Voices • Jack Avery

4 • The Grove

Third Person Point of View

As Alex made her way to The Grove, she grew more and more nervous. She wasn't sure why, but she had a constant fear that the guys wouldn't like her or that they would somehow end up hating her.

She really hoped that wouldn't be the case; she really wanted to get to know them. She arrived a little early, with Jackson and London in tow, and they sat at beside the fountain as they waited.

While Alex was a bag of nerves, Jackson was practically bouncing in his seat with excitement. He was happy that he would finally have more guy friends since he was in a band with two girls. Meanwhile, London didn't seem to care either way.

Before long, laughter filled Alex's ears. She turned her head to see five familiar boys walking towards them, all laughing at something one of them had said. She smiled weakly, still slightly nervous.

"Hey guys" Jonah said as they reached the group. A chorus of greetings followed before they all sat around the fountain - some sitting on the floor to create a circle, not caring about the dirt getting on their clothes.

Alex ended up sitting next to Jack again. He offered her a warm smile which she attempted to return, although she was certain she had failed. At least they all seemed to genuinely care - they could've only shown up because they were contractually obligated to do what management said.

"Okay, since we have to be friends, I say we get to know each other" Zach announced, a slight smirk on his face. Alex frowned in suspicion at the boy sitting in front of her. He clearly had something planned. "How do you suggest we do that?" she asked, cautiously.

Zach's smirk only seemed to grow at her question. "We play Never Have I Ever" he stated proudly. Alex nearly began to choke on her own saliva when she heard this. It was one in the afternoon and he wanted to play a drinking game?  None of them were even legally allowed to drink.

"Dude, we can't play a drinking game" Jack said from beside Alex, seemingly thinking the same thing as her. Everyone continued to look at Zach as if he had completely lost his mind. "Obviously. We can use these instead" he said, rolling his eyes while taking out a packet of skittles.

Alex breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful that he wasn't trying to turn them all into alcoholics. "Okay but if we do, we need to make it interesting" Daniel stated. He was right. The best part about Never Have I Ever was seeing people get drunk out of their minds.

"The person who eats the most skittles has to run through the fountain" Jackson stated while smirking. He caught Alex's eye as he said this, knowing that she was always the person that would take the most shots while playing. Alex sent him a glare while everyone else seemed to agree.

"Never have I ever shoplifted something over five dollars" Jonah began, looking around the circle. Alex instantly groaned, leaning forward and taking a skittle. This was already off to a bad start. The only other person to take one was London.

Jackson instantly started to laugh, clearly recalling the story, and the others just looked at them in confusion and shock. "London and I were drunk one night and decided it'd be fun to steal a massive teddy bear" Alex began, clearly seeing that they wanted to know the story.

"It was bigger than Alex" London cut in, smirking at the memory. "That's not exactly hard" Jackson taunted. He sent a playful grin to her which she returned with a glare. "It's not my fault I'm only five foot three. Anyway, we started running off with it. Long story short, the owner of the shop caught up with us and we speant the night in a cell" Alex rushed.