Two truths and a lie

“O - kay, so three, two, one, A TOAST TO SEVENEG FOR PASSING THE SECOND CHALLENGE!!”

Eloy chuckled with embarrassment when the rest of the girls shouted an enthusiastic ‘WOOHO!!’ while everyone clinked their glasses together. Luckily, Ms. Yamane had established that the Saturday of the second challenge was ‘disco night’ at Harmony, meaning that the piano was unavailable to play, and the rhythmic music in the background was loud enough to muffle their shouts.

Ms. Yamane had also arranged for two substitute waiters to give Mako and Narumi the night off, which allowed the entire group to sit together at one of the round VIP tables of the bar, celebrating their success.

“Seriously, it was so cool watching you perform,” Mako said with a happy smile before elbowing Genta. “Although it’s a pity that you didn’t dare with the heels, you coward.”

“Oi, I really tried my best!” Genta protested, though he was also smiling. “If I had had a couple more days I’d have managed, but I didn’t want to risk twisting an ankle.”

“Even without heels you made the whole audience fall for you,” Cara said teasingly.

“Both of you did,” corrected Narumi with an impressed smile before looking at Eloy. “You also looked really cool while playing, making it look as if it was super easy.”

“Damn, it’s a pity I couldn’t watch you properly,” Genta said with sincere frustration, causing Eloy’s smile to widen.

“Same,” he said.

“Don’t worry, we recorded it so that you can drool over each other,” Cara said, provoking laughs at the table. “And speaking of drooling, is it just me, or among the judges, King seems to have taken quite a liking to you?”

It took Eloy a moment to understand that Cara was addressing him.

“What?” He snorted softly and shook his head. “I think that your dormant inner fujoshi is resurfacing, Cara.”

“I’m with Cara on this,” Mako intervened, causing Eloy to open his eyes more. “I mean, he even said that it was a pity that you hadn’t worn a dress too.”

“Exactly!” Cara exclaimed. “And not just that: he even hinted in one of his Instagram lives that he’s got his eyes on a certain participant. And I mean, he didn’t give any names, but he mixed Spanish while answering, so–”

“Does anyone want another drink?” Genta suddenly interrupted the conversation, even if they had barely ordered ten minutes ago. Eloy noticed the conspiratory glance exchanged between Mako and Cara before the girls said that they were fine for the time being.

“And now that Genta has mentioned drinks…” Cara smiled widely, interlacing her fingers on the table, “why don’t we play a drinking game?”

While everyone looked surprised with the proposal, Eloy pointed at Cara, tensing. “If you’re thinking about Truth or Dare I pass: you get too crazy proposing dares.”

Cara laughed without the least trace of embarrassment before shaking her head. “Don’t worry, I was thinking about Two Truths and a Lie.”

“Oh, I like it!” Mako exclaimed while Narumi nodded. “How will we do it? The people who fail to guess the lie drink?”

“Yep, and the ones who guess it right will be the ones saying the statements.” Cara looked at Genta and Eloy. “So? Are you in?”

Genta shrugged. “Why not?”

Eloy was a little more reluctant because he knew how shameless Cara could be in drinking games. However, she seemed to read his mind because she smiled at him reassuringly.

“Oh, before starting, I think it’s obvious, but we can only tell truths and lies about ourselves. So saying things like: ‘my friend Eloy dyed his hair pink after losing a bet’ is against the rules, okay?”

“Wait, did you really do that?” Genta said between laughs while Eloy threw a look at Cara, who simply shrugged while smiling playfully.

“It was just an example. Or maybe it wasn’t?” She said in a teasing way, causing Eloy to exhale a defeated sigh while the others laughed again.

“Well, if it’s not a lie, I want to see pictures,” Genta commented while leaning his elbow on Eloy’s shoulder, who half-glared at him, even if he was fighting a smile when seeing how amused Genta looked.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s totally a lie,” Eloy said with an exaggerated innocent tone that made Genta chuckle.

