Behind The Lines In The Midnight Tree House/The Midnight Circle
(A/N: I decided to give this a shot, tell me what you think………..)
Why did this have to happen! That darn reporter! Why did the press always jump to conclusions?!?!
Anyways, what the press didn't know, was that they were kind of on to something. One night, Lilly, Oliver, Jackson, Jake, Miley, and Sarah all met in the secret clubhouse in the woods. It was midnight, of course, like it always was when they met. It was a secret no one would ever discover. It was a secret, elite, little club….well, it wasn't really elite. It was more like….all of the people who kept who they really are inside, living a masquerade by day and revealing their true selves by night. At first it had only been Miley, Lilly, and Oliver, but for some reason Lilly decided Miley's brother, Jackson, should join. Miley eventually was able to convince Jake to join. Later on the gang decided Sarah was definitely perfect material for the secret club.
And it wasn't really that much of a mystery who liked who, that first night when the six of them met in their hut that Miley and Lilly had built deep in the forest. The dark forest green leaves blew into Miley's ethereal face amidst the black of the night. It was a windy night, dust spiraling where it didn't belong; things going to places where they didn't belong. There were several grayish clouds in the sky, concealing the once lustrous stars that once reigned over the night sky. So yeah, even in the dark, you could probably guess who liked who. At least, that is, you think you can. But the lines weren't always that cliché, and normal was not always the only way.
It all started with a simple game of truth or dare. Really, it's not that dangerous of a game. It all depends on the questions, and the dares. It depends on how far off the dares are….and to what extent the dares get out of hand. Because, at first, dares are just dares…they are like a fiction story, of something that was never intended and definitely not meant; things only done to prove non-cowardice. But the more a person pretends, the more pretend becomes intermingled with the truth…the more lies gets blended with secrets that shouldn't be true, but, nonetheless, are. And once something has already become, you can't evade it, no matter how wrong it is.
It was Oliver's idea. Well, originally. In the end, it was him who begged for the game to stop. But lets not get that far yet; the story's still young.
"I know," Oliver said, with his usual over-confidant, happy but donut-ish voice, "Let's play truth-or-dare."
And there isn't a person in the entire world who can resist playing truth-or-dare, because who doesn't feel drawn to the idea that for one moment, you are in control of another person? It's powerful, and you think you can control them; make them tell the truth. But there is a thin line between truth and lies, and a person can tell the truth with it not really being the truth….it could be an irrelevant truth, or a truth that is not the whole truth. But the dares….those can't be dodged or side-stepped. Yes, dares were the glory of the infamous game of "truth-or-dare."
"Sure," everyone said at once, in unison. Except for Sarah. She had protested; she thought it was a bad idea, what it being midnight and dark. "Things could happen," she had said nervously.
"Of course things could happen," Miley had said spookily, "That's the whole point of the game."
"But…." Sarah had protested.
"Come 'on," Lilly said, trying to take the eerie away from the dark, "It'll be fun. Nothing will happen. Miley was only joshing with you."
"But…" Sarah protested.
"Sarah…." Lilly started, "It was Oliver's idea. What could happen?"
"Hey!" Oliver said.
"Fine, fine," Sarah said, reluctantly obliging.
But they all got into the game. Even Sarah.
