“My turn,” said Josh, as he saw a waiter walking up to him. The waiter holding the platter with both envelopes for him said his name. “I’m taking dare. They look like lots of fun. Right girls.” He picked the dare envelope and removed the card. “You must dance Gangnam Style on the dance floor.”
Josh groaned. “Fuuuuuck! What a gyp! Tess gets girl-on-girl action and I get to make a fool of myself.”
We all laughed. This was a lot of fun and turning into a great way to spend my birthday.
Clint’s turn was last. The waiter was right behind him after Josh’s waiter departed. “Well, like my girl, I’m going for truth.” Clint selected the envelope and read his card. His face changed to a look of sheer horror as he scrunched up the card, reaching into his pants’ pocket to retrieve his cell.
“What did it say Clint? What’s wrong?” I tried to get Clint’s attention but his eyes were searching the crowd, not doing anything else but being on high alert.
What the hell was on that card?
Clint’s head turned from one side to the other, his eyes cold and wide. “Nothing Norah. Everything is fine. Just fine. Stay here. I have a call to make.” Clint brushed past me, and as he did, he accidentally dropped his scrunched up card he had tried to jam into his pocket. I debated going after Clint, but after seeing his reaction, I needed to know what was written on the card. I looked at the card on the floor. Tess noticed what I was about to do.
“Don’t do it Norah. Just let Clint deal with whatever it is.” Whatever was on the card was bad, and had made Clint run off, looking freaked out.
I probably should have left that scrunched up card on the floor, and I probably shouldn’t have read it. But it wasn’t about what was right or wrong; it was about all the doubt and wonder I had stored inside me for months and how I had the worst feeling in my stomach right now . I felt it had all led to this.
Ignoring Tess, I picked up the card, unfolded it, and read. It said, ‘Someone is going to spill your secret tonight’.
My hands began to get clammy as I held the card. I had experienced this feeling before. It was the morning after the Literary ball when Josh told me the truth about Clint. Suddenly the moment that crushed me came back into my head, opening up the vault that imprisoned my darkness. The door was had been unlocked, and my darkness was readying itself to come out.
“Can you two go find Clint please? I need a minute.” They hurried off as I stood frozen, the world spinning all around me. My whole body tensing. I slipped into a mental dreamlike state. I could hear the sounds of people around me, the idle chatter, the reactions of when they read their cards, but my feet were numb, and the presence of all the other guests, looked like the soft glow of a street lamp. I was somewhere between truth and lies, reality and imagination. There was a sensation on my shoulder. A tapping suddenly made my whole body jump. I turned to see Kyser Harkin standing behind me.
“Miss Rossi, I was hoping you could help me with my dare.” He broke my trance with his steady voice. I snapped back into something that resembled normal, and tried my best to focus on his words.
“How can I do that?” I asked him, showing only disinterest in my voice. The smile I had walked in with this evening had now left the building.
“By dancing with me,” Kyser said and held out his hand. There was some jazz music playing in the background which I could make out in between my thoughts that held a myriad of mixed emotions at that moment.
“I don’t see how that helps with any dare.” I didn’t like Kyser Harkin and didn’t trust anything that came out of his mouth.
“Well Ms. Rossi, my dare is ‘dance with someone dangerous’.”
I eyed him suspiciously. “What makes me so dangerous?”
“Well, look at you. Men are willing to do whatever it takes to have you. That makes you very dangerous Ms Rossi. I wouldn’t want to be chasing you.”
He knew something, it was obvious, and he was enjoying playing with my head. “Tell me what you know?”
Kyser finally dropped his hand, realizing I wasn’t going to