Jayjay'sPOV.
We all happily finished our chocolates, and now we were crowded in a circle, fiercely debating what we should do next.
"Truth or Dare!" Rakki suggested loudly, slamming her palm flat against the floor. She immediately winced, rubbing her hand in instant regret.
"Okay, but this time, let's do it a little differently," Ella chimed in. Knowing her, I already had a feeling what she meant.
"What kind of different?" David asked, raising an eyebrow. Ella glanced over at me, and I gave her a firm nod of approval.
"So, in this version, I'll be holding two chits—one with 'Truth' written on it and one with 'Dare.' You have to blindly pick one and reveal what you got. Then, the rest of the squad will decide what question you have to answer or what dare you have to complete," I explained smoothly.
Everyone nodded, instantly understanding the new rules. Keifer quickly fetched some paper and a pen from his desk. I neatly tore them up, wrote 'Truth' and 'Dare' on the pieces, and thoroughly shuffled the chits in my hands. I looked around the eager circle. Who was going to be the first victim?
"David!" the entire squad yelled in unison, forcefully pushing him into the center.
David looked at everyone, his eyes wide with shock, but he quickly shrugged it off. He reached out, drew a chit from my hand, and let out a massive sigh of relief.
"Truth," he announced proudly.
The guys standing directly behind him instantly let out groans of disappointment.
"Shiiiii—oot," Ella muttered, quickly catching herself. I knew exactly what word she was actually going to say.
"Okay, okay! Let me ask the question," Freya demanded, stepping forward. Since she was his girlfriend, the rest of us happily stepped back to let her take the lead. "David, if you absolutely had to choose between me and the boys... who would you pick?"
Instantly, all the boys locked their eyes onto David, waiting for his response.
"I would choose both," he replied smoothly, completely casual.
"No! Choosing means you have to pick exactly one," Freya insisted, crossing her arms.
David sighed softly, his expression softening as he looked at her. "Look, I can't choose between my childhood friends and you. They've been with me through everything since we were kids. But you... you're my future, the absolute love of my life. So, I literally cannot choose one over the other."
Freya's cheeks instantly flushed a deep shade of pink.
"Ooooohhh!" the entire squad chorused, repeatedly nudging Freya's shoulders as she stood there completely frozen, a massive, blushing smile plastered on her face. We decided to let them be.
"Alright, let's keep it going. I'll hold the chits, the boys will come up one by one to pick, and then we'll give them their question or dare," I announced.
They all nodded eagerly. Calix stepped up first and drew a chit. It was a Dare.
"Aha! You have to dance exactly the way you did when you were completely drunk back in London!" Aries exposed, a massive smirk spreading across his face.
"Hey! I was totally out of it that time!" Calix protested, his face turning red.
"Exactly, that's why we want to see it," Aries replied smoothly.
Calix let out a defeated sigh, stood straight in the center of the room, and suddenly started dancing aggressively like an absolute chicken. The entire room burst into roaring laughter as he flapped his arms around. After a solid minute of pure chaos, he finally stopped, looking completely embarrassed as he scurried back to his spot.
Next up was Denzel. He drew a Dare.
"Propose to Grace in the most painfully cringe way possible," Yuri instantly commanded, smirking evilly.
"Just wait, your turn is coming next, dude," Denzel muttered under his breath, though Yuri just laughed it off.
Denzel took a deep breath, dropped dramatically onto both knees, and looked up at Grace, who was standing right in front of him.
"Grace Miller! I am desperately in love with you! Please, marry me!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Grace didn't even hesitate. She immediately slapped his shoulder. "Nope," she said deadpan.
Denzel quickly stood back up, rubbing his arm as we all chuckled. Next was Percy. He stepped forward, picked a chit, and it was a Truth.
"Who is your ultimate celebrity crush?" Honey asked, leaning forward with a smirk.
Percy swallowed hard, suddenly looking incredibly nervous. "Umm... Emma Watson," he stammered, scratching his head. Then he quickly corrected himself, puffing out his chest proudly. "No, no! I mean Hermione Granger!"
Honey rolled her eyes at his ridiculous response while he let out a nervous chuckle.
"She's a fictional character, not a real celebrity, you idiot," I pointed out. Percy rolled his eyes right back at me. Just wait, I am definitely telling Papa about this later.
Next came Aries. He picked a chit, and it was a Truth.
"Tell us the name of your middle school crush and the exact story of what happened," Keifer chimed in smoothly, a sharp smirk on his lips.
