The 10 Duel Commitments

The Truth Always Comes Out

     John peered at himself in the mirror, narrowing his eyes at the ball of fluff he was dealing with. In a late-night fit of boredom and curiosity, he attempted to put his hair down whilst making it look somewhat acceptable; but it seemed no matter what he tried it became more unruly. He eventually wet it down and called it quits.

     "Morning," Alex appeared in the doorway of the living room, yawning. John nearly jumped out of his skin.

     "How long have you been standing there?" He chuckled, putting a hand to his chest. Alex looked at him blankly for a second, then said

     "Have you done something differently?"

     "What?"

     "There's something different about you..." He narrowed his eyes before lighting up and exclaiming

     "Aha! Your hair is down!"

     "Oh," John chuckled nervously. "Yeah, that."

     Alex rubbed his eyes tiredly, another yawn escaping him.

     "I'm not going to lie, John-"

     John's heart stopped momentarily.

     "-I don't remember a gosh dang thing from last night. I didn't do anything stupid, did I?"

     John stared at Alex for a second. Did he not remember? Should he lie? Or come clean? In a split-second decision, he said, "Nope."

     Alex nodded his head placidly, walking into the living room, "that's good." He stopped, glancing at John's hair.

     "You know, it doesn't look that bad. You should wear it like that more often."

     "Oh- um, thanks."

     While Alex walked into the kitchen, John harnessed whatever power in him to keep from screaming right there and then. The rest of the morning went by without any mention of last night, and for a while, it seemed like it hadn't even happened. That is until Alex asked over breakfast,

     "So, what all did happen last night?"

     John frowned, trying to come up with his best excuse of a lie.

     "Not sure, I was pretty out of it too."

     Alex nodded, seemingly complacent with the answer. John exhaled with relief, shoveling a spoonful of porridge into his mouth. He hadn't even realized how hungry he was until now. While they ate, an assortment of letters came through the door, which for some reason scared the two more than it should've as they both jumped.

     "I'll get it," John laughed. Alex rubbed his face, chuckling.

     He fetched the letters, setting them down on the table. As he did, one caught his attention. Alex had already picked it up by the time he realized it was addressed to

     "'John Laurens'? Did you change addresses or something?" Alex laughed.

     "Who is it from?"

     Alex blinked, handing him the letter.

     "Henry Laurens."

     John nearly choked on his food at the words. He read over the envelope again in disbelief, but sure enough, it was from his father. A pit formed at the bottom of his stomach.

     "No way," he said, opening the envelope. "How could he have known I was here?"

     "Is it addressed here? Or was it redirected?"