TOO MUCH ATTENTION
499 Words
For a moment after Chloe left, the hallway stayed silent.
The distant music from the party downstairs echoed through the walls, but up here everything felt strangely calm.
I leaned against the wall and sighed.
“Your friends are exhausting.”
Adrian glanced at me.
“Chloe isn’t my friend.”
“You already said that,” I replied. “But she clearly thinks she owns you.”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“She doesn’t.”
I studied his face for a second.
“You seem very popular.”
“That’s one way to describe it.”
“And what’s the honest way?” I asked.
Adrian looked down the hallway before answering.
“Complicated.”
Before I could ask more, a loud cheer suddenly came from downstairs.
Adrian frowned.
“Great.”
“What?” I asked.
“That sounds like trouble.”
We walked back toward the main party area.
As soon as we reached the stairs, I realized something was wrong.
Almost everyone in the living room was looking toward us.
Whispers spread quickly through the crowd.
“Is that her?”
“That’s the new girl.”
“She’s with Adrian again.”
I stopped halfway down the stairs.
“This is weird.”
Adrian didn’t seem surprised.
“Like I said… people are curious.”
I groaned.
“Why does everyone care so much?”
“Because you’re the only person who argues with me and still shows up to my party.”
“That’s not impressive.”
“To them it is.”
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, a group of Adrian’s friends approached us.
One of them grinned.
“Well, well. Adrian finally brought a guest.”
Another one laughed.
“The mysterious Lena.”
I frowned.
“Why does everyone know my name?”
Adrian rubbed the back of his neck.
“That might be my fault.”
“What did you do?”
He looked slightly amused.
“I mentioned you earlier.”
“Mentioned me how?”
Before he could answer, someone shouted from across the room.
“GAME TIME!”
The crowd suddenly became excited.
Students quickly gathered around a large table in the middle of the room.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Adrian sighed.
“A stupid party game.”
“What kind of game?”
His eyes flicked toward the crowd.
Then back to me.
“The kind you probably won’t like.”
Too late.
Someone in the crowd spotted us.
“Adrian!” a guy yelled.
The entire room turned toward us again.
“You and Lena have to play!”
My eyes widened.
“Play what?”
The crowd started chanting loudly.
“Truth or Dare! Truth or Dare! Truth or Dare!”
I looked at Adrian.
“Absolutely not.”
But his smirk slowly returned.
“Relax,” he said.
“What’s the worst that could happen?”
I crossed my arms.
“With you? Probably everything.”
- Writer