"Oh, you—" Aries cut himself off, clearing his throat awkwardly as he felt everyone's gaze on him. "Fine. I had a massive crush on a girl in my class named Aileen. One day, I finally built up the courage to tell her that I liked her. She immediately said no, and then she flipped her long hair so aggressively that it literally flew straight into my open mouth."
He finished the explanation and immediately shot a worried glance over at Ella.
"Serves you completely right," Ella muttered under her breath, crossing her arms. Oh, she was absolutely jealous. Hehe.
Next up was Yuri, and he drew a Dare. Denzel didn't waste a single second to get his revenge.
"Call Rakki's dad right now and tell him that you two secretly got married two years ago, and that she's currently pregnant," Denzel commanded, a truly evil smirk on his face.
"No way! Absolutely not!" Rakki yelled in horror.
We all roared with laughter, but a dare is a dare—he had to do it. With shaking hands, Yuri pulled out his phone and dialed her dad's number, putting it on speaker.
"Hello, Tito..." Yuri squeaked, sweat instantly breaking out on his forehead.
"Hello, son," her dad greeted back warmly.
"Actually... I wanted to tell you that me and Rakki secretly got married two years ago. And, um... she's currently pregnant," Yuri confessed in one breathless rush.
The line went completely quiet for a fraction of a second before Tito immediately started furiously cursing through the speaker. "You pervert—!"
"Daddy, it's a dare! Our stupid friends forced him to do it!" Rakki shrieked at the top of her lungs, cutting her dad off before he could launch into a full rant.
The cursing instantly stopped. A second later, the call was abruptly disconnected. The entire room completely lost it, laughing hysterically at the sight of Rakki and Yuri, who were both dripping in pure, terrified sweat.
"Keifer is going last. Right after Jayjay, I have a very specific question to ask," Percy announced, sharing a malicious smirk with Aries. Oh, for the love of holy seven white sheep, what are they planning?
"Okay!" everyone chorused in a teasing unison.
Then came the rest of the girls. Freya picked a Dare, and her challenge was to not utter a single curse word for the entire rest of the night—which was way too easy for her. Next was Mica, who got a Truth.
"How many dates have you and Calix actually gone on?" Honey asked curiously.
Mica paused, thinking hard. "Honestly, I don't even remember. It's been way too many to count," she smiled, and we all nodded along.
Next was Grace, who drew a Truth. Calix immediately asked her if she had ever dated anyone before Denzel. She directly replied no, explaining that while many boys had tried to court her in the past, she had never accepted a single one of them—a fact that all of us girls already knew anyway.
Then it was Honey's turn. She drew a Dare, and her challenge was to reveal exactly what she thought of Percy the very first time she ever saw him.
"So, I was having a sleepover at Tita Jeana's place when I first spotted him," Honey began, scratching her head awkwardly. "He was aggressively drinking chocolate milk while fiercely arguing with Jayjay for another box, right before she left for the US. Honestly, I initially thought he was just super immature or a total pick-me boy... but it turns out he's just naturally childish."
We all burst into loud laughter, turning to look at Percy, who was currently staring at Honey with the most betrayed, heartbroken eyes imaginable.
Next was Ella. She drew a Dare, and her challenge was to aggressively hit Aries as if she were deeply jealous of his middle school crush. She took the dare very seriously, whacking him way too hard. Serves him right! Ella was definitely using that as an excuse to take absolute revenge for that Aileen story.
Next was Rakki, who got a Dare to explain exactly how she felt when Yuri suddenly left for Japan without telling her and didn't return for months.
"When he first vanished with his family, I genuinely thought he just forgot to mention he was going on a quick trip," Rakki recalled. "But after a whole month passed, I fully believed he had broken up with me. It turned out this absolute idiot just didn't have enough prepaid balance on his phone to send me a single text message!"
To emphasize her point, she reached over and slapped the back of Yuri's head. Yuri let out a loud "Ahh!" face, quickly rubbing his head while we laughed.
Finally, it was officially my turn—all thanks to my stupid elder brother. Ella took the chits in her hands and thoroughly shuffled them. I reached out, picked one, and unfolded it.
Truth.
"Three days ago, at exactly 6:00 PM, you left the house claiming you were going out with Keifer," Percy interrogated, a massive, teasing grin on his face as everyone locked their eyes onto me, eagerly waiting for my response. "Was that an official date? Have you guys ever actually gone on a date before?"
