Voices • Jack Avery

37 • Truth or Dare

Alex's Point of View

It had been two and a half weeks since Jack and I had first kissed and we still hadn't told anyone. I didn't want things to get awkward in the friend group if it didn't work out so there was no point in telling anyone when we weren't even officially dating.

However, that made tonight a little more awkward. We we're all sitting in a circle in the middle of the guys' living room - some of us half tipsy - playing truth or dare.

The only difference was when you were chosen you had to pick a piece of paper that either had a truth or dare on it. That way, no one could be blamed if you got a dare you didn't want to do. It was weird but it helped with stopping arguments.

London sat on my left and Daniel on my right. I wanted to be beside Jack but we both knew that we would give us away if we sat next to each other. However, that didn't stop me from glancing over at him every few minutes.

So far no one had done anything too bad; Zach had just picked dare and had to eat a spoonful of mustard. "That was disgusting" he complained while scrunching his face up. "Daniel, your turn" he eventually continued after drinking down half a bottle of water.

Daniel rolled his eyes at Zach being overly dramatic but reached for a dare anyway. As he unfolded it and read what was on it, his eyes widened. Everyone looked at him with curiosity. He cleared his throat before reading it out, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

"Kiss the person on your left for five seconds" he said. For a moment I was thanking God that I hadn't picked that one before realisation struck. I was on Daniel's left.

My eyes practically popped out of my head as I slowly turned to look at Jack. He was staring between us with his jaw clenched. Usually if someone got a dare like this and it involved someone in a relationship, then they would pick a new dare. However, no one knew about me and Jack, meaning Daniel had to kiss me.

Everyone could feel the tension in the air as I cleared my throat. "It's fine. It's not like it means anything" I said, hoping to convince everyone - especially Jack.

Daniel nodded in agreement before awkwardly looking at me. "I'll time you guys" Jackson said hesitantly. No one wanted this to happen but no one wanted to say it either.

As he said that, Daniel began to lean in towards me. Soon, his lips were pressed against mine. I kissed him back because I didn't want to make him feel even worse by not reacting but it felt wrong.

Daniel's lips were soft but I didn't feel anything while kissing him. If anything, I didn't like it at all. When Jack kissed me it felt right and a whole zoo would erupt in my stomach. Now, I felt nothing.

After what felt like the longest five seconds of my entire life, Jackson told us the time was up and we immediately pulled apart. Everyone was staring at us trying to gauge our reactions.

"That was..." Daniel began awkwardly. "Wrong" I finished instantly. I looked at Jack to try and figure out what he was thinking but he was practically glaring at Daniel.

"Very" Daniel stated. Jack seemed to calm down slightly as he said this but he was still tense. "Well whoever put that one in, cheers mate" I said while laughing slightly in an attempt to relieve some of the tension.

"Oops?" London said from beside me. I glared back at her and playfully shoved her shoulder. "You're dead later" I grinned. "Right, I'm just going to say it's my turn to move this along" I continued.

I reached towards the pile of dares in the middle of the circle and searched through them until I found one that I wanted, pulling it out and unfolding it.