Not taking his eyes away from me, Jason\'s lips curve into his signature smirk that I\'m unfortunately growing accustomed to and he opens his mouth. \'\'Why don\'t you join us, Princess? It\'ll be fun.\'\'

I have two options

Option A-politely decline and make my way downstairs, get drunk and be like a \'normal teenager.\'

Option B-sit with the devil\'s spawn and the devil\'s twin.

None of the odds are in my favour, that much is clear, but if we\'re picking between the devil and the deep blue sea, I might as well pick the option that is less hazardous.

\'\'With pleasure.\'\'

Against better judgement, I make the slow and painful steps to the empty stool which so happens to be next to Jason. Mariah, as usual, sends me her famous evil glare, but I ignore her because I\'ve already had my pound of flesh. My hands crease together nervously, and my heart is racing at a rate that the doctors would no doubt consider unhealthy. Why am I nervous? I literally insulted Mariah moments ago and had the last laugh.

Jason casts a quick glance at me before turning his attention to a girl with teel coloured hair and freckles at the opposite end of the counter. \'\'Hi, I\'m Nina,\'\' she introduces herself. \'\'And you must be Melody.\'\' I\'m about to ask her how she knows my name, but I recall what Ryan told me when we had a project together.

The whole school knows about you and Jason\'s rivalry.

I nod slowly and she flashes her pearly whites. \'\'We\'re about to play truth or dare so you\'re just in time.\'\'

How original.

I make a quick perusal of the room and I don\'t see a familiar face, except for Jason and Mariah. Are all these other people really in Adelaide? If they are, then I\'m the most unobservant person in the world. A cute guy with shaggy blonde hair and a Guns N\' Roses T shirt, sitting next to Nina sends a smile my way and I smile back.

Jason notices our interaction and sends a sharp look his way. He raises a hand in mock surrender and I raise a brow. What\'s his problem? Why does he care if someone smiles at me or not? I\'m not his and far as I know, he and Mariah are still a thing.

Nina claps her hands to grab our attention. \'\'Alright. So as stated, we\'re going to play truth or dare, but with a twist. If you refuse to answer the questions honestly or do a dare, you drink. Seems simple enough, right?\'\' I cast my gaze to the red cups lined in the middle of the table. I didn\'t even realize they were there in the first place.

This is going to be a long game.

A few of us nod our heads in understanding of the rules and Nina continues. \'\'Okay, who wants to go first?" She hovers around the room with her doe eyes looking for any eager volunteers, but no one indicates interest. That\'s the thing about the question: \'Who wants to go first?\'

No one ever wants to go first.

Jason is typing away on his phone with a frown on his face, Mariah has her hands on the countertop, admiring her nails, shaggy blonde hair guy is talking with a girl in a wrap dress, a mocha skinned boy with a buzz cut has an uninterested look on his face and the last girl at the far edge of the table is looking at Nina expectantly.

Nina stands up and rolls her eyes. \'\'Come on guys, this is a party. Live a little.\'\' She groans. \'\'The whole point of this party is to celebrate test week being over. Since no one wants to go first, I\'d be picking volunteers.\'\'

\'\'Chris.\'\' Shaggy blonde hair guy turns to her and she grins. \'\'You\'re up first. Truth or dare?\'\'

He shrugs. \'\'Truth. I have nothing to hide.\'\'

\'\'What is the naughtiest thing you\'ve done in public?\'\'

Shaggy blonde hair guy, now known as Chris, pauses for a second. \'\'Well, I let my ex-girlfriend suck me off at my mum\'s birthday dinner. She went under the table in her sexy as fuck heels and pulled my-\'\'

\'\'I think we get the picture, Chris.\'\' Nina interrupts with a shudder. I agree. TMI Chris, TMI.

\'\'Next up, John.\'\' Buzz cut guy narrows his eyes. \'\'Truth.\'\'

\'\'When was the last time you had sex.\'\'

\'\'Yesterday. You don\'t need to know the details.\'\' Girl in a wrap dress blushes profusely when he says that and I put two and two together. They probably had sex yesterday, and if the look in her eyes is any indication, it was good.

