Dare to Love (Young Adult Romance) (8 page)

I turned away, still embarrassed. 

“There you go again,” Dare teased,
“is that you or the sunburn?” 

When I didn’t respond, he grabbed my
hand.  “Let’s get back out there,” he said.

Together, we walked to the conference
room.  Discreetly, I studied him.  He was so handsome, my heart skipped a beat
every time I looked at his face.  I had to keep reminding myself that he was
probably unavailable.  Too, I forced myself to remember the evening before.

When he had asked me if the accident
scene I’d seen had prompted me to think about my own driving, he really had
hurt my feelings.  It wasn’t as if I drove too fast on purpose—but on the other
hand, I guess I didn’t consciously
not
speed either.  Since I
didn’t consciously make an effort to watch my speedometer, was I as reckless as
the boy who had driven drunk, without a seatbelt, and with his little brother
in the car?

I was glad when we stepped into the
conference room.  My thoughts had taken a disturbing turn, and I was grateful
for the distraction. 

Lieutenant Hudson watched us
speculatively as we walked in.  “No luck?” he asked.

Dare shook his head.  “Nope.  Poor
Laura was just too big for the last remaining uniform.”

I jerked my head around and stared at
Dare.  I could feel my face reddening again.  “Thanks a lot,” I muttered under
my breath.

“Just kidding,” he told the lieutenant.
 “Laura was swimming in the thing.”

Nodding, the lieutenant said, “Well,
we’ll just have to order one for you, Laura.  Okay, then, let’s get started.”

I headed back to my seat beside
Jennifer, and was surprised when Dare followed me.  He sat down beside me and I
watched him out of the corner of my eye. 

He turned and caught me watching
him.  As usual!  He smiled and I found myself smiling back at him.  

“Okay, gang,” Lieutenant Hudson said,
“I know that last week I told you that we’d be discussing the final event of
L.E.C., the target shoot, but we’ve had a change of plans.”

Jennifer and I exchanged confused
glanced. “L.E.C.?” we repeated simultaneously.

Dare noticed our confusion.  “Law
Enforcement Challenge,” he informed.  I shook my head, still unsure what he was
talking about.  “It’s kind of like the Explorers’ Olympics.  I’ll tell you
about it later.”

I nodded and turned my attention back
to the lieutenant.  “Instead,” he continued, “I think we’ll take the first
half-hour of our meeting to discuss an idea that one of you had as to what we
might do for our community project this year.”

“Some of you who are new may not know
about our community project, so first, I’ll give you all a brief background.” 
The lieutenant clasped his hands together.  “Each year, the various explorer clubs
take part in a project of their choosing.  It can be anything, provided it
benefits the community.  For example, Dare tells me that last year, his club
sponsored a toy drive for needy kids at Christmas time.  Kids, who might not
otherwise have received any gifts, found toys under their trees Christmas
morning.  Dare said it was an extremely gratifying experience.

Our newest Explorer, Laura Tyler, has
come up with an idea that I think is a good one.  Laura, why don’t you tell
everyone what you have in mind for our community project this year?”

Me
? 

I stared, open-mouthed, at Lieutenant
Hudson.  I glanced at Jennifer, then back to him.  I gulped, then found my
voice.  “Well, uh, it...uh, wasn’t really my idea.  It was more Dare’s idea but
anyway...”

“Go on, Laura,” Lieutenant Hudson
urged.

“Um, we were, well, talking about the
D.A.R.E. program.  I asked Dare if the Explorers are involved with the program
and he said he wasn’t sure, and well, we started talking and...”  I glanced at
Dare and he nodded encouragingly.  “And we thought it might be kind of cool to
go around to elementary schools and talk to little kids about the dangers of
drugs.”

There, I’d said it.  Badly, but I’d
said it.  To my relief, Dare picked up where I’d left off. 

“We thought we could do some research
about the effects of drugs, then maybe do some role playing or skits with the
kids—tell them how to say ‘no’ to drugs.”

