Dare to Love (Young Adult Romance) (13 page)

“No problem, Dad,” I told him as we
walked out to his truck.  We climbed in and Dad drove out of our driveway.

Suddenly, I began thinking about Dare
again.  I recalled my conversation with Jennifer in the car.  Maybe she was
right.  Maybe honesty was the best approach.  Maybe I should just march right up
to him and ask him who he liked—Courtney or me.  I opened my mouth to ask my
dad his opinion.  The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I quickly clamped
my lips together.

What was I thinking?  I couldn’t talk
to my dad about boy stuff.  It would be so embarrassing!

I glanced at my father.  “Why is life
so complicated?” I asked suddenly, surprising myself as much as my father.

Dad turned toward me and watched me
with a funny expression on his face.  He seemed to stare right through me, then
he shook his head and resumed staring ahead at the roadway. 

“Hon, I don’t know why life has to be
so tough,” he said finally, “but I do know something about you and me.”

I watched him curiously.  “What?”

“You’re all I have, Laura, and until
very recently, we haven’t said more than two words to one another the rare
times we’re together.  I think we’re off to a pretty good start now, but we
have to continue talking to each other.”

I nodded my head slowly.

“And we need to start talking about
your mom.  I know it’s painful for both of us, but we need to keep her memory
alive—together. ”

All the emotions I’d kept bottled up
tightly for over a year came flooding out.  For Dad, too.  He pulled the truck
over to the side of the road. I leaned over and hugged my father.  We both
cried.  Finally, when we pulled apart, Dad smiled at me through his tears.

“We’re going to be all right,” he
said as he wiped his face and started up the truck.

“How do these look?” Jennifer asked
expectantly, dangling the earrings under each ear.

I tilted my head back and chewed my
lip thoughtfully.  The earrings were large, round—white with green specks—and definitely
not what I would have chosen.  “Well, Jen..,” I began, but just couldn’t think
of anything diplomatic to say.

“Oh, I give up,” she sighed,
defeated.  Shaking her head sadly, she groaned, “I can’t believe I can’t find
anything to match my uniform.”

And I couldn’t believe we were in a
mall searching for earrings to match her uniform.  “Jen, do you really need
special earrings?  Any earrings will do, I would think.”

She watched me, disbelieving. 
“Laura, you have to admit that our uniforms are a fashion catastrophe.  We
definitely need to accessorize.”

“Jen, I might have expected this from
Courtney, but you...”

“Hey, don’t even think of comparing
me to that girl,” she said with a shudder.  “Besides, I just want to look nice
for Keith.” 

Jennifer smiled dreamily.  She and
Keith had really hit it off the night of the carnival, and had gone out three
times since!   

Jennifer remembered me and her face
grew solemn.  “Oh, Laura, I’m so sorry.  I shouldn’t have mentioned Keith. 
It’s not fair I’m so happy when you’re not.”

“Don’t worry about it, Jen.”  I
forced a smile.

“Laura,” she said seriously, “I hope
you’ll at least talk to Dare about your feelings for him.  I really think he
likes you.”

“I don’t know.  We’ll see.”

She watched me sympathetically, but
didn’t say anything else.

We strolled around the mall for
awhile.  “Maybe I’ll just wear my gold posts,” Jennifer said absently, as we
walked to my car a short time later.  “It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to
wear hoops, if we’re going to be practicing self-defense again.”

When we climbed into the car, I
spotted the luminescent numbers of the clock on the dash.  “The explorer
meeting starts in forty-five minutes.  We’d better hurry.”

Jennifer watched me speculatively. 
“For someone who was dead set against joining the club at the beginning, you
sure seem excited about it now.”  Jennifer smiled.  “Or could it be a certain
handsome explorer that you’re excited about seeing tonight.”

I shot her a reproving glance.  I
couldn’t deny that I was eager to see Dare.  But the truth of the matter was, I
was enjoying being a member of the club, too.  Because of my involvement, I
felt as if I knew so much more about my dad’s job—and so much more about him. 
It had actually brought us closer together.

