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Chapter 5

10:45 pm. Every few minutes I would glance at the clock, waiting for Gale to get here. The sleepover had started three hours ago, and yet he still wasn't here. Shannon and Hayley insisted that he said he was coming, but it looked like he had changed his mind.

Shannon and Hayley were dancind in the living room while Danny and Damian stood in the kitchen, drinking beer and talking about, you guessed it, football. Personally, I don't understand the sport. I can't really tell when something good is happening, or when a team is winning. I rely on the scoreboard to help me. I'd never tell Danny this, but soccer makes more sense to me.

The doorbell rang and everyone cheered. I jumped up from my spot on the floor and raced down the hall. Gale was here! Right before i opened the door, I ran my hands through my hair and caught my breath. Racing down the hall looks kind of desperate.

"Hey, I though you-" I stopped when I realized that it was Shannon and Hayley's adopted brother, Soren. He was deaf, but luckily he could read lips and sign. No matter how much the girls' mom tried, she couldn't get him to talk. Soren always said that if he couldn't hear his own voice, neither could we. Let's just say he's a little bitter about being deaf.

Soren brushed past me and walked into the living room.

"Hey Soren!" Everyone said, and he nodded. We waved to him as he climbed the stairs and went to his room. Soren isn't very social. Damian and Danny stuck their heads out of the kitchen, but he was already upstairs.

I slumped onto the couch and sighed.

Ding!

"I GOT IT!" I yelled, scaring the shit out of Danny. Danny jumped and punched me in the arm.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Danny snapped, but I just rolled my eyes and went to go answer the door.

"Maybe if you weren't such a wuss you-" I stopped taunting him when I saw who was on the other side of the door. Gale stood in the doorway, silently laughing. He held a duffel bag in one arm and a plastic bag in the other. I peered at the plastic bag and noticed that it was his violin. And then I noticed that he was still standing in the doorway. In the rain.

"Oh shit, sorry, come in." I said, moving out of his way. He smiled and walked down. When he looked around, his jaw dropped. That was everyone's reaction to Shannon's house. It was huge and fancy, complete with a crystal chandalier and a spiral staircase. Their bathrooms even had fancy soap!

"Yeah, I know." I said, leading him to the living room. He nodded but continued to gap at everything.

"GALE HAS ARRIVED!" I bellowed. They all cheered and shouted greeting, except for Damian of course. He likes to act like he's the calm one in the group.

"Yes! The party has officially started! What shall we do first. Paint our nails or have a pillow fight?" Shannon asked and Hayley giggled at Danny's expression. He looked disturbed by the very idea.

"Yeah, as much fun as that sounds, Shannon, I'll pass." I laughed and sat down on the couch. Gale sat down next to me, and I noticed that he sat closer than most guys normally would. Not that I was complaining of course.

"So what do you boring people do for fun?" Hayley joked and pulled a face at the song that was playing. It was some sad, sulky song, so Danny got up and changed it. As soon as he did, the girls began to scream. Gale jumped about three feet into the air, looking absolutely terrified, and the guys covered their ears. I was about to do the same until I heard what song was on.

"Hey, I love this song!" I yelled, jumping up to dance with Shannon. The two welcomed me and we started dancing and shouting to the lyrics.

"THIS IS HOW WE DO IT. IT"S FRIDAY NIGHT, AND I FEEL ALL RIGHT! THE PARTY'S HERE ON THE WEST SIDE," Shannon screamed jumping up and down around me and Hayley.

"SO I REACH FOR MY 40 AND I TURN IT UP! DESIGNATED DRIVER TAKE THE KEYS TO MY TRUCK," I screamed back, taking her hand and twirling her. Hayley started shaking her butt and throwing her hands up.

"HIT THE SHORE 'CAUSE I'M FADED! HONEYS IN THE STREET SAY, "HAYLEY YO WE MADE IT!" Hayley sang and backed up against me, grinding loosely. Danny and Damian just stared at us like we had lost our minds. Gale sat on the couch with his eyebrows raised, watching me. When our eyes met, he smiled.

"Come on, Gale!" Shannon shimmied over to Gale and grabbed his hand, dragging him towards us. Hayley swayed her hips next to mine, bumping our hips occasionally. Shannon grabbed both of Gale's hands and danced with him. Eventually, Danny started dancing with us and Damian just watched. After the song ended, we all laughed (well, Gale kind of laughed), and we sat down and took sips of our drinks.

"Hey, Gale, you should play your violin for us." Shannon said suddenly. We all nodded in agreement.

"Please?" Hayley begged and Gale shrugged but pulled it out of the plastic bag. He unlocked the case and a bunch of money fell out.

"Dang, dude. Playing that thing really pays off. You must rich by now." Danny said, leaning back on the couch. Gale snorted and shook his head, carefully placing his violin on his lap.

"Hey, when I took band last year, our teacher made us name our instruments. I played the bells so I named mine Belle. Did you name your violin?" Shannon asked and Gale nodded yes.

"What did you name it?" Shannon asked curiously. Gale looked away for a moment and flipped his violin over. On the back, carved into the wood, was a name.

