Chapter Six
"Oy! I'm fucking bored. Let's do something." Gabe wasn't taking the wait very patiently. Currently, he was slumped in his seat, with his head thrown back against the seat in pure exasperation. Nathan and Kota, who were currently talking quietly to each other, looked over and rolled their eyes. Apparently, this was a normal thing with Gabe. Several minutes ago the attendant had come back to announce that there was going to be about a one hour wait. I was beginning to see that patience really wasn't one of his virtues. I was absolutely sickened with myself when I found it positively adorable. "I know," he continued, "let's play a game!"
Groans and grumbles were heard round the circle of friends. Obviously, they'd done this before. "No way, Gabe. You always get way out of control and then one of us always ends up paying for it. Sorry dude, no dice. Not after last time." Nathan looked like he was speaking from past experience and the nods of assent from the rest supported that theory. My curiosity piqued. What had happened the last time they got together and played games, and what game could have elicited such a reaction from this dynamic group?
Although the guys were getting a bit restless during the delay (something told me they weren't used to sitting around, waiting) no one was willing to pass the time playing games, at least not if Gabe was in charge. I, on the other hand, was fine waiting for the plane, no matter how long it took. In fact, I was mentally crossing my fingers that it wasn't ever going to be fixed and we'd just have to live here in the airport together- kinda like that character that Tom Hanks had to play in that one movie… what was it called? Oh well. Regardless, I didn't want to leave my new friends. I knew that once I stepped on that plane I would never see them again and I wasn't quite ready to face that reality. In the few minutes that I'd met them, I'd grown to depend on them, in a way. Already, I could feel my heart swelling with love for each and every one of them.
Hesitantly, I chirped up. "I'm in." Wanting to make the best out of every minute that I spent with them, I figured that a game with these boys would show me who they really were, that their true personalities would hopefully come out to play. And even if they didn't, it would be a way to kill some time, regardless of how things turned out.
Gabe whooped and held out his fist, waiting for me to 'bump knuckles' with him. Across the aisle, and to my left, North griped and grumbled while several of the guys chuckled at his obvious unease. Contradictory to their earlier reactions, the group now looked more agreeable to the idea of some organized fun.
"Okay, Mr. Coleman, what are we playing?" Mr. Blackbourne, along with the rest of us, was looking towards Gabriel for some direction.
A smirk crept over Gabe's perfect lips. "We're going to play Truth-or-Dare." He snuck a glance at North while he spoke and started full out laughing before he had even finished.
Luke and Dr. Green started guffawing right away. Luke even going as far to slap his knee a couple of times. "Oh man. The look on your face, Bro." Luke continued to snicker while leaning over onto Gabe, wiping a few errant tears of laughter. "Freaking priceless."
North jumped out of his seat, towering over all of us. "Hell no! Over my dead body are we playing fucking Truth or Dare. Pick something else, or I'm going to sit on the other side of the terminal." I was bursting with questions. What in the heck had gone on the last time they'd hung out? His reaction was a little strong for such a juvenile game. Looking around the group, I noticed that the rest of the boys had joined Sean and Luke in their merriment. At least Kota, Owen and Victor were trying to be polite about it and hid their large grins behind their fists. I hadn't a clue what was going on, but I couldn't help the smile that flirted across my lips. Seriously, what had happened? It was obviously hilarious and I was burning with curiosity.
Kota cleared his throat to collect himself, "North sit down. He'll pick something else." He looked pointedly at Gabe then, "Won't you, Gabe?"
Gabe was still laughing but composed himself enough to chastise his friend. "Chill the fuck out, man. We can play something else. Seriously, are you on your period or something? I've never seen you so worked up." A few snickers escaped with that last comment but Gabe and North were staring each other down and seemed to be communicating wordlessly.
North dropped back into his chair with an incensed, "Whatever." Gabe and Luke shared a victorious high-five and Gabe turned his attention to me. "Sang beautiful, have you ever played 'Never Have I Ever'?"