As for Dare, I made a quick
decision.  I glanced at Jennifer.  “Honesty, huh?”

She grinned at me, then nodded her
head eagerly.  “You’re going to talk to him?”

“Yep.  Tonight.”

***

Once at my house, Jennifer and I
dashed into my bedroom, and quickly got dressed.  Standing side-by-side in
front of the full-length mirror on my closet door, Jennifer and I burst out
laughing at the sight of our avocado-clad images.  “I hope nobody confuses us
for guacamole,” she quipped, and I cracked up laughing again.

“I’ve never felt so ... bland,” I
noted, screwing my features as I turned around, examining myself from all
angles.  “Geez, Jen, you’re right,” I admitted.  “Maybe we
should
accessorize.”

Moving to my closet, I reached for a
couple brightly colored belts.  I passed Jennifer a red one, and chose a
turquoise blue for myself.  Grinning, we put them on and then turned back
toward the mirror.  “Much better,” we declared in unison.

I followed Jennifer out of my bedroom
and into the hallway.  I giggled when she began imitating a runway model.  She
glided along, exaggerating every movement.  “I dare you to do that in front of
Keith,” I said, laughing.         

Dramatically, Jennifer burst into the
living room and spun around.  She didn’t see Dad sitting on the sofa, grinning.

“Uh, Jen..,” I said, nodding toward
my father.  She didn’t see me nodding either.

But she did spot Dad as she completed
her final, sweeping turn.  I don’t think I’d ever seen my friend so red-faced. 
“Hello, Sheriff Tyler,” she muttered.

“Hello, girls.  I really like the
uniforms,” Dad said, now trying really hard to keep a straight face.  

“We should go,” Jen said suddenly. 
“Good-bye, Sheriff Tyler.” 

I grinned at my dad as we left the
house.

“Why didn’t you tell me your dad was
sitting there?” Jen shrieked, as we headed for the station.  “Great.  He
used
to call me your responsible friend.”

“He still thinks you’re responsible,”
I assured her, “only, now he thinks you’re silly, too.”  I chuckled, and
Jennifer shot me a mock, scathing glance, as she subsided into the seat. 

Soon we were well on our way to the
station and as we drew near, I experienced a feeling of sheer terror.  What
would I say to Dare when I saw him?

Dejectedly, I realized that a part of
me wanted more than anything to go out with him—to be his girlfriend.  I knew
Courtney might have something to say about that.  I steeled myself for the
worst.

But then I felt more hopeful.  I knew
he liked me. Like Jennifer said, he had asked me to pizza.  And he’d asked me
to the carnival.  He’d even planned to ask me out at the station the day we’d
collected all the Teddy bears.

Maybe...

***

“Everybody, I need your attention!” 
Lieutenant Hudson shouted. 

The group became quiet. 

“Okay, explorers, I’ve arranged for
two vans to take us out to the target range where we’ll be conducting this
evening’s meeting.”  He checked his watch.  “First, though, I’d like to take a
few moments to thank Laura and Jennifer for their efforts at supplying this
department with Teddy bears.”  The lieutenant spread his arms in a sweeping
gesture.   

I caught Jennifer’s eye and we
couldn’t help giggling.  The bears were strewn all over the department.  They
occupied chairs, covered desk tops, and sat on file cabinets.  They were
stacked high in corners.  One small bear even hung from a light fixture! 

The community had responded generously
to our request for Teddy bears, and people were dropping them at the station by
the dozens.

“This is amazing,” someone said.

“You should see the conference room,”
Lieutenant Hudson laughed ruefully.  “Anyhow,” he said, “Laura and Jennifer did
a great job and we should thank them.”

The explorers began clapping, and
Jennifer and I exchanged embarrassed glances.  The lieutenant patted us both on
the backs, simultaneously.  “Before I forget, girls, could one of you call the
radio station tomorrow?  I think it would be a good idea to tell folks that
since we’ve gotten so many Teddy bears, any that we don’t need at the
department will be used for our Christmas toy drive.  Okay, then, back to
business,” he said. 

