Lily, her curiosity piqued, frowned. "What is it?"
Chloe hesitated for a moment before finally handing the card over. "You need to see this."
Lily snatched the card from Chloe, and the second her eyes scanned the words, her face went pale. "What!"
Her voice quivered, disbelief dripping from every word. She looked up, her eyes instantly locking onto Jake, a mix of hurt and confusion spreading across her features.
Jake shifted uncomfortably like a kid caught stealing cookies. "What is it, babe?" he asked cautiously, but you could tell he already knew this wasn't going to end well.
Lily's hands shook as she held up the card. "The card says... you slept with ETHAN."
Boom.
The room fell into stunned silence. Jake's face went ghost-white, and Ethan's eyes shot open wide in shock.
Everyone froze, waiting for someone, anyone, to speak up and break the heavy silence. But nope, not a word. This was one of those 'oh crap' moments.
Ethan finally found his voice first. "That's not true, Lily. Someone's trying to mess with us." His voice was tight like he wasn't sure he even believed his own words.
Ava shook her head, her expression as confused as everyone else's. "Yeah, this has to be a joke. Right?"
And just when the awkward silence couldn't get worse, everyone's phones beeped at the exact same time. Talk about creepy. They all pulled out their phones to see the same message from an unknown number: LIAR.
Ava read it aloud, her voice shaky. "What the hell? Who's doing this?"
Jake jumped up from his spot, panic overtaking him. "Babe, it's not true! I swear, I would never cheat on you, especially not with Ethan. You have to believe me." His voice was almost desperate now like he was trying to convince both Lily and himself.
Noah, who had been silently watching from the sidelines, couldn't hold back his confusion any longer. He mumbled under his breath, "Aren't they both boys?"
The words were quiet, but in the eerie silence of the room, they were more than enough to grab everyone's attention. The room went dead quiet again, everyone glancing first at Noah, then at Ethan and Jake.
Ava blinked, the shock in her eyes not fully settling in. "Wait... I know about Ethan being gay, but... Jake?" Her voice was shaky, full of disbelief. "If he's gay, then why is he with Lily?"
Her question hung in the air, thick with tension. Jake's face turned from pale to red in an instant, his eyes darting between Lily and the others.
He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. Ethan looked just as lost, unsure of what to say or how to fix the situation that seemed to spiral out of control.
*****
Oof, Noah, throwing in that little comment like a grenade. But I don't know why they forgot this fact.
I love it! Look at their faces,
Just wait till they unravel this mess.
Oh, how I enjoy this chaos...
*****
Lily, still visibly shaken from everything, looked at Jake with wide eyes, waiting for him to say something, to explain, but the silence that followed only made the hurt grow in her expression.
Chloe, holding the card tightly in her hand, finally spoke, her voice soft but laced with uncertainty. "Jake… what's going on?"
But Lily was beyond listening at this point. She stood abruptly, the hurt boiling over. "I don't know what to believe anymore, Jake! , you said you have changed, that's why I dated you. You even...even FUCKED ME as a proof, YOU BASTARD. Now I understand why you did it in the @ss H*le ."
Her voice cracked, tears threatening to spill over more of the secrets. Without waiting for a response, she rushed out of the room, running upstairs. The sound of her footsteps echoed in the now painfully quiet house.
The room was silent once again...Noah, Natalie, and Chloe looked at Jack and then Ethan...and then at Lily, who was running...
Ava, being the loyal best friend she was, didn't waste a second and chased after Lily. "Lily, wait!" she called, but Lily was already gone.
The rest of the group stayed downstairs, stunned and unsure what to do next. Jake collapsed back onto the couch, his hands covering his face. "Why is this happening? I didn't do anything."
Ethan, equally shaken, sat beside him, trying to wrap his head around everything. "I don't know, man, but this feels like someone's messing with us, big time."
Noah, glanced around the room, his face serious. "We need to figure out who's behind this. It's not one of us, right?"
Chloe, her mind racing, nodded slowly. "I don't think any of us knew about this already."
Natalie crossed her arms, her frown deepening. "Then who sent that message? And why?"
Before anyone could answer, they heard the distinct slam of a door from upstairs. Ava soon returned, her expression exhausted. "She's not in a good place right now. We should give her some space."
Jake looked up at Ava, frustration and helplessness battling in his eyes. "Did she say anything?"
Ava shook her head. "No, she's just really upset. She doesn't know what to believe."
Noah, trying to lighten the mood and distract from the chaos, reached for another card. "Let's just keep going. Maybe it'll help." But when he read the next dare, even his voice faltered. "Hurt your knees with a rod."
Everyone exchanged bewildered looks. What kind of sick game was this turning into?
Jake let out a dry laugh, shaking his head. "What the hell kind of dare is that? This game's seriously getting twisted."
Chloe's face twisted in disgust. "Who would write something like that?"
Natalie got up and started pacing, clearly disturbed. "I think we should stop. Something's seriously off here."
Noah looked torn, glancing at his friends. "Maybe we should…"
Before they could finish the conversation, a loud THUD from upstairs sent them all into panic mode.