Playing truth or dare within this group always results in one of two scenarios: one, it's revealed that someone has a huge crush on someone else, or two, a fight breaks out that could potentially last for days on end.

I can't be quite sure how this particular game is going to end.

"What's the point in playing truth or dare at noon? Because if someone refuses to tell the truth or do the dare, it's not like you can make them take a shot because it's way too early to drink," Charlie argues back, and Jasmine pouts at him.

"Boo you," she says.

"I guess that there's just no backing out, then. So unless you have a better idea, we're going to play," she continues, crossing her arms.

Charlie glares at her for a moment and I'm starting to wonder if there's a particular reason why she volunteered this game so quickly.

They don't break eye contact until Bryce clears his throat, reaching behind me to nudge Charlie's shoulder.

"The game is obviously stupid as shit but it's better than sitting around doing nothing all afternoon," Bryce says, defending Jasmine.

She grins at him, giving Charlie the middle finger before settling back into the couch, leaning a little closer into Daniel's shoulder.

Jasmine scans over the group, then asking, "Is everybody in?"

Even though I'd rather not be pressured into making out with somebody or something stupid like that, I go along with the rest of the group.

"Great," she smiles, linking her arm around behind Daniel's so that her hand is resting on his thigh.

I see a fire in Charlie's eyes and I'm certain that I was right; he's incredibly jealous of Daniel and Jasmine's blossoming relationship.

"So, how about the new guy goes first?" Jordan suggests, and everybody collectively looks towards Bryce.

Bryce quirks his head towards Jordan in response, giving him a lopsided smirk. "Truth or dare?" Jordan asks him, and Bryce momentarily thinks before answering.

"Let's start with a truth, shall we?"

"How many people have you slept with?" Mateo asks before Jordan can think of a question.

Glad to see that we're off to a great, family-friendly start.

Bryce doesn't seem at all fazed by the question. as if he was expecting something along these lines.

He thinks for a moment, staring up out of the corner of his eye as if he's mentally tallying something up.

"I'm actually a virgin. Saving myself for marriage and all that shit," he says, and everyone blinks at him.

I easily recognize the blatant lie, and Bryce can't contain his grin for any longer. The group catches on and collectively bursts into laughter, and I'm glad that the tension in the room has been eased a fair bit.

"Thirty-nine that I can remember the names of. There's way more but I can't remember them because I was too drunk," he finally replies honestly, and I feel my jaw drop open.

He reaches for my chin, using the tip of his finger to shut my mouth again.

"You're going to let flies in, Blossom," he teasingly scolds, and I gulp hard.

That's a lot of people he's been with for only being seventeen and still in high school. Maybe actually doing it changes a person's perspective, but I guess that's why I can't say for sure.

Bryce notices how my eyes are still wide, and he frowns a little.

"Are you okay?" he questions, suddenly concerned, and I nod at him.

"Of course, sorry," I say, and he gives me a sad smile.

"You're doing the apologizing thing again," he says quietly, and when I open my mouth to respond he presses a finger over my lips to silence me.

How many girls has he touched with those hands, I wonder. How many girls laid across his chest like I had done last night?

Even better, why do I care so much? Why do I have such a strong opinion on what he does with his life? My heart feels a little heavy as I think about it, and when Bryce's hands drop from my face a shiver runs down my spine.

Ryan glances to Bryce, a small grin on his face.

"I'm glad to see that you're actually a bit of fun," Ryan comments.

"Glad to hear I have your approval," Bryce replies, his tone dripping in sarcasm.

Bryce quickly turns to Mateo and says, "Your turn, Blondie. Truth or dare?"

Mateo doesn't even look taken back by the crazy nickname, and easily answers, "Truth."

"Why are you such an asshole?" Bryce asks him, and Mateo snorts, crossing his against his chest.

"Just trying to keep up with you," he replies coldly, before turning to me.

"Truth or dare, Lex?"

I'm usually the type to always go for 'truth', answering the invasive question and moving on.

But for some reason, the way Mateo is staring at me has me a little scared to hear what type of thing he would choose to ask me.

This is why, for once, I respond, "Dare."

"I dare you to kiss Bryce," he says, and I immediately gape at his immaturity.

Whenever we come down here for the weekend, everyone else is always acting ridiculous and childish, going to parties until the ungodly hours of the morning and suggesting stupid games like this.

It's frustrating to watch this evolution in his attitude, and I want to slap it right out of him.

"No. Not happening," Bryce interjects. "I'm not going to kiss her right now for your dumb game."

Honestly, I'm a tad bit offended.

I need to stop thinking to hard about every action, every single word that comes out of his mouth. It's getting ridiculous and all just ends up in a jumble in my head.

"Cool it. She didn't even get to say anything," Mateo fights back, leaning forward in his seat with an entertained twinkle in his eyes.

