Dare to Be Different (9 page)

After a very short conference, the girls knew exactly what they wanted to ask Macy, so they returned to the circle.

“Macy, you must tell the truth. On your date with Tyler this Sunday, exactly what do you hope or imagine could happen? And you must provide
all
of the details that you have thought of, because we know you’ve imagined what could happen.”

“Ugh, I knew it would be about this. Let’s see.… What do I think will happen?”

“No, not exactly. The question isn’t about what you think will happen but what you hope
could
happen,” Sam clarified.

“Well, first he’ll come to the door and pick me up. My mom and dad will be there, and they’ll want to talk to him. I would think his mom would be waiting in the car because she is going to drive us. My dad will probably lecture him on
safety and on treating his daughter right, not that there is much that can happen at a movie. From there, we’ll leave to head to the mall and his mom will drop us off. We’ll go into the movie. I guess that’s it.”

“Oh no! No way are you getting off that easy. What have you imagined could happen during the movie?” Lindsay asked, getting into the spirit of it.

“Well, I’m sure we’ll share a popcorn and maybe even a soda. I guess I hope that we share a soda rather than get our own. It seems more, um, personal that way, if you know what I mean.” She paused for a reaction, and the girls nodded, encouraging her to continue. “So then we’ll be sitting there, close to each other. Maybe we’ll both put our arms up on the armrest at the same time and bump elbows. I’ll leave my arm up there and hope he does the same so that our arms are touching.”

The girls giggled in nervous embarrassment.

Macy hesitated, not wanting to continue.

“Come on,” Kelly encouraged her. “Don’t mind us. We’re just jealous. Continue.”

“The movie will continue for a little while,
and we’ll just stay that way, pretending not to notice. Then we’ll reach into the popcorn at the same time. I might even wait until he reaches for it and make sure that I do, too. Our fingers will touch.”

“Go on,” Sam encouraged Macy.

“After that, I really hope he’ll hold my hand for most of the rest of the movie. Then—” Macy stopped short, not wanting to finish her sentence, the part they all wanted to hear the most.

“Come on, Macy, you’re doing great—don’t quit now,” Lindsay prodded.

“Yeah, you have to finish your truth,” Sam reminded her.

“Well, this next part would probably never happen. This is a first date, and it’s in public. But this is about my imagination, so I’ll tell you how my daydream ends. We’ve been holding hands for a long time, and the movie is about to end, which means we’ll have to leave the theater and meet up with Tyler’s mom. So, he takes a deep breath, leans forward a little bit, and turns toward me. We share a soft, very tender kiss. The lights come on, and it’s time to leave.” Macy shrugged and pressed her hands to her burning
cheeks. “There, that’s it. That’s the fantasy I have of my first date with Tyler Turner. Now go ahead and laugh.”

“No way, we’re not going to laugh. I hope it goes just the way you imagined, Macy,” Sam said wistfully.

“Are you sure you want to kiss him already?” Lindsay asked, concerned. “Once you have your first kiss, you can’t get it back. You want it to be special.”

“Oh, it will be,” Kelly assured them. “Macy’s had a crush on Tyler Turner for so long that he should be her first kiss. No doubt about it.”

“I just want her to be sure,” Lindsay replied.

“Look at her; she’s sure,” Sam laughingly replied. Macy was sitting quietly, lost in her daydream, with a soft smile on her face as she imagined what it could be like.

“Kelly, Truth or Dare?” Lindsay asked.

“I’ll pick Dare this time,” Kelly answered confidently.

The girls conferred about Kelly’s dare for quite a while. They were clearly in disagreement over what to choose. Kelly finally spoke up from across the room and said confidently, “Bring me
whatever you’ve got, girls. I can take it.” Sam and Macy jumped to their feet, eager to bring their dare to Kelly. Lindsay, with a shrug of her shoulders, reluctantly followed them back to the circle.

“Kelly, you have to drink a can of beer from the refrigerator upstairs—all of it,” Sam challenged.

The three girls eyed Kelly expectantly. Surely this would be the dare that would break her and cause the first loss in the game of Truth or Dare.

“No problem!” Kelly jumped up confidently and headed up the stairs to the garage where her dad kept the beer in an old refrigerator. All three girls stared after her with openmouthed expressions. No one could believe that she was willing to do it.

Kelly came back into the kitchen from the garage and headed back downstairs to the basement where she took the can of beer out of the pocket on the front of her hooded sweatshirt. She winked at the girls and popped the can open and began to drink it. Although she tried to chug it down, it was too much for her, and she had to take several breaks. Eventually she was able to empty the can, and just for emphasis, she crushed
it in her hand.

“I cannot believe that you just did that, Kelly.” Lindsay said incredulously. She shook her head in disbelief.

“How did it taste?” Macy wondered.

“You’ve never tasted beer?” Kelly asked.

“Nope,” Macy replied.

“Me either,” both Sam and Lindsay answered. “I tasted a sip of champagne at my cousin’s wedding once,” Sam added.

