The Queen Of Hearts

It’s a story as old as time. Friends invite each other to their houses for a study session, but, for one reason or another, they eventually end up spending the rest of the time playing instead.

Before enrolling in university, I had the impression that the students would already be mature enough to know to separate play from work. However, it didn’t take long for me to find that it wasn’t the case at all.

In my first semester, I experienced it. Many a time have I agreed to study with Naomi, but we eventually end up getting distracted and start doing something else.

I was still in denial, though, as I thought we were still too close in age to high school students so we didn’t have the necessary maturity yet.

During the second semester, the current term, my ideals had been completely shattered when I found out the upperclassmen weren’t any different. Well, it was just the two upperclassmen and they both were only a year ahead, but it was still quite a shock to me.

The midterms were approaching. Naomi and I were struggling in one of our classes and were in need of help. Luckily, Ken and Marie agreed to teach us when we asked them to tutor us so we went to the home of the former for a study session.

I was thinking it was doubly lucky that we were able to have someone tutor us even for a bit and that they were surely more mature and responsible that they wouldn’t let any one of us get distracted from studying.

How wrong I was.

All four of us were just about to settle in Ken’s living room. We hadn't even taken a single notebook out of our bags when Marie proposed we play cards.

Of course, I protested that we should do some studying first. Ken agreed as well. But, we were outvoted three to two. Marie, obviously, voted for playing first. Naomi was game as well. Then, Ken’s little sister, who was loafing around the living room watching TV before we arrived, joined in as well.

Speaking of Ken’s little sister, she wasn’t taller than the average fourth grader. When I met her for the first time today, I started remembering and wondering why Ken thought, apart from the chest area, I had a similar build to his sister that time at the department store.

I bore holes into him with my stares, which probably made him guilty and pick my side for the vote.

At least, I’d like to think that was the case. It doesn’t matter anyway since it’s been decided we were to play cards.

Naomi and Marie wanted to play some hold ‘em poker first, but Ken argued that a grade-schooler was going to be involved so we needed to play a more appropriate game for kids. Go Fish was suggested, but the only one who has played it before was Marie and she was bad at explaining the rules. Eventually, we settled on the classic, Old Maid.

However, Marie wasn’t satisfied with just the regular rules.

“How about we add something for the loser to spice things up?” she asked the room.

“Like what?” I asked.

“How about truth or dare?” Naomi then chimed in, obviously up for it. “The person who finishes first can ask the loser for a truth or a dare.”

“What about the others, do they get a punishment, too?” Marie inquired.

“Well, if the loser chooses to dare, then I guess the others can be involved depending on the dare.”

“I like that idea”, Marie replied, evidently game as well. “Is that all right for everyone?”

“Can we switch our choice if we didn’t like the question or the dare?” Ken’s little sister asked.

“I guess we can allow that”, Ken answered.

Naomi and Marie seemed fine with it.

“So, what happens if someone doesn’t do the dare and refuses to answer the truth?” I asked.

All of us thought about it for a moment until Marie came up with an idea.

“In that scenario, how about the loser gets their face drawn on by the winner?” she stated. “Oh, and they have to post it on social media afterwards. Does that sound fine to everyone?”

Ken and his little sister consented, the latter showing more zeal than her brother.

Naomi and I nodded in agreement as well. Not like I had a choice anyway and I didn't want to be a party pooper.

Naturally, Ken and Marie were going to have their own little side competition. They talked about it between themselves and the one who gets more wins between them gains a point in their long-standing bet.

Then, as if it were her home, Marie invited everyone to sit in the living room, around the coffee table. Although, to be fair, she and Ken had already been dating for years. She has been to his place more times than anyone would bother to count so that’s likely why she acts so at home.

Anyway, the game was starting. Marie took one queen out from the deck first before she began shuffling.

“Why take out a queen?” I asked because I’ve always played the game where the joker is added in.

“We lost the joker card so we’re playing with the classic rules”, Marie replied. “The rules remain the same anyway so make sure you’re not left with that one queen, the old maid.”

I didn’t realize there were variations in the rules, which I found mildly interesting.

Marie started dealing the cards counter-clockwise starting from her to Naomi, Ken’s little sister, Ken, then finally to me before circling back to her and around again.

The first game went by quickly. Somehow, most of us managed to receive good hands except for Marie, who seemed to only have one pair to discard.

Naomi somehow received four pairs so her hand only had two cards at the start, which helped her in finishing first.

Ken’s little sister came next after a few rounds. Ken managed to finish his hand the next round as well.

