You other people are evil! Well, then again, I only updated last night. So I can understand three reviews... again. Thanks guyyyyys. And I bet you wonder how I updated so fast. Well, it's because this one's a fun chapter. Yay for fun chapters that make things easier to write! This one is a little less words than last chapter (still around close to 3800 words, though) and stuff. So yeah. A lot of dialogues, again. Haaah, well, hope the game here wasn't exactly lamey-ish. And trust me, when I play truth or dare, I've gone all the way down to the top of the dirty meter. But let's not focus on that, and also since there's also another game (did this one at school yesterday). XD
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An Unlikely Adventure
By: TehNaruto-Obsession
Chapter 22: Uncanny Revelations
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It was settled. The group, the people who happened to have been the only ones there, formed a perfectly round circle that consisted of everyone that had left not a single person out. Kay would begin the game, seeing as she was the one who suggested it in the first place.
“Okay,” Kay turned to the person closest to her in the part of the circle that she sat in, “Truth or dare, Amanda?”
“Hmm,” She thought for a moment, “… Truth.”
“Alright,” nodded Kay, thinking over to see if she could get a question that she could ask her, “… If you could choose between getting a lot of love but having too much broken hearts or not loving at all and not even getting any misery over romance—basically living a happy life most of the time—what would you choose?”
“I think I’d say that I’d rather not love at all,” replied Amanda, fidgeting with her fingers, “I mean, I don’t want to be emotionally scarred for life; I would rather try and cope with being happy without a boy in my life. Even if, in this case, it’s not a problem to me.”
“Interesting answer,” Kay grinned, “You’re next, Kevin!”
“Truth or dare?” Amanda asked, looking over at him, “And you better say truth!”
“Okay… dare,” Kevin answered, “Not truth, but DARE.”
“Grr,” She rolled her eyes, “Okay, Kevin, I dare YOU to tell me that you hate me, in front of my face…”
“Alright,” He smirked, “… I hate you.”
Amanda gasped, slapping him playfully, “Kevin! Would you ACTUALLY say that if I told you to?”
“… Well, no,” Kevin shook his head, “I was just JOSHIN’ with ya! Haha!”
“Right,” She said, looking over at the person to his left, “Alright, Shade… Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” He simply answered, looking over at both Amanda and Kevin.
“Alright,” Kevin said, “… You love Florence, don’t you?” Shade nodded awkwardly, bracing himself for the ‘awful’ question he was soon to be asked, “Well… is there ONE thing you don’t like about her?”
“Hard question; I kind of love everything about her, of course,” was the beginning of his reply, “… If I could, then I guess I would say mostly nothing. But, if I really did have to say, then I’ll mention that I do get a little ‘crazy’ every time she always starts her girl talk sometimes. You know how girls are with boys in conversations sometimes about interests? Gross- bad combination! Sure, I understand it and all, but other times, I hate how I sometimes just CAN’T relate!”
“Oh, I feel you,” Kevin shook his head, following to Mark agreeing with this fact, “It’s always those girls talking about their shopping and their clothes and make-up and their… emo rock band crushes and jellybeans and… stickers.”
“Hey!” shouted all of the girls in slight disgust with the boys’ dislikes about their interests, “What’s wrong with that?”
“Hey, it’s true,” Shade smirked, glancing across the room, “What ever happened to the guy stuff?”
“Not all girls highly dislike what you all like,” said Leah, “Don’t be hatin’!”
“Yeah, where do you think Kevin’s PS2 went two Thursdays ago when he went to go and meet up some friends?” Amanda rolled her eyes, “And you know, I’m still finishing half of his other games…”
“Or what happened to your DS that I borrowed A MONTH AGO?” Amanda nudged Shade, with a laugh, “Oh, and I’m still playing it, by the way… When you finish Twilight Princess, let me know and I’ll borrow your Wii…” Shade just shrugged unsurely.
“And who ever said I lost MY skateboarding skills?” added Kay, “I might not be doing it, but I still have the strategy in me!”
“Girls,” Kevin said, rolling his eyes, “Anyway…”
Shade looked over at Ash, who was obviously sitting next to him, “So, Ash… what’ll it be, truth or dare?”
