The room had settled into a tense quiet, the last echoes of Zavian's arrival still hanging heavy in the air. Maya stood by the long table, a mischievous smile playing on her lips as she pulled forward five old wooden boxes, each worn with time but locked with small rusty clasps.
"Forget what you know about Truth or Dare," Maya said, her voice low but clear. "Tonight, it's Truth Truth — a game where you can't hide behind dares alone. You have to face the truth."
She lifted the lid on the first box, revealing hundreds of small folded papers. "Inside these boxes are questions — truths you have to answer honestly. One by one, you pick a slip, read it out loud, and answer. No exceptions."
A murmur spread through the room. Everyone shifted uneasily.
Maya's grin widened as she brought out a sixth, darker box. "But here's the catch — if you refuse to answer, or try to lie, you have to pick a punishment slip from this box." She tapped the ominous crate. "Punishments aren't just silly dares — some will make you face yourself."
She held up a folded paper from the punishment box and unfolded it slowly.
"Do a dare instead."
The room froze.
"Wait — so some punishments are dares?" someone asked, eyes narrowing.
Maya nodded. "Yep. A few punishments are dares, but they won't let you escape the truth either. They'll push you to the edge."
She looked around the room, locking eyes with several people, lingering on me.
"So, here are the rules:"
Pick a slip from the truth box and read it aloud. You must answer honestly.If you refuse or lie, pick a punishment slip from the punishment box and complete it.Even if you choose or get a dare as punishment, you must answer the original truth question afterward—no exceptions.The game continues until everyone has faced at least one truth question.No skipping, no lying, no backing out.
"So, what's it going to be? Truth or dare? Well... mostly truth. But sometimes, dare."
The game had shifted. There was no turning back.
Chapter 6: Lines of the Past
Principal Adam's voice echoed through the dimly lit hall, steady but carrying a weight that made everyone pause.
"Alright, everyone. Let's line up by roll number — just like old times."
A nervous murmur passed through the crowd as we moved awkwardly, instinctively searching for our places in the familiar line. The polished wooden floor beneath us seemed to hum, the walls closing in, heavy with decades of memories.
I shuffled forward, my heart thudding loudly in my chest like a warning drum. Something about this moment felt different — the air was thick, the atmosphere charged, as if the ground itself was shifting beneath my feet.
From across the room, my gaze locked with Zavian's. The world around us blurred; the noise, the chatter, the laughter faded into silence. All I could see were his eyes — dark, intense, and flooded with a storm of emotions I wasn't ready to face.
Pain. Regret. Questions. A thousand unspoken words hung between us, heavy and raw.
Tears threatened to spill from the corners of my eyes, and I saw the same vulnerability mirrored in his. His jaw clenched tightly, struggling to hold back the flood.
The years since we last spoke had built walls between us, but in this moment, those walls crumbled. The distance shrank until it felt like we were the only two people left in the room.
I wanted to reach out, to say something — anything — but my voice caught in my throat.
The past was no longer behind us. It was here, present and insistent.
Principal Adam's voice cut through the silence again.
"Thank you, everyone. Now that we're lined up, it's time to begin."
Maya's grin was sharper now, the mischievous sparkle in her eyes promising that the night's game would dig deeper than any of us expected.
And so the game started — beneath the weight of old ghosts and new truths, with all eyes and hearts poised on the edge of what was to come.