Marie and I battled it out to not be the loser. Or, at least, that’s what I’d like to say, but I found that she was a little too easy to read. The first game started from a counter-clockwise direction where Naomi picked a card from Marie’s deck, then Ken’s little sister from hers, and so on and so forth. Needless to say, I was picking from Ken’s hand and he had a good poker face. But, once it was just Marie and I, it didn’t take long for me to realize her face shows when I’m about to grab that one remaining queen or something else.

Inevitably, that was Marie's downfall and she lost.

So, the first game’s right to ask for a truth or order a dare goes to Naomi and the first victim is Marie.

“I pick dare”, Marie said without being asked.

As if she prepared the dare beforehand, Naomi unhesitatingly ordered Marie to “Give Ken a kiss in the mouth for ten seconds.”

But, just as Naomi showed no hesitation to dictate the loser’s punishment, Marie was decisive in acting it out as well. She rose up to kneeling position, leaned across the table to grab Ken by the collar and give him a deep kiss.

That surprised me at how quick it happened. Ken seemed surprised as well at first as Marie kissed him so suddenly, but he just let it go on. Naomi was the most shocked out of everyone in the room, however.

“W-wait, what are you two doing in front of a kid!” she protested as she covered the eyes of Ken’s little sister.

Naomi had her eyes closed as well for some reason. Not to mention, her face turned beet red.

Marie went through with the dare despite Naomi begging her to stop for the entire ten seconds.

When she was done, Marie turned to Naomi and said “What’s wrong? You were the one who told me to kiss Ken.”

“I thought you would act bashful and ask for a different dare or move on to truth instead”, Naomi replied, still with her eyes closed. “I didn’t think you would go through with it!”

It was then that I realized Naomi didn’t know the pair that well yet. This was the first time I’ve seen the two kiss, actually, but it didn’t surprise me as much since I thought it was something already natural for them. Not to mention, it was only a kiss. My only reaction to it was nothing more than seeing two lovers kiss at the end of a movie - heart throbbing, excited.

Ken’s little sister would vocalize the same sentiment as, while her eyes were still being covered, she tells Naomi, “Big sis, it’s only a kiss. I’ve seen them do it plenty of times before.”

“W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what are you two doing showing such indecency to a kid?!” Naomi exclaimed, now with eyes wide open. She then turned to Ken to admonish him, “You’re her big brother, you shouldn’t be showing immoral things to your kid sister!”

“It’s only a kiss”, Ken shrugged.

“What do you mean it’s only a kiss? These things should be saved until you two are married!”

Ken, Marie and I looked at each other quizzically. It seems like none of us realized Naomi was the innocent type despite her flashy appearance and outgoing personality. She seemed like the type who already had at least a handful of boyfriends, but, somehow, she was the only one making a big deal out of one kiss.

Unable to get a response, Naomi turned to me for confirmation. She asked, “Don’t you agree, Kat?”

Awkwardly, as I wasn’t in agreement with her as she seemed to expect, I answered “It’s just a kiss.”

“Et tu?” she reacted, as she released her hold on Ken’s little sister.

Meanwhile, I noticed Marie staring at me cattily. I could guess she wanted to know if there was some meaning behind me saying it was only a kiss. I won't answer her if she asks, though, unless she wins the right to ask a truth or a dare and I lose at the same time.

However, like clockwork, for the following round, Marie got lucky and got all pairs save for one queen, which she obviously got rid of immediately when it’s time to pick cards from each other. Meanwhile, I lost as I was up against Ken for the last two.

I could sense Marie’s anticipation in asking me for a truth, but I wasn’t going to make it easy and give her the pleasure. I declared, “I pick dare.”

That didn’t cause her to flinch, however. Without skipping a beat, she told me “Then, I dare you to do a handstand right here.”

“Easy enough”, I confidently said.

It may have been a while since I retired from volleyball, but I was still confident in my physical abilities.

However, just as I was standing up, I noticed one thing.

“Uh, if you could all just look the other way”, I said.

“Rejected”, Marie stated.

“But, I’m wearing a skirt!”

“If we were to look away, how would we know if you performed the dare?”

“Then, if it was only you…”

“Rejected”, Marie interjected. “It would be unfair if I was the only one to see it.”

“Then, if it’s only Ken who would look away.”

“Rejected, I’m permitting him to look”, she replied. She then turned to Ken and said, “You better look.”

Ken seemed troubled giving a response, but he nodded slightly.

Marie then turned back to me wearing an evil grin. She knew what she was doing. She was forcing me to switch to a truth!

Unfortunately, I had to concede. I wanted to at least retain some dignity.

Sitting back down, begrudgingly, I told them “Alright, truth!”

“Have you kissed someone of the opposite sex before?” Marie asked as I expected. She then quickly added, “Family doesn’t count.”

I was about to say I kissed my dad goodbye when I was about to leave home last summer, but I was thwarted.

