Dare to Be Different (6 page)

The girls took a look inside their bin and removed their materials from the brown paper bags. They spread out the piles of felt that they intended to use to make the body and the clothes, the aluminum foil for the eyeglasses, the movable eyes they would affix to Mrs. Portney’s face, and all of the other supplies that they had contributed but weren’t yet sure they would use.

“Mrs. Portney?” Lindsay raised her hand.

“Yes, Ms. Martin,” Mrs. Portney responded.

“What about the things that we have in our bins that we aren’t sure we’ll use on our pillows? Should we include those things on the list?”

“Ah, good question. Yes, please include everything that you think you may use, and estimate prices like I’ve explained already. When the project is over, you’ll be making a new list and comparing it to the old list—just for fun—to see how closely they match.”

The four girls spread their supplies out into piles. Lindsay agreed to act as group secretary and began the list. They spent the rest of the class period getting their supplies figured out and planning ahead for what they wanted to do with
their project. They had to be very careful that the other students didn’t overhear them talking. Since the girls’ pillow project was a secret, the other students were desperately trying to figure it out and went so far as to beg the girls to let them in on the secret. The girls were holding out, though. They vowed not to tell a single person what their pillow was going to be.

Engrossed in their project, the bell rang before any of them realized that class was about to end. They hastily cleaned up their workstation, returned their bin to the appropriate shelf on the wall, and headed off to their respective classes.

“See you at lunch!” they shouted to each other as they raced in separate directions down the hall.

“Mom, I’m leaving for Macy’s house,” Lindsay called up the stairs when she saw Kelly’s mom pull into the driveway to pick her up. She heard some quick rustling, and her mom came bounding down the stairs, making sure she didn’t miss Lindsay’s exit.

“Now, Linds, let’s not have a repeat of last time, okay?”

“Don’t worry, Mom. We’ve agreed that there can be no destruction of private property during our sleepovers.” Lindsay laughed.

Mrs. Martin, not finding the comment very funny, became a bit more stern and said, “Lindsay, I am not kidding. You think before you act and be an example to your friends. Okay?”

“Yeah, Mom. I get it. I’ll behave,” Lindsay promised as Kelly’s mom honked her horn. “Gotta go, Mom. Love you.” Lindsay gave her a quick kiss and was out the door before Mom could say another word. With a bounce in her step, Lindsay skipped off to the waiting SUV.

When Lindsay and Kelly arrived at Macy’s house, they had to wait a moment before pulling into the driveway because Sam’s mom was backing out. Kelly’s mom rolled into the driveway, and the girls hopped out, grabbing their sleeping bags and pillows as they went.

“Bye, Mom!” Kelly shouted as she closed her door. Her mom nodded and waved as she backed out of the driveway and drove off. The girls rushed up to the door, which was propped open, waiting for them. Slowly, Lindsay pushed it open just a bit more and looked inside. They assumed
that Macy and Sam saw them pulling in, so they didn’t bother to ring the doorbell. But Lindsay wondered where they had taken off to.

“Hello?” Lindsay tentatively stepped into the house.

“Anyone there?” Kelly stepped in behind her.

“Roar!”
Sam and Macy jumped at the other two girls from behind the half wall where they were hiding. Lindsay and Kelly both squealed in shock and then laughed at the silliness. When their heart rates recovered, Lindsay grabbed Macy and Kelly caught Sam, and they tickled the girls until they cried for mercy.

“So what are we going to do first?” Kelly asked when they had all recovered and caught their breath.

“My mom said she’d drop us off at the movie theater if we want to go,” Macy replied.

“Hey, that’s a great idea,” Lindsay responded. “I’m all for that.”

“Me, too,” Kelly and Sam agreed simultaneously.

The girls opened the newspaper to the movie section and spread it out on the kitchen table so they could select the movie that they wanted to see. It only took a moment to decide because they
had already seen two of the options together, so those were naturally out. Several of the other movies had ratings the girls weren’t allowed to watch. With two movies left to choose from—a cowboy movie or a romantic comedy—they decided on the comedy.

With only an hour before it was time to leave, all four girls crammed into Macy’s tiny but private pink bathroom to get ready. Amid their piles of makeup, hairbrushes, earrings, and perfume, they treated the outing as if they were headed to the prom—”You never know who you might run into,” they always said. Sam felt unprepared because she hadn’t brought anything special to wear. Undaunted, the girls saw that as an opportunity to plow through Macy’s closet in efforts to find something for Sam to wear. They tried several things, but they were all too big for Sam’s slight frame. “Okay, okay,” Macy gave in. “I have a new shirt that I’ve been saving for when I lose ten more pounds on my diet. I haven’t even taken the tags off it yet. You can wear it if you want to, Sam.”

“Really?” Sam squealed. “Are you sure?” Macy assured Sam that she didn’t mind and reached far
back into her closet to find the shirt. She pulled out a cute little long-sleeved red top with silver buttons down the front and little pockets on the chest. Excitedly, Sam tried it on, and it fit perfectly.

