Dare to Love (Young Adult Romance) (9 page)

Somehow, my eyes found Dare’s eyes. 
He watched me, a ghost of a smile on his face. 

I turned back to the lieutenant.  “I
really don’t...”

“Come on, Laura,” he said firmly,
“this is serious business.  You never know when you might need to do this for
real.”  He watched me intently and I swallowed hard over a lump in my throat.

I searched my brain, trying to
remember what I’d heard the other explorers suggest earlier.   

“Laura...” he prompted.

His words dwindled as I quickly
slipped my leg behind his ankle.  I mustered as much strength as I could and
shoved my hands against his chest.  I caught sight of his shocked features as
he tumbled backward and hit the mat with a splat. 

“Wow!” someone shouted.

Did I do that? I wondered. 

Nervously, I glanced at the lieutenant. 
He remained on the ground, watching me curiously.  I wondered if he was angry. 
Suddenly, he sprang from the floor and began thumping me on the back.  “Way to
go, Laura!” he enthused, laughing.  “I really didn’t expect that at all.  That
was perfect.  The element of surprise!  It really works.”

I glanced around the room.  Everyone
was laughing! 

“Well,” the lieutenant said, clasping
his hands together, “we didn’t talk about that particular maneuver earlier, but
remember it, group.  It really works...”

I had to bite my lower lip to keep
from laughing myself.  I felt amazingly ... happy.  I’d managed to handle the lieutenant,
and I realized that had I known earlier at the river what I knew now, I might
have been able to handle Dare too. 

“Okay, gang, why don’t you all try
Laura’s technique,” he suggested.  Then he rubbed his back side.  “But,” he
cautioned, “fortunately for me, I had a mat to break my fall...”

I heard the humming laughter of the explorers
as the lieutenant turned back to me.  “Okay, Laura, let’s try out some more
techniques.”  He grinned suddenly, then whispered, “Take it easy on me, okay. 
I’m kind of old for this...”

***

When the hour-long meeting came to a
close, I quickly grabbed Jennifer by the hand.  She watched me quizzically. 
“Let’s get out of here,” I urged. 

I was eager to get away from the
group—and away from Dare.  Although the meeting had turned out better than I’d
expected, I couldn’t believe he had told the lieutenant about finding me at the
river alone. 

“Why do you want to leave, Laura?  It
was actually kind of fun.  And you can’t tell me you didn’t have fun,” Jennifer
said, grinning.  “Really, Laura, hurling Lieutenant Hudson to the floor like
you’re Wonder Woman or something!”

I shook my head.  “Hush up, Jen. 
Come on.”

“Did you see the boy I was paired
with?” she asked me.  “He was kind of cute.”

“Yeah, yeah.  Let’s just get out of
here.”

“But they’re serving
refreshments,” she protested.  “And besides, I think I just might join the explorers.”

My eyes widened in surprise.  “You’re
kidding, right?”

She shook her head.  “No, I’m
serious.  I really liked it.”

“You mean you liked
him
,”
I said, nodding at Keith. 

She grinned.  I glanced heavenward
and resumed ushering her out of the room, and out of the station.

Lieutenant Hudson must have seen us
sneak out, since I heard him call to us from the doorway.  “Laura, our next
meeting is Monday night.  I’ll expect you here, five o’clock sharp.  Think you
can make it, Jennifer?”

She smiled.  “I’ll be here.”

“Great!” Lieutenant Hudson said
enthusiastically.  He waved before heading back into the station.

We were nearly to my car when I heard
footsteps behind us.  Startled, I spun around and found myself face to face
with Dare. 

“Hey, Laura, where are you going to
so fast?”

I mumbled an unintelligible response
and was about to climb into my car when I noted with chagrin that Jennifer had
abandoned me and was walking back toward the station.  I saw Keith leaning
against the door frame.  It would take a crow bar to get Jennifer out of there
now. 

“Jen...”  I called weakly after her.

“Be right back,” she responded
brightly.