“Come on, spill the beans already”, Marie impatiently said. “It’s just a kiss, right? Why are you so hesitant?”

After a few more annoying goading, I finally answered, “Yes.”

“With whom?” both Marie and Naomi asked.

I didn't expect Naomi to be intrigued by the answer as well.

“One question at a time”, I declared as I took the cards scattered around the table so I could start shuffling.

Somehow, that made them stand down, but it also seemed like the two had taken it as a challenge.

For the next round, it felt like Marie and Naomi were collaborating to be the winner. I had no proof, though, and I didn’t hear them agree to a strategy, unless they could communicate with their eyes or telepathically.

Regardless, whenever Naomi picks a card from Marie’s hand, she was able to form a pair, hence my suspicion. Eventually, she managed to win the round.

But, this time, I didn’t lose. It was Ken who did. The last two came down to him and his sister. He lost because he was skillfully able to have his sister avoid picking the old maid from his hand.

What a doting brother, I thought.

I also started wondering if he was giving it his all considering he and Marie had a bet.

Anyway, it was again up to Naomi to ask truth or dare.

“I pick dare”, Ken said.

“Then, I guess I dare you to reenact your confession to Marie”, Naomi stated, sounding a little disinterested.

I can’t say it didn’t pique my interest, though. Marie had already told me a story of how she and Ken started dating, but I didn’t believe most of it. However, that story is what they reenacted, from Marie running while eating a piece of toast, them bumping into each other, the teasing of their classmates, and eventually the confession.

“Are you trying to tell me that is how you two actually started dating?!” I exclaimed.

“That’s right”, Marie replied, looking a bit confused. “Isn’t this what I told you before?”

“Wait, seriously?”

“It hurts that you think that I was lying to you”, Marie lamented, but in a joking manner.

“Then, is the story of how you two met true as well?”

She wagged her finger at me and said, “If you want to know, let’s play again.”

So, we did.

I was determined to win the next round, but, unfortunately, I lost again. Luckily, it was Ken’s little sister who had won so I thought I would be safe from love questions.

After the previous round, I started noticing how much Ken is helping his little sister in the game. Not only was he letting her avoid picking the wrong card, he would also pick the old maid with certainty if it was in her hand by reading her expressions. His little sister was easy to read and he used that to her advantage. I was letting it slide since I thought it was cute, not to mention, I didn’t mind giving a handicap for the grade-schooler.

However, contrary to what I first thought, Ken’s sister seems to already have developed a taste for love talk and has been silently curious about me.

“Big sis, I dare you to talk about your first kiss”, she said to me when I told her my choice is a dare.

“Wait, that’s not a dare.”

“I’ll allow it”, Marie responded, giving a thumbs up.

“I’m fine with it, too”, Naomi chimed in.

Ken raised a thumb as well, but I would bet it had more to do with the asker being his sister than him being curious about the answer.

It seems like I did not have a choice in the matter. I couldn’t even switch to a truth since I would just be asked the same question.

Hesitantly, I answered. “It was with my boyfriend back in middle school. We kissed because we were curious.”

I could tell the three girls wanted to ask some follow-up questions, but I preempted them again by gathering the cards to start shuffling.

“If you want to ask more questions, we should play again”, I said.

Afterwards, it felt like four against me. Well, Ken seemed uninterested in my past, but he was still helping his little sister win, if not avoiding to lose at least. Still, the three girls wanting to pry more out of me was quite the pressure.

Luckily, I won the round.

As soon as I did, Marie lost motivation and reverted to her initial state of being really easy to read, which resulted in her loss.

She picked dare.

“Then, I dare you to reenact the time you and Ken first met”, I said.

“Eh? That’s too much work”, she complained. “I’ll just pick truth.”

“Okay, then is the story of how you and Ken first met actually true?”

“Wait a minute”, Naomi interjected. “Isn’t it a little unfair that I’m the only one who doesn’t know the story?”

“Right, just tell the story truthfully”, I told Marie after considering Naomi’s feedback.

But, she still told the same tale as I heard before from the mythical dungeon to all that other stuff when they were kids. I still found it farfetched.

“Alright, spill it, what game are you talking about?” I asked.

“One question at a time”, Marie replied.

However, I wasn’t going to let it slide so easily. Assertively, I responded “It’s part of the game to make sure you’re telling the truth, isn’t it?”

“Which part are you not believing anyway?”

“Everything since the mythical dungeon.”

“It’s a real place”, Ken added in. “It’s the name of the playground we always played in when we were kids.”

“Ah, I play there lots, too”, his little sister then followed up.

Ken was one thing, but, if his sister is saying the place exists, I had no reason to not believe anymore.

