The night enveloped a seaside mansion, casting a velvety darkness over the sprawling estate. It was the final night of the summer holidays, and a group of teenagers had congregated in the spacious backyard, where a large outdoor table stood illuminated by twinkling fairy lights.
The light crackle of the flaming grill was drowned by all the noise around them. The soft strains of the music wafted through the air, creating an ethereal ambience reminding one of their once-forgotten youth.
Lance, Kigen, Myan, Ross, and several others were gathered around the table, their faces illuminated by the warm glow of the luminous lanterns around the pool.
Laughter and animated chatter filled the night as they relished their last moments of freedom before the school year began anew as seniors. Lance sat at the head of the table, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he recounted a recent escapade.
Kigen, their gracious host, leaned back in his chair, his smile radiant with genuine affection for his friends. Myan, with her infectious laughter, reached across the table to playfully tousle Ross's hair, momentarily silencing his boisterous banter.
And there, amidst the lively group, sat Wyatt Ainsworth, the epitome of coolness and allure. With a handsome face framed by tousled hair and his magical blue eyes reflecting the starlit sky, he exuded an irresistible charm that had captured the hearts of countless girls in school. Wyatt's aloof aura and nonchalant expression only added to his allure, leaving the girls longing for his attention.
"... what do you mean she is a six? Are you blind? She is everything any man could dream of," said Kigen while swiping his cell phone showing off pictures of someone's profile.
Lance laughed out loud seeming not as impressed as Kigen. He shook his head no while saying, "You are obviously blind. If that girl is a ten then Myan is a fifty."
Myan accidentally yanked at Ross' hair that she was playing with a little startled. "Of course, I am way more gorgeous than she is, right Wyatt?"
Wyatt who had stayed out of this conversation purposefully took a sip of his mocktail and didn't say anything. He ignored Myan's flirtatious glances showing no interest at all.
Ross took out his cell phone and said, "How about her?" and all the others leaned in close to take a look.
"What's her name again?" asked Lance as Ross swiped down the girl's profile. She was undoubtedly the school goddess. The girl every guy wanted to be with. Her name was Luna and just like the moon, she shone bright outshining them all.
Kigen smacked Lance upside his head while yelling, "How can you not know her name when she has been on your lips all summer?"
Lance rubbed the back of his head with a slight smile. He just didn't want others to find her interesting otherwise it would increase his competition.
"Can we stop evaluating girls? It's disrespectful... wait who is that hahaha? She follows Luna," said Myan clearly forgetting what she had said prior. The boys leaned in close to take a look all except Wyatt. He seemed very disinterested.
"Crazy Kilin, I didn't think she knows Luna. They were never in the same class," chimed in Lance.
"Oho and here I thought you didn't know Luna's name before," said Ross and the others couldn't help but laugh at him.
"Will you stop? I was just messing with you. Why does crazy Kilin like every picture of Luna's? Is she a stalker or something?" said Lance ready to be a Knight and save his damsel that was obviously not in distress.
"Ahaha what the hell does she post? She looks weird," said Myan looking at Kilin's posts. She had fewer pictures on her profile but they were the worst pictures with terrible lighting and half the time she was wearing baggy home clothes and crazy hair. The rest of her pictures were of miscellaneous things like manga, cotton candy frappuccinos and a picture of her brother and friend.
"Definitely a three," said Kigen while zooming in on her face.
"I say a one. She is too crazy for my liking," said Lance.
Ross didn't say anything about it. He just locked his cell phone and suggested, "Want to play truth or dare? Let's do something crazy before we lose our freedom," he suggested and they all echoed his sentiments.
The game started innocently with silly truth questions and weird dares like jumping into the pool shirtless. But as the game proceeded they upgraded to prank calling their parents or anyone the dare master wanted. Even the truth questions were getting really personal. Despite this, the group seemed to be having so much fun.
Kigen spun the bottle after being yelled at by his mother for calling her and telling her that he crashed his sports car. After such an earful he was out for blood.
Whoever it was this bottle was going to point at he vowed to make them pay. It would even be better if it stopped on Lance as he was the one who gave him such a terrible dare.
"... your mother is so scary. She is really good at cursing as well," said Lance with laughter in his eyes finding this rather amusing.
Kigen shoved him feeling quite irritable. He was about to pick a fight with him when the bottle slowed down and stopped facing Wyatt.
Lance laughed even louder when he saw this. Wyatt was never the one to mess with and he was known to hold grudges. Kigen knew that too but after being embarrassed so many times with personal questions and getting yelled at by his mother he wasn't willing to let Wyatt go.
Especially when Wyatt had been very lucky this entire time and hadn't been picked. Kigen gritted his teeth and asked, "Truth or dare?" Wyatt leaned forward and replied coolly,
"Dare," his voice charming and deep.
"I dare you... I dare you to confess to a girl and get her to agree to be your girlfriend," he said and loud complaints and laughter ensued.
"No, that's not fair for him. How can you ask him to date some random girl?" complained Myan seeming quite displeased with this and she wasn't the only one who felt that way.
"No no no you misunderstand. I am not saying he should date her. I just said he should make her his girlfriend. Whatever he does after is up to him. Your charm is great but I don't think your charm is good enough to get a girl to date you with one text," explained Kigen and the backyard was in chaos.
"Which girl in this school doesn't like him? All he has to say is 'come here' to a girl and they would willingly follow," interjected Ross but Kigen wasn't backing down.
"I have a girl for him. Her... DM her and ask her to be your girlfriend," said Kigen showing them the screen of his cellphone.
"Kilin, really?" exclaimed Lance as they all crowded around the cell phone screen.
Wyatt glanced at the profile on the cell phone without responding for a long time. The atmosphere became chilling but most of the boys were looking forward to it.
"What? Are you scared?" taunted Kigen. He knew he would pay for this later but he was so high on adrenaline and couldn't wait to see him do it.
Wyatt leaned back in his seat as he said, "Fine. Give me her username."
Myan's eyes widened. She couldn't believe he would actually do it. No one could ever make Wyatt do something he didn't want to do. He wasn't one to be bullied into doing something.
He clicked on her profile and tapped the message icon while everyone gathered around to watch him do it. He was about to type when he glared coldly at them and like roaches they scattered but not far. They knew he was strict with his personal space but they couldn't help themselves. They also wanted to see how Wyatt flirted because he was a very detached individual.
He typed a few words and without a second thought he sent it. For a solid five minutes, they waited for a response with bated breath. This was by far the best dare they had had in a year.