“That movie was funny!” Lindsay said as they laughed and bumped into each other coming out of the theater. They giggled as their eyes adjusted to the light, and they headed toward the food court. The movie ended at eight thirty, but Macy’s mom wasn’t due to pick them up until nine thirty. Hang out time! With one order of french fries smothered in cheddar cheese and a diet cola to share, they chose their favorite seat on the edge of the food court so they could watch the people go by.

“So, Sam,” Macy casually asked, “did you ever ask Tyler’s cousin to ask Kenny if he liked me?”

“Oh! I totally forgot to tell you this,” Sam leaned forward on her elbows. “I did ask her. She talked to Kenny, and Kenny didn’t even have to ask Tyler about you. Kenny told Stephanie that Tyler talks about you all the time and that he has for what seems like years. Kenny also said
that he’s been trying to get Tyler to make a move forever but that Tyler’s just been too shy. What do you think about that?”

Macy tried not to make a big deal out of it, but she couldn’t help the grin that quickly spread across her face. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens, then.”

“Just see what happens? Are you kidding me?” Kelly was so excited. “You might be the first one of us ever to have a boyfriend. We have to figure out a way to push that boy along a little.”

“No, no. I don’t want to push him along, because I don’t really know what I’m ready for. I mean, what am I going to do? Push him to ask me out only to have to tell him that I can’t date? I would be so embarrassed,” Macy explained. “I’m just happy to know that he is as interested in me as I am in him. If it took another year to act on it, that would be fine with me.”

“I think that’s the right way to look at it, Mace,” Lindsay said.

“I guess I agree, even though I don’t really like it.” Sam pouted.

“I totally disagree,” Kelly emphatically said. “I think that where there’s a will, there’s a way. And
you’ll regret it if you don’t pursue this, Macy.”

“Well, like I said, it really doesn’t matter because he hasn’t asked me out, and even if he did, I couldn’t go.” Macy sighed. “Let’s just give it some time and see what happens.”

The girls gathered in a circle on the floor for another game of Truth or Dare. This time Lindsay was first. She picked Truth again, and the other three girls groaned.

“Come on, Linds, you have to take a chance in life. What fun is it to do the samething over and over?” Kelly prodded her.

“Yeah,” Macy agreed. “You need to walk on the wild side now and then.”

“Well, I’ll pick Truth this time, but if we play again, I promise I’ll pick Dare,” Lindsay said, taking the chance and hoping that there might not be a next time.

“Okay.” Sam gave in. “As long as you promise. It’s no fun for us if you’re going to play it safe every time.”

“I promise.”

“Well then, girls, let’s go come up with a good Truth for Lindsay.”

The three girls left Lindsay to sit in the circle while they discussed what to ask her for her Truth. While she waited, Lindsay wondered if she was getting herself into a mess. Maybe by giving them a whole week to come up with a good dare, she’d find herself in even more of a predicament than she would have if she had just done it right then.
Oh well
, she decided,
it’s too late to worry about that now. It’ll be okay
.… She hoped.

The girls ran back to the floor and dove into their spots. Since Sam was next in the circle, she got to ask Lindsay her Truth question. “Lindsay, which of the three of us do you like the best?”

“Oh, come on!” Lindsay wailed. “You can’t seriously expect me to answer that.”

“Oh yes, you have to answer,” Kelly replied. “You didn’t think we’d make it easy for you, did you?”

Macy just looked on with a nervous expression on her face. “No one will be upset by your answer, Lindsay. But you do need to answer. It’s part of the game.”

“Fine. You guys asked for it.” Lindsay was a little frustrated and figured that they deserved it

if they didn’t like her answer. “I’ll have to say that my answer is Macy. She is the one I’ve known the longest, and her parents and my parents have been friends for decades. She understands and supports my religion and church commitments, and she deals with the same kind of rules from her parents as I do,” Lindsay answered but cut Kelly off before she could interrupt.

“But … I’m not finished. Kelly and Sam, you two are my best friends on an equal level with Macy. I could have gone my whole life without answering that question. Since I had to, those were the reasons I chose. I love you all equally, though.
There
, are you happy?”

The three girls collapsed into fits of giggles. They found it amusing that Lindsay was so worried about answering the question. Sam assured her that they knew how she would answer and that it was a logical and fair answer. Kelly wiped pretend tears from her eyes. “It’s not like we really care who your favorite is anyway, Lindsay,” Kelly said sarcastically and then smiled when she saw the worried expression on Lindsay’s face. “Oh, come on now. I’m just kidding.”

“Now it’s Sam’s turn,” said Macy, obviously
wanting to change the subject.

“I choose Dare. Judging from Lindsay’s question, Truth is no easier than Dare.” Sam laughed.

Lindsay, Macy, and Kelly rushed off to come up with a good dare for Sam. They whispered for a few moments, but it didn’t take them long. They came back to the circle and told Sam what her dare was.

“Oh, that’s no problem at all.” Sam jumped up to perform her dare, and the other three looked a little disappointed that she didn’t seem to mind it a bit.