My face instantly started heating up. "...Yeah. We're fiancés, we can go out and eat. And for your information, we've only gone on one single date," I mumbled, trying to sound casual.
The boys instantly grinned, repeating my words back to me in annoying, singsong voices.
"Fiancés~"
"Date~"
"Dinner~"
I completely ignored their teasing. Next up was Keifer's turn, and he smoothly drew a Dare.
"What was the most annoying or ridiculous thing Jayjay did during your date?" Aries immediately asked, leaning forward with an evil glint in his eyes.
"Can we please move off the topic of our date?!" I complained loudly, but Aries just shook his head, completely refusing to let me off the hook.
Keifer looked down at me, and from the look in his dark eyes, I knew exactly what he was about to bring up—the time I stood on the rooftop and aggressively started shouting at random people on the street.
Before he could even open his mouth, Ella motioned for all of us to sit down. We complied, and I slid right onto the floor beside Keifer. The exact second he opened his mouth to answer the dare, I lunged forward and firmly clamped both of my hands directly over his mouth.
"Nope! Absolutely not!" I yelled, my face burning a bright crimson. "You guys are literally just finding any random excuse to tease me! No, no, no!"
I completely refused to remove my hands from his face. Keifer didn't even try to fight back or pull away. He just sat there completely relaxed, quietly letting me hold my hands over his mouth. The rest of the squad stared at him in disbelief, and Keifer just casually shrugged his shoulders at them, completely content with staying silent if it kept me happy.
I was still up on my knees, fiercely clamping my hands over Keifer's mouth to keep him from blabbing.
"That's total cheating!" Percy protested loudly, crossing his arms.
"So ask something else!" I snapped back, glaring at him.
"It's our choice what we ask," he countered, completely refusing to back down.
"You said our, but it's literally only you who asked!" I shot back.
Percy turned to the rest of the room. "Guys, who's with me?"
I looked around the circle. The boys didn't hesitate for a single second and instantly raised their hands. Then, to my absolute horror, the girls did the exact same thing.
"Girls, you too?!" I cried out, feeling completely betrayed.
"Sorry, Jay, but we desperately want a topic to tease you with from the bottom of our hearts," Rakki said, awkwardly scratching her head.
"Now you're just cheating. Get off him," Aries chimed in.
I aggressively shook my head. What was up with these guys anyway? Keifer himself wasn't even bothered by me covering his mouth! Aries stepped forward, giving me a warning look that actually kinda scared me, but I still refused to budge. He reached out and started trying to pry my hands off Keifer's face.
Without thinking, I leaned in and bit his hand hard. My teeth dug straight into Aries' skin.
"AHHH!" Aries screamed at the top of his lungs, jumping back dramatically.
"Go on, go on, try me!" I barked, still keeping my hands locked over Keifer's mouth. Knowing the squad wouldn't stop pressuring him, I leaned down slightly toward Keifer and whispered in a desperate plea, "Please, please, please don't tell them..."
I looked at him, hitting him with my ultimate weapon: the biggest puppy eyes I could muster. Keifer stared at me, his sharp eyes instantly softening before he gave me a reassuring nod.
A massive smile broke across my face. I motioned for him to speak, but he just pointed his eyes down toward my hands, which were still securely masking his mouth. I chuckled awkwardly and finally let him go, dropping back down.
"I'm not telling," Keifer announced to the room, pointing a thumb at me. "Since it's completely against her will."
Still on my knees, I proudly planted both hands on my waist and triumphantly stuck my tongue out at my blue-eyed brother. Percy mimicked me right back, so I mimicked him again.
Suddenly, without warning, the entire mansion pitched into pitch blackness. The lights had gone off.
Instinctively, I lunged forward and tightly clung to the arm of the person sitting next to me. I had no idea who it even was. Suddenly, that person stood up abruptly, dragging me along with them in the dark. We stumbled somewhere through the darkness until the person suddenly vanished right out of my grip.
"Hoi..." I whispered into the empty black space.
Suddenly, a heavy hand dropped right onto my shoulder. My heart leaped out of my chest.
"AHHHHH!" I screamed, jumping violently into the air and tossing myself around like a maniac.
BANG! My leg painfully bumped into the edge of a chair. As I stumbled, someone firmly grabbed both of my arms to steady me. I squeezed my eyes shut, terrified to open them. But instead of a ghost attack, the person started shaking me gently.
