Free Truth or Dare by Barbara Dee Page B

of a sudden I just . . . you know, felt it.”
    Marley glanced up at me.
    â€œAt first I didn’t know what it was,” I continued. “My leg was wet, and I thought probably a wave had splashed me, or maybe some kid had kicked some wet sand on me. But when I looked down—”
    â€œBlerg, that’s horrible,” Makayla said.
    Jules nibbled an apple. “So what did you do?”
    â€œWell, fortunately, I had a towel with me, so I wrapped it around my waist.”
    â€œWhat did Tanner say?” Makayla asked. “Because omigod, Lia, there you were, suddenly wearing a toga— ”
    â€œI think she probably looked more ancient Egyptian,” Abi corrected her. “If Lia only had the towel around her waist. ”
    I shrugged. “I’m not sure how it looked. All I told Tanner was that I felt cold, so he gave me his hoodie.”
    Jules and Makayla went “ Aww.” And even I thought, That was really sweet of him.
    Marley twirled the spaghetti on her plate, but she never put any in her mouth. “All right, my turn,” she said loudly.
    â€œBut Lia’s not done yet,” Abi protested.
    â€œYeah, she is,” Marley said firmly. She put down her fork.
    You want to hear something funny? I knew Marley thought she was rescuing me from A Million Follow-Up Questions, and I appreciated that. But right then I also felt kind of annoyed at her. She’d basically barged into my story just when I was getting to the juicy Tanner part. And even though I had no idea where any of it was going, I could tell my friends were following every word. Because really: Getting your period on a lonely beach up in Maine with a dark-haired boy you’d just kissed whose lips tasted like chili—it was such a better My First Period story than Jules’s, which was basically about zits and cramps and the second-floor bathroom.
    â€œI choose dare,” Marley said. She raised her eyebrows at me, like, Well?
    I thought.
    â€œHurry up,” Abi said, poking me.
    â€œI’m thinking,” I said. Daring Marley was tricky. If I gave her a lame one, like I dare you to hold your breath for sixty seconds , it would be like I was saying we should all go easy on her, because she wasn’t as cool as the rest of us. Which I definitely didn’t think. But if I gave her a hard dare, like showing her bra size, it would be mean to Marley. And I knew she wasn’t too happy with the game to begin with.
    â€œTime’s up, Lia,” Abi declared.
    â€œWait,” I said. “There’s a time limit?”
    She laughed. “Yeah. Time’s up when the rest of us are sick of waiting. So now we’re going to decide Marley’s dare.”
    â€œHey, that’s not fair,” I protested.
    Abi, Jules, and Makayla ignored me. They huddled.
    Then Abi smiled at Marley.
    â€œOkay,” she said. “Marley, we dare you to give Graydon a love poem. But first we have to read it. And approve it,” Abi added.
    Makayla nodded. “And you have to sign it.”
    I swallowed. “Hey, guys. Isn’t that a little too—”
    â€œShe chose dare, Lia,” Jules reminded me.
    â€œI know, but . . .” I glanced at Graydon, who was sitting at a lunch table with two other nerdy seventh-grade boys, Jake Lombardi and Ben Maldonado. “That dare affects other people .”
    â€œSometimes the game works that way.” Abi shrugged. “It’s how you play.”
    The funny thing was, Marley didn’t seem to care about the Graydon part.
    â€œI can copy it out of a book, right? I don’t have to actually write it?” she asked.
    Makayla nodded. “You can even print it off your computer, if you want. As long as you sign your name.”
    The bell rang.
    â€œOh yeah, and it has to happen by lunchtime tomorrow,” Abi announced, laughing for punctuation.

Glad We Spoke

    THAT EVENING THE DOORBELL RANG at