21 Questions | Malum

1

Rays of lightning struck against the small basement window, scaring the hell out of three, in total of four boys. They had spent the majority of the night telling stupid made-up scary stories, which left one of them rocking back and forth on the wooden floor with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He was Calum, and Michael kept smiling at him while the other two obnoxious assholes laughed at him for being a 'fucking pussy who needs to grow some balls or else the next girl he dates will leave him.'

"Let's play twenty one questions," Michael suggested as he leaned against the leather couch, "but the first person who chickens out has to follow up with a dare that will be chosen by three of us."

"You're on," Luke grinned, grabbing a bottle of Coke that sat on top of the floorboards. "We all know I won't be the one losing, since I never lose."

"Right," Michael answered back with an eye roll. "Says the guy who had to run down the street naked last month and got caught by the police."

"In my defense, I totally got the officers number," Luke chuckled, though everybody knew that he was lying. "Okay. . okay, okay. Let's just get this over with so I can go to bed."

"You don't have to be here," Michael mumbled, and he stared at Ashton and Calum who were being way too quiet for his liking – especially Calum.

"Well for that, you're answering first," Luke mumbled, and Ashton took the Coke bottle from Luke and put his lips over it without wiping it off, and that confused Michael because Ashton is a germaphobe. Maybe he was growing out of it though. "If you could fuck anybody in the world, who would it be?"

Michael groaned, and Ashton laughed because Luke swore – drowning out the past of when he used to yell at everyone for even swearing in the first place, though he did it all the time. Hypocrite. "That's such an inappropriate question, but. . obviously, I'd have to go with myself. Because I'm hotter than everyone else."

"I hope you realize that makes you sound stuck up," Ashton chimed in, tipping his glasses upward on his nose. "My turn."

Michael hummed to himself after adjusting the snapback on his head because it kept falling off. "Is it true that you and Calum hooked up at the party last weekend?"

"Yeah," Ashton answered bluntly, and Calum hid under his blanket because he was embarrassed, and Michael pretended to smile so he could disguise his anger and jealousy. That wasn't supposed to be true. "Alright Calum, you're up."

"Ri - Right," Calum gulped, blowing his curls out of his face. He grabbed the Coke bottle that Ashton recently sipped out of and took one big drink before deciding that he was ready. He always got the worst questions. It just – wasn't right. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Okay," Ashton grinned, stealing the bottle back so he could hand it to Luke. "Would you ever consider. . I dunno, doing it with me again?"

"No," Calum mumbled shamefully. It was a mistake, and he was drugged at the party by some asshole that Ashton was friends with, and it was stupid. He was stupid. "I'm sorry, but I wouldn't. Now I'm going to ask Luke a question because I don't want to continue this conversation. Ready?"

"Sure," Luke answered, but then Michael stood up with saddened eyes, mumbling that he needed to get a drink, the drink, and Calum knew that something was up, so he offered to follow him, leaving Luke and Ashton to whisper and gossip about what was possibly going on upstairs.

"Hey, are you um, are you okay?" Calum asked in a soft voice, and Michael nodded, his fingers pressing into the counter as he stared down the bottle of vodka. "You just looked. . sad, and you're my best friend."

"Seems like Ashton is your best friend," Michael said in a lower tone, trying to keep it on the down low for now. He was definitely pissed and showing it could only cause harm, but he didn't care much at all. "I mean. . you fucked him, right? That makes you ten times closer."

"Why does it matter if we fucked?" Calum questioned, his tone getting louder than Michael's – loud enough for Ashton and Luke to hear. "It doesn't matter much to me, Michael, so it shouldn't matter to you."

"It doesn't," Michael gulped, finally deciding to pour the vodka into a cup, knowing that he was just about to down the hell out of it. "I guess I just don't like you keeping secrets from me. It feels wrong." Now I'm the hypocrite, Michael thought to himself.

"I'm sorry," Calum frowned, hugging the blanket to his skin, "I promise I won't do it again."

Michael downed the vodka just like he had promised to himself, just before smiling at Calum and saying that he was ready to continue the game. By the time that they made it downstairs, Luke and Ashton were already being assholes by mocking the small argument he and Calum had.

"Luke," Calum started off, licking his lips, making Michael want to kiss them. "What's your biggest secret?"

"Fuck." Luke bit down on his lip and started tapping his foot anxiously. He couldn't answer that, it was too personal. He also couldn't risk being the loser again, so he decided to lie. Though part of him knew that they'd just see right through him. "My biggest secret is that I used to sell drugs to people on the streets so that I could buy some nice things for my mom. . Had to do community service for three months straight."

"Right, okay," Michael mumbled, then Luke's back shot up when he had an idea for the next question, and that could never be good.

"Alright Michael, since you know everything, why don't you tell us your biggest secret?"

"You can't ask the same question, it's against the rules," Michael mumbled with a gulp in his throat, and his hands started to shake because it was unfair and he would never ask somebody to share something that personal with him. "Just – just stop breaking the rules and ask me something else."

"Fine you wuss." Luke leaned forward, his blue eyes piercing into Michael's – it making the pale boy more and more anxious by the second. "Tell us. . Have you ever loved anybody in this room?"

Michael clenched his eyes shut, his breathing staggering, his words catching in his throat. He couldn't look at Calum because that would give it away, and he couldn't look at Luke or Ashton because he wasn't into either of them. He was also a terrible liar, worse than Luke, and he knew that if he said that he didn't, they'd be onto him.

"It's a. . It's a huge possibility that I still do."

-

A/N;

Thoughts?

This book isn't gonna be very long but it's not like a one shot or whatever. I hope it's okay. Compared to the rest of my books, anyway. I mean. . Really, did you guys like it?

I just want to know if I should continue it or not. 🤔 let me know..