“Okay, I’ll go first,” Mako said, not wasting any time talking. “I have a kitty called Kuma, my parents are divorced, and I’m writing a fantasy novel.”

“I know what it is,” Narumi said with a smile, leaning towards Mako to whisper something in her ear, causing her to smile and nod.

“Me too,” Genta said before also whispering something that made her nod again.

“But it’s not fair, you both know her better than Cara and I do,” Eloy protested.

“Wow, the first turn and you’re already complaining, Mr. Glasses. You should be ashamed,” Genta teased, and damn, as much as Eloy enjoyed when Genta did that, lately it was being problematic because he kind of felt the urge of removing that smirk from Genta’s lips. With his mouth.

“Okay, you can talk to each other to try to guess it,” Mako conceded.

Eloy and Cara did just that, and after a minute or so Eloy spoke up.

“You have lied about the kitty,” he sentenced. “Because if you had one, you would have spammed us with pictures and you have never shown us any.”

The way Genta and Narumi started to laugh indicated that their reasoning was on point before Mako nodded approvingly.

“So you’re writing a novel?” Cara whistled and smiled impressed. “How cool! Will you let me read it?”

“Of course! Although I only have one third written.” Mako clapped her hands happily. “So, Narumi’s next, since she was the first one guessing it right.”

“Okay, let’s see… I can speak three languages, my favorite color is red, and I have nine tattoos.”

“I know it too,” Genta said with a triumphant tone before standing up to whisper his guess to Narumi, while everyone, including Mako, looked completely lost.

“I mean, I’ve known you for three…no, four years? And I’m not sure,” she said with an incredulous tone while Genta fisted his hand in the air, after having guessed correctly again.

Both Mako and Cara made their secret guesses and failed, having to drink. Then it was Eloy’s turn.

“I think you are lying about speaking three languages, since you always wear at least one red clothing, and I noticed that you have a small tattoo of a butterfly on your forearm, so probably you have more," Eloy eventually said.

Narumi sustained his gaze for a few seconds before exhaling a soft chuckle. “Correct.”

Eloy purposely mimicked Genta’s previous reaction of fisting his hand in the air, making this one jab at him while the rest laughed.

“Okay, my turn now,” Genta said, crossing his arms. He stared in the distance for several seconds before speaking. “I did theater as a kid, I’m allergic to peanuts, and I got my scar after starting a fight.”

To Eloy’s surprise, everyone looked rather lost, which made Genta smirk. “A unanimous silence, huh? Okay, then you can throw your guesses and I’ll answer at the end.”

“I go with peanuts,” Mako said rapidly. “I’m not sure, but I think I’ve seen you eat them.”

“Same,” Narumi agreed.

“I’ll go with the theater,” Cara said instead.

Genta nodded, his expression revealing nothing before looking at Eloy, tilting his head. “What about you?”

Eloy sighed, crossed his arms, and after looking at Genta for a few seconds, he talked with confidence. “You’re lying about your scar.”

Genta didn’t change his expression. “Why do you think so?”

“Because if you had simply said that you had got it in a fight, maybe you’d have tricked me. But you said that you got it ‘after starting a fight’, and I don’t think you’re the type looking for trouble. So it’s a lie.”

For a moment he thought that he had failed when Genta simply stared at him. But then, Genta’s eyes glinted, and a smile appeared in his face before looking at the rest. “Eloy wins this round.”

A general annoyed groan sounded on the table.

“Damn Eloy and his impeccable reasoning,” Cara said before taking a sip.

“He’s winning for now,” Mako said.

“Yeah, for now,” Genta added, his eyes shining with competitiveness. “But not for long.”

Eloy’s heart skipped a beat at the realization that it was his turn, and that he had the chance to finally clarify certain things.

He swallowed, having contradictory feelings about what to do.

“I dyed my hair pink because I lost a bet, I studied Literature before switching to Asian studies...” Eloy made a small pause, hesitating. But then he saw Genta’s smile, and he managed to summon up the courage, “...and I’m gay.”