JOEY

Things are weird. I can’t put my finger on it. But something’s off. We’re at dinner now and nobody’s said a word. Liv is in a better mood and trying to make conversation with Koren and Kate. They’re not as responsive. Justin is digging into his hamburger and not saying anything to anyone. Chris, JC, and I are making small talk.

All in all, this dinner sucks.

“We should play Truth or Dare!” Liv says suddenly out of nowhere. I catch her looking at Justin, who winks at her and I wonder if anyone else has seen it.

“Are we fifteen?” Chris scoffs at his wife and Liv glares at him.

“You are,” Liv says this under her breath but we all hear it.

There’s an awkward silence. Nobody says a word. The only sound is the occasional drip of the faucet in the kitchen and the waves crashing on the shore outside.

“Um. Yeah. Let’s play it.” Koren suddenly speaks up and I look at my wife as if she’s crazy. “Why not? The adult version.”

“What’s the difference?” Kate asks and eyes Koren suspiciously.

Koren shrugs. “Beats me. It’ll at least give us something to do.”

We clean up after dinner and head into the living room. JC and Kate sit together on the couch next to me and Koren. Liv sits on the floor across from Justin, who’s leaning against the fireplace. Chris is in the recliner.

“I can’t believe we’re playing a game you play in high school,” JC mutters and looks over at me. I shrug. The whole vacation is off and this just makes it even more off.

“Ok, truth or dare?” Justin speaks up and the way he says it makes us all turn and look at him. He turns to Kate. ”Kate?”

“Truth.” Kate shrugs.

“Has anyone ever watched you and JC fuck?”

Kate gasps and looks at him as if he’s crazy. “Justin….”

“That’s inappropriate.” JC cuts her off.

“Hey, it’s the adult version.” Justin reminds him. “She has to answer.” He clears his throat. “So, tell us? You and JC into voyeurism?”

“No. Nobody’s ever watched us…do that.” Kate’s uncomfortable and looks away from Justin.

“Huh. Interesting.” Justin is smirking and then laughs under his breath. “You sure about that?”

“Yes, I think I’d know!” Kate snaps at him.

“Or maybe JC knows something you don’t?” Justin raises an eyebrow.

JC looks at Justin and rolls his eyes. “Uh, sorry buddy. No idea what you’re talking about.”

“C’mon C. That night you and Katie snuck into our dorm room?” Justin is standing up now and saunters over to Kate. There’s a gleam in his eye. “Gosh, I remember it like it was yesterday.” He stands in front of Kate and reaches down to caress her cheek. She flinches and moves away. “You were so hot, Kate. Watching you and JC fuck like that.”

“Justin…” JC doesn’t know what else to say. He looks at Kate and she makes a disgusted face. “What the hell is going on?”

“I mean, I think we should just get all our secrets out in the open.” He looks over at Chris. “Like did you ever tell Liv about Dayna?”

“Who’s Dayna?” Liv’s question is more of an accusation.

“Shut up, Justin.” Chris is seething.

“No, we’re all here. We should be honest with each other. I just let you all know that I got to see Kate and JC in bed. It’s only fair we talk about Chris’ little secret, too. I know I’m not the only one who has them.” Justin has moved away from JC and Kate and over to Chris. “Tell Liv about Dayna.”

“It wasn’t anything,” Chris says and Liv gasps and puts her hand over her mouth.

“What do you mean it wasn’t anything?!” She stands to her feet, her hands on her hips and glares at her husband.

“Oh my god, Liv, it happened a fucking long time ago!” Chris is raising his voice. I look at Koren and squeeze her hand. I already know neither of us have any secrets. And even if we did, there was no way Justin would know.

“Who was Dayna?” Liv asks and she’s shaking.

“She was a one night stand back in college.” Chris groans and puts his head in his hands. “And it meant nothing.”

I see Koren and Kate glance at one another and Koren shakes her head at Kate.

It’s going to be a long night.

