Home for Christmas (12 page)

Khloe laughed. “I
almost
said that too. But
Sing
is still my favorite. Who wants to Host next?”

“You go,” I said to Clare. “You won a point.”

The group agreed with me. “Mine is, ‘Totes honestly, I dreamed about
blank
last night,' ” Clare said.

I scrawled down
Totes honestly, I dreamed about riding at the stable last night.

We handed our cards to Clare, who shuffled them and read each one.

“ ‘Totes honestly,' ” Clare said, reading the last card, “ ‘I dreamed about kissing a boy last night.' ”

Khloe giggled. “Ooh, I
hope
for your sake that's true!”

Clare blushed and shook her head.

Each of us answered
true
or
false.
I called out “False,” sticking to my answer.

“So, last night,” Clare said, “I totes honestly dreamed about kissing a boy.”

“Claaare Bryant!” Khloe said.

“Details, please!” Lexa said, laughing.

Brielle raised her mug. “To lucky Clare for dreaming about kissing last night.”

Clare's face almost matched the color of her curls. “Oh, I'm
so
going to regret telling you guys that!”

“We're not playing another round until you spill, Clare-bear,” Khloe said. “Who was he?”

Clare covered her face with her hands and groaned. “Garret.”

“Omigod! I knew it!” I said. “You totally like him!”

“Clare, good choice of boy to dream kiss,” Khloe said. She reached over to high-five her friend.

“Your dream guy is best friends with KK's boyfriend,” Lex said. “How perfect is that?”

We forgot all about points, and the game changed from Totes Honestly to Garret and Clare.

14

Sasha

MOM KEPT HER PROMISE—TWENTY
Minutes later I heard Dad snoring. Over the TV.

“I think we can all get a little closer now,” I said. “My dad's out.”

Heather smiled. There was that
look
in her eye. I knew it well—it meant she had an idea. Likely one that could get us in trouble, or cause someone to be embarrassed or need to spend time in therapy. Just a regular night with Heather Fox.

“Who wants to get a
lot
closer?” Heather asked.

Alison and I traded quick looks. As Heather's best friend, Alison knew what this could mean.

“What are you thinking?” Alison asked.

“I haven't played ‘Guilty Party' in forever,” Heather said. “You guys interested?”

“I know that game,” Jacob said. “It's really fun.”

The rest of us shook our heads. I trusted Jacob's endorsement. If he liked it, the game wasn't something that would get us put under house arrest for the rest of break.

“I haven't heard of it, but I'm game,” Brit said. “Explain away, please.”

“Each of us write a ‘crime' we've committed,” Heather said. “You can put down something lame like wearing stripes and polka dots at the same time out in public, but you're really playing the game when you write down something embarrassing or secret.”

I swallowed. This was going to get interesting. Fast.

“Don't let anyone see what you write down,” Heather continued. “But put your name on your paper. You'll hand them all to one person who's like the judge. The judge picks a card and chooses three people, one who
is
guilty, and asks them to convince the rest of us that he or she committed the crime.”

“So even if you
didn't
do it, you want everyone to think you did?” Brit asked.

“Yeah,” Heather said. “You want to be the best liar. Everyone but the judge gets to question the three suspects. After enough questions, they all write down their
guesses. The judge collects those and the suspects are dismissed. The same judge starts the process all over again until every crime has been read.”

“Then it's the really fun part,” Jacob said, grinning. “The judge tallies up who guessed the right suspect the most amount of times. That person is the best ‘lie detector.' ”

“You guys in?” Heather asked. “Obvi, Jacob is.”

Everyone nodded yes, and I grabbed pens and index cards from the kitchen.

“Who wants to be the judge?” Heather asked. “That person gets the free pass of not having to spill a crime.”

We all looked at each other. I didn't want to be the judge—whoever volunteered was obvi going to get teased for wimping out and not wanting to share a crime.

“Fine, I'll be the judge,” Eric said. “But to keep it fair, I'll tell you guys a crime I committed after everyone else has their turn.”

“Nice, Rodriguez,” Heather said, nodding. “Start writing down your crimes, people. And don't be ridic and write something dumb.”

I pulled my knees to my chest and put the card on my knee. I uncapped a pen and let it hover above the paper. If Heather wanted to play, I was going to play.

