𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. « 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘯 »

› 15 › two truths and a lie

"this is a bad idea..."

this is a bad idea.

i should have seen it coming though. jack's too slick to let the information of me heading to the love museum pass by without being curious.

and now i'm sitting across from him (and howie - who he managed to drag along to be his "date"), beside nini in a booth of a nearby in-n-out.

"i can't believe my two roommates actually knew you this whole time and never told me," jack says in between bites of a cheeseburger. after swallowing, he adds, "i've been cheated my whole life."

nini takes a sip of her strawberry smoothie. "you weren't missing a lot."

surprisingly she went back to her moderately monotone voice when jack showed up. i thought his infectious annoying energy would let her bubbling energy from my embarrassment today continue to push her on. but instead her guard is up again.

and for awhile there i thought i got through to her. we were laughing like old times...

suddenly i feel someone tap me on the back of my hand.

looking up, i see howie mouth, "you good?"

"you're a little... different from what i expected," jack speaks up again and i face him questioningly instead of responding to howie. a smirk grows on his face. "i like a surprise."

as cringe instantly flows through my veins, howie covers his face with a hand in obvious shame.

i hear nini sneer. "well after three different music personas, i'm glad i can still be surprising."

"since you're taking a hiatus - and no i'm not going to pry into that - you have a lot of free time now, don't you?" jack asks. he pops in the last piece of burger he had left and licks his finger tips. "you should get to know me. good way to kill time since we're all here. ricky's our common friend too. being familiar with each other would help a lot especially when he breaks down—"

"shut it, titanic," i interrupt sternly. he already ruined the perfect day i was having, i don't want him making it worse by blabbering on about my... i don't know what to call it... condition?

and i don't know how i feel about him using me to flirt with nini.

subtly, i turn to her to check her reaction. her neutral face is scarily unwavering.

after a pause, she says, "i don't have anything else going on today so... what do you wanna do?"

jack breaks into a wide grin and points playfully at her. "two truths and a lie. it always breaks the ice."

"okay then," nini nods her head and leans back into the cushion. "you start."

the jet-black haired friend in front of me puts a hand over his mouth in deep thought before saying, "acting wasn't my first dream... i almost took the first kiss of a random girl i met in an..."

his eyebrows furrow ever so slightly but then he continues. "in an airport... and i love butterflies."

"the second one is believable," howie speaks up as he chews on a fry. "and you do seem like the type of guy who's secretly a nerd for something unexpected. like nature? the first one has to be the lie then."