^^ Essence's dog, Marshmallow^^

~Alan's POV~

It was a little past six, and I just finished setting up the Wii when my phone buzzed. I walked over to the couch and picked it up. It was a text from Chad.

Chad: Hey guys, I passed my exams! 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😝😝😝

Spencer: Same here! 😅😝😝😝

Caleb: Chad, nice job! What about you Al, Joe?

I typed a quick response to the boys.

Me: I won't lie, pretty sure I was gonna fail, but I aced them.

Joe: This calls for celebration! 😆😝😝🎊🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Chad: Alan, your place, 20 minutes?

Me: See you all then!

I wasn't expecting the group to come over until right then, so I ran to the kitchen to get out the chips, sodas, and Joey's all time favorite, oreo cookies. "Maybe I should order some chicken wings," I said to myself. I picked up the phone and dialed Domino's and ordered some pizzas and chicken wings. A short while later I heard the doorbell go off. I casually walked over to the front door and opened it. There stood my buddies; Joe, Caleb, Spencer, and Chad. Joey was holding two boxes of pizza and was peeking inside the box, trying to get a whiff of the cheesy goodness.

"'End of semester and acing our exams and not having to be murdered by our parents for failing' party is about to begin," Joey shouted, with his nose still in the top pizza box. We all laughed and I waved my left arm out, inviting them in. I turned around to see my girlfriend, Ally, walk into the room.

"Hey, Baby! I'm going to Essence's house for a bit to hang out with the rest of the girls, so I don't have to deal with five teenage boys," Ally joked, smirking at the five of us standing in the living room.

"Okay, have fun. I love you," I told her, giving her a hug and kissing the top of her head.

"I love you too," she replied, hugging me tighter. She turned to the rest of the group and waved. "Bye guys!"

"Bye Ally! I hope Essie doesn't give you any trouble," Spencer said, smiling, which made Ally giggle. She made her way to the door and to her car. When Ally closed the front door, Joey let out a sigh and set down the pizza boxes.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Caleb asked, frowning in Joey's direction.

"I want to know what it feels like to have someone like that," Joe replied, plopping down on my sofa.

"Aww Joe, you'll find yourself a girl soon," I reassured him, sitting down next to him. I then turned my head and looked at Chad. "You need to make a move on Carina." Chad gave me a surprised look, which quickly turned to a stone cold glare.

"I don't know what you're talking about," He replied coolly, still glaring at me.

"Keep denying it Chadwick, it won't make us think it's not true," mumbled Caleb, picking up a slice of cheese pizza.

Joey did the same, but although he was smiling, Joey still seemed a little glum. "It's so weird being the oddball in the group," he remarked, taking a bite of his pizza. "I mean, all of you have girlfriends. Or soon to be girlfriends," he added, throwing a glance at a certain someone off in the corner. Chad turned his icy glare on him, but it didn't seem to phase Joey in the slightest.

"Joe, you could have a girlfriend, you just choose not to have one," I told him, taking a seat beside him on my brown sofa. He shrugged his shoulders, and got to his feet.

"Alright boys, we came to have some fun. How about some good old Mario Kart?" Everyone shot up to their feet and sprinted towards the TV.

"I call Mario!" Caleb said loudly to be heard over the others. Spencer settled himself in front of the  television, and Caleb did the same.

Joey and Chad both grabbed a remote as I leaned back against the couch. There was only up to four players allowed, which was cool, because I enjoyed watching the four of them play. Chad was the most competitive out of the five of us. And things could get pretty interesting. The last time we played Wii together, Joey ended up dancing around the entire house, while Spencer threw homemade confetti at Caleb and I. Hopefully this time, things wouldn't get so crazy, but I knew better.

Five minutes into the game, all was going great. Caleb was in the lead, with Spencer close behind him. Joey was in third, but he was catching up fast. This meant that Chad was last, but the determined look on his face made it clear that he planned to win.

"Ha!" he bellowed a minute later, "In your face Grimm Shady!" I looked up in time to see Chad pass the three of them, putting him in first place. I watched as Spencer attempted to get ahead of Joey, but was blocked. They all swerved left, and there stood the finish line. Spencer shot in front of them at the last minute and crossed the finish line, just a millisecond before Chad did.

"That's what I'm talking 'bout," Spencer exclaimed, "Guess who won boys! I did that's who." He proceeded to prance around the living room, doing a dance of victory. He knocked Caleb off the couch, then flopped down onto it cheerfully..

"Hey, where's Caleb," he asked a moment later.

"Down here," Caleb replied, sticking a hand up in the air for help.

I pulled him up, and let him take my spot by the sofa. Joey was already helping himself to another serving of pizza, and a couple Oreos.

"I lost? Wait, what?" Chad was staring dumbstruck at the screen, unable to comprehend what had just happened. In the next instant he was on his feet running toward the other empty couch. He grabbed a pillow and prepared to swing it at Spencer. We all froze in horror as Spencer dove for cover. "Chad, don't," Joey warned, putting his hand up in front of himself, "Just put the pillow down." Chad pulled back his arm and then lowered it.

