âJasmine,â Jasmineâs companions surrounded them.
Jasmine gripped Boyceâs hand tightly. She whispered, âMy classmates are kind of nice. You might not be used to it.â
Boyce returned Jasmineâs hand in response. He can deal with a bunch of college kids.
Boyce was the tallest boy among Jasmineâs classmates. He commanded attention.
Jasmine introduced Boyce to her classmates, âThis isâ¦â
âYour husband,â finished Jasmineâs sentence one of the classmates. She then sized Boyce up and sighed, âNo wonder Jasmine wanted to get married before graduation. She was afraid someone would take him away if she didnât get married before.â
âI wanted to get married before. I was afraid they would take Jasmine away if I was late,â Boyce said.
âAwwâ¦â
Some of Jasmineâs classmates scoffed at them.
Jasmine pouted and looked at Boyce.
Jasmine felt warm and happy when she heard Boyce say that.
âStop teasing us,â Jasmine smiled. She pointed to the girl who was teasing them a moment ago and said to Boyce, âThatâs Elizabeth Hopkins, my roommate.â âHi,â Boyce greeted.
gⱯlnÏνððsâ¤com, the heart of storytelling Jasmine then introduced Boyce to all of her classmates. At the end of the session, Boyce said, âThank you for taking care of Jasmine. Please continue to take care of her.â
Jasmineâs classmates responded, âWe are classmates and also friends. We should do it. Besides, we havenât taken care of her.â
A boy named Hammer Baker said, âLetâs go over there. Thereâs food there. We brought a bunch of stuff when we know weâre going camping.â They all followed Hammer.
Jasmine purposely stayed behind the crowd. She slowed Boyce down and whispered, âAre you feeling okay?â
Jasmine knew Boyce was introverted. However, his classmates were extroverts. They liked to joke around, and Jasmine was concerned that Boyce wasnât comfortable with them.
Jasmine was upset. She shouldnât have come camping. They could be watching TV at home, and Boyce could be resting if she hadnât come camping in the first place.
Sigh. It was no use crying over spilled milk.
Boyce whispered, âYour buddies seem friendly. Sounds good to me.â Jasmine smiled.
âYou, what are you two talking about? Come on. Chat here, please. Weâre all single here. Donât rub it in our faces.â
Jasmine and Boyce approached. Their companions reserved seats for them. Next to them was an electric lantern. It was glowing.
Cooked meat was laid out on plates.
Boyce was the oldest, and was a working adult, while Jasmineâs companions were college students. They greeted Boyce respectfully. Hammer held up a can of Sprite and Coke and asked Boyce, âBoyce, which one would you like to drink?â
Boyce replied, âIâll take either one.â
Hammer said, âCoke, then?â Boyce agreed.
At camp they ate, talked and laughed. They talked about school stuff and what they were going to work on in the future. Boyce could not participate in their conversation. He listened quietly, patiently and attentively.
Boyce used to be like them. He felt sentimental as he glanced around at Jasmineâs classmates.
Time had passed so quickly.
Jasmine was worried about Boyce. Sometimes, she would touch him or stroke his hand.
âWe were so wrapped up in our conversation and forgot about Boyce. Hmm, shall we play a game?â
âWhat game?â
âHow about âTruth or Dareâ?â
âSure, sure.â
The game was set in motion as everyone was on board with it. They picked up a spoon and flipped a plate. One person flipped the spoon twice, and two people who were pointed by the spoon would have to play âPaper, Scissors, Rockâ. Whoever lost would have to honestly answer a question from the winner.
Everyone wanted Boyce and Jasmine to get picked, but the pointer couldnât find them during the first two rounds of the game.
Elaine and another boy were the participants in the first round of the game. The boy lost at âPaper, Scissors, Rockâ. So, Elaine asked him, âHow many ex-girlfriends do you have?â.
The guy answered truthfully, âFour.â
âYou already have four ex-girlfriends? I havenât even had one,â some people were surprised.
Elaine scoffed at the guy, âHow old are you now? You have four ex-girlfriends? You started dating at sixteen? One girlfriend a year, so total of four girlfriends in your twenties.â The guy laughed.
âAll right. Letâs move on.â
The others hurried on to the next game. Elaine muttered, âI should have asked some racy question.â
Elaine thought that if she won next time, she should ask the other person when was the first time they had sex.
Then, Elaine saw Boyce and Jasmine. She immediately rejected her earlier idea. In fact, âTruth or Dareâ was designed to ask questions about a personâs intimacy. It was important to entertain all the participants. But Elaine felt embarrassed considering Boyce was here.
Boyce was like an elder in the group. Jasmineâs classmates didnât dare overstep their bounds. They didnât want Boyce to think they were playing too wild and crazy.
It was Jasmine and another boyâs turn.
Jasmine lost at âpaper, scissors, rock.â
The boys looked at Boyce. He smiled and asked Jasmine, âTell us the truth, who did you have your first kiss with?â.
They all stared at Jasmine.
Boyce was calm.
Jasmine was well prepared. She knew her classmates were going to ask questions like this. Then Jasmine smiled, looked at Boyce and answered, âMy husband.â
âBoo.â
Jasmineâs classmates were disappointed. They thought they were going to get racy answers.
Boyce was chosen in the fifth round. Jasmineâs classmates were excited. They expected to be picked next, so they asked Boyce some questions.
Hammer was chosen. He laughed, âBoyce, please donât go overboard on me.â
Boyce said, âI didnât know how to play this game â can I give up?â
âSure. Youâll have to answer a question if you surrender.â
âGive up, but have to answer a question? Better not give up.â
Hammer was sure he was going to win the game.
And he did. He smiled and looked at Boyce, âBoyce, youâll have to answer truthfully.â
Boyce nodded, âSure.â
The other students began coming up with ideas for Hammer.
âAsk him when his first kiss was.â
âNo, ask him who he thought about before he went to bed.â
âAsk him if he drools in his sleep.â
âAsk him if he itches his toe.â
Hammer shook his head, âNo, thatâs not good enough. Iâll have to think about it.â
Boyce resigned himself. These kids were naughty.
âI have an idea,â Elaine said.
They all turned and looked at Elaine. They wanted to know what question she would ask .
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