\'\'Raina, it\'s your turn.\'\' Girl in the wrap dress nods eagerly. \'\'Dare.\'\'

\'\'I dare you to sit on John\'s lap and makeout with him for thirty seconds.\'\'

This catches my attention, including Jason\'s because he looks up from his device. She blushes again and Mariah starts screaming \'Do it\'. Nina follows suit, and before you know it, we\'re all encouraging her by screaming \'Do it\'.

She likes him, so she might as well.

Raina shyly rises from her chair and walks over to John who has a smirk on his face. We all watch as she straddles him on the stool and makes the first move by kissing him eagerly. He all but obliges, and it confirms my theory that they slept together. Their behaviour, down to their mannerisms look all too familiar, so much so that they don\'t hear Nina when she says that the time\'s up.

\'\'Time\'s up guys. Get a room if you want to jump each other or something.\'\' Nina jokes. They slowly detach their lips from each other and he puts her down and adjusts her dress, before she makes her way to her seat.

They make a very cute, interacial couple.

\'\'Stacy, you\'re up next.\'\'

.......

A whole thirty minutes of makeout sessions, drunk confessions and NSFW moments pass by along with my interest in the game. I haven\'t been called on yet to confess or do some weird shit and I\'m glad. My life is as boring as it gets so I haven\'t dome half the stuff some people just confessed to doing.

\'\'Melody, you haven\'t participated yet,\'\' Nina says. Jason\'s eyes follow my reaction. Feeling a little rebellious, I choose. \'Dare.\'

\'\'I dare you to go to that room over there,\'\' she points to a white door with gold ornaments on it. \'\'and makeout with Jason.\'\'

I knew I\'d regret my choice.

The whole room falls silent. \'\'I object,\'\' Mariah yells. \'\'She can\'t do that.\'\'

\'\'For once, I have to agree with Mariah. I can\'t do that.\'\' Chris snickers and Nina continues. \'\'It\'s a game, nothing to it. Besides, Jason didn\'t complain when Mariah licked alcohol off of Chris\' body.\'\'

Fair point.

\'\'But, still, she can\'t do that. They can\'t be in a room together.\'\' Mariah turns to me and sizes me up and down, her red dress matching the colour of her eyes. \'\'Decline and say you won\'t do it.\'\' she spits.

\'\'Calm your fake tits, Mariah,\'\' I drawl. \'\'I was going to take the alcohol.\'\' There\'s no way in heaven, earth or hell I\'m going to be alone in a room with Jason, let alone makeout with him. I don\'t trust myself around him.

Scratch that, I don\'t trust my heart around him. I\'d rather drink the alcohol and get it over with.

I stretch my hand to grab a red cup but a big, warm and firm hand stops me. I don\'t need to turn to see who it is. The familiarity of these hands still haunt my dreams sometimes. I remember how they caressed my face and how they squeezed my hand when I was narrating my experience in the police station.

I also remember how these hands drew me closer that night, under the stars and almost kissed me.

\'\'Let me go.\'\' I seethe in annoyance.

\'\'No.\'\'

He takes the red cup from my hand and places it back in its stead. With another firm hold, he grabs my right hand, and pulls me up from my chair. The others look at him like he is mad, and I\'m starting to think he is. What kind of sane person pulls another person from their chair?

\'\'You\'re fucking psycho,\'\' I spit as I struggle out of his hold. He doesn\'t budge, but instead gives me his signature smirk. His leather jacket and white T-shirt, paired with faded blue ripped jeans clings to his body so tightly that it took all the strength in the world foe me to not drool.

Focus, Mel.

\'\'I know.\'\' He spins me around till we\'re facing each other, and then bends down and picks me up, gently like I weigh nothing. Mindful of my dress, he puts me over his shoulder. The looks on everyone\'s face is priceless. Their jaws are slacked open in amazement and horror.

In Mariah\'s case, it\'s horror, because from my vantage point, she looks like she wants to murder me.

\'\'Let me go, Jason.\'\' I say on his shoulder. \'\'You\'re making a scene.\'\'

\'\'Let\'s give them a show.\'\'