Page 19 of Lonely Hearts Day
A couple people actually groaned as if disappointed. Was that a more popular game than I realized?
“No, we’re going to play a game of truth,” I held up the stack of cards that Jack had handpicked earlier.
“Truth or dare?” someone asked.
“Just truth.” I drew a card from the stack. “For example, Jack will start. What did the last text message you sent say?”
“Uh... I don’t remember,” he said.
“That’s why you get your phone out and read it,” I said.
He was giving hisdon’t make me do thislook but I wasn’t sure why. How embarrassing could a text sent by Jack be? He was a very mild texter. Sometimes he’d text more than three words; most of the time he didn’t. Jack was the kind of person who opened up when face-to-face, but whose digital interactions were very dry.
But it was obvious he didn’t want to do it so I said, “I’ll go first,” and looked at my phone. “The last text I sent was to Jack and it says:Get your butt over here, you’re late.” I could see his response to me right below that. It said:On my way. Why couldn’t he read that out loud? He’d obviously sent another text, to someone else. I wondered who.
“Boring!” Troy said. “We want to know whatJack’slast text said. The people must know!”
A couple whoops of agreement followed his demand.
“Givemea truth!” Sage said from where she sat next to Jack. Was she saving him? Had his last text been to her? A text he didn’t want everyone to hear?
My throat tightened at that thought and I didn’t know why. I cleared it, then flipped over another card. “What’s something you would do if you knew there were no consequences?”
“Kill Troy?” Sage said and everyone laughed.
“The purge!” Troy said, not offended at all. Then Troy pointed his finger in the air. “I dare David to hide anywhere in or around this house and if we can find him in less than five minutes, he loses.”
I sighed. “We’re playing truth, Troy.” Dares were dangerous. Prone to make-out sessions and admissions of love. Not something that belonged at this party.
“But weshouldbe playing truth ordare,” he said.
“Let him do it,” Sage said.
“It’s not a bad dare,” Jack said, taking Sage and Troy’s side. A sting of hurt zapped through me. We always took each other’s sides in public even if we didn’t always agree. Sometimes we fought it out later in private. Most of the time we agreed, though.
My skin prickled with irritation. I’d been overruled. “Okay, go hide. Don’t leave the house or yard.”
David stood, gave us all a salute and took off.
“You have two minutes to hide!” Troy yelled.
“Don’t go in any of the bedrooms!” I called after him, thinking how my sister and parents wouldn’t appreciate a strange guy in their closets, or wherever he chose to hide. And I definitely didn’t want him in my bedroom.
Troy started a timer that he held in the air for everyone to see. When there were ten seconds left, everyone started a countdown. At zero, they ran upstairs or outside, through laughter and shouts.
A few minutes later, I found myself alone in the kitchen, looking in the pantry and cupboards for David when my dad walked in. “Sorry,” I said. “There are people all over the house.”
He smiled. “That’s kind of how parties work.”
“Is it?”
He filled a glass with ice then water.
“It’s not too late to take Mom out,” I said.
The smile slipped off his face and he glanced toward the living room where I could see the white glow of the television in an otherwise dark room. “She’s with Evelyn.”
“Is something going on with Evelyn? Is she okay?” I asked, suddenly worried.