“What’s up, Laura?” Dare asked me. 
“Why are you leaving?  By the way,” he added, “cool move back there.  You
really surprised the lieutenant.”  He shook his head and chuckled at the
memory.

“I’m leaving because the meeting’s
over,” I replied coolly.

“Yeah, but we all usually hang around
awhile to socialize.  Why don’t you come back in?”

“No thanks,” I said curtly.

He watched me, his eyes questioning. 
“Is something wrong?”

“No,” I said too quickly.  I noted
his concerned gaze was riveted on my face.

“It looks like Jennifer may be
awhile, so you may as well come in,” he said persuasively.

“I don’t think so.”

“Are you mad at me, Laura?” he asked
suddenly.

I hesitated briefly, then said
accusingly, “How interesting that the lieutenant decided to give a
demonstration on self-defense tonight.”

He shook his head, confused.  “I
don’t get your meaning.” 

“Oh, you didn’t notice him staring at
me practically the whole time he was talking.”

“No, I really didn’t.  What are you
getting at?”

“You told him,” I accused.  “You told
him about me being at the river alone the other day.”

“I didn’t...”

“Then who did?” I demanded.

“You’re being paranoid, Laura,” he
said reasonably.  “I mean, maybe Lieutenant Hudson just decided to talk about
self-defense.  It really isn’t so unusual.”

I watched him speculatively.  He
looked so sincere, but...  “I don’t think it was a coincidence,” I persisted.

Dare sighed.  “Well, I don’t know who
would have told him...”  His eyes widened, as understanding apparently dawned. 
The answer hit me at the exact second.

“Courtney!” we said in unison.  It
had to be her.

Dare shook his head.  “Yeah, it was
probably Courtney.  Knowing her, she was worried about you.”

Right.  Courtney—worried about me.  Not
in this lifetime.  Guys could be so naive, I thought.  I did feel guilty for
accusing Dare, however.                      

“I’m sorry, Dare,” I said sheepishly. 
“I should have thought of Courtney in the first place.”

“Yeah,” he said in a playfully stern
voice.  “I don’t know if I can ever forgive you.”

“Well,” I joked, “if you forgive me
for wrongly accusing you, I’ll forgive you for arresting me.” 

“Okay, sounds fair,” he said with a
grin, and then grabbed my hand.

“Where are we going?” I asked as I
was whisked away from my car.

“We’re going to track down the others
and see if they want to go out.  The night’s still young.”

Back in the conference room, we
spotted Keith and Jennifer by the refreshment table.  When we reached them,
Dare asked, “You guys wanna go out?”

Keith glanced at Jennifer.  She
nodded eagerly. 

“Where to?” Keith asked.

“Courtney told me there’s a carnival
at the mall,” Dare said.  “What do you think?”

“Okay,” we all agreed.

“Let’s go,” Courtney said from behind
us.

I grimaced.  I glanced at Jennifer
and she rolled her eyes. 

“What time are we leaving?” Courtney
asked.  She smiled coyly and fluttered her thick lashes.  I wanted to gag.

“Uh, Keith and I have to change
clothes first,” Dare said. 

The two boys walked away.  Jennifer,
Courtney, and I stood, unspeaking.  The silence was unnerving.  I hoped the
boys wouldn’t take too long changing out of their uniforms. 

I noted that Courtney had already
changed, and I had to admit she looked great.  She wore a floral print sundress
that gathered at the waist and billowed out into a full, but short skirt. 
Suddenly, I felt short!—more so than usual, and unattractive, by comparison.

Jennifer must have been similarly
affected since she whispered in my ear, “Bye, bye, Keith.”

Furrowing my brow, I shook my head. 
“Don’t worry about it,” I softly assured her, “Keith has her number.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Jennifer
groaned.

“You know what I mean,” I said,
unsuccessfully stifling a giggle.

