HIP #2: Summer Of Love

Chapter 31

"Hey!" I halfway raised my hand and greeted Peter. There was a wooden table and two wooden chairs beside it and he was sitting on the other one. "What's this for?" I froze beside one seat.

"Nothing. Seats for us. I just thought you might enjoy the night out here with the stars and the moon joined by the chilly breeze." I sat and placed my arms on the table.

"So, what should we do?" He leaned on the back and crossed his arms.

"I don't know. Maybe you should decide?" He faked his laughter of embarrassment.

"Why me?"

"Because I can't think of anything."

"Fine." I sighed. We are now two people with our arms crossed and backs leaned on the seat, facing each other in the same position. I'm not mimicking him, I just feel comfortable with this pose at the moment. "Truth or dare," I commented.

"Sounds fun and exciting." I nodded in agreement. "Let's add a little twist. Whoever doesn't want to answer the question or do the dare would drink a cup of pure coffee." He added. That's more brutal than getting stabbed in the back several times.

I eyed him devilishly like I'm planning something. "You're kidding," he shook his head and I rolled my eyes. "You're kidding me!" He laughed and rose his hands in defense. "No, I'm not. Come on, it's a nice game and a very friendly punishment."

Friendly? Maybe he has a different meaning of that word which is totally far from mine. "Friendly? Do you think that being unable to sleep for a week is friendly?" I can't believe he's laughing at it.

"Okay, you choose a punishment."

"What about a shot of alcohol?"

"You mean real alcohol or drinks?"

"Ugh! Obviously, the drinks. Do you want to drink a hand sanitizing alcohol?"

"Oh, well, that's pretty tough. It can make us tipsy but it's summer anyway so... I'm in." I don't know about what he meant when he said summer anyway but I just laughed and leaned closer to the table. "Where will we get a drink?" He asked. "I'll get one." Then I did what I said. I ran down the stairs, to the intermission area, and asked Amber for a bottle of alcohol and she gave me one.

I came back with it in my hands and two shot glasses. The wide smile on his face enlightened me and made me feel more excited. As I sat back down and placed them on the desk, he helped me assemble all of them. "Where did you get these?"

"From Amber." He nodded. This is going to be an iconic night for the two of us. We already played this game before. But as a group. Last year, we played this and Shane got drunk and ended up confessing things about how she sabotaged one of our old professor's lesson plans. Hopefully, I won't do anything stupid like her. We'll be playing just the two of us. Could be a little boring because we're not a group but maybe we can try to make it enjoyable.

"Let me go first, truth or dare?" I asked.

"Truth." He answered.

"Have you ever had a crush on a teacher, who is it?"

"Never."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm telling the truth."

"Okay then, your turn, I choose dare just to be a little exciting." I should have asked him a harder question.

"I dare you to scream I hate Taylor Swift." I shook my head and immediately took one shot of glass. The alcohol hits hard on my tongue and there was an immediate burning sensation as it ran through my mouth and through the delicate lining of my esophagus. That was a bad one.

"You really love her so much, don't you?" I nodded with my face still affected by what I drank. If only he knows why I love Taylor so much then I don't have to feel this way.

"Truth or dare?" I led the question onto him.

"Truth."

"Again?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, when was the last time you hid your feelings for someone?"

"Just a minute ago."

"Oh my God is that true?"

"I won't lie in this game and I trust you so... yeah."

"If you trust me then who is it that you hide your feelings for, huh? Is it someone I know? Is it Britney?" Teasing him feels like getting back to the good old days when we pick on each other as kids. It's fun.

"That's not fair. You can only ask one question on your turn now, choose! Truth or dare?"

I rolled my eyes sarcastically. "Truth."

"If there's one thing you hate about your boyfriend what is it?" I frowned. Well, a lot but should I tell him those.

"Come on! It's not like I'll tell him. We're not close." I bet he noticed that I felt weird about his question.

"Umm, probably the way he treats other girls nothing far from how he treats me." He laughed.

"What? Nothing is funny." He rose his hands again in defense.

"Okay, your turn; truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to tell Amber you like her-" before I can finish speaking, he quickly grabbed a shot glass and drank the alcohol in it. I bet he felt the burning sensation I felt earlier. I can see it in his facial expression. "That was really bad. I told you we should have just used coffee instead of this."

"Getting tipsy is better than being unable to sleep for a week. I choose truth again."

"Fine, truth? Well, let me ask you, have you ever been jealous of Britney, you guys have always been that close."

Yeah, most of the time actually but I hide it. I'm jealous not because she's always at the top of our class, and that she's the queen of extra-curricular activities but because Peter trusts her more than he trusts me. And that he's more comfortable with her more than he's comfortable with me. Most of all, he likes her and not me.

"Yeah, because she's always the top of our class. Now, never tell this to her!" He places his palm on his chest responding with, "Ma'am, yes ma'am!" I feel bad that I didn't tell him the truth. But I will feel worst if I would.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to walk to a stranger and get your phone, place it near your ear saying target found as a prank." Thinking of what he would do makes me laugh already.

He leaned to the table and took a drink. Whoa. That's his second shot. I feel the heat just by watching him. "No way, that's the prank that could send me to jail."