Brit, Alison, and I were the first three called up. We stood in front of the fireplace. Everyone else sat on the floor or the couch and faced us.

“You are each charged with a
very
serious crime,” Eric said. “The charges are, and I quote, ‘I spoke to someone I shouldn't have and didn't tell my friends.' ”

Not my card.

“Sasha, go ahead,” Eric said.

I took a step forward. “What I did was wrong, but not telling my friends about it was even worse. This person reached out to me, and I should have hung up. But I didn't. I've been keeping it a secret since.” I looked into each person's eyes. “I'm sorry. Please let me explain more when the game is over.”

I stepped back in line, keeping my face emotionless.

“Alison, you're up,” Eric said to her.

Alison confessed to the crime; then Brit took her turn. I listened carefully to each of them speak and watched their backs. When Alison spoke, I caught her digging her thumbnail into her palm. Either she was doing it on purpose to fake a guilty tell or
she
really had committed the crime.

The first three of us sat down and everyone wrote down their guesses.
Alison,
I scrawled.

The game continued, and no one had taken the easy way out and written anything silly. Eric had read crimes such as
I was in the headmistress's office because I'd cut English. She was all serious, and for some reason, I started laughing and couldn't stop!

Another one of my faves was
I dropped my toothbrush in the toilet and got it out. My phone rang and I forgot to wash my hands!

“Heather, Sasha, Callie,” Eric said. “You're up. Your crime is: ‘There are three words I want to tell someone but I haven't.' ”

I was glad for the darkness of the room. My face got hot and it felt as though everyone was looking at me, though they were really looking at all of the suspects.

Eric had just read my crime.

Heather and Callie both lied brilliantly. Or the parts I managed to tune into were good. I felt like I was alone, standing in front of my friends. My gaze was fixed on the bowl of gold pinecones Mom had on the end table. Eric knew the card was mine. I looked quickly at him, and his face showed no signs of shock, anger, or hurt.

“Sasha?” Eric asked. “You're up.”

I fumbled in my pocket and closed my fingers around a tube of Sugar Plum Fairy gloss. I applied it and gazed out at everyone.

“I—I,” I started. I looked at Jacob. His kind green eyes met mine. All of my nerves vanished.

“I committed this crime,” I said, starting again. “There is someone I love. I've felt that way for a while, but I've been too scared to tell that person. I was afraid he wouldn't feel the same way. Or that I'd turned into one of those crazy girls who said those words to a guy a week after dating. But I don't think I'm that girl.” I took a huge breath and stared into Jacob's eyes. “Jacob, I'm guilty. I truly committed this crime. I should have told you before. I love you.”

Immediately, he was on his feet. He reached me before I could even process what I'd just done. His hands were on the sides of my face and his lips almost brushing mine.

“Sasha, I love you,” Jacob said, never breaking eye contact.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him
that
much closer. I kissed him and his smooth, warm lips felt good against mine. Jacob
loved
me. Jacob loved me!

We pulled apart, our arms still around each other, and both of us grinned like idiots.

“You totally ruined the game,” Heather said to me. “In the
best
possible way.”

Brit, Alison, and Paige were clinging to each other. Almost teary.

“Yay!” Callie whispered. She gave us a thumbs-up. “Finally!”

Eric smiled at me, then Jacob. “Nice crime, Sasha,” Eric said. “I think you win.”

“No,” Jacob said, shaking his head. “I definitely won.”

15

Lauren

A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER,
Ana Pumped her fist in the air. “First to ten, baby!” she said. “Game over!”

“Awesome job,” I said.

Ana smiled at me. “Why, thank you. I think I'm just a good guesser. That's probably why I always do pretty well on those fill-in-the-right-circle tests at school.”

My friends and I laughed. We had been playing Totes Honestly for what felt like minutes. But the refilled Cokes, second and third cups of Candy Cane Lane tea, and more hot chocolate signaled otherwise.

“Props to KK for coming up with the best game ever,” I said. “I think she deserves to be crowned Official Game Chooser for all future parties.”

“Agreed!” Lexa said.

“Miss Scorekeeper?” Clare asked Carina. “Who has the lowest total?”

“Wow,” Khloe said, uncurling her legs. “I was having so much fun—I kind of forgot about the score. But now I totally want to know.”