Lieutenant Hudson nodded his head
enthusiastically.  “I think it’s a great idea.  What do you all think?”  He
spread his arms wide.  “Well?”

“I think it’s a really good idea,”
one boy said.  “But I kind of like the toy drive idea, too.”

“Me, too,” I heard a girl say from
the middle of the room.

“Could we do both?”  I asked. 

“Well, I don’t know, Laura,” the lieutenant
said slowly.  “I suppose we could.”

“Maybe we could divide into two
groups,” Courtney suggested.  “Then we could choose which project we prefer.”

The lieutenant raised his eyebrows
and stroked his chin thoughtfully.  “There’s an idea,” he said.  “It would be
great to collect toys for needy children, yet I think you all would be doing
our community a real service by educating young children about drugs.”

“Lieutenant Hudson?”  I began
somewhat hesitantly.   “I uh, was on a ride along with my dad last night, and
we responded to a pretty serious car accident, and well, there was a little boy
at the scene, and we gave him a Teddy bear...”

He nodded his head vigorously. 
“That’s right.  We all have a Teddy bear in the trunks of our patrol cars.  If
we find ourselves responding to a call where a child is frightened or upset, we
give him or her a bear—tends to calm the child down.  And too, sometimes kids
are downright afraid of law enforcement officers, for whatever reason.  We don’t
look so frightening to a child when we approach with a Teddy bear in our hand.”

I nodded my head.  The bear had
certainly made a difference for little Joey.  “Where do the bears come from?” I
asked, as an idea was forming in my head.

“Well, actually, we purchase the
bears ourselves.”

“What happens if there are several
scared kids?” Jennifer asked, picking up on my line of thinking.  “I mean, how
do you decide who gets a bear?  What if you miss somebody?” 

Like me, I knew my soft-hearted
friend couldn’t stand to think of a frightened child who might be overlooked.

“It does happen,” Lieutenant Hudson
acknowledged.  “Then we scramble to get a hold of extras.”

I felt myself moving to the edge of
my chair.  “Maybe we could collect Teddy bears from the community, or donate
some of our own.  Then you could keep more than one in your cars at all times. 
Maybe, we could...” 

My words dwindled as Lieutenant
Hudson chuckled.  “Gosh, group,” he said, “it seems we’ve got three community
projects to consider.”  He glanced at his watch.  “But now we have to get to
the second half of our meeting.  We have a lot to think about with L.E.C. fast
approaching, and our community projects getting underway.” 

To my surprise, I found myself
looking forward to our community projects.  I wondered which I would choose to
participate in.  All sounded really worthwhile.  I had to admit that the explorer
meeting was turning out much better than I’d expected.

“Now I’d like to talk a little bit
about self-defense,” Lieutenant Hudson said, “and we’ll get back to L.E.C. next
meeting.  Okay, then, a few words about self-defense.”

“Perhaps the most important aspect of
self-defense,” he began, “is to first and foremost, not put ourselves in
situations where we may be forced to use any self-defense techniques.  That is,
never walk alone at night, stay out of poorly lit parking lots, try not to go
anywhere alone, if you can help it.

“I don’t mean to sound sexist,” he
continued, “but girls, you especially need to be wary, though the warning holds
true for boys, as well.  The key is to use good judgment always.”

As the lieutenant spoke, I noticed
that he seemed to be speaking to me.  Constantly, his eyes sought mine.  And
then it hit me.  He
was
talking to me!  Someone must have told him I’d
gone to the river alone.  And that someone must have been Dare.

I felt humiliated as the lieutenant
continued speaking and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.  The more he spoke,
the more I was sure Dare had told him about the incident at the river.  I felt
hurt and betrayed.

“Dare, why don’t you come on up here
and help me?” the lieutenant said.

The sound of Dare’s name jolted me
from my thoughts and my eyes shot upward.  I watched as he went to the front of
the room.  The lieutenant stepped away from him briefly and picked up something
from the floor.  He returned and unrolled a padded mat.  He laid it on the
floor, then turned to Dare again.  He nodded toward the mat and Dare moved to
stand on it. 

