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Ten

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Nathan, who had been drinking from a can coughed, sending the can he'd been holding to the floor, and the content of his mouth to the environment around him like a fountain. The classic spit take. "You what?!"

"It's two truths and a lie," she shrugged.

"Repeat that!"

She smiled smugly, loving his reaction to her statements. It wasn't predicted that Nathan would lose his marbles over it but she was there for it. "I've spent the night in Jail, I've smoked cannabis and I've tossed a ring off a mountain," she repeated.

"Cannabis," he said forcefully, as if forcing his guess to be true. "Say it's cannabis!"

She rolled her eyes. "But it's not. I smoked cannabis at a frat party back home."

He grimaced. "What the—Whose?!"

She was about to answer when another voice interrupted her.

"What ring did you toss?" Javier asked.

"Yeah, I was thinking that too. Prom night, right?" Paige waved her finger in front of her. "I remember."

April raised her brow in feigned surprise, flashing a very innocent smile afterward. In her peripheral vision, she struggled to see Javier's face but meanwhile, she could let memories rule. "Oh yeah! You called us the em-"

"Havisham girls!" She supplied.

"What'd you guys do?" Malia asked, transferring Nathan's hand from one of hers to the other.

"I got ditched by Freddy before prom started. Like he, right out of the hotel had to leave in a limo with his Dad," Paige explained. "I named myself Ms. Havisham for the night because of that." She was smiling like it was a sweet, 'walk-down-the-aisle' moment.

"Plus, you were in a white dress," April chipped in, still fighting the urge to turn her head.

"Yeah! A bunch of other girls joined me and we became the Havishams. Manda refused to join us."

"Because I had a date," Amanda defended herself, dusting imaginary particles off her dress.

"Yeah right, some amazing prom date you had!" April retorted, casting a glare at Nathan, who had ditched Amanda halfway through the prom.

"So it's the ring toss?" Malia asked, going unheard.

"Before you judge her, why don't you tell everyone who you took to prom?" Nathan fired back.

April inhaled. He had asked the only prom question she didn't want tonight. Prom for her was as complicated as it was interesting. "Doesn't matter."

"Doesn't it now? Who else wants to know who my little sister had as a prom date?"
He raised his hand, followed by Malia, then to her surprise, Javier.

"Who was it again? Pretty sure I was drunk the entire night," Paige whispered. Amanda audibly sighed and put her hand on her chin.

April clenched her jaw, ignoring her stepsister and focusing on the staring contest she was having with Nathan. The fire cackled along with her mood, and together, they threatened to explode into bits of hot temper and soot.

"Hayden Parker." She rolled her eyes.

"Liar."

"Hayden and Parker. Get off my case."

Nathan guffawed. "You had two dates," he announced, holding up his fingers. "Two different guys to the same party and you're one to talk."

"Yeah, so what?"

Apart from being voted prom Queen, the night hadn't gone as she wanted it. For starters, she'd taken–under circumstances–two different guys. The first had been the football quarterback, an ex of hers who had taken a bold step to ask her to prom in the middle of the parking lot. There was no chance she could've said no.

The second had asked the night before, during a small dinner they'd had at his house. She hadn't been particularly excited about it, especially since it had happened after the biggest breakup of her life, but she'd still swallowed it and said yes to keep them happy.

Remembering the tough time she'd had at prom wasn't helping right now, especially on top of the big can of bullshit Nathan was opening.

"Cannabis?" He asked, realising the reality of the situation now. "You did drugs?"

"It was experimental, like most things done at my age. You'd know that if you weren't too scared to live your own life," she shot at him.

"It's called responsibility."

"Really! You act like you've never wanted to do stuff but the truth is you're too scared of Dad to try anything."

"I'm not scared, asshole. If anyone's scared, it's you. Why else wouldn't you want to go to college?" He said, rising from his side of the tree trunk he'd been sharing with Malia.

"Maybe because I'd rather not go than turn out as a douche who'll spend the rest of his life not being good enough. You should've heard what Dad said about you earlier."

"You keep your mouth shut, you hear me?"

"Or what?" She flared. "You're running away cause you know I'm right, Nate. You know it but you'll never, ever admit it!"

"If anyone should admit truth about themselves, you should be called first."

