The Day After

CHAPTER SIX- THE GAMES

After a long successful night, Monique and Daniel fall asleep and only Jade and I are left standing. I could tell that jade was still upset so I decided it was time for a talk. "We never really talked about your dad Jade, I'm so sorry. If you ever need to talk about anythi-" Before I could finish my sentence Jade interrupts me.
"You know what, I need some fresh air" She says taking me by surprise. I walk outside and see her sitting on the bench.

"Is it your dad? Is that why you're sad?" I asked her confused about what's making her so upset. She was really sad about her dad for a long time after it happened and we were there for her, giving her whatever she needed whether it be ice cream, space or just a shoulder to cry on, there was nothing we wouldn't do for her. After a while she began to heal, she started a hair and beauty course, bought a house and she's even in a relationship. I knew she would still be upset about her dad for years but there is something different about the way she's upset now like she's just gone through it all over again.

"It's just the way you are getting through your dad's death. It's so much easier than when my dad died, I guess i'm just envious." she says and her words sting like she's just implied that i'm not sad about my dad's death. That made me angry, but then again I guess I know where she's coming from. She lost her dad and she didn't come out of her room for days, her mum left her to deal with her dad's death alone so all she could do was sit and cry and all she had was me and Monique and at that point neither of us knew what she was feeling.

"I get where you're coming from I do. Your situation was a lot worse than mine, you didn't have anyone to turn to that knew how you were feeling but I do, I have two friends who know what it's like to grow up without a parent and I'm grateful for that. It makes it just a little bit easier to deal with the fact that my dad is gone" I think she starts to feel better because she just sighs and gives me a hug. "I've been getting lots of hugs lately" I say trying to make her laugh which she does. We laugh for a while then decide to go inside and have a cup of hot chocolate and go to sleep.

After a good night sleep we all decide to play games to find out more about each other than we already know, more like to get to know more about Daniel but no one admits that and we start off with a game of truth or dare to get us in the mood, I think they thought it was a good way to get my mind off of everything. "Okay so who wants to go first" I ask and no one volunteers "fine i'll go first but let's just remind everyone of the rules. Rule one. If you don't answer a truth or do a dare you must take off one item of clothing. Rule two. You cannot double truth or dare meaning if someone gives you a dare, you cannot give them one back. And that's all the rules so Monique truth or dare?"

"Truth and be nice" She says and we all laugh knowing I wasn't going to.

"What is the biggest secret you kept from your parents when you were growing up?" I asked Monique. I could see the colour change in her face from pale to bright red. There was something about the way her face changed that told me that she was really nervous about telling us, like she has been holding onto this secret her whole life and it's dangerous to speak the truth.

"I had an abortion" she said quietly, shamefully. "When I was 15, it was a horrible experience that I just wanted to forget so I didn't talk about it at all not even with my parents." I was so shocked, I've always admired the openness Monique has with her parents. I was kind of envious, she had everything i've ever wanted, a stable family, a boyfriend, it seems like she's got it so easy and i'm happy for her but sometimes I wish I could have her luck for once.

"Okay, no judgements, another rule." I said before anyone could respond, no one was talking, Daniel was staring at the floor but Jade was looking at her sympathetically. There were a lot of different emotions going around the room and I think Monique felt it. She continues the game by asking Jade.