Author's POV:
All of them were inside the van.
Which meant chaos.
Everyone was talking, making noises, keeping their legs on the seats and definitely not allowing peace.
April dramatically stood up, "LISTEN, ALL OF YOU."
She went to the front and took Eman's water bottle.
"WELCOME LADIES (OKAY, JUST LADY) AND MEN, TO THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS EVENT KNOWN TO MANKIND!"
Everyone cheered and clapped hard. They were howling like a pack of wolves.
"WE, Section E, are about to witness a session of TRUTH OR DARE! Until we reach Mount Fuji."
Everyone nodded as if they were dogs reaching for food.
"So, I am the host of this! Yours, April Delos Rey-"
"We don't need your name."
"GET TO THE POINT."
April raised her hand immediately.
"OKAY! ONLY TWO RULES."
The van became quieter.
She narrowed her eyes slowly.
"NO LYING."
Everyone screamed immediately.
"NO DENIAL," she continued louder.
"APRIL THAT'S EVIL," Jayjay yelled.
"NO NEED FOR SHAME," April declared proudly.
Then she spread her arms dramatically like a motivational speaker who had fully embraced villainy.
"BE SHAMELESSSS."
"THIS IS WHY I LOVE THIS FRIEND GROUP," Ci-N cried.
April pointed randomly across the van.
"TODAY WE HAVE TWO TEAMS."
A pause.
"…Eighteen divided by two…"
Silence.
She stared into space for exactly two seconds.
Then immediately continued normally:
"Yeah. Nine per team."
"YOU SCARED ME," Ci-N yelled.
"WHY?"
"You're the smart one."
"I still am."
The van immediately descended into chaos before the game even properly started.
"WAIT, WHO'S TEAMING WITH WHO?"
"NOT WITH CI-N," Felix said instantly.
"RACIAL DISCRIMINATION," Ci-N gasped.
"That is NOT what that means," Jayjay replied.
April pointed dramatically around the van with her water bottle microphone.
"TEAM ONE GO LEFT SIDE."
"WE ARE ALREADY IN A VAN," Keifer said.
"DETAILS."
Then came the arguing.
Loud arguing.
Everyone suddenly had opinions.
"NO, IF JAYJAY AND KEIFER OR YURI AND APRIL ARE TOGETHER IT'S UNFAIR."
"How is romance a game advantage?"
"Because they share one braincell."
"THAT'S NOT EVEN AN INSULT," Ci-N yelled.
Felix was trying to reorganise teams logically.
Jayjay was arguing with the logic itself.
Ci-N was changing seats every six seconds.
Edrix kept giving useless commentary.
Calix was eating peacefully, like this had nothing to do with him.
And April?
Still standing like a host watching their own civilisation collapse.
"Okay wait," she said loudly. "WE NEED BALANCE."
"WE NEED THERAPY," Felix corrected.
"Yes."
"Ci-N cannot be team captain," Yuri said calmly.
"DICTATORSHIP," Ci-N shouted immediately.
"You would destroy the structure."
"I AM THE STRUCTURE."
"You are the problem."
"Guys," Yuri's mom said gently from the front, somehow still sounding elegant despite the disaster behind her, "please don't break the van."
"NO PROMISES," Ci-N yelled.
"CI-N," seventeen people said at once.
Two more minutes passed.
TWO.
FULL.
MINUTES.
Of:
-yelling
-switching seats
-Ci-N attempting democracy
-Felix losing faith in humanity
-April aggressively hosting nothing
Until finally:
Keifer snapped.
"OH MY GOD."
The entire van went silent.
Actually silent.
Even Ci-N froze mid-sentence.
Keifer rubbed his forehead slowly.
"You people have spent ten minutes making teams for a game that has NO WINNER."
Silence.
"You act like we're entering the Olympics."
More silence.
"We are literally going to ask stupid questions and destroy each other for fun. SIT DOWN."
Dead silence.
"…Damn," Edrix whispered.
Jayjay looked weirdly impressed.
Ci-N slowly sat down.
"Okay."
Keifer leaned back into his seat again with the exhausted expression of a man parenting feral children.
"There," he muttered. "Peace."
Yuri looked at him for a second.
Keifer sighed deeply.
"Can we PLEASE start the game before I drive myself out of this moving van?"
April immediately pointed the water bottle at him dramatically.
