Husband With Benefits

The crackling fire sent sparks dancing into the night sky, casting a warm glow over the group of students gathered along the edge of the lake. The air was thick with laughter and the scent of burning wood, as Nora found herself in the midst of the lively crowd, unexpectedly enjoying herself. She’d never felt this in her life. Even with the threat looming over her, Nora felt happy.

Amidst the sound of clinking bottles and joyous chatter, someone struck up a lively tune on an acoustic guitar. The beat resonated through the summer air, prompting a spontaneous eruption of dancing, she too swayed to the music, feeling the infectious rhythm as her classmates twirled and spun around her.

This is what being young was about, wasn’t it? To be able to enjoy the little moments. Even though she was alone in this moment, she did not feel lonely. Smiling, she picked up her phone and clicked a picture, wanting to keep the memory.

Bringing her knees to her chest, she crossed her arms and laid down her head, feeling too much at peace. She watched as the effects of all the drinking started to take effect, resulting in the favorite game of every drunk student ever. Truth or Dare. Only, this version seemed to have changed to only Dare or Dare.

She watched in amusement as the Dares turned from mild to outrageous until someone was almost forced to take a dip in the cold lake. Nora shivered at the thought and thanked the fates that she had not participated in the games. Since the time they’d reached here yesterday, she had shied away from going near the lake, even though she had roamed the entire grounds of the house otherwise, hoping that the attacker would take the opportunity. But that lake seemed to give her an eerie feeling. It was why, even as everyone had enjoyed it during the day, she had stayed away.

Sara and Antonio had locked themselves in a room, appearing only to grab some food during the day and Nora did not know what to think of that. Was Antonio here to attack her or not?

With her thoughts returned to the threat, Nora could not help but sigh. Tomorrow would be their last day and night here so if something were to happen, it should happen between today and tomorrow.

Just then, someone nudged her shoulder and Nora opened her eyes to look at Sara. Think of the devils and they appeared. Sara gave her a radiant smile and spoke," Nora, thank you for your advice! We’ve patched up. And I think this fight and later the talking has made us even closer. So thank you."

Nora shook her head and took a sip of her water, not even wanting to answer that. She turned back her gaze to see the boy shivering as he huddled in front of the fire, soaked from head to toe. Sara followed her gaze and exclaimed, "What are they doing? Ooohh. They are playing a game Dare! Nora, why are you not playing? Come on, we also have to play!"

Before Nora could refute her or claim that she was perfectly fine, thank you, she had been dragged amidst the ever-growing circle as Sara shouted," We are also in."