Although I was pretty sure of Keith
since he seemed genuinely unaffected by Courtney, I still wasn’t so sure about
Dare.  He and Courtney had been together at the station after all, and Courtney
had probably known about tonight’s plans—certainly before I did.  I’d already
decided that Dare and Courtney would make a beautiful couple.

In my mind’s eye, I pictured them
together and I felt a stabbing pain in my heart.  And then it hit me.  I liked
Dare.  A lot.

As if on cue, Dare and Keith walked
back into the conference room in civilian clothing.  Dare, in jeans and a t-shirt,
looked great as usual.  Courtney must have noticed just how great since she
moved to stand beside him.  Looking up into his eyes, her well-glossed lips
were set in a dazzling smile that exposed her perfectly white teeth.  How could
I ever compete with her? I wondered.

Then I remembered something Mom
always told me.  Just be yourself.  I made a quick decision to take my mother’s
advice.  There was little else I could do, since I was certain I wouldn’t be
growing six inches in the next few minutes.

I was lost in my thoughts so I jumped
when Dare playfully nudged me with his elbow.  “Ready to go?”

“Uh, yeah,” I said, and followed the
group outside to the parking lot.

“Who’s driving?” Courtney asked, her
leadership qualities shining through as usual.

“I’m driving my truck,” Keith said. 
“Wanna ride with me, Jennifer?”

Beaming, Jennifer said, “Sure,” and
moved to stand beside Keith.

“My mom dropped me off,” Courtney
informed us.

“I have my car, and Laura has her
car,” Dare noted, “but there’s really no need to take both.”  Turning toward
me, he asked, “Why don’t we take mine.  I can drop you off here later.”

“Okay,” I agreed.

“Sounds good to me,” Courtney chirped
as she sauntered over to Dare’s car.

“We’ll follow you, Keith,” Dare said.

“Okay,” Keith replied, and he and
Jennifer climbed into his truck.

I walked with Dare to his car.  He
unlocked the passenger side door.  Courtney hastily climbed in.  Dare reached
around and unlocked the back door for me.   When he climbed into the driver’s
seat, he turned around and winked at me.  I wasn’t sure what meaning he wished
to convey, but I hoped he was as disappointed as I was that I wasn’t sitting up
front with him.

“No way!” Jennifer declared.  “I will
not
ride on that thing.”

“Okay, okay,” Keith said with a
laugh.  “Let’s head for the merry-go-round.”

“Shut up,” Jennifer shrieked, and
socked him hard in the arm.

“Ouch,” Keith cried, rubbing his
arm.  “Assaulting a peace officer is a criminal offense, you know.”

“Right,” Jennifer said, grinning up
at him.

As I tilted my head back to get a
good look at the ride, I had to agree with Jennifer.  Some thirty-five feet
tall, with spinning cages, it looked frightening.  I didn’t mind the height,
but it was the forward motion of both the cage and the ride itself that scared
me to death.

“Laura’s a thrill seeker,” Dare said
confidently. “She’ll go.”

I jerked my head around and was about
to protest.  “Well, if Laura won’t go, I will,” Courtney declared.  “I just
love that ride.”

I glanced at Courtney.  She was
watching me, a challenging glint in her eyes.  I made a quick decision to go on
the ride. 

“How about it, Laura?” Dare asked,
smiling persuasively.

“Okay, sure.”

As the operator of the ride snapped
the cage shut, I took a deep breath and uttered a silent prayer.  “Belt up,
Laura,” Dare instructed, “or you may get a more thrilling ride than you
bargained for.”

“Oh, okay.”

I began fumbling with the belt.  Dare
noticed my difficulty.  He reached over and easily buckled me in.  “Thanks,” I
mumbled.

“Sure,” he said, as he snapped the
safety bar in place.  “This is going to be great.”

Numbly, I nodded, hoping he hadn’t
noticed my lack of enthusiasm.  The ride rumbled to a slow start.  I
stiffened.  Upward, we traveled, then we came to a sudden, jerking halt.  “Wha ...
what’s that?”

“They’re letting people on,” Dare
told me.  “Hey, are you okay?”