text: “I dare you.” The words rang in my head as I clapped a hand onto his shoulder, and my lips curved into a smirk. “I accept.” Afterwards, I suffered the consequences. I quaked in my shoes, because I had accepted a dare to ask the most popular girl in our school out, and as I looked down at my loose shirt and scruffy shoes, running a hand through my messy hair, I knew I had messed up badly. I should never have accepted the dare. But my headstrong, stubborn self had to accept the dare because I refused to seem weak. Cursing my Taurus stubbornness, I headed back to the dormitories, where I planned out a course of action. *** It had been two days since I accepted Vic’s dare, and still I had made no progress. I had yet to work up the courage to ask Leah out on a date in public, but the girl was simply a flame in a swarm of moths--attractive to everyone. I refused to give up, and, gathering my wits, I strode across the pavement confidently towards Leah. I bit my lip nervously and called out, “Leah?” She turned towards me, a look of confusion flashing across her face. Then she seemed to recognise me, and a pretty smile spread across her cheeks. “Josh?” She asked politely, still smiling. ”Er... actually, it’s Jo,” I said, plastering a fake smile on my face as my heart dropped in disappointment. “I’m from your English class, don’t you remember?” She nodded, but I could see the hesitation in her eyes. She was obviously lying, I could see it in her furrowed brow as she tried to recall. ”Anyway, I was just wondering, do you want to go for a cup of coffee sometime?” I pushed my luck, crossing my fingers behind my back. Leah looked around, and slowly said, “Actually... I’m busy. I don’t think I’m free anytime soon...” I nodded, but inwardly I was panicking. I couldn’t not finish this dare, I had a streak of 5 completed dares at stake! Fortunately, Leah continued, “But I might be able to go next week. What time are you free?” After switching numbers, we agreed to meet at A Cup For A Smile after English the week after. I grinned triumphantly as I waved at her and walked away. *** Vic was quick to get on my case that afternoon, pestering me on my progress with dating the hottest girl in school. His smirk covered my entire field of vision, and my attempts to push him away proved futile. ”So... how’s it going? You’ve got to do it quickly, you know, it’s not fair to make the rest of us have a dare drought just ’cause you’re slow.” Vic slung his hand over my shoulder, and I squirmed at the unwelcome heat in the blistering afternoon. I had just shrugged his hand off my shoulder when Max piped up. “Yeah, Jo, that’s just mean to us.” He pouted cutely, and his sulking face, as always, made me relent. I laughed loudly. “I’m trying, guys, I really am. Look, I got a date with her Monday, okay? This should be going along just fine.” Max kicked the pavement before looking up at me, a bright smile spreading across his face. ”Okay.” *** A week later, I sat in the blissfully chilly café, awaiting Leah’s arrival. It was two minutes before the time that we had agreed to meet, but I had decided it was better to be early than to keep her waiting. Suddenly, the sound of a bell rung through the chatter in the café. I whipped my head towards the glass door, and, sure enough, Leah stood there. She locked eyes with me and headed towards me. I felt my heart pounding in my chest as she neared the table, and I took a deep breath to calm myself. Leah flashed me a dazzling smile as she slipped into the seat beside me. “Hey,” she said. That one syllable was enough to reduce me to a stuttering mess, but I drew myself up, and mustering the little confidence I had left, I replied, “Hey.” I mentally slapped myself. “Hey”? Was that really all I could say? No “how are you” or “how’s school”? I was so pathetic. Leah laughed, a tinkling laughter, and I felt my cheeks flush red. She placed a cool hand on mine, a small smile at the corners of her lips. “Don’t be so worried. It’s not like I’m going to eat you.” No, but the whole school would murder me, considering she was so out of my league. A relationship between us would cause a huge scandal. But my stubbornness, for once, proved useful. You can do it! It shouted in my ear. Don’t give up, you can’t prove Vic right! Grinning, I pushed the menu towards Leah. ”So, what would you like to order?” It had only gotten better from there. We had talked about school, but we avoided her friends--a touchy subject for both of us--as we got to know each other better. *** A month after our first ‘date’, I mustered the courage to go to one of the large parties, which Leah would be attending. By the end of the party, drunken people were everywhere, swarming the tables to grab more alcohol. I narrowly swerved to avoid a stumbling wreck of drunkenness, and caught sight of Leah. My breath hitched in my throat as I saw a male youth, barely taller than me, attacking Leah’s lips with a vigour that would be admirable had I been another person. But I wasn’t. And seeing Leah kissing him back passionately, I couldn’t help but cultivate the seeds of jealously planted in my gut. Impulsively, I stalked over to the couple and ripped them apart. I tilted Leah’s chin towards me, and I could see her glassy eyes widening in shock. Her swollen lips parted to form an ‘o’ of surprise, as she let out a soft gasp. I roughly turned her head away from me, inwardly guilty, but I knew she was drunk. She was drunk and kissing a stranger, whom she would probably forget in the morning. Just the thought of it made me stew in rage. Consumed by this fiery anger, I whirled around to face the male, who was a few centimetres shorter than me. I gripped his chin, forcing him to face me. His eyes, also clouded over, betrayed his apprehension. He nervously toyed with his lower lip as I heard a voice that sounded unlike mine resounding from my throat threateningly. ”Stay away from Leah,” the voice said, tersely. “You’re not fit for her. You’re not even sober, you’re high on drugs.” I turned away in disgust, and faced Leah’s guilty, pleading gaze. My heart softened. I don’t know why I’m doing this, I thought as I trudged towards my car, a drunken Leah staggering across the carpark with me, leaning against my shoulder. “Who’s your designated driver? Why aren’t they here?” I