth," Xavier replied after a little thought.

"If you had to go all the way with one of the girls in the room, who would it be?" I saw him sit back in his chair and look up at the ceiling. I could tell he was doing a mental scan of the room and thinking about all the girls. A few other people got bored waiting for him and started up a side conversation. He tried to do the thing Aria always does and join in, getting off the topic but she was too smart to be caught by her own trap. "So, Xavier? Your answer?"

His face went slightly red and he put it in his hands. He rubbed his face and crossed his legs. When he finally looked up he took a deep breath and said, "Aria." I wasn't really surprised, I mean, he had asked her to prom and that had surprised me but now, not so much. When he asked her to prom I have got to say, I wasn't expecting that. I had never even thought about them together. Even when they kissed in Deadwood, that had seemed different. They were both really flirty most of the time and I figured it was just one of those things.

Aria used to always say he was like her brother. He would say the same thing about her being his sister. That left me wondering, had that changed or were they still just going to prom as friends. Maybe pretending to be a married couple for a few weeks had sparked something? I figured I'd find out sooner or later.

"Merrick, truth or dare?" Xavier asked.

"Dare," Merrick responded without hesitation.

"Go make Laine a sandwich."

Merrick was pretty much the king of sexist jokes. Well, more like dictator. He would always tell Aura in their Spanish class to go make him a sandwich. Now, it was coming back to haunt him. He stood up and disappeared up the stairs and into the kitchen. When he came back down, he was holding a sandwich that looked like it had come off of a restaurant advertisement. Unfortunately, this led into a very heated discussion about mayo, miracle whip, and butter and which of these belonged on a sandwich. Laine ate a few bites but she didn't really like the meat or anything. When we finally got back to the game, Merrick asked, "Aura, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to lick Easton's foot," he told her and look of pure disgust crossed her face as she pulled off her tights.

Aura turned to Easton. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Who do you have a crush on?" Wow Aura. That's the best you can do?

"Everly. Xavier truth or dare?" he said, trying to talk fast and his words running together.

"Well I did truth last time so dare," Xavier decided.

"I dare you to lay on Aria's chair with her." This was still pretty mild but now we were getting somewhere. Xavier stood up and Aria scooted over. She was on the smallest chair in the room. They moved around for a while until they finally got their hips to fit in the chair at the same time without being on to if each other. Aria's front was to Xavier's back so it wasn't as awkward as it could have been. Then, another side conversation started between Merrick, Everly, and Laine. I didn't join in until they found some of Merrick's niece's toy balls and started throwing them at each other. Little blue balls were flying across the room and at least ten minutes must have past before we calmed down. Aria, Xavier, and Easton had been the only ones not to join in. Easton was playing some game on his phone and Aria had her head on Xavier's shoulder and they seemed to be snapchatting people. He turned his head so that he was facing her and their mouths were only inches away. For a minute, I thought they were going to kiss but he just said something that made her laugh. They adjusted themselves and got more comfortable before posing for a picture. The others were still talking and I didn't feel like trying to start up the game again, I was too tired for that. Aria whispered something into Xavier's ear. He smiled and whispered something back. I still wasn't sure what was going on....