"You should've seen the look on your guys' faces," he laughed. We all let out a breath of relief, and chuckled nervously. Spencer sat up and tossed a pillow at Chad. Chad straightened up and threw the pillow he had in his hand at Spencer in return.

Caleb ducked and crawled under the table for shelter. "Pillow fight!" Joey declared, throwing a pillow at me. I deflected it with my arm, and threw it back at him. He ran out of the room, and I went after him. Caleb laughed, coming out from where he was hiding.

Before Joey could even escape, I reached out and pulled him back. "Gotcha," I chuckled. He grinned, and we turned back around to rejoin the rest. They had finally calmed down, and were now relaxing, spread out around the room.

"Okay, so back to the early matter at hand," Spencer told us, "When are you going to ask out Carina?"

Chad crossed his arms stubbornly. "Drop it Kane, I'm not asking anyone out anytime soon."

"Bro, we've all seen how you look at her," Spencer responded, smirking. Chad was starting to blush. In the act of averting his eyes, Chad spotted Joey and me standing off to the side.

"Exactly how do I look at her?" Chad challenged, switching from glaring at his hands to up at Spencer.

"Like this," Caleb chimed in, demonstrating googly eyes at Chad. Chad scoffed at the look Caleb gave him. We all laughed at Caleb while Chad was glaring at him.

"Oh and Chad! If you ever need any help asking her out," Spencer said, patting his chest. "I'm da guy." Caleb laughed while Joey and I rolled our eyes.

"Are you sure? Because the way you asked Essence out wasn't the best," I said, chuckling. Spencer looked at me, taken aback.

"What are you talking about? I asked her out, she said 'yes.' End of story."

Joey snorted. "Um, no, I was there, and that's not how it went."

"Oh yeah! I've never heard the full story! Why don't you tell us, Joe?" I asked, amused.

Spencer's face started to turn a light shade of pink. "No, how abou-"

"I would love to," Joey interrupted, smirking mischievously at Spencer. Spencer hid his face in his hands as Joey cleared his throat dramatically.

"Ok, so Spencer had me staked out in the park one Saturday," Joey began, looking in Spencer's direction. "So he could ride in on his skateboard all cool like, while holding her favorite drink."

"Which is peppermint flavored hot chocolate," Spencer butted in, looking up from his hands.

"Look who decided to come back to the party," Caleb said, grinning at Spencer.

Joey shot them an annoyed look. "I'm telling the story." The two of them looked down at their hands. "Good, now where was I?" Joey paused. "Oh yea! Ok, so Spencer told me to stake out where Essence was, which was the park,"

"That was already established," Chad interrupted.

"So he could impress her with his magnificent skateboarding skills," Joey continued, glaring at Chad. He then looked over to Spencer, who was looking at him with an annoyed expression. "I texted him where she was so he could ride up all cool like, holding her hot chocolate."

"Peppermint flavored," Spencer added.

"SHHHHH!! I am speaking!!" Joey blurted out, clearly ready to slap Spencer across the face.

"Hey Joe. Are you going to eat that?" Caleb asked, pointing to the Oreo in Joey's hand. Joey looked at Caleb and then down to the cookie in his hand.

Joey looked back up at Caleb. "Can I finish the story first?" Caleb put up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, I'll let you finish."

"Thank you," Joey replied, turning his head back around to the front. "Okay, so I texted Spencer over here where she was located. When Spencer was riding up, ready to make his move, his skateboard hit a rock and he stumbled right into Essence, spilling the drink all over her. The End," Joey finished, clapping his hands together. Chad looked over at Spencer, who was red in the face.

"Smooth," Chad said, crossing his arms. We all laughed at Chad's remark, while Spencer was back to cradling his head in his hands.

"Aw come on man, at least she said yes," I told Spencer, trying to look on the bright side of things. If it wasn't for Spencer being totally embarrassed, I might have been taking part in the tease fest around me.

"Yea, I'm glad she didn't scream or shout at me," he chuckled, looking up from his hands. Caleb chuckled too, and I smiled. I suddenly got an idea and clapped my hands together.

"Who's up for some karaoke?"

~Mystic's POV~

With exams finally being done, and the amounts of stress everyone was feeling being lifted off their shoulders, everyone was in high spirits. This, of course, included Essence, Ally and I, who had gotten together to hang out for a few hours. "Hey, Essence, mind if I get some grapes?" I asked on my way to the kitchen.

"Help yourself," came Essence's voice an instant later, "Get us some too." Putting the grapes in a bowl I found in a cabinet, I rinsed them in the sink, and walked into the living room. Ally and Essence were on their phones, laughing at something. While Essence and Spencer's dog, Marshmallow, was sitting next to her owner. Marshmallow was a pomeranian puppy, who was pure white and super fluffy, which earned her her name.