I shook my head in the negative and blushed. Not only had I never played it before, I'd never even heard of it and it seemed that they were all familiar with the past time. I hated to show what a loser I was, especially to all these gorgeous guys. Each and every one of them must have been a part of the popular group in high school- no way would they have fit into any other group. I'm positive not a single one knew what it was like to be teased, let alone ignored completely like I had been. Friends, parties, dating… I knew nothing of these other than what I was able to read about in books.
"Awesome." Gabe looked excited by my response. "It's a great way to get to know people, so this should be fun… for all of us." Once again, a devilish smirk broke over Gabriel's face. If I was being honest, it made me a little nervous. What could possibly make him smirk like that?
"So Sang. Here's how we play." Gabe's bright blue eyes were sparkling with excitement. "Everyone has to hold up both of their hands, with all their fingers up. The point of the game is to keep as many fingers up as possible. We each take a turn saying 'Never Have I Eve' and then say something we've never done. For instance, 'Never Have I Ever flown on a plane'. Now everyone who has actually flown on a plane has to put a finger down. First person to drop all their fingers is the loser and has to do a dare determined collectively by the rest of the group. You with me so far?" Gabe paused to make sure that I understood the rules of the game. It sounded pretty straight forward. The goal was to try and be the last man standing, so to speak… or at least not be the first one out.
"I got it. Seems pretty easy." I smiled to show my enthusiasm.
"But here's the catch. You can say things to purposefully call people out. For instance, I could say 'Never Have I Ever worn lipstick' which I haven't. BUT, I know that Nathan has. Now he has to put his finger down and we all know that he's worn lipstick!" My head snapped to look at Nathan and I noticed that his cheeks had tinted pink. It was positively endearing.
"Of course you know I worse lipstick you ass, you gave me that dare. And it was never supposed to leave the group. Or don't you remember that part?!" Poor Nathan. He sounded, and looked, really embarrassed.
Gabe just shrugged his shoulders. "And I can call myself out, if I don't care about it, just to oust someone else. For instance, I could say 'Never Have I Ever worn a dress' even though I have. So, I'd have to put one of my own fingers down but I know that Luke has worn a dress as well and now he'd have to put a finger down, too. See what I mean? Now everyone knows that he and I have both worn dresses, and Nathan likes to wear lipstick." He winked at me, making my insides flutter. "Fun, right!?" His face was so open and eager; I couldn't have disagreed with him if I'd wanted to.
"Not cool, man! That was a dare, and you know it!" Luke didn't seem thrilled that Gabe had called him out like that. I just giggled in response and once again, the guys erupted in laughter. These boys were hilarious and so much fun. As much as they teased and poked and prodded, you could see that they truly cared deeply for one another.
"Ok, let's do it." I was pretty confident in my odds. I hadn't been anywhere to done much of anything so chances were I was going to be ok. Besides, these boys were competitive. They'd take each other out first chance they got. I smirked with that thought. I wouldn't have to do much more than sit back and watch the show.
"Alright, let's just start with one hand and I'll go first, since this was my idea." Gabe was still smiling. "Never Have I Ever… been so piss drunk that I've removed my clothing." A mixture of laughter and chagrin passed through the group as Sean, Luke, Silas and Nathan all had to put a finger down. I tried muffling my giggles, not wanting to embarrass anyone further. Sean beamed proudly. "It was worth it. Good times were had by all, I assure you." He looked at me and waggled his eyes brows. Booming laughter erupted all around.
"Ok, ok. Me next." Luke seemed to be thinking really hard. Suddenly his eyes lit up. "Never Have I Ever… shot someone in the hind-end with a dart gun." Instantly, everyone turned to look at Victor, who had remained fairly silent up until this point, and snickered. He just glared and Luke while lowering a finger. When he noticed me watching him, he blushed slightly and ducked his head. Now there was a story I needed to ask about later. When he didn't think I was looking, Kota elbowed Victor in the ribs, telling him without words not to worry about it.
"Tough break, Vic. Don't worry. We'll get them back." Nathan was beaming. "Never Have I Ever kissed another guy." Everyone, and I mean everyone started laughing uproariously when both Luke and Gabe lowered a finger, blushing furiously, refusing to look at each other.