KOREN

If we’re all spilling secrets it’s not fair that Liv is keeping the biggest one of all – her sleeping with Justin. So far, Kate and I are supposedly the only ones that knew. But I didn’t think it was fair the way that Justin was ragging on Chris in front of Liv and Liv was acting as if she had been innocent in all of it.

Kate and I look at one another but I can’t let her spill anything. It’s not our business. And anyway, how the hell did we get pulled into this weird game of Truth or Dare anyway?

“Uh, shouldn’t we just get back to the game?” I hear myself asking and Justin turns his attention to me.

“Oh, I forgot. We were playing a game, weren’t we?” Justin sits on the edge of the coffee table, props his elbows on his knees and rests his chin in his hands. He looks at Kate. “Well, I guess I kind of answered your question, didn’t I?”

“I’m not done with Chris!” Liv interjects. “I want to know about this Dayna bitch. And I want to know why you never mentioned her to me, especially when we’ve been through hell this year and you made it out to be my fault.”

“I’m not playing anymore.” Chris stands to his feet and starts to head for the stairs. Justin jumps ahead of him.

“Oh, no, you’re not leaving. We’re all gonna play. I mean, Kate planned this fucking lovely weekend and we’re going to make the most of it. Right, Katie?” Justin turns and winks at her.

“No, I didn’t think it would be like this.” Kate’s voice is barely audible. “Justin, stop being an asshole. You’re just trying to stir up shit and it’s stupid. Fine, I’m sorry I thought this would be an enjoyable weekend. We won’t do it again. Are you happy?”

“No.” Liv responds and Kate looks at her in surprise. “I just want to know why you thought it was a good idea in the first place?”

“I-I don’t know. To keep Lance’s memory alive, I guess? I mean, I thought…I guess I thought we were closer than we are.” Kate shakes her head. “I’m sorry, guys. I didn’t know it would be this way.”

LIV

Justin and I stepped out of his dorm room. We’d been keeping this little tryst a secret for longer than I thought we’d be able to. As we walked into the hall, we’re still all over each other. That’s when we looked up and saw Lance walking toward us. Justin moved his hand off my butt and nods at Lance.

“Hey, um, Justin. About what I said last night –“ Lance started and Justin cut him off.

“Dude, I don’t want to hear it okay? It’s done. You said what you needed to say.” Justin looked disgusted with him.

“But I still want us to be friends, man.” Lance stepped closer to us. He eyed me for a minute. “I thought Chris was gone for the weekend?”

“You should know. He’s your roommate.” I was trying to be coy and not act like Justin and I had just finished fooling around in his room. But we looked like we’d just rolled out of bed and Lance knew it.

“Uh, Liv…look, um-“ Lance stammered on his words.

“Just leave us alone, okay Bass? I mean it. I don’t want to be your friend. I don’t even want to be around you.” Justin moved away from Lance and pulled me with him.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“Nothing.” Justin didn’t say anything else.

“His memory alive, huh?” I glare at Kate. I hate her. I’ve always hated her. “Tell me, Kate, did you know about Dayna?”

Kate lets out a breath and purses her lips together. “You know we all had secrets in college. But it was college and –“

“And? So? What do you mean we all had secrets?” JC cuts her off and Kate looks at her husband in shock. “What else are you hiding?”

“She’s not hiding anything.” Justin walks over to me and stands over me. “Tell them, Olivia.”

I look up at him in shock. Was he serious? “Justin!” I say through gritted teeth.

The room is silent. I can feel everyone staring at me.

“C’mon, Liv. Nobody wants to have secrets. Right?” Justin whispers.

“What secrets?” Chris asks, his voice is barely above a whisper. I don’t respond. “I asked what secrets?” His tone is stern and it makes me look up at him. I shake my head.

“Liv, just say something.” It’s Kate. It’s fucking Kate who is opening her mouth again.

“Shut up, Kate!” My voice cracks because I’m screaming at her now. “This is all your fault.” I look up at Justin. “Shut her up, please.”

Justin turns and looks right at Kate. “Not a problem, Livvy.” He walks over to her. “Not a problem at all.”