Skylar

"Cool. Where'd you get the name?" Danny asked. Gale looked down at his lap and shrugged. Whatever the name had to do with was something important to him, because he didn't want to talk about it. The room got silent, so I spoke up.

"So what song are you going to play?" I asked, and Gale gave me a grateful look. He signed to Hayley and she nodded.

"Mouvement Introductif." She repeated for him, and he began to play. It was moderately fast and sharp. He closed his and drifted into the music as he played. The entire room was silent as we listened to the beautiful music. Shannon's mom and Soren had come in to listen (I guess Soren came to watch). When Gale was done, everyone clapped.

Soren slowly walked over to Gale and sat down in front of him. He signed to Gale before placing his hand on the scroll of the violin. Gale smiled and nodded, and began to play again. When Gale played, Soren's eyes lit up a little.

"Um, what's he doing?" Danny asked. We all opened our mouths to answer, but surprisingly, Damian beat us to it.

"He's feeling the vibrations of Gale's violin. That's his version of listening." Shannon raised an eyebrow at Damian.

"How did you know that?" She asked him and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm not stupid." Damian said in a harsh tone, surprising us all. Luckily, Shannon's mom was too busy fawning over Gale to hear him otherwise she would've went off.

"Sorry, I'm just already upset. I didn't mean to take it out on you." Damian apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. I'll be back." He said, heading up the stairs, probably towards the bathroom. Soren signed to Gale before going upstairs too.

After an hour or so of eating, dancing, and listening to Gale play songs on his violin, Shannon proposed the idea of a game. We all sat down on the living room floor, where we would all be sleeping, and fought over what to play.

After ten minutes of annoying bickering between Hayley and Danny, it was decided that we would play Never Have I Ever. We all formed a circle with Shannon to my left, Danny to my right, and Gale across from me with Hayley on his left and Damian on his right.

We all grabbed a can of beer each to drink to.

"Alright, we'll start with...Hayley." Shannon said, smirking. "We'll go counter-clockwise from there."

"Um, ok, Never Have I Ever...ditched school." We all took sips of our beer.

"Seriously you guys!" Hayley chuckled. "What is wrong with you people?" Several times, Shannon and I have ditched school to go see a movie or hang out with other friends. My mom doesn't know since any calls the school makes I hear first.

"Ok, ok, my turn." Shannon said. "Never Have I Ever lost my virginity." Damian, Danny, Hayley and I all took sips. Gale blushed and looked down at his beer. Unfortunately, I lost mine to a girl.

"Hayley?!" Shannon yelled. "When were you going to tell me this?"

"Um, eventually?" Hayley said, but it sounded more like a question. Shannon shook her head and glared at Hayley.

"I'll drop it for now, but it isn't over. Jas, you're up." I tapped my can and thought before speaking.

"Never Have I Ever fallen in love." Shannon, Damian, and Gale all took sips of their beer. I looked at Danny, but he just shrugged.

"There hasn't been a girl who's sparked my interest." He said. Damian saw Shannon take a sip of her drink and looked a little freaked out.

"Oh, relax, Damian. It's not you. Don't look so scared." Shannon teased, not sounding offended at all. Damian relaxed a little. Hayley threw them a weird look. Shouldn't they be worried about who the other person they had loved was?

"Who did you fall in love with, Gale?" Hayley asked and Gale's eyes clouded over a bit, as if he were remembering something. Slowly, he shook his head and signed to Hayley.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said and looked to us. "It's personal." We all murmured in understanding. I was kind of curious to know. He looked hurt. "Ok, Danny, it's your turn."

"Never Have I Ever fooled around with someone important to someone important to me." We all thought about it but didn't drink. For a moment, we all thought we were done, but hesitantly, Damian took a sip of his drink. We all gaped at him, but for some reason, Gale didn't look too surprised. I wondered why, but I was thrown off by Shannon.

"What the hell! Was it one of us?" She asked, but he shook his head no. That calmed her down and we moved on. Gale narrowed his eyes at Damian, but said nothing.

"Never Have I Ever bled for more than a day." Danny and I laughed and high-fived Damian as Hayley and Shannon grumpily took swigs of their beer. Gale smirked at Hayley and signed something to her. Damian started laughing and Hayley flipped him off.

"Shut up, Gale!" She said, but she was laughing. "Ok, enough, Gale, you next. I'll translate for you." Gale thought for a minute before he perked up, and signed something to Hayley.

"Um, are you sure about that?" Hayley said nervously and Gale nodded.

"He said, 'Never Have I Ever...had feelings for someone of the same gender." Gale's eyes locked with mine, and what I saw was a challenge. Shannon and Hayley stole glances at me, waiting for me to react. Damian took a swig, but we all knew that.

Was I ready? Did I really want to announce that? Was it worth it? All these thoughts ran through my head as I stared back at Gale. And somewhere in me, I only got one answer. Yes.

I raised my beer and chugged half of it, slamming it down on the tile. Danny gaped at me and Gale looked shocked, but then he smiled and took a swig of his drink too. We all stared at each other, until Danny spoke.