“Ummm, truth,” Ash replied in a strangely quiet matter.
“Okaaay, I can’t think of a good question, but… let me see, what is the thing you always remembered the most from your family before going here to DISOM?” Shade asked, slowly going along with what was coming from the top of his head, bonking his head.
This made Ash start to feel uncomfortable, biting her lip, staying silent for a moment “I… I, um… uhh…”
“What’s the matter, Ash?” asked Kay, a bit of unease in her expression, “Can’t answer the question?”
“Isn’t there SOMETHING you at least said to your parents before you left?” Amanda was trying to help her respond, “You know, like ‘goodbye’ or ‘I’ll miss you’?”
Ash was still speechless, taking in what Shade just decided to ask her, “Ummm… w-well…”
“Just say it, Ash; say what you have to say and we’ll move on to the next person,” Shade said cleanly, “It’s not that hard to do, is it?”
She started feeling like she couldn’t take it anymore, lowering her gaze as she placed one finger in the ground, running it through the smooth pavement-like floor, “I’ll tell you guys something… b-but… you promise you all won’t tell anybody else, right? Or… l-laugh?” Everyone’s faces grew concerned, slow nods coming from every single person as all eyes were on her.
“Okay,” Ash’s voice started cracking, as if she were about to cry, “I… always said… that… I used to live in an island called Unalaska a-all the way… in the west coast, right? Well, I-I was always asked why I moved out of that place… and I constantly said that my parents decided to go to New York City. But… t-that’s… not… the story…” She trailed off a little, sniffling as tears ran down her eyes, “You see, my biological parents, t-they… they didn’t want me…” Ash took a deep breath, “I just… you see, I don’t know what my problem is, I really don’t know why they hated me enough to actually give me away. It… it’s just that… I can’t believe that they actually left me. I had this… you know, this… good life, until I was put up for stinking adoption. My ‘step-parents’ just probably took me in a week later… b-because they felt so damn sorry for me.” She looked over at the saddened faces of her friends, “L-Look, I just don’t want to talk about it… okay? … Please, just… don’t say anything.”
“Ash,” Kay muttered silently, “Why didn’t you tell us any of this earlier? Didn’t you let anybody know about your problems?”
“I always thought I could hide from my past by trying to conceal my secrets, as if they never happened at all,” Ash replied, “But no matter how hard I try… it always comes back to me; and slap me hard on the back.”
“Gee,” Shade sighed, “We’re sorry about what you went through, Ash. I don’t think it was actually nice of me to ask that question, then. I really am sorry if it made you feel that uncomfortable or anything.”
“It’s okay,” Ash wiped her tears away, sniffling, “I just wish I, at least, knew why they gave me to somebody else; just so I know what I could improve on.”
“I really don’t know what to say,” Amanda added, “I know maybe I can’t exactly change the past, but… you’ve got us, Ash, you’ve got all of us here, in fact. We’re your pals; we’ll be there for you if ever you need to vent. If you want, you could probably even ask for all of us,” She weakly laughed, “But my point here is, don’t hide things that’ll hurt you later… especially since we don’t want to make our friends feel left out and embarrassed.”
“Yeah,” Everyone chimed in at different times, “We’ll be there for you.”
“Thanks, guys,” Ash was touched to hear all of these inspiring words touch her heard, a smile managing to brush a smile across her face, “I’m glad I’ve got somebody… I mean, everybody.”
“So, you want us to stop the game?” asked Mark, “That is, if you don’t want any other things hurting your feelings.”
“Oh no, no, not at all” She shook her head, “You guys continue on; I don’t want to hold anybody down or something.”
“Will you be okay?” added Madisen, “You really that sure?”
Ash nodded, “I feel a hundred times better now. I guess I’ll be fine.”
“That’s good to hear,” Shade said, “So… who’s turn is it, now?”
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“Gee, you think Emily is okay?” asked Rickie, concerned, sitting down in her bed as she cuddled her pillow, Kelsie sitting next to her, “She’s been out for a while.”
Kelsie looked concerned, “I hope so…”
Rickie hopped off of her bed to look over at the window, “Gee, it still looks pretty cloudy outside… and rainy. Poor Cujo… and Emily.”