“As I was saying, I’ve arranged for
two vans to take us to the target range.  Let’s move to the parking lot and
load up.  We’ve been allotted an hour and a half to shoot, and we’ve got a lot
to do in that time.”

As we left the station, I glanced
around.  “I don’t see him, either,” Jennifer whispered, a knowing smile on her
face.

I didn’t bother denying that I’d been
looking for Dare, since I had been.  I was surprised that he wasn’t already at
the station.

Jennifer, Keith, and I got into one
of the vans and moved to the back.  It quickly filled to capacity and I found
myself watching the other van.  Soon, the door slammed shut, and Dare was still
nowhere to be seen as the van began moving.

We were just pulling out of the
parking lot when I spotted Dare’s car drive in.  Hurriedly, he parked and
climbed out of his car.  I watched him jog over to the other van.  It slowed to
a stop and he leapt aboard in one easy stride.

I was disappointed that he wasn’t
riding with us, especially when I realized that Courtney was in the other van
with him. 

At the range, Lieutenant Hudson
quickly gathered everyone together.  “Okay, gang,” he said loudly, “again, we
don’t have much time, so I need your undivided attention.  If you’ve already
signed up for three or more events, you won’t be shooting today.  That is,
unless, you’d prefer this over one of your previously chosen events, in which
case we’ll talk...  Whew!” he said, grinning.  “Okay, when I call your name,
please step forward.” 

The lieutenant called several names,
including mine.  I stepped forward along with the others. 

“Today we’ll be shooting one at a
time,” he said. “Normally, I’d line you all up and several of you would shoot
at once.  But since L.E.C. is only two weeks away, and since we have to make
our final selection of shooters by...”  The lieutenant snatched at his
clipboard and hastily shuffled through several sheets of paper.  “...The
nineteenth ... tomorrow ...
tomorrow
?”  He glanced around sharply. 
“Okay, then, uh, Laura, why don’t you go first?”

“Me!?” I yelped in surprise.

He nodded.  “Yep.  Let’s get going. 
Our hour and a half is fast ticking away.”

I glanced at Jennifer and grimaced. 
She shot me an “I told you so look.”

Nervously, I listened to the lieutenant
as he instructed me on the proper way to hold a gun.  He told me that I’d be
shooting from ten, fifteen, and twenty-five yards from the target.  He turned
me to stand facing the target, which was in the form of a man’s upper body. 
There were circular rings emanating from the center, which the lieutenant said
were worth points depending on their distance from the center.

Next, he gave me brief instructions
as to how to aim the gun at my target, and then he surprised me by putting the
gun in my hand.  I heard poor Jennifer gasp from behind me, and I turned
around.

I was surprised to see Dare standing
beside her, grinning at me.  Perhaps more disturbing, though, was the sight of
my dad standing at the back of the group, watching me intently.

Suddenly, I wanted to bolt for the
van, but I knew that wasn’t possible.  I willed myself to forget Dare’s
smiling, handsome face, and tried to push Dad from my mind, as well.  I jumped
when Lieutenant Hudson put ear guards on my head, and passed me protective
glasses.  I gulped as I slipped them on.  Lieutenant Hudson then indicated with
a nod that I should prepare to shoot.

Inhaling deeply, I raised the gun and
held it as the lieutenant instructed.  Eyes narrowed, I focused on the center
ring of the target.  In my mind’s eyes, I visualized the bullet striking the
exact center, and at that instant, I pulled the trigger.  It felt as if a
mini-explosion had occurred at the end of my arm.  I realized then that my eyes
were closed.

“Lucky shot!” I heard someone cry
out.

My eyes fluttered open.  I saw the lieutenant
grinning from ear to ear.  “Ten points!” he shouted excitedly.  “Come on,
Laura, do it again.”

I nodded and faced the target. 
Raising my arm, I focused on the center area for what seemed like several
seconds before pulling the trigger.