2004 ― Tree Hill, North Carolina

Aurora James was walking down the hallway with Haley and Nathan. The trio were going to their lockers. Haley and Aurora's were next to each other since in the school system her last name was still James, but next year, she would probably have a different locker since she hyphenated. When Aurora opened her locker, she saw an envelope inside that had her name on it.

She turned to Haley, who was also holding up an envelope with her name on it. She turned to Nathan, he also had one. Lucas, Brooke, and Peyton also opened their lockers and found envelopes. The friends exchanged confused looks, wondering where they came from. Then Aurora noticed the new guy, Felix smiling at them and knew the envelopes had to come from him.

Aurora hadn't met him yet, but Brooke told her about how she found him swimming naked in her pool, and then he took her parking spot. Haley told her how Felix was hitting on her. Aurora had no opinion of him yet.

But she was interested to know what this invitation was about.

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Later that night, they were all gathered at Karen's Cafe. Felix put his invitation down on the table, and it read, "You are cordially invited to a night of drama, excitement, and intrigue. Be at Karen's Cafe tonight at 7:00 p.m." It had been what all of their invitations from their envelopes said. "It's called 'Dare Night,' one night, two teams, multiple dares," Felix explained. Aurora smiled. She thought it sounded like a lot of fun and it wasn't something that their group normally does. "Each envelope contains a two-part dare. Part one is on the front, part two is on the back. Each dare is worth a certain number of points. This cell phone," Felix said as he held it up. "Has picture and video,"

"Sweet!" Tim exclaimed as he reached for the phone. Aurora rolled her eyes, and Felix gave him a look that made him stop.

"You do the dare, send proof to the other team. At midnight, time's up. We meet back here and declare the winner," Felix said.

"And what do we win?" Mouth asked.

"You, Mouth, win an excuse to be out until midnight," Felix said and Mouth laughed. "The rest of you get a night to remember," He said.

"And you get to humiliate us. Why would we do that?" Lucas asked. Aurora wasn't sure what Lucas' problem with Felix was. She hadn't gotten a lot of time to talk to him, which she felt bad about. She wasn't ignoring him on purpose, she was just trying to focus on herself for the time being. But she does miss her best friend.

"Oh come on, guys. A night of dares? To go around town and have fun with each other? I can't believe me or Brooke didn't come up with this earlier," Aurora said and Felix laughed.

"See, I like her," Felix said with a smile. "You're married girl's twin, right? I guess good genes run throughout your family," Felix said with a wink. Aurora rolled her eyes while Lucas' eyes set into a glare as he turned to Felix. "There's nothing in these envelopes that's harmful to you or anyone else. It's all about having fun and testing your limits. Every once in a while, you have to wake yourself up," He said and turned to Brooke.

"You wanna do it, Nate?" Tim said as he looked at him. "All anybody does in this town is brood, pout, and get married," Tim said. Aurora laughed as she put her envelope down on the table.

"I was in as soon as Felix said Dare Night," Aurora said as she smiled. Haley nodded and threw her invitation down too.

"I'll play," She said. Aurora held her hand out for a high-five, which Haley gave and the twins smiled.

"Yeah, what the hell," Peyton said with a shrug as she threw her invitation down. "I'm up for something daring," She said.

"Yes! That's my goldilocks," Aurora said and Peyton laughed. Felix looked at Nathan, who shrugged and threw his envelope in the pile.

"Who else is in?" He asked. Mouth, Fergie, and Skills all threw their envelopes down into the pile. Tim threw in a napkin, which Felix picked up as he raised an eyebrow. Tim had written his name on the napkin, and everyone laughed.

"Come on! I wanna play. I didn't get invited," Tim said.

"That may have been on purpose," Aurora mumbled under her breath. Haley and Peyton heard her and they all shared a smile. Felix turned to Tim.