"AND WITH THAT-"
She spun toward the van like a real host again.
"TRUTH OR DARE: WILDEST EDITION…"
A dramatic pause.
"…BEGINS."
April clapped her hands dramatically.
"FIRST QUESTION."
Everyone immediately became alert.
Like prey animals sensing danger.
"Since Mr Mark Keifer Watson Ma- you know what, nothing-- restored world peace-"
"I hate this already," Keifer muttered.
"-HE gets first turn. He's in the first turn too, though."
The van collectively gasped.
Jayjay physically sat straighter.
April narrowed her eyes dramatically.
"Keifer."
A pause.
"Truth."
"Or."
"Dare."
Keifer sighed like a man accepting destiny itself.
"…Truth."
Immediately, the van screamed.
"BORING."
"TRUTH? NAH BRO, HE KNOW YOU."
"NEED A JAYFER QUESTION."
"I like survival," Keifer replied calmly.
"Not allowed," Ci-N informed him.
April slowly looked around the van.
Then suddenly smiled.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
"Oh," she said softly.
"I know EXACTLY what to ask."
Jayjay pointed immediately.
"NO."
"You don't even know the question."
"I KNOW YOUR PERSONALITY."
Fair point, honestly.
April leaned forward slightly.
"Keifer."
The van got quieter.
"Who…"
A dramatic pause.
"…is the prettiest girl here?"
SCREAMING.
ACTUAL SCREAMING.
Felix fell sideways.
Ci-N started convulsing.
Rory hit the seat as if he had just watched a football goal.
Meanwhile, Jayjay looked seconds away from spontaneous combustion.
"APRIL."
"NO LYING," April sang sweetly.
"NO DENIAL," Ci-N added helpfully.
"BE SHAMELESSSS," the entire van yelled together.
Keifer stared at the ceiling for one long second.
Like he was genuinely considering his legal options.
Then, finally, he looked forward again calmly.
"…This is a trap."
"Yes," eighteen people answered immediately.
Jayjay buried her face in her hands already.
"I hate all of you."
"No, you don't," Felix replied.
"You loveeee us."
Unfortunately true.
Keifer sighed once.
Then leaned back casually again.
"Depends."
The van booed aggressively.
"NO."
"WRONG ANSWER."
"COWARD."
"Depends on what?" April demanded strictly.
Keifer looked completely calm.
Too calm.
"Prettiest overall?"
"Yes."
"Or prettiest to me?"
The van froze.
OH???
OH, THIS MAN CAME PREPARED TODAY.
Ci-N grabbed a calm, eating Calix and shook him violently.
"HE'S EVOLVING."
"GUYS." April snapped, "Jay's the prettiest in the school, no cap."
Everyone smiled and yelled, "YES! (Lara Raj? T_T)"
"Be honest, they say Ella is the most beautiful in the school. But, I think it's Jay."
"There you got it. The answer. She is." Keifer said, accepting.
Jayjay was blushing.
OOOOOH.
"JAY'S BLUSHING-"
All of them laughed together, even Yuri's mom turned back and looked at the tomato.
"OKAY, EVERYONE. SECOND QUESTION TO OUR MUTYA, NOW."
"YAYYYY"
"ASK SOMETHING ABOUT KEIFER"
"NOOOO I THOUGHT I COULD BE THE ONE TO ASK HER A QUESTION"
"SHUT UP, WILD ANIMALS."
Grave silent.
For a solid 3 seconds.
Then, it started again.
"Okay, next question goes to Jay."
"ME?" Jayjay was scared.
"Truth or dare, ma'am?"
"Dare."
"OOOOOOOOOO"
"I dare you to say the truth and talk about yourself for 5 minutes straight, from age 3, to now."
Keifer looked at April and nudged her leg with his. She almost fell.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Just no."
"Come on, it's just-"
"NO MEANS NO, YOU STOP WHEN I SAY NO!"
"...whatever." She just looked genuinely offended and thought of a dare.
April blinked.
The whole van blinked.
Even Ci-N stopped moving.
Because Keifer never raised his voice unless REALLY important.
And now suddenly?
April looked genuinely thrown off.
"…whatever," she muttered quietly, holding the front seat for support, and with the water bottle still in her hand.
Jayjay immediately looked between both of them.
Keifer sighed once and rubbed his forehead again.
