Truth Or Dare

CHAPTER 1

"You guys are coming to my house, right?" asked Smitha to her 5 friends.

"Yes, yes. You go ahead, we will follow you", replied Anish, her classmate, who was the only other boy, apart from Krish in their group. They always tagged along with her group of 3 friends, who were in their second semester, studying MBA from Bhopal University. All of them were heading to Smitha's house as was their ritual every Wednesday and Friday after their class was dismissed.

Smitha took her scooter from the parking lot and started it. Her friend and neighbor, Deepa, sat behind her and they were off. Next to follow were Anish and Krish, and finally, Varsha and Kamna brought up the rear.

Smitha's parents were both working in a government department and came back only after 5, and her 2 elder brothers had also started working, so the house was empty when they arrived 10 minutes later. Smitha and Deepa lived closest to the institute where they studied, hence it was also the favourite stopover for all the friends before they headed off to their respective homes sometime around 5.

They all parked outside the gate and Smitha let them in. "Make yourselves comfortable, I'll get some water for all of you", she called out, as all of them placed their bags on the floor and flopped down on the sofa.

"Economics is a big bore, yaar. The professor keeps giving the same examples for everything. I saw Vishal's mouth hanging open and his eyes drooping even though he was sitting in the first bench", remarked Krish as he did a high-five with Anish. Krish and Anish were the most popular guys in class. It was amazing that they had become best friends as they were diametrically opposite to each other personality-wise. Where Anish was gregarious, an extrovert, and never bothered about anything, Krish, on the other hand, was an introvert, always forward thinking, and a planner. He was the one who used to plan all the class outings and functions. The only thing that was common in both of them was that they were very fair complexioned to the extent that the girls used to refuse to stand next to them in any photographs. They made them look darker in comparison. But as they were always good company, they had never lacked for female company, unfortunately none of the romantic kind.

Smitha brought the water jug and glasses and placed them on the table, along with some potato chips for everyone to dig in. All of them jumped in at the same time and made a grab for the chips.

"Anish! Let me have at least one chip", Deepa swatted away Anish's hand as he took a large portion of the chips. He grinned and put all of them in his mouth in one go. Deepa made a face, then took a few from Varsha, who generously shared her portion.

Varsha had never been fond of snacking. She was the kind who liked to have 3 square meals a day and nothing in between, maybe that was the reason, she was slim. Her hair was cut to shoulder length and she wore long earrings. Her glasses had become a part of her since she had been wearing them since first grade. She didn't have many friends, save for the present company. She was quite a lot like Krish, but she was not a planner. Oh! She did help around with extra-curricular activities in college, but she was always the one behind the scenes, the ones in front were always Smitha, Deepa, and Kamna. But she had no cause to complain, she was content in what she was doing and happy with the people around her.

"Let's play a game", said Krish suddenly. Everybody looked at him. His eyes were challenging everybody in the room and suddenly, there was complete silence, as everyone wanted to know what they were going to play. "Let's play truth or dare", he said grinning wickedly. The girls became a bit wary, but Deepa, the ever-energetic one immediately nodded and clapped her hands with glee. Her enthusiasm made the other girls want to give it a go as well and they acquiesced.

"Can I have a pencil?" Krish directed the question to the occupants of the room. Kamna took one out from her purse and handed it to him. He placed it on the table after removing the now finished tray of chips and spun it clockwise. The writing end of the pencil pointed towards Anish, and before Krish could ask the question, 'truth or dare?' he said, "dare" and grinned at everybody. Nobody was surprised. This was a guy who could do anything. He could flirt with the girlfriends of the seniors in college and they wouldn't mind even a bit. He was that entertaining. It was no wonder that he was friends with almost all of them and everyone liked him, everyone. He would cheat in the exams and get away with it, how he did it was still a mystery. The professors had stopped taking him seriously in a few months after the course had started. Now, they simply got along with his actions.