“Hope they’ll be alright out there,” Kelsie stood next to her, both of them glancing around the outside of the dorm window.
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“Oh… my gosh,” Emily said, coughing a few times, “I am WET! And these were my best pants too…” She squeezed the water from her sleeves then continued walking down the swamp-like grass that was filled with so much water that it felt like it was about to floor or something, “Cujo!!!” She pushed her hair back and started running, knowing that walking in the slowest pace would even kill her outfit, “Cujo! Here, boy!” This worried Emily; it had been a half hour and she still couldn’t find her dog.
Emily kept on walking and going until she thought there was light barking that she could hear from a distant. Immediately, she stopped to perceive the silence and se if she could pick up any other sounds. From the left side, she spotted bushes that were rustling slightly, which followed a soft, high-pitched bark. “Cujo?”
She peeped over through the thorn bush, gasping softly as she noticed where she had found her dog, tentatively licking at its wounded paw. Emily instantly picked up Cujo and cuddled him, “Aww, I’ve been looking all over for you! I thought I’d lost you!” She looked over at him slightly moaning from the pain that came from his right paw.
Emily bent down and set Cujo down, who had eyes as distressing as can be. She used one hand to hold him down, just in case he might want to resist, “Hold still, okie?” Carefully, she started pulling the splinter that was on his paw, hearing a bit of whimpering but stopped after it had completely gone from his paw. She was glad to have a dog that behaved… She pulled out a tourniquet from her pocket and wrapped it around his paw, “Let’s see if we can get back now,” Emily pat Cujo on the head while she started using her extra jacket to cover him the pouring rain.
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“I think it’s Leah’s turn now, huh?” asked Ash, looking over at the person next to her, getting a nod from most of the group, “So, yeah… truth or dare?”
“Ummm… I think I’ll take my chances and saaay,” Leah paused, “Dare…”
Ash smirked conceitedly, “Alright… I dare you… to… to… to kiss a boy in this room!” Leah gasped a little, shaking her head, signaling a ‘no-way-in-the-world-am-I-doing-that-sort-of-thing’ gesture. Ash just replied with the ‘a-dare-is-a-dare’ deal.
Leah sighed in defeat, looking around to see the boy closest to her. Biting her lip, she looked over to see Shade, who sat to the right of Ash. Taking a deep breath, she walked over and kissed him in the cheek then quietly sat back down to her spot.
“Ahhh,” Shade sighed softly, trying to think it was Florence actually kissing him, “Everyone loves me…”
“You happy now, Ash?” Leah asked with a grin, looking over at her best pal, “So… truth or dare, Madisen?”
“Umm, I’ll say truth,” Madisen replied with a nod. Leah did so too, taking a minute to think of a question.
“So,” Leah started, “Madisen… we’re best friends, right?””
“Uh huuuh?” Madisen waited patiently for her to continue on.
“Well, true friends always share every single thing about each other. Is there something you really HAVEN’T decided to tell me yet?” She asked, nudging her slightly.
She nudged back, “Hah, well… I haven’t kept any secrets from you. All I can say that I haven’t told you is…” She stopped and leaned over to whisper to her to read her mind. Leah did so, her jaw dropping.
“No way!” She shook her head, for she couldn’t help but end up laughing.
“I know!” Madisen said, the two not even realizing that the rest of the people had NO clue what they were talking about, besides the fact that they had the knowledge that it was probably something personal. A few of them whispered and tried to ask the person next to them what they might be talking about but the person would just answer with a confused shrug, “Just DON’T tell anyone, alright?”
Leah nodded, “I won’t!” At this time, they had finally come to realize the people who were just perplexed more than ever, but decided not to bother to disrupt their “friendship rule.”
“So, anyway… Mark,” Madisen looked over at him, “Dare or truth?”
“Isn’t it TRUTH or dare?” He asked, scratching his head.
“It is,” She replied, “I just like being unique!”
“I can see that,” Mark said, “So, anyway… I guess I’ll take… truth.”
“Oooh,” The girls spoke in unison, slightly interested, “You’re the first boy to do a truther.”
“And don’t forget ONLY,” He grinned at the correction he intended on making, “So… lay it on me, Madisen.” Mark crossed his arms, as if he were ready to indulge to any question he was asked.