“Okay, Dare,” the lieutenant said,
“I’m going to grab you from behind, and I want you to try to get away from me.”

The lieutenant moved to the mat and
wrapped his arms around Dare’s chest.  He held him firm.  Dare was a few inches
taller than the lieutenant and powerfully built, and as he struggled, he threw
him off balance.  They both fell to the floor, and the lieutenant shouted,
“Stop!”

Dare froze.

“Okay, good,” the lieutenant said,
“now, group, what should Dare do next?”

“Well, he could stay on the ground
for one thing,” Keith answered.  “He’s dead weight there.”

“Right,” said the lieutenant.  “What
else?”

“He should thrash around so his
attacker can’t get a hold of him.  The attacker might get frustrated and give
up,” said another explorer.  “Then if he could manage to stand, the best thing
is to run away.”

Nodding, the lieutenant said, “Yes. 
Any other ideas?”

“Well,” another explorer responded,
“if he has keys or something in his hand, he could use them as a weapon.”

“Good, good,” the lieutenant said,
“but what if he doesn’t have anything to use as a weapon?”

“I could use my hand as a weapon,”
Dare said.

“An example?” the lieutenant quizzed.

A hand shot up. 

“Yes?”

“I saw on TV that you can easily
break someone’s nose if you bring your palm underneath and upward against the
nose,” a girl responded.

“Ugh,” the group groaned in unison.

“She’s right,” the lieutenant said.  “Better
that you hurt them than they hurt you.  Okay, gang, can anyone think of
anything else?”

The lieutenant scanned the room.  His
eyes found me.  “Any ideas, Laura?”

I shook my head.  “No,” I said
flatly.

He watched me briefly, then asked,
“Anyone else?”

Jennifer surprised me by answering
his question.  “Well, screaming bloody murder is always an attention-getter.”

“Exactly!” the lieutenant agreed,
smiling.  “Scream to high heaven.  Okay, group,” he continued, “we’ve given you
a few good ideas.  Now, we’ll pair off and I’ll demonstrate some effective
self-defense techniques.  Okay, everybody, pair off with somebody of the
opposite sex.  Why don’t you join us, Jennifer?” 

Jennifer stood up but I remained
seated.  My earlier enthusiasm for the club waned.  I wasn’t the least bit
interested in learning self-defense.  Dare had already shown me there wasn’t
much I could do if someone attacked me.  Besides, I felt really awkward among the
other explorers.  They knew about my arrest, after all.

From my seat, I watched as the explorers
paired off.  I noted that Jennifer and Keith were partners.  Then I saw Dare
striding toward...me...or … Courtney?  We were both in his direct line of vision. 
Courtney suddenly stepped in front of him.  I saw him smile at her, but then he
looked past her—at me.  She abruptly took a hold of his arm then and it was
clear the two had paired off.

I was probably just imagining that he
had been looking at me.  He had probably been walking toward Courtney all
along.  I told myself I was glad I wasn’t partnered with him, though a part of
me really was disappointed.   

“Okay, everybody,” Lieutenant Hudson
began, but then noticed me, still sitting in the chair.  “Looks like we’re one
short.  Well, Laura, you’ll have to be my partner.  Come on up here.”

My mouth dropped open.  I shuddered
inwardly as I stood up and slowly walked over to him.  If it wasn’t bad enough
I was stuck being his partner, it was worse that I found myself at the front of
the room, all eyes on me.

“Laura and I will demonstrate several
techniques and then you all can try them out,” the lieutenant said.

Suddenly, I wished the floor would
open up and swallow me whole.  “Okay, Laura,” he said, “I’m going to grab your
arm.  You heard some of the suggestions your friends gave earlier as to how you
might get away from an attacker.  Now I want you to try to get away from me.”

I took a deep, steadying breath.  I
glanced over at Jennifer.  She smiled at me, and nodded her head slightly. 
“You can do it,” she mouthed silently.