**Seventeen**
**Jc's POV**
"Write down ten questions you want to ask me, and I'll do the same. Then let's put them in the glass. We'll take one and answer the question," Rhea explained.
"What if you don't answer?" I asked.
"Of course, there is a punishment," I could see a mischievous smile on her face. "I'll remove something from your body if you don't answer."
I raised my eyebrows and then looked in another direction. "It feels hot..."
I feel warm around me... Or is it just me sweating?
I just took the glass and drank.
"You agree?" She even convinced me with matching puppy eyes and a pout.
I turned to her and put the glass in front of me. "You will really regret this foolishness of yours."
"Just for fun." This answer is obviously cute. I guess she didn't understand what I was talking about.
I spent several minutes looking at her. I observed her cute and persuasive face.
I'm starting to hate her. I wanted to decline, but I feel guilty when I say no.
"Alright."
Jc, just relax. Don't think about anything. Control yourself. Don't let yourself control you. You might regret what happens next.
Smiling, she drank what was in her glass, then she started to write a question. Same goes for me.
After a few minutes, we started to fold what we wrote and put it in the glass. While she was mixing the questions, I was pouring shots into our glasses.
"Finished," she said.
"Lady's first," I replied.
It looked like she was about to complain, but she just let it go and took one.
"Close friends in the clan," she read what she pulled out.
"Your answer."
He thought for a moment while looking at her glass. "Almira, Princess, Musaii, and..." He stopped and looked at me. "Jc."
"Are we close?" I joked while smiling.
"Oh no. I'm sorry," she pretended to sulk.
"Just kidding."
"Get yours now."
As I pulled out my question, she drank hers, looking at me.
"First ex you cried over." I raised my eyebrows after reading the question, then took my glass and drank. "Gwen Dela Cerna. She's your schoolmate."
"I know her, but we are not close."
"Good."
Then she pulled out another one and read it. "Your first ex."
"Answer?"
"Uhmm..." She drank as she thought of what to answer. "It's Angelo De Asis."
I just nodded and poured our glasses first, then I pulled out my question.
I laughed so hard after I read the question. "Did you write this?" I laughed as I showed her the question.
"Have you had any experience with sex?" She read the question softly, and then she laughed so hard that it almost made the whole party house shake.
"You ask too much," I said with a smile.
"Just for fun," she said between her laughs. "Answer it now."
"About... three or more girls I got into the lodge," I answered with a mischievous smile on my face.
"Come on! Really, Jc? Then? What happened?" She was inquisitive, with slightly widened eyes.
"Stupid!" I exclaimed, my voice so loud that it probably echoed in the entire area. "Of course not yet! I will marry my girlfriend first before something happens between us."
"Really?"
It's like she doesn't believe me.
"I'm a sensible man," I said softly. "Am I a bad boy in your eyes?"
"I did not say anything," she answered with a smile, then pulled out a question and read, "Status of your heart."
I raised two eyebrows at her to show that I was waiting for her answer.
She stared at her glass for a moment, then drank while looking at me. "My heart is in love now."
"To Princebeybe?" I immediately asked.
"Get one now."
"Is it Princebeybe's?"
"There is no follow-up question," she excused herself.
"Alright then. You got through," I answered and forced myself to smile to look okay in front of her.
It doesn't say who it is; I just want to know who, but she got through.
I took a question from the glass and held it close to my face so I could read it.
I was suddenly stunned while looking at the piece of paper. It's like my brain doesn't want to register what I read. My vocabulary disappeared like a bubble in my brain.
"What did you get?" Surprised, she snatched the piece of paper from my hand.
"Do you still love your ex?" She whispered the question and looked at me curiously.
I avoided her gaze and turned it to my glass. Do I still love Jaycille? We just broke up this afternoon.
"Just pull out another one. You can skip it," she advised when the silence lasted for a few minutes.
"I'll answer that to finish it," I blurted out my courage and drank what was in my glass. "Yes, I still love Jaycille. That's why I'm getting drunk; I want to forget her and move on."
I didn't mean to, but there was still a trace of sadness in my voice, even though I raised my voice a little to sound aggressive.
