“Jasmine,” Jasmine’s classmates surrounded them.
Jasmine held Boyce’s hand tightly. She whispered, “My classmates are a little over-friendly. You might
not be used to it.”
Boyce held Jasmine’s hand back as a reply. He can deal with a bunch of college kids.
Boyce was the tallest guy among Jasmine’s classmates. He was an attention-grabber.
Jasmine introduced Boyce to her classmates, “This is…”
“Your husband,” one of the classmates finished Jasmine’s sentence. Then, she sized Boyce up and
sighed, “No wonder Jasmine wanted to get married before graduation. She was afraid that someone
might take him away if she didn’t get married earlier.”
“I wanted to get married earlier. I was afraid that Jasmine got taken away if I was late,” Boyce said.
“Aww…”
A few of Jasmine’s classmates teased them.
Jasmine pouted and looked at Boyce.
Jasmine felt warm and happy when she heard Boyce said that.
“Stop teasing us,” Jasmine smiled. She pointed at the girl who teased them just now and said to Boyce,
“She’s Isabel Hopkins, my roommate.”
“Hi,” Boyce greeted.
Then, Jasmine introduced all her classmates to Boyce. At the end of the session, Boyce said, “Thanks
for taking care of Jasmine. Please continue to look after her.”
Jasmine’s classmates replied, “We’re classmates and also friends. We should do that. Furthermore, we
didn’t really take care of her.”
A guy named Hammer Baker said, “Let’s go over there. There’s food there. We brought a lot of stuff
here when we know we’re coming camping.”
All of them followed Hammer.
Jasmine purposely stayed behind the crowd. She slowed Boyce down and whispered, “Are you feeling
alright?”
Jasmine knew Boyce was an introvert. However, her classmates were extroverts. They liked to joke
around, and Jasmine was worried that Boyce wouldn’t feel comfortable around them.
Jasmine was upset. She shouldn’t have come camping. They might be watching television at home,
and Boyce could be resting if she didn’t come camping in the first place.
Sigh. There was no use crying over spilt milk.
Boyce whispered back, “Your classmates looked friendly. I’m fine with it.”
Jasmine smiled.
“Hey, what are you guys chatting about? Come over. Chat at home, please. We’re all single here. Don’t
rub it in our face.”
Jasmine and Boyce walked over. Her classmates spared seats for them. An electrical lantern was set
up beside. It was bright.
Cooked meat was placed on the plates.
Boyce was the eldest, and he was a working adult, while Jasmine’s classmates were college students.
They respectfully greeted Boyce. Hammer held a can of Sprite and Coke and asked Boyce, “Boyce,
which one would you like to have?”
Boyce replied, “I’m fine with anything.”
Hammer said, “Then, Coke?”
Boyce agreed.
Camping was all about eating, chatting and laughing. They talked about stuff in school and what they
were going to work as in the future. Boyce couldn’t join in their conversation. He listened quietly,
patiently and attentively.
Boyce used to be like them. He felt sentimental looking at Jasmine’s classmates.
Time had passed so fast.
Jasmine was worried about Boyce. Sometimes, she would touch him or stroked his hand.
“We were so into our conversation, and we’ve forgotten about Boyce. Hmm, let’s play a game?”
“What game?”
“How does ‘Truth or Dare’ sounds like?”
“Sure, sure.”
The game was on since everyone agreed with it. They got a spoon, and they turned a plate over. One
person turned the spoon twice, and two people who got pointed by the spoon would have to play
‘Paper, Scissors, Stone’. The one who lost would have to answer a question from the winner honestly.
Everyone wanted Boyce and Jasmine to get picked, but the pointer missed them during the first two
rounds of the game.
Elaine and another guy were the participants of the first round of the game. The guy lost at the ‘Paper,
Scissors, Stone’. So, Elaine asked him, “How many ex-girlfriends do you have?”
The guy answered honestly, “Four.”
“You already have four ex-girlfriends? I haven’t even had one,” some of them were surprised.
Elaine teased the guy, “How old are you now? You have four ex-girlfriends? Did you start dating at
sixteen? A girlfriend a year, so total four girlfriends at the age of twenty?”
The guy laughed.
“Alright. Let’s continue.”
The others were rushing for the next game. Elaine muttered, “I should have asked some spicy
question.”
Elaine was thinking if she won next time, she must ask the other person when was the first time they
had sex.
Then, Elaine saw Boyce and Jasmine. She immediately rejected her previous idea. In fact, ‘Truth or
Dare’ was designed to ask questions about a person’s privacy. It was important to entertain all the
participants. But Elaine was embarrassed considering Boyce was here.
Boyce was like an elder in the group. Jasmine’s classmates didn’t dare to overstep. They didn’t want
Boyce to think that they played too wild and too crazily.
It was Jasmine and another guy’s turn.
Jasmine lost at ‘Paper, Scissors, Stone’.
The guys glanced at Boyce. He smiled and asked Jasmine, “Tell us the truth. Who did you have your
first kiss with?”
Everyone stared at Jasmine.
Boyce was calm.
Jasmine was well-prepared. She knew her classmates were going to ask questions like these. Jasmine
then smiled, glanced at Boyce, and answered, “My husband.”
“Boo.”
Jasmine’s classmates were disappointed. They thought they were going to get some spicy answers.
Boyce got picked on the fifth round. Jasmine’s classmates were excited. They were hoping that they
got picked next, then asked Boyce some questions.
Hammer got picked nest. He laughed, “Boyce, please go easy on me.”
Boyce said, “I didn’t know how to play this game. Can I surrender?”
“Sure. You’ll have to answer a question if you surrender.”
“Surrender but would still need to answer a question? Might as well don’t surrender.”
Hammer was confident that he was going to win the game.
And he did. He smiled and looked at Boyce, “Boyce, you’ll have to answer honestly.”
Boyce nodded, “Sure.”
The other students started to contribute ideas for Hammer.
“Ask him when his first kiss was.”
“No, ask him who he thought about before going to bed?”
“Ask him whether he drools in sleep?”
“Ask him whether he picks his toe.”
Hammer shook his head, “No, these are not good enough. I’ll have to think about it.”
Boyce was resigned. These kids were naughty.
“I have an idea,” Elaine said.
Everyone turned and looked at Elaine. They wanted to know what question she would ask.
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