"Tell you what. You can play... if Brooke and Lucas play," Felix said. Everyone's eyes turned to Brooke and Lucas, waiting to see what they would decide. Lucas' eyes met Aurora and she gave him a knowing look and then smiled.

Brooke rolled her eyes and threw her envelope down, and Lucas did shortly after. "Pick the stupid teams," Brooke said.

"Alright. Boys against girls. You six boys against the four girls... plus me. I count as two anyway," Felix said.

"Yeah, three girls!" Tim said. Everyone turned to him, but nobody said anything.

"Sweet. Teams are set," Felix said as he set a key down on top of Lucas' envelope.

"What's this?" Lucas asked.

"That, my friend, is your first dare."

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"Sorry to break up Charlie's Angels, but..." Felix trailed off as he handed Aurora one of the picture phones. "You three take the singular phone and do these," He said as he handed Haley and Peyton golden envelopes. "There's nothing too crazy on there," He said. Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Why do I have to go with you?" Brooke asked.

"Because this..." Felix said as he held out a gold envelope to Brooke. "Is your first dare," He said. Brooke rolled her eyes again and snatched the envelope from his hand. She opened it, scanned over the words, and then laughed.

"Please! I could do that in my sleep," She siad.

"Great!" Felix exclaimed with a smile. "Prove it," He said. Brooke rolled her eyes and stormed off in the opposite direction. Felix laughed as he followed after her. Aurora turned to Haley and Peyton with a smile on her face.

"Let's go win this thing."

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The girls' first dare took them to the mall, more specifically, the food court. Aurora had already read what was on the envelope, and she couldn't believe she was about to do this. She stepped up to the worker and took a deep breath. "Hi, can we have five pickled eggs please?" Aurora asked as she shivered. The worker nodded and walked off to get her order, and she turned back to her friends.

"So, I had an idea. Why don't we just get a picture of Aurora eating one and then tell them she ate all five," Haley said.

"I love the way you think, sister," Aurora said as she nodded. Peyton shook her head as she laughed.

"Aurora and Haley James, we don't cheat," Peyton said and Aurora shook her head.

"You did with Lucas!" Haley said before she could think about it. Peyton and Aurora both fell quiet and Haley realized her mistake. "I'm sorry, Ari. It slipped out before I could think about it," She said and Aurora shook her head.

"In the spirit of trying to have fun on dare night, I will forget that you said that," Aurora said.

"Yeah, and don't make me smack you!" Peyton exclaimed and Haley laughed.

"Here," Aurora said as she handed her sister the phone and took the pickled eggs from the worker. "Thank you," She said to him before turning back to Haley and Peyton.

"Alright, are we doing this now?" Haley asked.

"Here we go," Aurora said.

"Do it, do it, go, go, go!" Peyton cheered. Aurora shook her head and looked at the red eggs in the little food basket in her hands. She picked one up, looked at it for a moment, and once she took a bite into it, Haley snapped the picture.

"Four and a half more to go!" Haley exclaimed.

Aurora shook her head as she started to gag. She quickly grabbed a napkin and spit the bite she took out into it. Haley got the picture, so she didn't feel the need to eat more of them.

"Oooh, make it five. Not cheating tastes so good!" Peyton said. Aurora shook her head and put the napkin with the spit-out egg underneath Peyton's nose, which made her shriek.

"Get that away from me!"

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The next dare took the girls to the batting cages. Peyton was up for this dare while Haley and Aurora were the photographers. Peyton was standing in front of the pitching machines and she had a helmet on, for safety, in case she sucked at this and ends up getting hit in the head. She held a bat as she waited for the machine to feed her a ball. Haley and Aurora stood off to the side and Aurora was holding the phone.

"Okay, hold on a second..." Aurora said.

Then the ball suddenly flew out and hit Peyton on her helmet and she fell to the ground, in a daze. Haley and Aurora ran out to her. "Oh my gosh! P, are you okay? It looked...-" Aurora started to say, but was cut off when a ball flew into her back.

