The night falls and I hear the doorbell ring at exactly 10:59pm. As I get closer to the door, I can hear some chatter. “We're one minute early idiot, we should’ve waited,” says Ava.

I open the door and they all look at me with a big smile. They’ve brought some snacks - chips and some fancy apéritif - and some drinks - orange juice and vodka. I snatch the bottle of vodka from Gabe’s hands. “This - it’s the easiest way to screw up your night guys. No one touches a drop of alcohol.” They all look at me with puppy eyes as if I’d ruined their night.

They all enter the house making whoa sounds and commenting on everything they see - the huge chandelier brought from France above their heads, the two stairs leading up, the fancy carpet. I led them all to the living room at the end of the house, the most secluded one.  They put all they have on the glass table. They have five pink heart-shaped ecstasy pills and a small bag of white powder.

“Why did you buy five?,” I ask.

“I don’t know, they looked so small, we thought they wouldn’t be effective. So we should take one each and share the last.” I look at Jonah with a facepalm.

They are idiots. But I guess it benefits me. 

“One is more than enough. We’ll take a quarter every thirty minutes until we feel something.”

“What do we do in the meantime?,” ask Gabe.

“We play Never Have I Ever,” says Jonah with a smirk.

“Oh! That’s a great idea!,” says Ava. “Let’s do that.”

I roll my eyes. Great, let’s do this dumb game.

I quickly go to the kitchen to get glasses, water and a knife. I cut the four pills into quarters and we each swallow one. We then all go sit on the sofas, which are separated by a small table in the middle. I am fitted between Ava and Gabe, with Malcolm and Jonah in front of us. 

“Let’s start!,” says Ava. “Never have I ever… done drugs! - until today.” They all turn to me as I put one finger down.

“Of course you have,” retorts Malcolm, “I bet you’ve tried everything.”

“I have,” I lie. I know they will love to hear a bunch of stupid and invented stories. They’re so dumb that they would believe anything I say. “My turn,” I continue, “never have I ever… had a crush on one of my friends.” I make direct eye contact with Malcolm, but only Jonah puts a finger down.

“In middle school. But I was too shy to say anything.”

“Apparently she’s gay, so it was all for the best,” Gabriel answers. Jonah sighs.

“Alright,” starts Gabriel, “never have I ever… kissed someone of the same gender.”

Sh*t. I look to my side, where Ava had put a finger down. “Well, I’m bisexual after all,” she turns to me, “my first relationship was with a woman.”

I guess they’re open about it so I put a finger down. They all look at me with both anticipation and confusion.

“I don’t want to explain,” I gulp. Jonah nods in understanding and continues, “well alright, my turn. Never have I ever… had sex.”

I can’t help but laugh at how pure it sounds. He even mumbled it.

Ava, Malcolm and I put a finger down. I gesture to both of them, “together?”

They answer with disgust sounds. “Ew, Caleb, of course not. With my girlfriend and another random guy. Malcolm did it with his trashy ex-girlfriend.” Malcolm sighs. “She wasn’t trashy, she just didn’t like you. Besides, who can blame her.” Ava answers with a vulgar gesture. Malcolm passes his turn since he doesn’t know what to ask yet. 

“I guess it’s my turn,” I say, “never have I ever…” well that's embarrassing. I have no idea what to ask either. I’ve done a lot of things. “Hmm, never have I ever been on a plane.”

They all look disappointed.

“You’ve never been on a plane?,” asks Malcolm with a condescending tone, while they all put a finger down. 

“No, I’ve never left the country - or this city for that matter.”

“Well sh*t, that sucks,” says Gabe, taking a sip of orange juice.

We keep on playing this ridiculous game until I see that twenty minutes have passed and everyone seems fine.

Let’s speed this up a bit. I am getting bored.

I tell everyone that we should take the second quarter, which we do. Ava insists on taking a selfie of us all with the pill on our tongue. We oblige, although only Gabe seems to really enjoy the idea. Ava asks if she can put some music on as she takes a speaker out of her bag.

I nod, why not?, I think, I just hope the music will be good.

Gabriel, Jonah and Ava are dancing on some stupid French song about sardines - freaking language students -  while Malcolm and I are watching them on the sofa, smoking.

Nobody cares if we smoke inside. The maids will take care of the smell.

I was about to change the music when I hear the door open behind me. 

I chose the farthest room so no one would see us and the maids have been sent back.

So who the f*ck could that be?