"Yeah, well it takes two to fucking tango, buddy. I said no, so it's not going to happen," Bryce responds again. "Give her a different dare."

This is when Jasmine interrupts the whole disaster. "Can everybody just take a breather? It's just a game."

Mateo turns his attention away from Bryce and I, towards Jasmine. He gives her a slight glare, before turning back to us.

I decide now would be a good time to finally speak up, and I decide against my earlier idea to try and do something different for once.

"How about I just take a truth?" I suggest, and Mateo nods.

"Out of all the people in this room, how many of them have you kissed?" he asks me, and the urge to tell him off grows stronger by the minute.

Bryce seems to have the same line of thought, and he let's out an exasperated sigh, saying, "What is up with you and 'kissing' right now? Grow up."

"She doesn't have to answer," Mateo snaps, and I then feel two sets of eyes boring into me.

"Two," I answer quietly, but still loud enough for people to hear.

Bryce doesn't look surprised in the slightest, but Mateo's eyes are bulging out of their sockets.

"Why?" he asks me. "He's only been here for a week."

I spin around to stare at him.

"I didn't say who the second person was, did I? Stop assuming," I basically hiss at him, and he blinks slowly at me, shying away and leaving the situation alone.

"Someone take my turn," I say, looking around at the room.

Jasmine and Jordan are gaping at me, and they must think Bryce and I did something last night while we were here alone.

Little do they know that it was just a quick kiss four years ago that meant, and still means, absolutely nothing.

Or at least that how I wish I felt about it.

I slump back in my seat, sifting as far away on the couch from Bryce that I can get.

Charlie is looking at me in confusion, and I give him a shake of my head, signalling for him to hold his questions until later. He nods, catching the message, before he's drawn back into the game when Jasmine chooses him next.

I sit there quietly for the rest of the game, not wanting to have someone select me again. I'd really rather not play this game anymore, and I excuse myself from the room, heading upstairs to the bedroom I've been staying in.

I lay back in the bed, burying my face into one of the pillows and letting out a huge sigh. I suppose it was naive of me to think we could all stay under one roof together and not have any drama begin, but I was still holding on to that hope until now.

The faint sound of laughter is still clearly audible from downstairs as I lay down in my bed, mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram feed. A bunch of people have posted about the soccer game earlier, as well as photos from their Friday night parties. I quickly get bored of spotting the same images over and over again, and I instead decide to go to the search bar and type in Bryce's name.

I only get four letters in before his account pops up. I tap on the icon, and my screen is flooded with his profile. His bio is empty except for his name, but below is a link to a YouTube channel as well as a contact button directing people to an email address. I decide to click on the link, and a page is brought up filled with a bunch of videos with Bryce's face in the thumbnail. I click on the first one to pop up, and I blink hard when I realize that it has twenty seven million views.

Sure enough, the video is of him singing. It's a cover of some pop-rap song that was popular over the summer, and upon letting it play through I realize that Bryce actually does have a pretty good voice.

The video finishes and another one begins, this one with only six million views. I haven't heard this song before, but it sounds good with Bryce singing it. I want to ask him about all this later but then I begin to wonder if this could be considered stalking.

Probably, but whatever.

I spend a little while longer looking through Bryce's page, scrolling through the comments to find a surprising amount of teenage girls that are seemingly head-over-heels in love with him before I switch back over to Instagram, following his account before going to look at my notifications.

There's a follow request waiting there, and I soon realize it's from Bryce. I accept, not sure how he managed to find my account as I'm not personally social media famous, just as Jasmine comes walking into the room.

"We're all going over to Ethan's place. He has a hot tub if you want to come too," she tells me leaning against the side of the doorframe.

I shake my head at her without even thinking hard about the question, knowing that being there again would just cause bad memories to pop into my head.

"I'll pass," I tell her. "You guys have fun though."

"Awe. Please?" she asks, sticking out her bottom lip in a pout, and I give her a sympathetic smile.

I feel a little guilty for backing out but I know that it's in my own best interest.

"Sorry, no," I tell her, and she walks out of the room with an agitated sigh.

I watch her head down the stairs, until she disappears around a corner, and I listen in on as much of the following conversation as I can.

"She's not coming," Jasmine says, and then I hear Bryce says something that I can't quite make out. Mateo then says something indecipherable as well, just as Jasmine butts in.

"Christ, you two are annoying. Work your shit out and meet us outside," she commands, and I hear a door open, a series of footsteps, then the door closing.

"What the hell is your issue? Go hang out with your friends and leave this alone," I hear Bryce huff, agitated.

The door opens again, and Bryce then says, "Just get out."

The door suddenly slams shut, and then Mateo says, "What, so you're allowed to be in her room at three in the morning but I can't even stay in the same house as her alone?"

Bryce groans. "It's not like that, but it's also not my story to tell. Go ask her yourself."

Not this again. I shoot straight out of bed, scurrying down the stairs to stop them before the situation escalates.