"Ouch!" She exclaimed and ran off to the side when she saw another ball coming. "Hales watch...-" But it was too late, the ball had already hit Haley and she ran off to the side as well to join me.

That's why Aurora stuck to cheerleading.

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Their next dare took them to church. The girls were sitting in the pew and looking at the cross on the stained-glass window. It made Aurora think about how she didn't get to see her sister and best friend get married. She thought she was over it, but it still stung.

"So, since I needed to get over myself. We never talked about the wedding... like how you got there," Aurora said.

"Well, I told you. I got dressed... threw up at Mom and Dad's house, brushed, flossed, and went to the beach," Haley said and Peyton shook her head.

"Okay, hard image to forget. Uh, but what I think your sister meant was, how your heart got there. Marriage is big. I don't know how you trust somebody for your whole life. I can't even... date somebody with that escape hatch," Peyton said and Aurora understood. Dating is hard.

"I don't know if it was so much about trusting Nathan... which I do. It was more about trusting myself," Haley said.

"Yeah, my best friend, self-doubt. I don't know, sometimes everything seems really simple and then...-" Haley cut in.

"...-It's not," She said and Aurora nodded.

"Yeah," Aurora said and then there was a silence.

"Alright, so what does this card say again?" Haley asked as she took out the golden envelope.

"Uh, we're supposed to... go to the confessional and read whatever's on the card except you're not supposed to read it until you get in there," Peyton said.

"Right, right. So, um... here's the thing, I'm actually trying to avoid eternal damnation, so I'm gonna pass," Haley said. Peyton and Aurora laughed.

"I ate the pickled eggs, I'm gonna pass," Aurora said.

"Alright, give it," Peyton said. Haley laughed as she handed the envelope to Peyton so she would know what to say inside the confessional. The twins remained seated as Peyton went into the confessional. Haley sighed and turned to her sister.

"Ari," Haley said.

"What's up?" Aurora asked.

"I really am sorry about the wedding and you not being there. The only reason Mom and Dad were was because I'm still a minor and not emancipated like Nathan, so Mom and Dad had to give their consent for me to get married," Haley said and Aurora nodded.

"I understand that Hales, I do. But a quick phone call. You know I can put a look together quickly," Aurora said.

"I know. Trust me, Nathan and I feel horrible. You know you're the most important person in our lives, right? Besides each other, of course," Haley said and Aurora smiled.

"I know, and same to both of you," Aurora said.

"But it's not an excuse. One of us should have called you, and I'm so sorry that neither of us did. I just hate the thought of you being mad at me, and I'll do anything to make it up to you," Haley said. Aurora grabbed her sister's hand and gently squeezed it.

"I love you, Haley James-Scott. In ten years when you renew your vows, I better be there," Aurora teased and Haley laughed.

"Oh, Aurora James, you will always be involved," Haley said and Aurora smiled as her sister wrapped her arms around her and pulled her in. Aurora leaned into her sister and took a deep breath. She was always going to be hurt that she didn't get to see her best friend and sister get married. But she wasn't going to hold it over their heads.

She could never be mad at them forever.

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"So, eternal damnation for you?" Aurora asked when Peyton walked out of the confessional. Aurora noticed that Peyton's demeanor had fallen flat since before she went in there, but she did laugh.

"I think the jury's still out on that one," Peyton said and the twins smiled.

"Are you okay?" Haley asked. She noticed the same thing Aurora did. Peyton's demeanor was more flat than it was when she first went in there.

"Yeah, thank you. Thank you both for hanging out with me tonight. The James Sisters. You guys are good friends," Peyton said. Aurora smiled and Haley laughed.

"Thanks, this was fun. As Ari said at the cafe earlier, I'm glad we did this. I think we all needed a night like Dare Night," Haley said and Aurora nodded.

"Yeah, me too. You were right, Aurora," Peyton said and Aurora smiled. She was glad she could have fun with her friends after such a dramatic basketball season.