“Alrighty, Mark,” Madisen said, “Your question is…” She thought for a moment, “Do you like anybody in this group? Or maybe even school?”
“Hmmm,” Mark thought for a moment, everyone curiously staring, “Not exactly.”
“Come ON!” Amanda called out, who was just across from him; “Everybody gets a crush at one time in the least. We won’t spill the beans if you tell us.”
Mark honestly shook his head, “I just don’t find any of the girls here my type.”
“There are TOO many girls around here. There’s at least one of them that makes you go goo-goo-gah-gah over them,” Kay added, nudging him.
“Really, guys,” He said, “You won’t get me to say anything, because… well, I’m telling the truth.”
“Aww, way to kill the mood,” Shade said, “It’s okay, I guess. But you WILL tell us eventually…”
“Suuure,” Mark said, “Well, anyway… looks like we made it all the way back to you, Kay.”
“Yay!” Kay said, “Finally, it’s my turn!”
“Let’s see,” He said, “Truth or dare?”
“Ummmm, dare!” Kay replied with a grin, “And it better involve coffee!”
“I would, but, unfortunately, there’s no access to that at the moment,” Mark glanced around, “But… we can do another teaser.”
“Uh oh. It better not be another kissing thing!”
“It’s not. But something else; you have to be zapped for three days!”
“What! I don’t want to be shot with thunder!”
“No, I-I don’t mean that… It’s like the game ‘zap,’ which means as in you have to say a specific sentence, or even word, every time somebody says your name. Like if I were zapped, then whenever someone said Mark, then I might have to say I love you to every person who did.”
“Oooh,” Everyone nodded in total fascination, except for the few who already knew what the game was.
“Lay it on me!” said Kay, “What do I have to say?”
“Hmmmm,” Mark looked around to get some ideas, “You have to saaay… I love Shade.”
“Yay I’m loved even more!” shouted Shade, lying down on the ground, “Yahoo!”
“… Alright then,” She said punching him teasingly, “You silly goose!”
“Hey, what about MEEE?” said Kevin.
Mark thought for a minute, “Okaaay… you have to say you love both Shade AND Kevin.”
“Yay!” They both cheered.
“Weirdos,” Ash muttered, Amanda especially nodding in agreement along with the other girls, “Hey! Can we play another game?”
“Oh yeah!” Amanda said in cheer, “I have the greatest idea!” Everyone looked over in interest as she took off her sling pack and took out paper and a few pencils, “This one is to cheer everyone up.”
“What are we doing, drawing?” asked Ash, “I don’t like Pictionary!!”
“No, no, not that game,” Amanda shook her head, “I’m sure you guys haven’t done something like this before,” She pulled strips of tape, tearing a few then placing it on the paper, placing it on every person’s back after handing out the pencils.
“I feel weird with this,” Shade said, turning around, “Why do we need these in this game?”
“Because, you haven’t let me explain it yet,” Amanda said, poking Kevin to get him to put one on her back, “See, this is more of an activity than a game. Everyone has a paper, right? Well, we’re all friends, too. The trick to this game is to write a word or more about what you like or think about the person,” This got everyone glancing in fascination, nodding as she went along, “Basically, one GOOD—not bad—thing about the person you plan on writing… on. You can only write ONCE, and you must go to every person; just so they don’t feel left out. Everybody get it?”
“That sounds fun!” Kay bounced up and down, “Let’s do it!!”
“Okay, guys!” Amanda grinned proudly after seeing everyone’s enthusiasm, “Let’s go!”
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“So, is everyone done?” asked Amanda, after seeing most of the group standing around, watching the others who were still writing. She waited for nods then went on, “Alright. Now, take off the paper from the back of your shirt and read it to yourself for a few minutes.” Everyone did so, surprised glances coming from everybody in the group.
Amanda was speed-reading, but wanted to see if her goal was reached, “So, the point of this game is to make others in the group feel important. After five minutes, do any of you feel a hundred times better than how they felt earlier from all of the eight things said about you- bad or good?” Everyone nodded again, sharing each other’s papers with laughs and exhilaration, “Now, this is the point where the people, whoever wants to, can come up and share each other’s papers aloud. Anybody want to go first?”
