Before:
"Keefe, truth or dare?" Tam asked him with a grin.
"Dare me, Bangs Boy," Keefe crossed his arms.
"I dare you to let Linh blast you up toward the ceiling with a geyser."
"You're on!" Keefe turned towards Linh. "Go ahead, water girl!"
Linh grinned, and immediately a blast of water curved towards Keefe, launching him up, up, up... and then he fell.
Sophie screamed as Keefe tumbled down, down, down...
And Linh caught him with a giant water hand.
"What, you really thought I would let him fall?" Linh laughed at the expression on Sophie's face.
The water hand gently dissolved when Keefe was two feet above the ground, and Keefe somehow managed to land on his feet.
Marella, Maruca, Biana, Dex, and Fitz applauded.
Tam smirked.
Sophie rushed over to Keefe. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Ruewen," He said, smirking. "But good to know the lovely Lady Reuwen cares."
Sophie blushed.
Keefe's smirk grew wider.
"Okay, let's continue!" Fitz called them back over. "Marella, your turn!"
"Okay... Tam, truth or dare!"
"Um, dare!" Tam answered.
The game continued with nothing important happening, until it was Sophie's turn.
"Biana, truth or dare?"
"Truth," Biana said confidently.
Sophie, seeing a way to get back at Biana, said, "Who do you like?"
"No one," Biana responded, too quickly.
"If you break the sacred bonds of truth or dare..." Fitz warned.
"I'm not lying!" Biana protested. "Why do you assume I like someone?"
Sophie sighed. She couldn't prove that Biana was lying, unfortunately. But she knew someone who could, and it looked like he was having the same thoughts as she was.
Keefe lunged forward and grabbed Biana's wrist. "Do you like anyone?" he asked again.
"No!" Biana tried to tug her wrist free. "Little help?" she called to the others.
"Nope," Maruca responded. "If you don't like anyone, this shouldn't be a problem, right? And if you do... then you deserve it for breaking the truth or dare rules."
"Shh, let the Empath work," Keefe told her. "Yup! She's definitely hiding something!"
Biana muttered something about Empaths as she finally wrenched her arm free.
"So, who do you like?" Sophie prodded her with a finger.
Biana blushed. "I told you, no one!"
"She's lying!" Keefe sang. "Come on, if Fitzphie can do it, anyone can!"
The glares aimed at him could wither flowers.
"Fine! Fine," Biana conceded. "I like... two people."
"Ooh, who? Do we know them?" Marella asked.
"Yes. Yes you do."
"Are they here?"
"Um... yes?"
"Both of them?" Marella asked in surprise.
"Yes," Biana whispered, burying her head in her pillow.
"Are they both dudes?"
"Yes," Biana muttered.
"Ok, it's obviously not Fitz, duh, that would be gross." Maruca began working through the options. "So it has to be Dex, Tam, or Keefe!"
"I knew it!" Keefe shouted. "It's Dex and Tam!"
The boys turned bright red and looked anywhere but Biana and each other.
"Why not you?" Sophie had to ask.
"I just read Biana's feelings," Keefe reminded her. "I would know."
"Wait, so you can tell if people like you by touching them?" Biana asked, her face even redder.
"Yes," Keefe mumbled.
Which made Sophie realize... Biana used to like Keefe. He would have bumped her all the time in tackle bramble and base quest, and felt that she liked him.
"But I can also feel when someone doesn't like me." Sophie's eyebrows furrowed, but she didn't know why she felt the tiniest amount of guilt, even though he was looking at Biana. "And Biana doesn't, which meeaaans, she must like Dex and Tam!"
Dex mumbled something about needing to go to the bathroom and stood up to leave, promising to be back in a few minutes.
Tam blushed brighter than Sophie would have thought possible, shoving his pillow over his face to hide his red cheeks. Biana did the same.
"Okay, since this is obviously turning into a big, 'make everyone tell everyone who they like' thing, why don't we just get it over with?" Maruca proposed. "Let's all go around in a circle, and tell everyone who we like!"
"Sure!" Sophie agreed. Now that her secret was out, she was fine with everyone else's humiliation.
"Wait, what?" Dex asked, returning to the group, and avoiding Biana's eyes. To be fair, she was avoiding his too.
Maruca explained her plan, and immediately, the people who hadn't confessed yet began protesting.
"Okay, okay, let's vote," Fitz suggested. "Everyone who wants to do Maruca's idea, raise your hand."
Fitz, Sophie, Biana, and Maruca raised their hands.
"Everyone who doesn't want to do Maruca's idea, raise your hand."
Tam, Marella, Linh, and Keefe raised their hands.
"Dex, you didn't vote," Fitz noticed.
Dex shrugged. "I don't care whether or not we do it."
"But now we have a tie!" Sophie pointed out.
"Fine, we can do the idea," Dex sighed.
"Fine, traitor," Tam scowled. "You can start."
"Ugh!" Dex groaned. "Fine. I like... Biana."
Biana blushed.
Tam propped his chin on his fist, but otherwise didn't comment. His face was impassive, and Sophei couldn't tell if it bothered him.
Marella groaned. "Great, now we have another one! Are you guys gonna be stupid like Fitzphie and require help to begin a relationship? Or are you gonna be smart and be able to start it on your own?"
"Actually, I don't think I'm ready for a relationship right now," Biana admitted softly. "Can we wait?" She stole a glance at Tam, but he seemed to not care. He nodded, even, eyebrows raising.
"Sure, that's fine. I'm not sure I want a relationship yet either," Dex agreed.
"Aw, that is so cute!" Linh squealed. "You're already sharing thoughts!"
Biana and Dex blushed.
"Okay, let's call them... Bianex? Or Dexiana?" Keefe thought for a second. "Of course, Dizznacker or Vackizznee wouldn't work, because then they might be mistaken for their siblings. That could get confusing... But it would be hilarious. So Dizznacker for the win!"
Sophie elbowed him, and said, "I prefer Dexiana."
Biana and Dex's faces were hilariously red.
"Moving on!" Dex announced. "Linh! Your turn!"
"I- um." It was Linh's turn to flush. "I don't like anyone right now... but I recently liked someone. But you cannot tell anyone outside of this room."
"Sure," Keefe said, eyeing Tam, who looked like he would shove shadows down the throats of anyone who betrayed Linh.
"Okay." Linh took a deep breath. "I liked... Kenya. A girl from our year. I'm... bi."
Go Linh! Love her :)