the only exception

"I really don't think they're gonna let me go." Phoebe insisted, laying back on her bed.

"Please, just try?" Emily asked, "It's the last football game of the season!"

"I'll try for the game, but I'm not asking about the party." She replied easily.

She heard Emily huff, "But they're not as fun without you there!"

"Your boyfriend will be there, how boring could it be?" Phoebe laughed a little.

"You know who else's boyfriend will be there?" Emily hummed, "Yours. So you should at least try to go. Please, please, pretty please?"

"You're relentless, you know that?" Phoebe sighed, "But fine. I will ask, but that doesn't mean they're gonna say yes." In fact, Phoebe is pretty sure they're never gonna let her go to a party again, not that she can blame them.

"Yay! What should I wear? It's kind of cold, but I still want to be cute, you know? What do you think you're gonna wear?" Emily asked in quick succession, making Phoebe laugh.

"Dude it's like 7am, how are you so energetic?"

"I'm just trying to make sure I look cute, is that a crime?" Emily asked.

"No," Phoebe grinned, "Listen, we'll talk about it at school, okay?" Phoebe hummed, "I'll see you later."

"See ya!" Emily replied easily, "Don't forget to ask about the party."

"Will do."

Phoebe hung up the phone and finished getting ready before heading downstairs, seeing Hayley and Taylor sitting at the dining table and looking at something on Taylors phone.

"Hey, is it alright if Emily picks me up for school today?" She asked, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Sure, honey." Hayley mumbled, still engrossed in whatever was on the phone.

"Also, can I go to the game tonight?"

"Yeah, that works." Hayley replied easily again as Taylor just nodded. Phoebe eyed them suspiciously, seeing as they seemed to be paying no real attention to what the teen was asking. It seemed like the perfect scenario to ask to go to a party.

Phoebe tried to keep the same tone in her voice as she casually asked, "And can I go to the party afterwards?"

Taylor's head shot up from looking at the phone, but Hayley just nodded, "Whatever you want." However, the blissful ignorance only seemed to last a few seconds because soon enough, Hayley was looking up quickly too. "Wait, what? Sorry."

"Oh," Phoebe sighed, the quick sense of relief vanishing, "I asked if I could go to the party at Haydens after the football game?"

Hayley licked her lips as Taylor put the phone down, both of them sharing a look with each other. It was moments like this that Hayley hated how intune they were, how they seemed to be able to have a conversation right in front of her, about her, without ever really saying a word.

After a moment, Hayley turned back to the teen, "Do you plan to drink or smoke?" She asked seriously in which Phoebe quickly shook her head.

"No."

"Are you gonna answer your phone when we try to contact you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And come home on time?" Taylor added.

"Yes and yes." Phoebe gave a single nod, moving closer.

Hayley and Taylor stared at her for a second before Hayley sighed, "Go get your backpack and shoes on, you're gonna be late. Is Emily almost here?"

"But what about-"

"We'll talk about it, okay?" Hayley assured her, watching as the teen frowned, "This isn't a no, not yet anyway. We'll let you know."

"Okay." Phoebe agreed, moving back upstairs to put on her shoes and grab her bag. She couldn't really blame them if they decided to say no seeing as how many times she'd gone a little off the rails during parties, but she really did want to go.

A few moments later she returned downstairs, just as Emily texted her to let her know she had arrived.

"Emily's here, I gotta go." Phoebe informed them, watching as Taylor opened the back door to let Alf out.

"Have a good day at school," he told her before stepping out and quickly shutting the door so as to not let the cold air in.

"Did you guys talk about if I can go or not?" Phoebe asked Hayley, hopefully.

The singer nodded slowly, standing up from the table, "You promise you'll follow the rules? You'll text us and not smoke and be home on time?"

"I promise." Phoebe nodded, hope bubbling up in her chest.

"Then yes, you can go." Hayley gave a single nod as Phoebe grinned brightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squealed, quickly hugging her.

"Yeah, yeah." Hayley smiled, patting her back before pulling away, "You're gonna be late for school."

"Yes, right. Emily's outside." Phoebe repeated through her excitement, moving towards the door.

"Are you coming home after school or going with her?" Hayley called after her.

"Probably going with her, I'll let you know?" Phoebe shrugged, earning a nod from the singer.

"Curfew is eleven tonight, okay? Not a minute later." Hayley told her. Phoebe frowned slightly at the time, knowing that would barely give her any real time at the party, but didn't want to complain seeing as she was a little shocked they'd let her go in the first place.

"Eleven, got it." Phoebe stopped at the door, giving a quick nod to the singer.

"Bye, have a good day at school! Love you," Hayley smiled, moving back to sit at the table.

"Bye, mom! Love you too." Phoebe told her, opening the door before freezing. She looked back with wide eyes, only to see Hayley was mirroring her expression, eyes wide and mouth parted slightly. An inner panic set off in Phoebe's chest as she nodded quickly, "Right. Well, bye." She said hurriedly, turning back towards the door and accidentally slamming it in the process.

She cringed at the sound of it and stopped for a second, her hand still on the doorknob. She gave herself a few seconds to catch her breath before Emily's sister honked the car horn and she went into autopilot, moving towards the car.

She couldn't believe she'd just said that, accident or not.

***

a/n

oop