"I'm not trying to be rude," he muttered. "Just don't ask that."
And somehow that made it feel more serious.
Ci-N, for once in his life, read the room correctly.
"…Okay," he said quietly.
Felix nodded too.
"No problem."
And just like that, Section E moved on.
Because underneath all the chaos and yelling and clown behaviour,
They did respect each other.
Always.
April stayed quiet for a few seconds.
Then suddenly clapped once loudly.
"OKAY."
Instant recovery mode.
"NEW DARE."
The van slowly came back to life again.
Ci-N exhaled dramatically.
"Oh thank God. I thought we were entering character development."
"We are ALWAYS in character development," Felix replied.
"True."
April pointed dramatically at Jayjay again.
"You."
Jayjay narrowed her eyes immediately.
"What now?"
April grinned.
"I dare you…"
A dramatic pause.
"…to let Keifer do your hairstyle."
The van BURST OUT laughing instantly.
"OH THAT'S EVIL."
"THAT'S WORSE."
"HE'S A MAN."
Keifer looked offended.
"I know how hair works."
"No you don't," eighteen people replied immediately.
Jayjay pointed aggressively.
"Absolutely not."
"NO DENIAL," the van screamed together.
She gasped in betrayal.
"Oh NOW the rules matter again?"
"Yes."
"Democracy is selective," Ci-N nodded wisely.
Jayjay finally groaned dramatically and turned around in her seat.
"If I become ugly because of this, I'm blaming all of you."
Keifer looked offended immediately.
"Ugly?"
That confidence again.
Dangerous.
"You think I'd mess up your hair?"
"Yes."
"Crazy."
The van was already screaming before he even touched her hair.
Ci-N was kneeling on the seat like a live commentator.
"WELCOME BACK EVERYONE TO: KEIFER VS BASIC HAIRSTYLING."
Felix pointed dramatically.
"PLACE YOUR BETS."
"ON WHAT?" Blaster asked.
"Whether Jayjay survives emotionally."
"Valid."
Jayjay crossed her arms while Keifer casually pulled the hair tie from his pocket.
Wait.
Hold on.
She turned slightly.
"…Why do you have a hair tie?"
Keifer shrugged.
"Prepared."
The van SCREAMED.
"PREPARED??"
"BRO CAME EQUIPPED."
"THIS MAN IS INSANE."
Jayjay looked genuinely betrayed now.
"WHY are you prepared?"
Keifer looked completely relaxed.
"You lose your hair ties every five business minutes."
Silence.
Then the entire van exploded again.
April physically leaned onto Yuri, laughing.
"HE NOTICES HAIR TIE PATTERNS???"
Yuri nodded calmly.
"He notices everything."
"STOP SUPPORTING HIM."
Meanwhile, Keifer had already started fixing Jayjay's hair like this was completely normal.
Which honestly made it worse.
Jayjay sat surprisingly still.
Mostly because half the van was watching like it was a historical event.
Ci-N wiped fake tears.
"This is beautiful."
"You cried because Felix dropped fries yesterday," Felix reminded him.
"AND?"
A few seconds later.
Keifer finished.
Then leaned back slightly.
"Done."
Jayjay grabbed her phone immediately and opened the camera.
The second she saw it ,she froze.
Because it wasn't messy.
Or ugly.
Or chaotic.
It was neat.
Simple.
Two pigtails.
The exact hairstyle she wore most often.
The van noticed immediately.
"OHHHH."
"WAIT."
"HE DID THE USUAL ONE."
April narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Hold on."
She pointed dramatically at Keifer.
"You did the hairstyle she wears the most."
Keifer blinked once, like this was obvious.
"Yeah."
"WHY do you know that?"
Now HE looked confused.
"Because she always wears it."
"THAT IS NOT HELPING YOUR CASE."
Jayjay looked at him through the phone screen.
"…You really like this hairstyle, huh?"
Keifer leaned back against the seat casually again.
"Obviously."
The van erupted instantly.
Ci-N was GONE.
Felix was slapping the seat.
Even Calix finally looked up from eating.
"BRO DOESN'T EVEN HIDE IT."
Jayjay looked away immediately, trying not to smile.
Failed horribly.
April pointed at her dramatically.
"TOMATO."
"I HATE YOU."
"No, you don't."
"…True."