Page 26 of Every Hidden Truth

“Finally!” she crowed, exchanging a high-five with Caroline.

I groaned and hid my face in my hand. Ben just laughed and popped a french fry into his mouth.

“I knew it,” Kim declared to no one in particular. “I fucking knew it.”

“Congratulations,” I deadpanned, and she tossed a piece of lettuce at me.

“Stop ruining this for us,” she said.

“Yeah, this is, like, every yaoi lover’s dream,” Caroline said.

I said, “What’s yaoi?”

And Ben choked on his sports drink.

“Gay manga,” Kim explained.

“Or anime,” Caroline said.

“It can be a lot of different forms of gay Japanese fictional media,” Ben wheezed.

My wide eyes ping-ponged between Ben and Kim. “Gay anime porn?”

“Not porn!” Ben said at the same time Kim said, “Yeah, kinda.”

I rounded on Ben, and his face flushed. “We are gonna have words later.”

Instead of responding, he focused on his food.

The conversation shifted to everyone’s favorite anime, of which I was woefully ignorant. I ate my nachos as Ben and Kim connected over their love for something calledOne Piece.

Absently, Ben reached over and took one of my nacho chips and ate it. I glared. He didn’t notice. When he went for a second, I smacked his hand, interrupting his conversation.

“Dude, ow!”

“Dude, get your hands off my food.”

He rubbed the back of his hand. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. You can’t just take my food without asking.”

“You always steal my food,” Ben countered.

I grinned slyly as I did just that, pilfering one of his fries and shoving it into my mouth before he could stop me. “Rules don’t apply to me. You should know this by now.”

Fighting a smile, he glared and pinched my side. “Give me a chip.”

“No,” I said, batting his hands away as he tried to loot my plate. “Get your own damn chips, you thief.”

“I gave you a bite of my pancakes.”

“I didn’t want your pancakes. You practically shoved them down my throat, and it was gross.”

Jordan leaned toward Harris and whisper-shouted, “I betpancakesis a euphemism for—”

“Finish that sentence,” I hissed, pointing a finger at his face, “and you’ll spend the rest of your life as a eunuch.”

His eyes widened behind his hipster glasses; he did not finish the sentence.

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