Oliver started, since it was his idea. "Lilly, truth or dare?" Oliver asked. Lilly whispered, in the spirit of the game, "Truth." For a while silence hovered in between them. The wind blew, spiraling first around Oliver's face, then snaking up and around Lilly's cheekbone and circling her wide blue eyes. "Okay," Oliver said, "What's your middle name?" "That's the best you can come up with?" Jake asked. "Hey, don't interrupt the game. It takes the mystic-ness away," Lilly said. Jake looked at her like she was crazy, and then said, "Fine." After that, there was silence, except for the game. Any words outside of the game were forbidden. "Rose," Lilly answered. Then, of course, it was Lilly's turn. She turned to Miley. "Miley," she said, "Truth or dare." Miley picked truth. "Who do you like?" Lilly asked. "I'm in-between. Right now, I don't like anyone." Okay, that might have been harsh, but it was the truth. Jake's turn. "Jake, truth or dare," Miley said. "Dare," Jake said. That was so like him, to pick dare on his first turn. "Umm…." Miley started, not sure what to have Jake do, "….take off your shoes and stand on top of the tree house and sing "I'm A Little Tea-Pot." "Hey!" Jake said, but he did it, because, after all, the game was the game, and the only rule was you had to play fair….and that the person who dared you was in control of you, if only for that moment. So, Jake took his shoes off and twisted his way out of the tree-house and stood on top of the tree-house and sang "I'm A Little Tea-Pot." At first, the dares were silly like this. It was Jake's turn next. "Oliver, truth or dare?" Jake asked. "Dare," Oliver said. "Okay then," Jake said (in his theatre voice), "Kiss Lilly." There was awkward silence. But everyone knew that Oliver secretly liked Lilly, and Lilly secretly liked Oliver. But neither of them wanted to admit it, so Oliver quickly kissed Lilly on the cheek. Secretly, Lilly was wishing that he would have kissed her on the lips, and that the kiss had lasted for more than a mere half-a-second. Since Oliver had already gone, it was Sarah's turn. She asked Jackson. "Jackson, truth or dare." "Truth," Jackson said. "How many girlfriends have you had?" Jackson lowered his head and said, "None." It was then Jackson's turn, and Sarah was the only person who hadn't been asked, so Jackson asked Sarah. "Sarah, truth or dare?" he asked. "Truth," Sarah said. "Why do you care about the environments so much?" Jackson asked. "Because it's our home and it's important and if we don't preserve it, it will deteriorate and the happiness of others will fade away," Sarah said, almost like a robot, but not quite. They played several rounds, the first six or seven rounds consisting of silly questions, and even stupider dares. Nothing that could have a lasting impact. But around the eighth round, things started to change. Oliver asked Lilly, "truth or dare." Lilly replied, "dare.' "Climb down from the tree house and run naked in the forest." Reluctantly, Lilly did so. Next, Lilly asked Miley. "Truth or dare, Miley?" Lilly asked. "Dare," Miley said. "Sing….If We Were A Movie," Lilly said. Would people recognize her voice? Not if she disguised it. And since she was such a good singer, she was able to sing it beautifully yet have it sound completely and entirely different from Hannah Montana. Several more rounds were played, and some of the dares were hard, some of them were embarrassing, but none of them challenged the line-the line between what was right, and what was wrong. Well, at least, not completely. And none of the dares were completely thought provoking, but they were mythical and mystical, and the six teenagers felt like they had been transported elsewhere, and reality played no part in anything that any of them did during the game. But then it was Lilly's turn again, and of course by then the game had taken control of all of their minds. "Miley, truth or dare?" she asked. "Truth," Miley replied. "Besides….you know….what's your darkest secret?" Miley wasn't sure how to respond, because besides…you know….Miley didn't have a "darkest secret." And she couldn't make one up, because that would be breaking the rules of the game. "I don't have one….yet," Miley said, eerily. Little did she know, she was self-predicting her future. Maybe since it had to be the truth, the game's magic would make it be the truth, and the small but real word "yet" would come alive and by the end of the night she would have a deep, dark secret. Miley asked Jake truth or dare, and Jake picked dare, and Miley dared Jake to kiss Sarah, on the lips. Then Jake asked Oliver truth or dare, and Oliver picked truth, and Jake asked Oliver if he liked Lilly, and Oliver said, "Yes." Soon it came to Sarah's turn. Remember, it was Sarah who had been reluctant to play the game. But now, she was completely in it, and she hadn't forgotten what Miley had said to her…that of course things could happen…that was the whole point of the game. "Jackson, truth or dare?" Sarah asked. Of course, Jackson chose dare, because he was just that kind of person. She spoke in a low, barely audible whisper, her voice traveling with the mystical ways of the wind…the wind that traces things and makes them come to life, bloom, and reveal themselves. The wind resurfaced, yet again, spiraling around Jackson's face as Sarah spoke, her voice so soft, and so scary, and somehow sinister. "Kiss Miley."