“Ooh! Me!” grinned Kay with a lot more pleasure than last time, “I want to go!” Amanda nodded as Kay stood up and looked at her paper, “I got… coffee-lover, always extremely hyper but a good dorm-mate, outgoing, friendly, fun, great to hang around with, talkative, and good at cheering you up! And that’s it!”
“Oooh! Oooh!” said Shade excitedly, “I got… hilarious, outgoing, sweet, caring, always loved by every girl,” He paused to see everyone laugh over that one, “… a genius, great idea thinker person, and… a best friend to anybody and everybody.” Every girl had said aww to that one, Kay grinning happily.
“I got, I got!” shouted Ash, “I got… hyper, cheerful, fun to talk to, great singer, devoted, smart, mysterious, and can never bore you.”
Amanda stood up, “And I got… positive, good at coming up with ideas, exciting, unique, a bit quiet but still talkative, always knows how to start up a conversation, intelligent, and… I’ll always love you,” She looked over at Kevin and gave him a nudge, following a hug, “And I will too, forever and forever!”
The rest had decided to, not really keep it to themselves, but just not to share and just let people read it. Nobody had lost their optimism after what they just did earlier, sharing all about it for a few minutes, each discovering who wrote about whom. Later on, it seemed as if a few people breaking off to smaller groups to enjoy a conversation that they wanted to start.
“AH! No! It can’t be locked!!” They heard a sudden, unfamiliar voice from the distant, causing everyone to grow silent.
“What was that??” asked Kay, standing up, looking over at every direction.
“We can’t be stuck here forever, Cujo! We just can’t!” The same voice exclaimed sadly.
“Who’s Cujo?” Shade added in to the confusion, “Sounds like a pet name…” Shade’s thought followed a whiney, puppy bark, “Uh, well that… answers my question.”
Amanda put her sling pack back on, later on thinking that she saw somebody outside on the other end of the locked surface that trapped insiders and outsiders, running over to that direction. Everybody else looked over in uncertainty and followed. Upon hearing the rain slowly growing softer and the thunder stopping, a beep came on through the intercom close to where they stood.
“Attention all students and faculty. The lockdown and power out is longer being initiated. You may all exit your dorm rooms and continue on with your day. Thank you for all of your cooperation,” following this announcement was the first hall no longer being locked down like it was earlier. Everyone looked around in slight interest, seeing as the time had gone by quickly.
“Cujo! No! Come back!” called Emily, running over her dashing dog.
“Oh!” Shade said, seeing the puppy suddenly jumping in his arms, noticing he was the person closest to where the chase was being continued, “Hi little puppy.” He petted Cujo softly, seeing Emily come up to him.
“Thanks,” Emily showed pure gratitude as Shade handed Cujo over to her, since he knew it would probably be his owner that he was talking to, “Shade, right?”
“Yeeaah,” He said, “What was your name again?”
“Emily,” She answered simply, “Oh, and sorry about how wet I am,” She took a few steps back, “I was outside trying to find him then he ran away- he’s sort of scared of the rain.”
“Oh,” Shade nodded, “Nice to meet you Emily.”
“You too,” Emily replied, seeing everyone she remembered around the time she had actually met them face to face the first time, “So…”
“So…” He said, “How’s it… going?”
“Good?” She responded, looking around to try, as if she were trying to find somebody, “I think I’ll be… over there!” Emily spotted Mark and ran over there, Shade tilting his head in confusion. He just shrugged and walked over to follow her.
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End Chapter Twenty-Two
Yay. More accomplishment. I feel happy for some reason. OH and I'm not going to California until tomorrow, in case you never read my blog... yet. Yeeaah. So I had time to update the last few paragraphs before the TBS concert in the House of Blues. Yay concerts. I'll be leaving in an hour. -excited- Hah, two PM show. :D Yeeaaah. Saturdays are my no-life days. BUT YAY CONCERT. Yeah. Back to my spazzyness and AUA updateness.
Thanks again, reviewers! The more I get, the more I'll be motivated to update, by the way! But even a few would suit me alright. 8D
TehNaruto-Obsession :)