"Ok, I can't NOT ask about that one." I was too curious not to ask. "What's the story behind that one?"
"Well, cupcake" Luke reluctantly started, "it began with a whole lot of alcohol and ended with the mother of all hangovers. What happened in between, well, we don't really like to talk about it." He shifted uncomfortably. "Thanks Nate." Luke muttered.
"No problem, man. Anytime." Nathan was all too happy with himself. Everyone turned toward Victor as he took his turn.
"Never Have I Ever lived in a foreign country." I looked around and watched as Silas and North each lowered one of their fingers. I felt like I needed to be writing things down. How else was I going to remember to ask them to explain themselves.
"Awww man. That was too easy! What a waste, Morgan." Luke was totally put out that no one was called out during that round. Victor just shrugged his shoulders. But I was grateful for those types of questions because it helped to give me a peek into who these boys were.
Next it was Kota's turn. Right away he started laughing, "Never Have I Ever… nearly burned down a house." Everyone joined in and looked toward Gabe who just rolled his eyes and lowered another finger. "Shit Kota, how many times am I going to have to say I'm sorry! It was an accident!" I giggled once again.
Mr. Blackbourne cleared his throat, "Never Have I Ever stolen another kids' lunch money." He was chuckling by the end and all the boys except Sean, Silas and North all lowered a finger. This completely threw me off. They just didn't seem like the type of guys to do such a thing.
Kota saw my confusion and clarified, "We were stealing it back. A bully at school was stealing from all the kids and we" he nodded to everyone who'd dropped a finger, "decided to stand up to him and get everything back." Before I could even ask, he said, "It was clear back in elementary school and it was kind of how our little group formed. We've been together ever since- well mostly." I just smiled. That sounded more like them. Hero's. It made much more sense.
"Alright, alright. Enough sap. My turn." Dr. Green rubbed his hands together rapidly as if trying to warm his hands. His smile hinted at the mischief that lay underneath. "Never Have I Ever gone skinny dipping." I was shocked when every single one of them lowered their fingers. My face flushed crimson just thinking about it, thinking about them- any of them, swimming naked. My brain threatened to explode at just the thought. It was too much. "Darn." Sean interrupted my lusty thoughts. "I was hoping that you would have had to lower a finger, Miss Sang. So far, you're the only one with all their fingers still up." I didn't think it was possible for my face to get any more red than it already was, but it sure made one heck of an effort. I could actually feel the heat radiating off of me. Gabe reached around and gave me a side hug. "Don't worry about it, Beautiful. Doc likes to tease. He's just a big flirt. Don't pay attention to anything he says." When Sean caught me looking, he winked cheekily, proving Gabriel's words.
Silas was next. "Ok. I've got it. Never Have I Ever painted my nails." Everyone looked at me, obviously expecting me to lower a finger, but I just shrugged my shoulders and smiled. "Seriously, aggele? Never? Aren't all girls supposed to do that kind of shit?"
"Sorry Silas. I was never allowed to wear makeup or paint my nails. Wearing makeup was easier to hide than colored nails." I watched out of the corner of my eye as Kota and Mr. Blackbourne glanced at each other and seemed to do that silent communication thing. I'm not sure why but it made me a little uneasy. Silas' question had thrown me off guard and it surprised me how easily he pulled the truth from me. If I wasn't careful, I just might let my whole sob story leak out and I wasn't looking for their sympathy. I was brought back to the present from Nathan and Victor's snickering. Evidently, while I had been spacing out, Gabriel had lowered another finger and subsequently was the first man out.
"Aw shit. I can't believe it. You jerks did that on purpose!" Gabe was pouting and I couldn't help but laugh right along with the rest of them. "Fuck it. Oh well… North you might as well take your turn. And make it a good one."
We all looked toward North and waited. Looking directly at me North said, "Never Have I Ever… believed in love at first sight." Without glancing away, North slowly lowered a finger. His gaze was too intense and I had to look away. Breaking his stare I skimmed over our little group and noticed that they were all looking at me, and every single one of them had lowered another finger… including Gabe who had raised his other hand in order to do so.