text: “If you don’t do it then you can’t hang out with us anymore.” “What? You're kidding.” “No, I’m not. If you don’t complete the dare then you’ll die.” ... “Fine.” * * * 8 hours earlier * * * “Hey, Josh!” “Hey?” “We’re having a little get-together later tonight, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to join us?” “Wow, really? I can probably come, who, where, and when?” “Does it matter? I’ll be there... But it’s at Daniels house around seven.” “Oh, Daniel’s house... Okay, I’ll have to ask my mom. Do you think I could bring Sam?” “I think Daniel said only one more person, and I chose you. Also, It’s a sleepover .” “Uh, okay... I’ll let you know what my mom says.” “Okay! See you later, Josh.” That was Julia, one of the popular girls. She’s got dark hair and hazel eyes, like me, and a beautiful smile, not so much like me. She’s friends with the 8th-grade guys here at Hickory Grove Middle School. We used to be close in elementary school, but when we got to middle school she started hanging out with the older kids which made her very popular among our grade. Anyways, I’m Josh, if you couldn’t tell. I’m in seventh grade and would not consider myself popular. I hang out with the “nerds” who don’t actually do anything except play video games, but I love video games too. That Sam kid I mentioned is my best friend. He’s pretty shy and has a weird sense of humor, other than that I think he’s awesome. “What was that about?” “She was asking if I wanted to go to a party with her.” “Actually? What’d you say?” “Well, I said I had to check with my mom first, which reminds me.” I pull out my phone and text my mom, “going to a friend's house for a sleepover tonight, be home in the am. <3” “Dude, if we can go to this, do you know how popular we’ll be?” “Oh, Sam, I forgot to tell you, I asked if you could come and she said there was only room for one more.” Sam pauses his excitement for a moment. “Well, that’s alright. I can just stay home and play Dragon Slayer 3, which I think I’d rather do anyway.” “What do you mean? You don’t want to go?” “Well, I do, but I’ve heard things about 8th-grade parties... They do stuff.” “What kind of ‘stuff’?” “Ya know, like the kind of stuff you can’t tell your parents about.” “Just tell me already.” “Like...” Sam looks around to make sure no one is listening and then whispers, “alcohol.” “Sam, I can always just say no.” “I’m not too sure it works like that, Josh.” The bell rings. “Oh shoot, you made me late for class! Mrs. Wertz is gonna kill me.” Sam starts running away, “I’ll catch ya later, and if I don’t, then you’re telling me all about tonight over some games tomorrow.” “Okay, see ya!” What the hell does Sam mean by, “I’m not too sure it works like that?” Of course it works like that, I choose what I do. I look down at my phone and see two messages; “okay, have fun, love you” from Mom, and “Come in through the back door tonight ;)” from Julia. *** I throw down my kickstand and leave my helmet on the handlebar. I catch a glimpse of a shiny blue something in the bushes next to me. I start to peek inside the bush when I hear someone harshly whisper my name. “Josh!” I snap my head to where the voice came from. It’s Julia peering around the corner of the house, waving her hand, signaling for me to come over to her. I look back at the bush, but she calls for me again. “C’mon!” “Okay, okay,” I whisper back to her and run across the yard. “What are you doing out here?” “I was... huh, I don’t remember. Come on inside!” She opened the door to the basement. There were a lot of people, and by a lot, I mean at most twelve of us. Everyone was just hanging out on the couch, except for the two boys playing ping-pong, Tyler and Peter. “Heyyy, what’s up John?” says Daniel, walking over to me. He holds out his hand, I reach out to meet it and grasp it firmly. “It’s Josh, but nothin’ much, is this everyone?” “Nah, we have like four more coming.” “Alright.” “You want something to drink?” “Uh, sure, what do you have?” “Oh that reminds me!” says Julia, waving her hand before bringing it to a fist, “Damnit, I’ll be right back.” She bolted back out the door. “We have some sodas if you want to get one, they’re in that fridge over there.” Daniel points over to a small refrigerator in the corner of the basement. “Okay, thanks.” I walk over to the fridge, open it up, and grab a coke. As I’m cracking it open, Julia comes back in through the door carrying a large blue crystalline bottle. “So that’s what I saw,” I say under my breath. “I got it!” “Yesss Julia! Bring it here.” Julia walks across the room, all eyes crowding on her as she hands it to Daniel. He takes it and unscrews the cap. “Jack, could you grab me a cup?” he says, turning to me. “Name’s still Josh, but sure.” I grab a red solo cup off the table and hand it to him. “Now this is where the party begins!” Daniel yells, he pours some of it into his cup and then takes a sip. “Here Jake, have some.” “No, it’s Josh.” “Whatever, take a sip, I dare you.” “I’m fine, thanks.” As I finish saying this, the people around me all gasp. “Josh, you can’t back down from a dare,” Julia piped in. “What do you mean? Sure I can.” “It’s just water,” Daniel continues. “Oi, I’m not an idiot.” “Oh right, you’re a nerd.” “No, I’m not.” “Prove it, take a sip. If you don’t do it then you can’t hang out with us anymore.” “What? You're kidding.” “No, I’m not. If you don’t complete the dare then you’ll die.” I sit and stare at the bottle. The group bursts out laughing. I look up at Julia who now has tears in her eyes, laughing at me. “He’s joking Josh. You’re not gonna die,” she says. “Fine. I’ll do it.”