Truth or Dare

Truth or Dare: Part 2

Beau and I turned around to see Nicky striding towards us.

"What could she want?" Beau whispered in my ear. I was thinking the same thing. Once she was in front of us it was obvious she didn't know what to say either.

"What's up Nicky," Beau greeted, offering her a hand. She hesitantly shook it, staying silent. Her eyes immediately dropped to the floor when Beau's gaze was on her.

"Hey Nicky..." I started, smoking my cigarette. It was obvious the smoke bothered her. I didn't care.

"Um, yeah?" She asked, looking uncomfortable; it was kind of funny, honestly.

"Would you want to hang out sometime?" I gave her a lopsided grin. Beau patted me on the back, encouraging me to go on. A blush flourished on Nicky's cheeks as her eyes widened.

"Yeah, that sounds great," she smiled, face almost as red as her hair.

"What's your number?" I ask, taking my phone out of my pocket. After exchanging phone numbers, we parted ways. That was easier than I thought.

"Wasn't so hard, was it?" Beau teased once we were a good distance away from her.

"Whatever. I have to put in way too much effort just for a stupid dare," I complain, finishing off my cigarette and dropping it on the ground. I crushed it with my boot and proceeded to stride next to Beau.

"You do realize why they asked you to date her out of all people, right?" Beau asked with a superior look on his face.

"Why, because she had a crush on me in the seventh grade?" I laugh sarcastically, gazing up at the sky. Tinges of orange and pink blended together with the blue of the sky, creating a vibrant sunset.

"Yep. When me and the boys stole her diary in gym, your name was written in it so much that someone could've easily thought it was yours," Beau laughed shortly. "She desperately wanted you as a boyfriend."

I huffed out a laugh. "Well, we've all grown up since then," I rationalize with myself out loud, "She doesn't feel the same way anymore."

"She was totally turned off from your cigarettes," Beau added.

"Her guardian or whatever wasn't too nice to me either," I continued, remembering the cold look on Amanda's face.

"She'd never want to be your girlfriend now," Beau chirped.

"We're not gonna be official, no one ever said anything about that. Just some casual dates; that's what dating is. No one's going steady."

"Right," Beau agreed.

A few more minutes of pointlessly chatting and we arrived at the Passero household. Our usually noiseless house sounded bustling with life once Beau and I entered. As we reached the kitchen, there were many people there to greet us.

The house smelled of many home-cooked dishes which could be seen from the stovetop; way too much food to just serve a family of three. A handful of people that I could not recognize were chatting and socializing at the dinner table, as if our house were some sort of club or restaurant.

"Hi, honey!" my mother cheerily exclaimed, rushing over to kiss me on the cheek. I hesitantly let her, feeling confused as to why there were so many people that weren't family in my house.

"What's this?" I motion to the abundance of food, the strangers drinking my sodas, and John Mayer softly playing on the radio. My mother was about to speak before being interrupted.

"Little man! How's it going?" a loud voice boomed from the other side of the room. My eyes looked up to meet a tall man with barely any hair, eyebrows thick and beard unevenly trimmed. This man was Trevor; my mother's boyfriend. And oh, how I strongly I disliked this guy.

"What's up, Trevor..." I greeted in monotone as he marched over to give me a handshake.

"How's it going, man? How's soccer?" Trevor's voice was loud even though his face was too close for comfort. His beer-smelling breath hit my face as he talked. Disgusting.

"It's good."

Before Trevor could shout something else into my face, his annoying James Bond ringtone shrieked from his pocket and he left to receive the call. Thank God.

"So, what's this all about?" I ask my mom, who smiled at Trevor as if he was the best thing to grace this planet; my stomach churned.

"It's April 18th, you know..." she started, hoping I could catch on.

My father's death day. How could I have forgotten? I was such a shit human for forgetting this day.

"But... why are all these people over," I pout like a spoiled little kid. To have strangers over the house to party isn't what I had in mind to spend this day.

"Let me introduce you," my mom took my hand, ignoring my question. Seated at the dinner table were four woman, all but one a complete stranger.

"Ladies, this is my son Luke!" my mother exclaimed, as the woman gave me big smiles. I attempted to smile back.

"So handsome!" one of them cried, staring at me as if I were someone her age at a bar.

"Sorry, I don't date forty-year-old women," I mutter under my breath.

My mother introduced me to the three new ladies as Lucille, Brenda, and Martha.

"Luke, I knew your father! Chris was such a great man, what a guy he was!" Brenda cried as the rest nodded along. My Dad's name wasn't Chris.

"Yes, I went to college with him. Our circle of friends were very close together, he was such a character. At least he's in a better place now," Martha explained solemnly. My Dad didn't go to college either.

With every word these middle-aged, gray-haired women said, my patience was ticking lower and lower. This was not how Dad would've have wanted to spend our day. April 18th each year was meant to put flowers on my Dad's grave and eat his favorite meal for dinner. This day was not to be spent with middle-aged people at a house party playing John Mayer, which for the record, was his least favorite singer.

"Mom, can I speak to you privately?" I was almost fuming, teeth gritted as my fingers clenched. She looked at me confusedly, but nodded. I led her into the hallway, where it was silent.

"Why are we doing this, Mom," I looked at the picture frames on the wall. What once held a family photo of me, my sister, Mom, and Dad had been replaced with some cringe-y photo of Trevor and Mom at a casino in Vegas.

"Doing what, honey?" she looked genuinely confused and that just about pushed me over the edge. She didn't know that this day isn't about her or her friends or Trevor...

"Why aren't we at Dad's grave right now with flowers? Why are we celebrating today as if we are perfectly happy with him gone?"

"Luke, settle down..." she looked around as if she was trying to find a good answer to my questions.

"Dad might not be around anymore but this is not what he would have wanted. This is disrespectful to him," my voice was trembling with anger. I'm not sure what came over me but whenever it came to my Dad, I'm always more emotional.

"You're talking nonsense Luke," my mother finally snapped at me. "Let us just have a fun time tonight, I have the girls over-"

"The girls that don't even know who he is? The ones that think they're special because they try to remember someone they never knew?"

"Go to your room, now!" my mother shouted at me. My vision was completely red, submerged in anger.

This person that was speaking to me sounded nothing like my mother, the one who was in love with my father. It didn't take me long to rush past her and burst out of the house.

I started to break down on the front lawn, on my knees, hands in my hair. My chest felt heavy and my breathing was ragged, like a balloon deflating from a small hole.

I only started to cry when I tried to remember the sound of my father's voice; I couldn't.