asked, annoyed that Leah didn’t care about her own safety. Leah pouted, smoky salmon lips frowning adorably. “I don’t know. Cassie said she wouldn’t drink, and that she’d always be downstairs, but I didn’t see her just now.” I groaned in frustration, buckling Leah into my passenger seat. “Look, I’ll drive you home, and if anyone asks, I’m the DD, okay?” She giggled. “Okay.” I sighed, rubbing my hand across my face. I was not ready for this. “I need your address, Leah.” She spewed a string of numbers that I entered into the GPS before sending her home. *** Later that night, Vic and Max called. They asked why I had left so early, and I mentally slapped myself. I was their DD! What were they going to do, out so late at night at drunken as can be? I knew from experience that both of them were lightweights, and knew better than most what was going to happen if I didn’t pick them up... Vic assured me that they were fine, and that a pretty girl had offered to drive them home. The girl’s name was Cassie. I sped back to the house immediately, both worried for my best friends’ safety and to give the girl a good scolding. I arrived at the gate of the majestic house, illuminated by strobe lights, loud music blaring through the speakers. Now that I was paying attention, I noticed bodies grinding up against each other, sweaty skin sticking to tight, skimpy clothing. The music thundered in my ears and I felt my eardrums throbbing. I stumbled through the dense crowd, eyes scanning the sea of people frantically, hoping to catch sight of Max or Vic. While being tall was a good advantage, it was rendered useless by the fact that both Max and Vic were... kind of vertically challenged. I sighed in frustration, ready to yell out their names, only to hear wild screaming from outside the living room. I ducked and squeezed my way through to the glass partition separating the living room from the backyard, which was now wide open. I caught sight of Max with an arm draped around a girl, swaying on his feet, swinging a mug of beer in his hand. Despite the circumstances, I scoffed. He got drunk drinking beer ? Seriously? I strode towards Max, my height an advantage in intimidating the people. They parted for me as I gripped Max’s shoulder tightly. “Dude, what do you think you’re doing? I leave you for half an hour and you do this to me? Really?” Max turned to face me, jaded eyes turning sharp and focused for a second before losing focus again. He gazed at me with a puppy-dog look on my face. I groaned. Every. Single. Time. When Max was drunk, he always pulled the guilt-trip card. And I fell for it every time, just like I did this time. I slung his hand onto my shoulders, staggering from his weight. I lifted him into my arms--a more convenient alternative to supporting him--as I let my eyes dart around the room, hoping to catch sight of Vic. Just as I had suspected, Vic was in a corner of the backyard, smoking with a small group of two girls and another boy. At least he was smoking something legal this time, not marijuana. I tore the cigarette from his fingers, ignoring the searing pain that scorched my fingers as I accidentally brushed them against the flame. I threw the cigarette to the ground. I was sure someone would pick it up later. I dug my fingernails into the soft flesh of Vic’s shoulder blades, spinning him around to face me. Under my breath, I hissed, “Just what exactly do you think you are doing?“ Vic sneered, not an uncommon occurrence when I confronted him in front of his smoke-buddies. “This,” he said, ignoring me, “is Cassie. That’s Jack, and that’s Haley.” I smiled tightly, my gaze falling on Cassie, sizing her up. The girl didn’t have much muscle, but anyone so stable on stilettos--in the grass, in the middle of the night, probably drunk, no less--was to be feared. Once again, I ignored my gut feeling, and unleashed my rage upon her. “How dare you,” I hissed through gritted teeth. “How dare you! You left Leah alone, in the middle of the night, alone and drunk, and didn’t keep to any part of your deal! You’re a designated driver for a reason, and yet you choose to shirk your responsibilities!” I drew a breath to calm myself down, my face red hot with fury. “Bitches like you,” I spoke hoarsely, menacingly, “are the reason I have trust issues.” With that, I grabbed my friends and left. *** I smiled at Leah, who eagerly grinned back. In just a few weeks, I’d gone from “Jo the loser” to “Jo who was friends with Leah”. But it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t about the dare any more, although the stubborn part of me would beg to differ. It was about Leah, wanting to be with her, wanting to be hers. I wanted to be hers, and her to be mine, both of us consensually agreeing to be one. But first I would have to get her to agree. We were at A Cup For A Smile again, and this time I knew she was getting an iced double shot espresso, while I got my iced latte. I hesitantly began our conversation with something casual, something to get Leah to open up. “Leah?” ”Mm?” ”I was just wondering... do you... think we could go on a date?” I asked, analysing her reaction to gauge her feelings about this. ”Hmm? Sure! Isn’t this one already?” Her reply threw me off a little, and I laughed in response. “No, I meant a proper date.” “What, one in the cinemas with popcorn? We did that last week, dumbass,” she grinned coyly, displaying her pearly white teeth. “No, I- I meant as... girlfriends. I’m lesbian, Leah.” I was used to coming out, and didn’t really hide my sexuality, but it felt awkward coming out to my new crush, who was sitting right across me. “I’m bi,” Leah said, rolling her eyes. “I really am. And I mean it. I want to be girlfriends.” With that, she leaned across the table and kissed me. I pulled away first, getting out of my seat and sliding in next to her. I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her, hard. And I smirked. I’d completed my dare and confessed to my new crush--killing two birds with one stone. Her hands pried mine from her face, and she entwined our fingers together, my coarse palms in her delicate, cooling ones. ”Remember when you asked, two weeks ago, what ‘Jo’ was short for?” I asked, smiling against her lips. They quirked into a crooked grin. “Well, I thought I’d tell you. It’s short for Joanna.”