"Please guys, just stop," I beg, right as they come into view.

They're both standing right in the foyer, Mateo standing with his arms crossed, trying to look intimidating but failing miserably as Bryce is still a few inches taller than him.

They both turn around to face me, and while Mateo looks mad, Bryce looks frustrated.

"Honestly Blossom, I don't know why you keep this guy around. He's fucking mad," Bryce says to me, walking over to sit on the bottom few steps of the stairs I had just walked down. He rests an elbow in his lap, then leaning the side of his face against his hand, looking totally unamused.

"I'm about to drive my ass back home, honestly. He's so whiny."

Mateo now looks enraged. "You're asking her why she keeps me around? Why the hell are you even here? I'm pretty sure you must be insane, taking your family history into account," he spits, and I'm starting to understand why Bryce is irritated by Mateo's actions.

"Matt, please stop bringing that up," I ask him quietly, and his overall demeanour softens.

"I'm sorry, Lex. I just get a bad feeling around him," he replies calmly, as if his words aren't at all offensive.

Bryce chuckles from behind me, drumming his fingertips along the rail of the stairs just like he does to his car steering wheel.

Mateo takes another step towards me. "What really happened last night? Are you okay?" he asks me, and I nod at him, a little breathless suddenly. It makes me nervous, having him standing this close.

"I'm okay," I promise him, and he nods to me.

"I know you said nothing happened last night, but then when did you kiss him? It was clearly him; I really doubt you would kiss Jordan and I'm pretty sure that would be the only other option. I thought we had something going," Mateo says quietly.

My heart aches for him, and I take his hand in mine, giving it a squeeze. "It was four years ago. He was my first kiss. It's not like you think," I say, and Mateo nods to me, suddenly reassured.

It's all quiet for a moment, and I'm surprised Bryce doesn't say anything.

That's when Mateo suddenly must feel brave, because just like that he leans down so our faces are level and he kisses me softly on the lips.

It's not the first time we've kissed, so he knows I'm not opposed to it or anything, but then my brain flashes back to what he has just said a moment ago.

"I thought we had something going."

Perfect. He thinks we're about to start a relationship or something. That's not what I want, as all I've been telling myself since the start of high school is that I should avoid getting into a relationship as I'm just going to end up leaving for college, making it all pointless.

Not to mention that Bryce is sitting three feet away from us, probably trying his best not to burst out cackling.

"Matt, wait," I say, pulling my lips off of his and breaking the kiss.

It wasn't anything special, a bland and light kiss just like every kiss I've ever had, and I can't help but to think about how I want something interesting for once.

"I'm not looking for a relationship right now, Matt. I'm sorry if I gave the wrong impression," I tell him, and just like that he face goes blank and he takes a step back away from me.

He gapes at me, saying, "What? But I thought . . . So you've just been leading me on for nothing? Great," he huffs, the sweet Mateo that I'm used to now nowhere to be seen.

Without giving me a chance to reply, he turns on his heel and walks straight out the front door, slamming it shut behind him. All I can do is watch helplessly.

"And the Oscar goes to . . . Lexi Brooks!" Bryce cuts in out of nowhere, clapping slowly from behind me.

I turn around to watch him, realizing that this is all probably just a fun game to him as a lone tear falls down my cheek.

I don't usually cry this much, but over the past week I've been feeling more emotions than over the past year. I didn't want anything like that with Mateo but that doesn't mean he wasn't a good friend to me, so I'd be lying to say if it doesn't hurt.

Bryce's joking expression diminishes when he sees my face, and he stands up from the stairs, walking straight towards me.

"Shit, Blossom," he comments quietly, raising a hand to my cheek to wipe away the tear.

"I didn't realize that the asshole meant so much to you," he says, and I dip my head away from him, trying not to make eye contact.

That's when he takes my hand, guiding me over to the couch and sitting us both down.

"I'm really just making your life more difficult than it should be, aren't I?" Bryce asks me, and I laugh, leaning to the side to rest my head on his shoulder.

"I missed you," I confess. "And I'm still mad at you for not telling me where you were moving."

Bryce gives me a sad smile, wrapping his arm around me.

"I missed you too. I'm sorry for not telling you, and I would change it if I could," he tells me, and his answer makes me look up to him so our eyes meet.

The way he's looking at me right now makes my heart clench; his eyes are bright and warm, and he has a small smile on his face, showing a hint of his bright white teeth. He's so attractive that it hurts to look at him.

"Do you also feel sorry about stealing my first kiss? Because I definitely planned to save that for, you know, my first boyfriend or something," I tell him, which just makes him laugh again.

He looks down at me, holding my gaze. "Nah, I don't feel bad about that."

I roll my eyes at his response, shoving him a little in the side. "Gee, thanks."

He smiles. "No problem."

He then pauses for a moment, before quietly saying, "You are aware that it was my first kiss too, aren't you?"