“Well, officially, it’s called something else”, Marie then added. “But, that’s what the kids around here have been calling it for as long as anyone can remember.”

I backed down. Basically, without all the misunderstandings, the story she told was just that she and Ken were very close playmates when they were kids.

“Satisfied now?” Marie asked me as she shuffled the deck.

I nodded and a new round was played. However, now that I’ve learned of the things I wanted to know, something from the back of my mind has been knocking about in my head, but I was struggling to remember what.

Regardless, I won again as luck would have it. Ken lost as his little sister would somehow always end up with the old maid at almost every round and he had to pick it from her each time. That prevented him from shedding his hand until late in the game and ultimately led to his defeat.

“I choose truth”, he said.

Seeing he was such a doting brother, I wanted to tease him a bit.

“If you were only given one choice between the two, would you keep your little sister as your sister and break up with Marie, or do you become strangers with your little sister and stay as lovers with Marie?”

Without giving it a second thought, he answered, “I’ll pick my sister.”

“Why?” Naomi asked quicker than me as it took me a moment to process Ken’s unexpectedly quick answer.

I thought he would do some sort of deliberation, or ask me to elaborate what kind of situation led to the scenario.

“Well, if Marie and I were to break up, I’ll simply work to get her to take me back”, he answered. “But, if my sister and I were to become strangers, that would mean she wouldn’t be my little sister anymore no matter what.”

“Yeah, but what if you two can never get back together?” I asked.

“That wasn’t the question, though?” he reacted, implying that I can only ask it in another round.

I guess the question I gave was easy to get out of.

Anyway, we played again. This time, Marie was the winner. Then, for the second time in a row, Ken was the loser for the same reasons as the last.

He just picked dare and Marie had him fetch a pitcher of cold tea for everyone to share.

Following that uneventful round, it was Naomi’s turn to ask truth or dare. The unfortunate victim was me again.

“Tell us about your boyfriend”, she said to me without asking if I wanted to pick truth or dare first. “What’s his name? What does he look like? Where is he right now?”

“Too many questions”, I commented.

“It’s fine”, Marie said. “It’s all related anyway.”

Overruled again. I also wanted to protest that I haven’t picked truth or dare yet, but I figured the others would allow the question anyway so I humored Naomi’s question.

“First, he’s already my ex. Second, I can’t tell you much about him since we only dated for barely a month.”

“Why? Was the relationship only imaginary?” Marie teased.

“No, my older brother said he had to suddenly transfer abroad, but my second older brother said he had to go into hiding due to some debt so I couldn’t see him anymore because he didn’t want me to get involved”, I replied, not engaging with Marie’s teasing. “I don’t know which one is the truth because he went to a different middle school and I haven't seen him since.”

“Ah, he’s definitely been chased away by your brothers”, Marie then commented.

“Huh? How could you tell?”

“Did your brothers know you had a boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“Since when? From the beginning?”

“No, around the third week when he walked me home after a date and happened to meet one of my brothers.”

“Was his disappearance a day or two after that?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Yeah, he was definitely chased away by your brothers”, Ken echoed Marie’s hypothesis after all the questioning. “If he wanted to break up with you willingly, the news wouldn’t have come from either of your brothers, not to mention so soon after meeting one of them.”

Their theory made some sense, but I wasn’t really interested in the reasons why that relationship didn’t work out so I just nodded. Although, it made me curious if my brothers actually had a hand in it. That’s something I’ve made a mental note of to ask them some time in the future.

With everyone else satisfied with my answers, we played another round. I won after getting lucky and getting pairs each time I picked from Ken. Meanwhile, Ken lost again from making sure his sister didn't lose.

Anyway, I felt Marie was having a mean streak on me during the game and I wanted to retaliate a bit. Playfully and nothing damaging, of course.

When Ken picked dare, I told him “Tell Marie you hate her three times without breaking eye contact.”

Ken hesitated for a moment, glancing at Marie a few times before deciding he was going to go through with the dare. He didn’t start immediately when he faced her. At the same time, Marie seemed to be nervous about the dare for some reason even though she’s not the one going to perform it.

Before I noticed, there was tension in the air. All for some playful dare.

Ken then began.

“I hate you”, he said to Marie.

“I hate you”, he said a second time after hesitating for a moment.

He then stopped. He couldn’t complete the dare as Marie seemed to have broken into tears.

“Ken says he hates me”, she says, sobbing.

That was the last game. We spent the rest of the time trying to calm Marie down and making her feel better. I felt bad about it as well and apologized to her multiple times. I didn't know she would react that way.

After that, we just loafed around until Ken’s parents arrived home, which was also our queue to leave. It was also then I realized we haven’t done any studying at all.