"Don't be sad. I'll help you move on, just for one night," she assured me that everything would be fine with the tone of her words.
When I felt the sincerity in her voice, my eyes suddenly turned to her, and I stared at her serious and gentle face. She smiled at me as if she was sure everything was going to be okay.
I just don't understand, but I suddenly felt something, like a spark from an inexplicable chemical reaction.
I feel like I've been hit... by the Scotch we're drinking. Fuck! I'm slowly getting dizzy.
"I pulled one out," she said, bringing me back to wherever my tipsy brain took me.
"Member in the clan that you hated the most and why." She read what was written on the paper and was quiet for a moment to think. "Lucy Heartfillia is the one I hate the most in the clan because she always hurts you and makes you look like a fool."
After she answered, she drank what was in her glass while I looked at her face.
"Why are you so concerned about me?" Suddenly, a question came out of my mouth that should only have been in my mind. Scotch pushed it. I will really regret this question.
She forced a natural smile, even though it was obvious in her eyes that she was sad. "Because you are one of my true friends."
BOOM! First blood.
I drank what was in my glass to wash away the feeling that I was affected by what she said.
"Your words hit like a knife," I replied while looking at my glass. She averted her gaze.
"Did I say something that offended you?" she asked, a mixture of surprise and concern in her voice.
"You just said the most hurtful words in the world," I answered while pouring shots into our glasses.
"What?" Her eyebrows met in surprise.
I looked her seriously in the eye and answered, "Friend."
Rhea's eyes blinked a few times, then she turned in another direction. She seemed to be avoiding my gaze.
Before the situation became awkward, I pulled out another question. I was smiling from ear to ear while reading what was written.
"Your close friend that you will never forget and why." I read the question out loud, and she automatically turned to me. "Rhea Castino. She's the only friend of mine who bothered to do something stupid so I could move on."
Her mouth closed in a smile as she calmly pulled out a question.
Her eyes suddenly widened as she looked at the paper. She bit her lower lip and stared as she tried to absorb whatever she got.
After a while, she turned her gaze to me, who was obviously holding back a big smile.
I'm curious about what she got.
She was about to throw the paper away when I grabbed her hand and took it from her.
"Are you in love with your best friend now?"
My mind read what was written, and I stared at her, waiting for an answer.
But unexpectedly, she removed her hair tie and let her shiny and natural brown hair fall.
"It looks like my stuff will be the first one to be displayed," she placed it near her shot glass.
"Why didn't you answer the question?" I'm seriously curious.
"No follow-up question," she teased.
"Never mind," I answered, then pulled out a question.
I almost fell from my chair while reading what was written. "True love mo."
The first thing that came to my mind was the memory of the one and only girl I had been missing for a long time. I was still very happy when I looked at Rhea, but it slowly changed to a sad smile when I answered.
"Crista Segovia is my one great true love," I answered softly, so she could barely hear, as I turned my gaze to my glass. "But fate has been unfair to us. Heaven took her immediately before I could even say that I love her."
I know my eyes are slowly watering, and there are tears forming in the corners of my eyes. Before they even dripped, I drank what was in my glass.
She also turned to her glass. She seemed unsure of what to answer.
"What if Crista is alive and then suddenly appears to you? What will you do?" she asked hesitantly.
"I'm going to hug her really tight," I answered.
The sadness in my voice was clear, and it was obvious that I was holding back tears. I don't want to cry in front of her.
Suddenly, the surroundings became quiet. I peeked at her from the corner of my eyes. She was just looking at her glass with red eyes.
"Rhea, are you crying?" I asked in surprise and looked at her carefully to observe her face.
"Huh?" She immediately rubbed her eyes and looked at me. "There's something in my eye. I'll go to the comfort room to look in the mirror." She immediately drank what was in her glass and went to the ladies' room with her head down.
She didn't even wait for my answer.
What just happened to her?
I didn't stop her anymore, and I just let her leave me; I mean, let her go to the ladies' room. Even if I stopped her, just by her movement, she would probably leave even if I rejected her.
I kept wondering why she was like that. Does she have a connection with Crista? Why did she seem to be in tears earlier? I am referring to Crista, not her.