Chapter Four: Bonds of Blood
Annabelle woke up in Luna's bed, still cuddling close to her. Memories of the night before are still fresh in her mind as the incessant sound of her phone alarm starts to ring before the sun fully creeps through the blinds. With a groan, she unwraps her arm from around Luna's stomach and turns off the alarm. She sits up to check what time it is, but to her surprise see that somehow Current Crush has opened up on its own. She rubs her tired eyes and reads the text box over the homescreen. Below the text is a notification symbol on the 'Daily Task' symbol.
"Good morning, Annabelle! Reminder to complete your Daily Task for today! Once you have completed both your tasks, we can start Phase Three!"
With an annoyed groan, she turns the phone off and sets it back down. She looks at the time- 7am, then gently touches Luna's shoulder to wake her up. Luna's eyes slowly open and she looks over at Annabelle.
"Hey, beautiful. What time is it?"
"Seven. Sorry to wake you so early, you still think you can drive me home?"
Luna nods and sits up to yawn and stretches her arms above her head. She leans forwards and places a kiss on Annabelle's lips, then the two get up and start to get ready. After a few minutes, the two are fully dressed in the same clothes as the night before and get ready to leave. Annabelle follows her out of the bedroom and the two walk out into the living room to head back to her place. But as they do, they see someone else standing in the kitchen. Luna casually calls out to the woman, "Hey, girl. I have company with me."
Luna's roommate looks back at her with a smile, but seems surprised when she sees Annabelle. For the same reason, Annabelle is stopped in her tracks. Luna's roommate standing right in front of her is someone she recognizes, but hasn't seen in over a year- Rebecca.
Rebecca asks with a surprised tone, "Anna? Is that you?"
"R-rebecca! Uh, long time no see."
She felt incredibly stupid at that moment. It was so obvious why she recognized the apartment last night. But the last time she was here, she was not sober at all. She somehow forgot over the last six years what this place was. It didn't help that she barely ever even saw Rebecca after that night they spent together. Luna looks between the two and asks, "You two know each other?"
Rebecca nods, "Yeah... my sister is her best friend."
"Right. I would love to catch up but I need to be getting to work soon..."
The air is awkward, but Rebecca puts on a fake smile and says, "No problem. We should catch up!"
Annabelle nods and Luna clears her throat to say, "Well, uh, I'll see you in a little bit."
The two leave while Rebecca closely watches them. They head downstairs in silence until they get into Luna's car. Annabelle breaks the silence to say, "I'm sorry, that was weird. I had no idea you were her roommate."
"No, that's fine! I don't remember ever meeting you so how could you have known?"
"Right..."
Annabelle trails off and once again opens the Current Crush app. Reluctantly, she clicks on the Daily Task button. The two familiar buttons appear again- Truth or Dare. She clicks on 'truth' and a question appears on the screen.
"We are glad you are getting used to this! For today's task, tell us who you find more attractive- the man you told us about hooking up with (Luke, your ex's friend) or your brother, Michael? We don't need to remind you about the consequences of lies at this point, do we?"
She sits in thought for a long moment, trying to convince herself that Luke is attractive. But as all she can remember is the very unsatisfying sex they had, her mind keeps bringing her back to the image of Michael naked in the bathroom. With a grimace on her face, she types into the app.
"Michael."
"We figured! Glad you are willing to admit it now! Today we will slightly change the rules for your dare- you will receive a notification for when it becomes available to you. Like always, you will have a limited time to accomplish the goal!"
With that, the notification on the Daily Task goes away and she is left to wonder what the app could have in mind for her. She is filled with a feeling of dread, but it is eased slightly as Luna breaks the silence.
"Did you use the app yet?"
"Yeah, I did. Did you?'
Luna nods, "I just answered the truth while we were getting ready to leave. Can I ask what yours was?"
Annabelle hesitates, but decides it would be easier just to hide some details. She says, "It wanted to know which of two men I found more attractive. What about you?"