"Jay, are you okay?" a familiar, calm voice asked.
Keifer...
"Keifer?" I squeaked.
"Yeah, it's me," he murmured, gently letting go of my arms.
Flicker. He lit a small candle, and the dim glow revealed our surroundings. We were standing in the middle of the kitchen. Keifer rummaged through the drawers for a moment and came back holding seven flashlights. He handed three to me, and we quickly navigated our way back to the living room.
I tossed the flashlights to Percy, Aries, and Yuri, while Keifer distributed the rest to the others. Everyone clicked their torches on. I glanced over at David, who had mischievously placed his lit flashlight directly under his chin, casting creepy shadows on his face as he slowly turned toward Freya.
"AHHHHH!" Freya shrieked. She immediately began aggressively hitting him, while the rest of us burst into roaring laughter.
"That's enough, Freya!" I managed to choke out through my laughter, but she didn't stop raining blows down on him until she was fully satisfied.
Yuri cleared his throat, adjusting his light. "Let's tell the most terrifying incidents of our lives."
The boys all nodded in agreement, while we girls exchanged hesitant looks. Eventually, we agreed. We all stood up and rearranged ourselves into a tight circle on the floor. Keifer sat on my right, with Aries to his right. Then came Rakki on Yuri's right, Freya on Rakki's right, David on her right, Denzel on David's right, Grace on Denzel's right, Percy on Denzel's right, Honey on Percy's right, Mica on Honey's right, Calix on Mica's right, Aries on Calix's right, Ella on Aries' right, and finally me, sitting right beside Ella.
"Bro, just telling a story won't be fun. Let's watch a horror movie instead," David suggested, a wide grin spreading across his face.
I looked up at Keifer, and he gave me a small nod, gently reaching out to hold my hand. Ella lightly nudged my shoulder from the left. I turned to look at her, and she was grinning at me like a total goofball. I knitted my brows in confusion, but she just giggled. I decided to let her be and turned my attention back to the group.
They pulled up a horror movie—Insidious—and placed the phone right in the center of our circle. At first, the movie wasn't even that scary. We were all just watching quietly when a sudden jump scare flashed on screen.
Someone shrieked at the top of their lungs, and a hand wildly flipped the phone upside down. In the pure chaos, all of our flashlights on the floor suddenly clicked off. We scrambled in the dark, quickly grabbing our torches and turning them back on.
When the beams of light illuminated the room, I blinked in disbelief. Percy was literally sitting squarely on Aries' shoulders, screaming for his life.
"What the heck?! Get the hell off me!" Aries roared, violently shaking him off.
Percy scrambled down, looking around at our staring faces, and let out a deeply awkward smile. "Aura minus," he muttered under his breath, scurrying back to his original spot.
We all absolutely lost it, laughing hysterically at his self-proclaimed aura deduction.
"Crybaby!" I teased loudly, making everyone laugh even harder.
"Let's... let's not watch a horror movie," Percy pleaded, looking at us nervously.
"Why? You scared?" Yuri teased, leaning forward.
"WhY yOu ScArEd?" Percy mimicked him in a mocking voice. We all cracked up at the ridiculous faces they were making at each other.
"Whatever, that's actually a good idea," Denzel said, grinning broadly as he shot a knowing look over at Keifer. Wait, what was going on?
"No, I think we should complete the movie, then we can do what we want," I suggested.
"NO!" Percy shouted, dramatically jumping to his feet. We all stared at him in utter shock.
Honey didn't even blink. She reached up, grabbed his shoulders, and forcefully slammed him back down onto the floor. In a swift motion, she securely locked his neck inside her arm.
"Move one more inch and I'll literally choke you," she threatened deadpan. Percy immediately raised a peace sign in surrender. She let him go but kept a fierce glare locked onto him.
"Keifer, we should do something else," Yuri said, a massive grin plastering his face.
"What? Tell us too!" Rakki demanded, giving Yuri a hard shove. Yuri completely lost his balance and fell sideways flat onto the floor.
"Actually, Keifer has been singing songs back in London. And all of them were completely written by him," Percy exposed.
I blinked, looking at Percy in total confusion. "How do you even know that? You weren't even in London with them."
"Hello? He's been my childhood friend, and my brother was also there, so he told me," Percy said defensively.
"First of all, don't speak to me in that tone. And second of all, our brother. He's my brother way more than yours," I shot back, flipping my hair.