"What's so funny?" I asked them, placing the plate of grapes on the table in front of the couch and reaching out to pet Marshmallow.

Essence reached over and picked up a grape. "Oh, just this video on Facebook of a parody," she explained. I smiled, and sat down beside Ally.

"Is Carina coming over?" Ally asked, putting her phone away. Essence glanced out the window, to see if Carina was walking by, but no one was there.

"I don't know," replied Essence, "I invited her." Just then a knock came at the front door, and she shot to her feet as Marshmallow started barking. "And I'm guessing that's her now," Essence exclaimed, rushing to go open the door. Ally and I smiled at each other.

"Don't you just love her enthusiasm?" I asked her, grinning.

Ally smirked. "It's her best quality." The both of us laughed, glancing at the entrance to the living room, where Essence had run out seconds ago. I popped another grape into my mouth just as Essence walked back into the room with Carina, with a small furry ghost trotting in after Essence.

"Hey guys," Carina said, waving at us.

Ally got up to go give her a hug in greeting. "Hi, Carina, how are you?"

Carina laughed. "Hey Ally, I'm fine. How about you?" she asked, returning Ally's hug.

Ally smiled. "I am fantastic!" she exclaimed, beaming.

I moved aside on the couch, giving the girls some room to sit. "Mystic!" Carina said happily, spotting me, "How are you? How's Caleb? Is he here?" I giggled at how energetic she was.

"No, him and the other's are at Alan's," I explained, pulling her into a hug.

"Hey gals! Who wants to play Truth or Dare?" Essence asked, clapping her hands together.

"Sure, why not?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders while looking around the room at the other girls.

"Memememe!!!" Ally said, waving her arms around wildly.

Carina laughed at Ally. "I'd love too!"

"Okie dokie!" Essence replied, sitting down cross legged on the floor and pulling Marshmallow into her lap. "So who's going to ask first?"

We looked at each other for a few brief moments until Essence answered her own question.

"Fine," she sighed. "I'll go first." She looked at me with such intensity, I started blushing. "Truth or Dare, Mysie?"

"Umm.. Dare..?" I answered slowly. Essence smiled.

"I dare you to bite into a lemon slice for 1 minute."

"You have any lemons?" I asked her, crossing my arms.

"If I didn't have any lemons, I wouldn't have asked the question," Essence replied, getting up to slice a lemon from her kitchen, with her little white fluffball close behind. The rest of us sat there and a couple minutes later, she returned with a bowl and my slice of lemon. She sat down and handed me the bowl containing my fate.

"Here goes nothing," I said as I popped the slice into my mouth. The group started laughing as I continued to suck on it. I made faces as the juice of the tart fruit started to affect me. After a couple more sour filled seconds, I heard the timer go off on Essence's phone.

"Time's up!" Essence exclaimed as I spat out the lemon into the bowl.

"About time! My jaw hurts!" I said, massaging my jaw. I looked over to Ally. "Truth or Dare, Ally?"

"Truth!" she responded excitedly, with no hesitation.

"Okay," I chuckled. "If you had to, who would you pick to exchange your girlfriend/boyfriend with?"

"Umm," Ally laughed nervously then looked at Essence. "I would exchange Alan for Spencer." Essence started bursting out laughing and Marshmallow started barking at the sudden noise.

"Why?" she asked, in between laughs, while trying to quiet her dog down.

"I don't know, he seems fun but romantic," Ally responded, chuckling along with everyone else.

"He's romantic only on occasion," Essence explained, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Isn't Alan romantic, Ally?" I asked her, looking at her, confused.

"Very. He brings home roses for me every week! It's adorable. And he's fun too. We tease each other a lot and play fight, but that's it," Ally explained, pulling Marshmallow into her lap. She then looked at Carina. "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth!" she answered, with almost the same amount of excitement as Ally.

I looked at the others and they nodded. "Do you like Chad Graham?" I asked her, smiling mischievously.

"Uh-uhhh" Carina started. "Umm." she started blushing and laughing nervously. We all looked at her, waiting for an answer. She stared at us, her cheeks turning to a shade of bright pink. "Yea," she finally whispered, scratching Marshmallow's head. We all smiled at her as Essence sang at the top of her lungs.

"We knew it!! We knew it, we knew it, we knew it!!"

Carina laughed nervously and her blush deepened. "How?" she asked, looking at us confused.

"We've all seen the way you look at him," Ally explained.

"Even Marshmallow has seen it!" Essence added, holding up her small, white furball. We all laughed at that, but it got really quiet. I then looked at Essence.

"Hey Essie!"

"Hmmm?"

"Let's watch a movie!" I suggested helpfully, sensing Carina's discomfort.

Essence gasped. "Yes!" She said with excitement in her eyes. She then got up and ran to her bedroom with Marshmallow still in her arms. She came back a minute later with a disc.

"Let's watch Big Hero 6!"