The Truth About Forever(50)

"Instant breakfast," he said finally.

"That's not food."

"Sure it is."

"Nope. It's a drink."

He looked at me. "Are you seriously getting competitive about this?"

"No," I said, sliding my hands in my pockets. A breeze blew over us, and I heard the leaves on the trees nearby rustling. "But it is a drink, not a food. That's all I'm saying."

"You're a rule person," he said.

"My sister was a cheater. It sort of became necessary."

"She cheated at this game?"

"She cheated at everything," I said. "When we played Monopoly, she always insisted on being banker, then helped herself to multiple loans and 'service fees' for every real estate transaction. I was, like, ten or eleven before I played at someone else's house and they told me you couldn't do that."

He laughed, the sound seeming loud in all the quiet. I felt myself smiling, remembering.

"During staring contests," I said, "she always blinked. Always. But then she'd swear up and down she hadn't, and make you go again, and again. And when we played Truth, she lied. Blatantly."

"Truth?" he said, glancing over his shoulder as something?another owl, I hoped—hooted behind us. "What's that?"

I looked at him. "You never played Truth, either?" I asked. "God, what did you guys do on long car trips?"

"We," he said, "discussed politics and current events and engaged in scintillating discourse."

"Oh."

"I'm kidding," he said, smiling. "We usually read comics and beat the crap out of each other until my dad threatened to pull over and 'settle things once and for all.' Then, when it was just my mom, we sang folk songs."

"You sang folk songs," I said, clarifying. Somehow I couldn't picture this.

"I didn't have a choice. It was like the lentil loaf, no other options." He sighed. "I know the entire Woody Guthrie catalog."

"Sing something for me," I said, nudging him with my elbow. "You know you want to."

"No," he said flatly.

"Come on. I bet you have a lovely singing voice."

"I don't."

"Wes," I said, my voice serious.

"Macy," he replied, equally serious. "No."

For a minute we walked in silence. Far, far off in the distance, I saw headlights, but a second later they turned off in another direction, disappearing. Wes exhaled, shaking his head, and I wondered how far we'd walked already.

"Okay, so Truth," he said. "How do you play?"

"Is this because you can't think up another I food?" I asked.

"No," he said indignantly. Then, "Maybe. How do you play?"

"We can't play Truth," I told him, as we crested a small hill, and a fence began on one side of the road.

"Why not?"

"Because," I said, "it can get really ugly."

"How so?"

"It just can. You have to tell the truth, even if you don't want to."

"I can handle that," he said.

"You can't even think of an I food," I said.

"Can you?"

"Ice milk," I said. "Italian sausage."

"Okay, fine. Point proved. Now tell me how to play."

"All right," I said. "But you asked for it."

He just looked at me. Okay, I thought. Here we go.

"In Truth," I said, "there are no rules other than you have to tell the truth."

"How do you win?" he asked.

"That," I said, "is such a boy question."

"What, girls don't like to win?" He snorted. "Please. You're the one who got all rule driven on me claiming Instant Breakfast isn't a food."

"It's not," I told him. "It's a beverage."

He rolled his eyes. I can't believe this, I thought. A week or two ago putting a full sentence together in front of Wes was a challenge. Now we were arguing about liquids.

"Okay," he said, "back to Truth. You were saying?"

I took in a breath. "To win, one person has to refuse to answer a question," I said. "So, for example, let's say I ask you a question and you don't answer it. Then you get to ask me a question, and if I answer it, I win."

"But that's too simple," he said. "What if I ask you something easy?"

"You wouldn't," I told him. "It has to be a really hard question, because you don't want me to win."

"Ahhh," he said, nodding. Then, after mulling it for a second he said, "Man. This is diabolical."

"It's a girl's game," I explained, tilting my head back and looking up at the stars. "Always good for a little drama at the slumber party. I told you, you don't want to play."

"No. I do." He squared his shoulders. "I can handle it."

"You think?"

"Yup. Hit me."

I thought for a second. We were walking down the center yellow line of the road, the moonlight slanting across us. "Okay," I said. "What's your favorite color?"