Percy instantly threw his head back and mimicked my words in an incredibly high-pitched, annoying voice. "FiRsT oF aLl, DoN'T sPeAk To Me LiKe ThAt, AnD sEcOnD oF aLl, OuR bRoThEr~ He'S mY bRoThEr MoRe ThAn YoU~"
I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt, while tlhe rest of the room roared with laughter. Seriously, was Percy mimicking everyone way too much tonight?
"Okay, so... Hari, would you like to sing?" I asked, turning to Keifer.
He glanced over at the boys, looking a bit hesitant. "I don't have my guitar down here."
"Yes, you do! I literally saw it in your room," I countered. Keifer let out a sheepish smile.
"Okay, fine. I'll go grab it," he murmured.
He stood up and went upstairs. While he was gone, we girls all moved over to sit comfortably on the sofa. When Keifer walked back down holding his guitar, the rest of the boys suddenly assembled behind him. Wait... where on earth did three pianos come from?! And more guitars?!
"Hoi, hoi! Where did all of this equipment even come from?!" I demanded, gesturing wildly.
"Idiot, all of these things were literally sitting right there in the corner of the room the whole time," Aries pointed out, rolling his eyes.
"You bugger idiot!" I snapped back, and he just rolled his eyes again.
Percy, Aries, Yuri, and Keifer all took up the guitars, while Denzel, David, and Calix took their positions at the pianos. The pianos were perfectly arranged in a neat row at the back. The next row consisted of Yuri, Percy, and Aries holding their guitars. And right at the front, sitting comfortably on a chair, was Keifer.
He carefully adjusted his guitar strings. Once he was fully satisfied, he looked up, his dark eyes locking onto mine, and smiled softly.
"Only for you," he murmured.
The girls instantly started squealing and teasing me, but they eventually quieted down as the room grew still. Keifer cleared his throat, his fingers gently strumming a beautiful, melodic chord. Then, he began to sing:
"Like a steady light in the dark of night,
You make my whole world soft and bright.
If the stars should fall and the sun goes gray,
I'd hold your hand through the end of days."
His smile grew wider, his gaze never breaking from mine.
*"You're the breath in my lungs, the blood in my body,
Without your smile, the world is just cloudy.
Without you here, my lungs will dry,
Without you near, my heart will die.
No blood will pump, no air will rise,
Unless I'm looking in your eyes.
With you alone, I am complete,
You make my heavy heartbeat sweet.
You are the sun that gives me light,
Chasing away my coldest night.
Before you came, my world was dim,
I never knew how love could win.
Your smile is the brightest I've ever seen,
The loveliest sight there has ever been.
Your eyes shine bright like a spark in the dark,
Leaving on my soul a beautiful mark.
You're the golden sunshine, warm and bright,
The only glare that feels perfectly right."*
A small, unstoppable smile broke across my face.
"Whenever you feel lonely, just look to your right,
I'll be standing beside you to fight the dark night.
My beautiful queen, let it be known and clear,
After my mother, you're the one I hold dear."
I stared at him, my heart doing backflips. Really? I asked him with my eyes. Keifer gave me a firm, gentle nod in response, continuing seamlessly:
"Call me your servant, your shield, or your slave,
I will never leave you, forever this brave.
Just give me the order, command what you desire,
To win your smile, I'd give up my whole empire."
Suddenly, the background music from the boys swelled, growing louder, richer, and incredibly romantic.
"If you opened my chest, if you looked deep inside,
You'd see in my heart it's just you who resides.
Take my life if you wish, I will never complain,
As long as you're with me, I welcome the pain.
Believe me, my darling, my promise is true—
I have never looked at another like I look at you."
He playfully winked at me, and my face went completely hot.
"You are my sunshine, my life, and my friend,
A beautiful story that never will end.
You are my everything, my anchor, my guide,
My world is at peace when you're by my side."
Keifer tilted his head slightly, his fingers moving incredibly fast now, dancing across the guitar strings as the melody built to a powerful crescendo.
"So lean on me, darling, and give me your hand,
Together we'll rule over all of this land.
No crown is as bright as the love that you bring,
My sweetheart, my queen—you are my everything!"
He hit the last part with absolute passion, his eyes closed as the final note rang beautifully through the room. When he slowly opened his eyes, he looked straight at me. I looked right back at him, a massive, blushing smile spreading across my face, and he returned it with a warm smile of his own.
The End 🌸.
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