"Let's play a game!"
Three boys sat around a table in the far corner of one of the spare rooms at Fredbear's Family Diner, while the last one, who had spoken, preferred to sit in the middle of the table itself.
A number of items were strewn around them - consoles, clunky cell phones, leftover paper plates and cups and instruments. A drumset was set up in the other corner, but they weren't allowed to play during business hours in case it disturbed any of the other customers in the building.
So the gang of four boys were trying to come up with a way too keep busy. It was August (1983) and school would be starting soon. But there were still a number of days to fill until then.
"How about spin the bottle?" One of the boys, who wore a Freddy mask, looked pleased at himself for coming up with this idea. "My dad's got a lot of leftover beer bottles from a party we threw last weekend."
"You mean, the party your dad threw while your mom took you out for a haircut at the barber shop, Adi," the leader of the gang, in a foxy mask, knew for a fact Adi, whose real name was Faddei, was a pretty big pathological liar. "Anyway, it's just us guys. Who are we supposed to kiss? Each other?"
At this, Adi's face turned red and he pointed at the boy in the Foxy mask. "Shut up, Matt! I was going to invite a bunch of girls I know. 'Sides, how did you know I was at the barber shop anyway?"
'Same way I know you're lying about those girls,' Matthew thought, taking a bit of soda in a cup and tilting his head back to down what was left of it. But he swallowed and wiped his face with a napkin, instead offering, "I saw you on my way home from the grocery store." This was, of course, a big fat lie as well. But unlike him, Adi wouldn't know any better.
"I was thinking more like, Twister!" The boy on the table spoke up again, as his Chica mask slid down his head, so half his words were muffled. Whether his head was narrower than usual, or the mask was bigger than the rest of theirs, the kids did not know. But it happened often.
"What are we, five? Grow up, Cash!" Adi snorted, putting his feet up on the table to kick Cash in the shins.
"Hey!" Cash (who's real name was Cooper, but Adi insisted on calling him Cash because Cooper was, in his own words, "very lame") winced, and scooted out of Adi's reach.
Matthew leaned over and whacked Adi's head with the back of his hand.
Adi was about to protest when Matthew gave him a cold glare, and he shook his head, reaching for a slice of pizza. "Sorry or whatever," he mumbled in between bites.
Satisfied with that apology, as it was probably the best one he'd ever get out of the spoiled rich kid, Matthew stood up and suggested, "We could play Truth or Dare."
It was his favorite game, for obvious reasons. He liked knowing things that nobody else did. And this method made it very very easy for him to pry the deepest secrets from his friends.
"I love truth or dare!" Cash clapped his hands eagerly.
Adi rolled his eyes. Still, it was better than sitting around arguing all day, so he agreed. "Truth or Dare it is."
"Who's going first?" Cash took the time to glance over all of them in turn.
"Jiji," Adi shot his foot out again to kick the quiet kid in the Bonnie mask who had, until now, been surveying a pamphlet they'd found earlier in the back alley. It was an advertisement for some dentist or something. None of the other boys understood why that kid loved to read the most random things, from the grocery adverts to the discount car sales in the paper, but they didn't bother questioning it. Jiji, or Benjamin, was a very odd individual. And pretty much every thing he did could only be explained with, 'because it's Jiji.'
Jiji shrugged and, setting the pamphlet down, nodded his head toward Matthew. "Faddei start."
Adi pushed his seat back and stood up, eyes locked on Matthew. "Truth or Dare?"
From the mischievous look on his face, Matthew knew he had something on his mind that he wanted the shorter boy to do. It made him slightly uneasy, and he chewed his tongue for a moment, hesitating.
Usually, it was rare for any of them to pick dare. After all, when they were stuck in a diner expected to be on their best behavior, it wasn't often they could find things to get away with daring each other to do. What if he got in trouble? Still, he didn't want the satisfaction of Adi calling him a chicken when he said 'Truth', so he narrowed his eyes and met Adi's gaze, even though his heart beat slightly faster. "Dare!"
"Okai!" Adi seemed pleased, very pleased at that. And he pointed at Matthew, resting his other hand on his hip. "I dare you to scare that crybaby brother of yours!"
"How am I supposed to do that," Matthew asked, as if he genuinely could not think of a way. He was stalling, however, because he already knew what Adi wanted him to do. He could hear it as loud as if Adi shouted, and it echoed in his own head before the words left Adi's lips.
"Duh! You're already wearing the mask! Jump out at him and do the scream! C'mon, it'll be hilarious!"
Cash was already snorting at the thought as well, and he punched Matthew playfully in his arm. "Dude! Yeah, you have to do it! I'd love to see the little runt start bawling."
So much for innocent, kind-hearted Cooper. Matthew bit his tongue. He could only swivel his head to see what Benjamin thought. It was his last chance, because generally all three party members had to agree on a dare before it were allowed to take place. Maybe Benjamin would talk some sense into them. Maybe Benjamin would make them see what a dumb idea it really was.
But no such luck.
"Sure," Benjamin gave his signature half-hearted shrug.
'Should've played Twister,' Matthew cursed himself silently for suggesting the game in the first place.
Still, he wasn't about to let the others think for a second he wouldn't do it.
He couldn't have anyone looking down on him again. Not after he'd finally earned their admiration.
They'd see now. There was nothing he wouldn't do.
And besides.