“Well, we’ll have to change that sometime,” Kelly teased, her words slurring a bit from the effects of the alcohol.

“Okay, Lindsay, your turn. And you have to pick Dare, remember?” Macy reminded her.

“Yeah, I know. Just be good to me, guys.” Lindsay laughed nervously. She had prepared herself for this, and after seeing what Kelly agreed to do, she figured that her dare couldn’t possibly be as difficult. She’d just do whatever it was and get it over with.

The girls huddled for just a moment and then returned to the circle to give Lindsay her dare.

“Lindsay, we dare you to go down to the store on the corner and buy a single can of beer,” Kelly
looked smug, like she was sure that Lindsay wouldn’t do it. “You don’t even have to drink it,” Kelly added.

“What?”
Lindsay shouted. “I can’t do that! For one thing, we’re not allowed to leave the house. For another thing, my parents would have a fit if they knew I went to the store at this hour. And the last straw would be that I bought a can of beer. If I got caught, I would be in so much trouble. That would be the end of our sleepovers, that’s for sure.”

“Well, let me put it this way,” Kelly said, while the other girls sat silently waiting to see what would happen. “If you do it, you will prove that you not only keep your word, based on our deal when this game started, but you will also prove that you really are cool and fun to hang around with. And if you don’t do it, you won’t be able to be a part of the sleepovers or our group anymore.”

Sam and Macy gasped in shock at Kelly’s words. “Kelly, that’s not what we …”

Kelly interrupted her. “Look, we said as a group that we were going to take this game very seriously. Consider it a test of her loyalty.”

“But, Kelly, we don’t want to put anyone’s friendship on the line over a game,” Macy pleaded with her.

“It’s not just a game. It’s a matter of honor. All four of us were there when these rules were decided, and we all agreed to uphold them. If she decides not to, then she has no honor and isn’t interested in keeping her word to us.”

Sam didn’t even try to convince Kelly any longer and turned to Lindsay instead. “Linds, you’re not going to get caught. You can just go right out the front door. The store is barely a block away—and if you try to buy the beer and they say no, you still did your part. Right,

Kelly?”

“Oh yeah, if she tries but they say no, it’s not her fault. We’ll even walk with you and watch from outside the window.”

Lindsay was about to cry. She didn’t want to disappoint her friends, and she wanted to play along and be cool. But this was a big breach of trust, and it was just plain wrong. On the other hand, she would risk losing her best friends if she didn’t do it. She didn’t think there was anything that she wouldn’t do for her friends. She loved
her friends and couldn’t imagine not having them in her life. But she also couldn’t understand how they could sacrifice their friendship over a game. She was so torn over what to do—she felt that she couldn’t win either way. But thinking of all their future plans together, she thought that she might lose a whole lot more if she didn’t do it. She wished she had more time to decide. They were all staring at her, trying to figure out what she was going to do.

The time has come to make a decision. Think long and hard about what you would really do if you encountered the circumstances Lindsay is facing. It’s easy to say that you’d make the right choice. But are you sure that you could stand up to your friends and face their rejection? Once you make your decision, turn to the corresponding page to see how it turns out for Lindsay—and for you.

Turn to page 112 if you think that Lindsay is able to stand up to her friends by refusing to do the dare
.

Turn to page 151 if Lindsay is unable to stand up to her friends and chooses to go ahead with the dare
.

The next three chapters tell the story of what happened to Lindsay when she decided to do what she knew was right
.

Chapter 9

Lindsay’s eyes welled up with tears. “I can’t do this. I just can’t. There’s just no way that I would do something this risky that would get me into so much trouble with so many people. Plus, it’s not how I operate. I just don’t do things like that. I hope you all can just love me for who I am and not for whoever you’re trying to make me.”

The four girls sat quietly for a few minutes, while Lindsay wiped the tears from her eyes. They were at a sort of crossroads in their relationship. No one was happy that Lindsay decided not to perform the dare, but no one was surprised either. Lindsay picked at the rust-colored fibers of the old couch while she waited for someone to
speak. Sam and Macy looked to Kelly and waited for her to take charge, as she usually did at such times.

“Well, first we have to see if someone else is willing to take on the dare. Who is next in the game?”

“It should probably start over with Sam,” Macy answered, hoping to avoid the pressure of the dare falling to her.

“Okay, Sam, are you tough enough to take on the challenge of the dare that Lindsay isn’t willing to perform?”

“Sure, Kelly, I’ll do it for Lindsay,” Sam offered, thinking that she was helping.

“Well, you won’t actually be doing it
for
Lindsay—you’ll be doing it
in place
of Lindsay, who, since she has decided that she is too good for us and our game, has given up her spot.” Kelly spoke for the group, making up rules as she went along.

“My spot in the game or my spot in the group?” Lindsay asked hesitantly.

“They are one and the same,” Kelly answered coldly, her judgment obviously impaired.