And with that, he walked away, leaving a drop of burning anger in her eyes. She turned to Amanda's side to rant, but was shocked to meet an empty seat.

Malia ran after Nathan after sending April a dirty look, leaving Paige, April and Javier sitting in silence.

"I'll just... go to bed. Nice game though," Paige tapped her shoulder before getting up, too. The fire's glow went dark for a second as Paige's blocked the light from her, then it burned right back as she exited.

And then there were two.

"What ring did you throw?"

She realised she wasn't alone when his voice reached her ears. It was pointless now that it was just the two of them, they didn't have to keep playing.

"Why are you even asking that? You know what ring I threw."

The air grew thick with tension

"You're right, I do. Why?"

"Same reason you took off the tattoo," she replied.

"And prom? Way to keep it cute. You took two guys, really? What happened to silent night?"

"That was an old plan, things had to change," she forced out. "And it doesn't even matter anyway."

She waited for him to ask her to explain, and looked up from her thighs, only to meet him staring at her, though in silence. The cold air seeped through her tee-shirt, making her wrap her arms round herself in a feeble attempt to find warmth.

"You heard Paige say I was a Havisham too. Both dates ended before the night," she explained anyway. Not feeling vindicated, she cleared her throat and continued. "And both guys knew about it before time. We even had a picture of the three of us taken...I still have it back home."

Another round of silence.

"Bet I'm not that much of a slut now, am I?"

"I never said you were one. I don't care how many dates you had. I'm just wondering what you were thinking when you tossed the ring I gave you."

Her brows furrowed. "Like you tossed your half of the tattoo?"

"Considering I'm the only one who got mine in the first place, I don't think I tossed my half."

"That doesn't make any difference. It feels the same way."

"Don't you get it? I didn't take it off. I still have it in the exact same spot I got it. I was joking, it's a stupid game." He ran both hands through his hair, letting out a long, heavy sigh. "Goodnight," he ended up saying as he walked away, his shadow making the same effect Paige's did.

April sighed and rotated the metal band in her pocket again, trying to force out the words 'I didn't toss it,' but they were as blocked there as a squeaky toy in a drain pipe. She released a shaky sigh in the cold, watching the fire burn in front of her, sending smoke upwards.

•~❉᯽❉~•

Morning wasn't any better.

Though nobody had said a word to anyone, it was very clear that tension hung in the very air they inhaled. April had woken up earlier than Paige, but later than Amanda, quite the usual. The latter had been sitting in a corner of their tent, arranging clothes in her bag when she'd gotten up. They had grumbled out their 'good morning's but other than that, they hadn't spoken.

Now they were gathered outside the tents, beside the pile of ashes and blackened wood pieces that remained the previous night's bonfire.

Nathan and Javier were taking turns to pull out and fold the tent materials into their respective cellophane bags.

As much as she didn't want it, a voice kept repeating to her the word 'apologize', not that she had plans to listen to it though.

The last night had been tough, but it didn't mean she had to be the first to make amends. She could do without him, after all Amanda and Paige were still on her side. A few of the other parents were around, but Patrick was not among them.

"Where's my dad?" She asked Amanda, who had been carrying sand in a can, about to turn it over the ashes of the fire.

"Left early," She replied stiffly, going back to her work.

"Why would he leave early?"

"Okay everyone, I'm done packing up the coolers and snacks. All that's left is to wash up the ashes from over there and then everyone should sit and wait for me, okay?" Hannah announced, rubbing both palms as she spoke.

A round of mumbled 'okays' and 'sures' followed her back to where she came from.

So she'd stayed behind, April thought, watching her walk away. If she hadn't known better, she'd say there was a change in the way she walked. She was also wearing her flowery robe, which made April wonder why she'd bothered to bring it.

She turned around, remembering Amanda, who was still carrying the large can. "Do you need help any help?"

"I'm done, thanks!" Was the reply, as she chucked the can of sand away, clapping afterward to clear the sand that stuck to her palm.

"Why are we even sitting here?" Malia asked after they'd taken the same positions they'd sat in last night.

"Mom wanted us to do one last thing before the walk back," Paige replied.

"What's that?" Nathan wanted to know.

All heads turned to Paige as the building curiosity overcame them all. She sighed and shrugged.

"Name the baby."