"Yes, I normally am."

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It was midnight.

The game was over and everyone was back at the cafe except for Mouth, Skills, and Fergie. The group was standing around the table as Felix was adding up the points for both sides. Aurora was hoping that he and Brooke did well with their dares, she really wanted to win.

"The guys trail by 150 points," Felix said and Peyton clapped.

"Yes!" She exclaimed. Then Mouth, Skills, and Fergie ran inside.

"We're here!" Mouth said as they walked in and Skills was holding a box.

"What is that?" Aurora asked as she pointed to the box. Skills and Fergie put it on the table.

"We had to capture a wild animal from the zoo," Mouth said. Aurora's eyes widened. She wondered how they managed to pull that off. Skills had a serious expression on his face.

Fergie lifted the lid from the box and Aurora looked inside and saw a seawater turtle. Everyone started laughing because Skills was scared of a turtle, and Skills rolled his eyes. "Go ahead and laugh, but you should've seen this thing before we tamed it. I'm telling you, it was vicious. I mean, it was snapping and... oh, man!" Skills exclaimed, keeping himself hidden behind Mouth. Everyone laughed more.

"Well, well, with your other dares, it appears to be a tie," Felix said and Aurora groaned.

"Oh, no, no, wait! Don't forget this," Tim said as he pulled out his picture phone to show Felix. Aurora watched as Felix quickly recoiled away from Tim.

"Dude! What the hell are you doing!?" Felix yelled. Tim held up the dare card.

"It says it right here on the dare card," He defended himself. Felix laughed as he read over the envelope.

"Man, that's a typo. It's supposed to say take a shot on the second hole," Felix said. Everyone slowly took a step back from Tim, understanding what the typo was, and Aurora couldn't believe he actually did it.

"Tim!" Haley exclaimed.

"Gross," Brooke said.

"No dice, it's still a tie," Felix said. Tim groaned and threw his envelope on the table. "And I just so happen to have the tiebreaker," He said as he handed Brooke the final envelope of the night. Brooke rolled her eyes before taking it, then she read it and laughed.

"Kiss a teammate on the mouth," She said.

"Well, I guess you guys win," Nathan said and Aurora laughed.

"Damn it!" Tim exclaimed.

"Convenient," Brooke said as she threw the envelope on the table. Aurora could tell Felix was excited, thinking that Brooke was going to kiss him. Brooke wrapped an arm around Felix and Aurora thought maybe Brooke was going to kiss him, but then she leaned over Felix and kissed Aurora instead. The brunette's eyes widened as Brooke pulled away.

"Brooke! You could've at least given me a heads up, I would've kissed you back," Aurora said with a wink and Brooke laughed. Tim looked like he was ready to explode.

"Okay!" Nathan said with a stupid grin on his face as he clapped. "Alright!" He said and Aurora rolled her eyes.

"Nathan, I will kill you," Aurora said and Nathan laughed more as he threw his arm around his best friend. Felix was smiling as he shook his head.

"Unless any of you guys... kissed a stranger in the photo booth... that's the only dare you didn't do," Felix said. Aurora looked around at all of the guys. Aurora noticed that Lucas looked down at his pocket and then he looked back up. Aurora immediately knew he did the dare, but he wasn't going to say it.

"Anybody?" Peyton asked as she looked around. All the guys looked at each other and they were shaking their heads. "Come on..." Peyton said. Aurora moved away from Nathan to stand with the girls. Peyton had her arms around Aurora and Brooke, while Aurora pulled her sister in.

"Sorry guys. Guess they win," Lucas said.

"Yes!" Aurora exclaimed as the girls started jumping and excitedly cheering. Even though Aurora knew they cheated with the pickled eggs, they didn't need to know that.

Aurora had a great night. They needed something like this.

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sorry that was short and that it's taken so long. life is super busy right now. 

don't forget to vote/comment. 

xoxo.