"Hell, if that's the case..." Danny took a small sip of his drink. We all openly gawked at him.

"Ok, Jasper was pretty obvious, but you?"Damian said, breaking the silence. Danny sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Shut up, it wasn't anything big. I just thought he looked good. No, I will not tell you who he is, and no, I don't have a crush on him. I just thought he was kind of cute. It's not anything gay, so Hayley, stop getting excited. I'm still straight." Danny gave us a mini speech before turning to me.

"And Jas, I already knew. I just didn't think you'd come out." My jaw dropped.

"You aren't weirded out or anything, right?" I asked.

"Nah. As long as you don't have a crush on me." Danny said and the girls snickered. I looked at Gale and smiled.

"No, I don't. I've got someone else in mind." Gale blushed and looked away, smiling. The room got quiet and Shannon clapped her hands.

"Alright, people, games over. Let's watch a movie." and just like that, our confessions were a thing of the past. Everyone was still friends, and we were all happy. Damian sat back against the couch on the floor and watched as Hayley, Shannon, and Danny searched for a movie. I got up and sat on the couch. I felt the couch shift next to me, and I realized it was Gale. He had a notepad in one hand and a pen in the other. He flipped it open and turned to a page with writing.

Hey

He handed me the pen and scooted closer to me, his shoulder bumping mine. That simple touch sent shocks of electricity through my skin, and I fought of a shiver.

Hey, what's up.

I wrote back. He took the pen back and scribbled on the paper.

Why did you come out?

I chuckled a little. I guess we're cutting to the chase.

I had a reason to.

What would that reason be?

Gale handed the pen back to me, but I hesitated. What if he didn't feel the same way? Quickly, I pushed my doubts to the back of my head before I changed my mind. I was serious about Gale. I felt like passing this oppurtunity up would be a bad mistake.

You.

Gale read it and looked up at me. His big blue eyes stared up at me, and my heart was beating so fast, I was sure he could hear it. Without knowing, we were slowly leaning towards each other. I didn't notice until our noses touched. Gale jumped a little, and looked down at our noses. I laughed as he went cross-eyed. His eyes flickered down to my lips, and I grew serious again. Slowly, I leaned forward and brushed my lips against his.

Gale's eyes fluttered closed, and I took that as a sign to keep going. I leaned forward again, pressing my lips to his fully. Gale placed his hand on my neck and I wrapped my arm around his waist, drawing him closer. Our lips moved together like a dance, electricity coursing through our bodies.

I deepened the kiss and traced my tongue along Gale's bottom lip. He eagerly allowed me in and I explored his mouth. At that point, Gale wrapped his arms around my neck and pressed himself against my chest. I placed both hands oh his waist, pulling him on top of me and laying down on the couch.

"Um, guys, we're still here." Hayley's voice broke through, reminding us that we weren't alone. Shannon was laughing her ass off while Danny was staring at us in awe. I forgot he still wasn't used to this. Damian and Hayley were smirking at us.

Gale tried to scramble off of me, but I pulled him back and cradled him above me. He blushed rested his head on my chest. Shannon smiled at me and turned to the movie they had put in. Everyone gradually turned their attention to the movie, Hayley giving me one last wink.

Gale and I tried to pay attention to the movie, but after a while we gave up. Most of our friends were drifting off to sleep anyway, so I leaned down and brought my lips down on his. He kissed me back slowly, scooting up so we were eye to eye. I leaned forward and took his lip in between my teeth, tugging on it lightly. This elicited a small gasp from Gale.

"Ok, you two, go to bed." Shannon muttered from her spot on the floor. "I don't want Gale getting pregnant on my couch." Hayley and Danny let out tired laughs but fell asleep. Damian was already out like a light. I rolled my eyes and closed them as Gale snuggled against me.

"Goodnight, Shannon." I said. She mumbled something that sounded like goodnight, but I'm not sure. I reached out for the remote, but Gale placed his hand on mine, stopping me.

Gale brought his hand to his lips and touched his fingers to his other hand. Then he brought his fingers to his elbow lightly. I frowned confused for a moment, and he did it again, mouthing something. I followed his lips and then I realized he was trying to teach me how to say goodnight in sign language.

"Oh." I whispered and slowly copied what he did. "Goodnight, Gale." He smiled and fell asleep. I waited until he was asleep before turning to Hayley.

"Hayley." I whispered. She shifted and looked at me.

"What?" She hissed, obviously pissed at being woken up.

"Can you help me with something?"

-

Dedicated to masonmaddness because your so original. I LOVE Imaginary!

YAY!!! They're together! THE END. Lol no, just joking, this is a full story. Anyway, tell me if you like it. I was up until four doing this and guess what happened? My computer ran out of power and shut off, erasing most of what I wrote. So I sulked until today, then I wrote it over. Because that's how much I love you people

What do you think is up with Damian?

What does Gale seem to know about Damian?

Who did Danny think was cute??? Well you'll never know until I update, so to encourage me to go faster, you should Comment/Vote!! Bye Bye!

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