“Which one is the lie?” he asked.
“It’s not the first one,” I said suddenly, cutting through the noise of the group’s guesses. My voice was steady, but inside I was a storm. “You did fall out of a tree during summer five, right after lunch.”
Max’s eyes locked on mine. His eyes held a look of soft surprise. He didn’t think I remembered.
“And the second truth?” I added a smile, tugging at the edge of my mouth. “You’ve never shut up about how much you love your best friend.”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed. I saw the corner of his mouth twitch, like he was trying not to smile.
“So,” I said, voice a little lower, more vulnerable now, “the third one is the lie. Right?”
I sensed the implosion before it happened. At first, it was a silent detonation, gradually spreading among the four of us like a bomb. And then, he took us all out one by one.
“You’re fucking kidding me,” Jackson barked, sitting up so fast. “Are you serious, Mackenzie?”
“What?” I asked.
“He’s fucking talking aboutyou. Are you seriously going to stand there and pretend you don’t get it?”
Jackson let out a bitter laugh, running a hand through his hair, eyes wild.
“God,of course.You always had this little thing, this…attachmentto him. Always ditching me to call him on your fucking landline phone, laughing at his dumb jokes. And I was cool with it. I was chill.”
“Jackson…” I started, but he cut me off with a sharp, humorless grin.
“No, no, no. I get it now,” he said, his voice tipping from anger into something unstable. “You never even looked at me the way you look athim.I can finally see it now. And don’t try to deny it because everyone fucking sees it. I’m not stupid.”
I didn’t say anything. Max remained still beside me, eyes fixed straight ahead, jaw locked.
Jackson’s voice dropped, venomous and chilling now. “So, what is this? Some big reveal? After all these years, Max finallydrops his pathetic little crush, and now we all have to clap for him?”
“Stop,” I said quietly, but he was spiraling further, fueled by bitterness and jealousy.
“He’s been in love with you since that first summer. Everyone knows it. I knew it. I just thought you were smart enough not to fall for it.”
“That’s uncalled for,” Max said. “We haven’t even finished the game, and you don’t know anything about me.”
“I’m fucking done with the game, bro,” Jackson snapped. He leaned forward, his smile twisting into something darker. “But don’t you hate it?”
“What?” Max said, fists clenched, tension thickening.
“That I fucked her first. That I was fucking her while you were talking every night.”
Max’s face soured, as if his soul was being torn apart.
“Ohhh… You’re so in love. It hurts, doesn’t it?” Jackson jeered, unhinged.
“Jackson, shut the fuck up,” I snapped, my voice trembling with rage. Jackson’s glare bore into me, his fists clenched tightly, as if he were about to wrap them around my neck.
I instinctively flinched, retreating from him. Max refused to look away from Jackson, but I caught the flicker of fear in his jaw and the raging fire in his eyes. He had seen me flinch.
“That mouth of yours ever stop running?” Max said, voice low and deadly as he scooted closer to me.
“Nope, Mackenzie keeps it busy,” Jackson smirked. “Or I guess not anymore. Just letting you know she sucks at giving head.”
“Funny. She had me moaning her name earlier while that sweet mouth was wrapped around my dick.”
6
