I love Dare.

Dare is basically Truth or Dare, except 'truth' isn't an option.

There is an option, though. Either accept the dare, or you get whipped. With a belt.

Don't worry. We never do this too hard, and we never do anything illegal.

Well, there was one time... but that's a separate story.

Right now, Paul and Owen love to play Dare with Sophie and me.

And I love to play with them.

~

I burst out in laughter.

"Well, I'm not getting whipped!" Owen argued.

I smiled. Friday morning, Owen got into his outfit—his Dare based outfit. It consisted of one of his purple shirts and some sweatpants, which was normal. But, on top of that, there was a sparkly silver tutu, rainbow suspenders, and a tiny lilac cheerleader jacket. And as if that wasn't enough, the front of his blond hair was pulled into a hair tie like a bright little horn.

"It's certainly a look," Paul comments.

It was Paul's idea to make Owen wear something odd. I brought the jacket, Sophie got the tutu, and Paul provided the suspenders and the idea for the hair.

I looked at Paul and smiled. "It sure is." His eyes met mine, and my smile grew wider. I tried to pry my eyes away, but I couldn't. He was so beautiful—which, I know, sounds odd. Guys don't tend to be called beautiful. But Paul was.

Paul coughed and looked back at Owen. I awkwardly fiddled with my hands, and Sophie snickered. I glared at her.

"Can we just get this over with?" Owen begged.

I nodded. "Yeah, we better get to class."

"Thank god it's Friday," Sophie said. "First class is history."

I grinned. We all shared history.

The reactions to Owen's outfit were... mixed. Some people laughed, snickered, joked, and pointed. Others gave him high fives for his bravery and ability to be himself. And some simply thought nothing of it.

The best part was there was an assembly for homecoming later that day. Owen helped plan homecoming, so he had to go up there and talk about it.

Me, Owen, and two other kids were on stage. The principal insisted we did this.

As soon as Owen got onstage, kids laughed and murmured. Owen wasn't bothered by these reactions anymore. It was the end of the day—he had been getting this all day. No teachers said anything, but you could see all of them eyeing Owen in the oddest way.

One of my friends named Victoria was the first to speak. "Hello everyone!" she greeted. "Today we are here to talk about homecoming."

People around the room cheered. I could tell that people were slowly starting to accept what Owen was wearing.

"This year," she continued, "we are having two homecomings. One will be freshman and sophomores. That will be in the cafeteria. The other is juniors and seniors. That'll be in the gym."

The other person, and another of my friends, Adriana, spoke next. We had rehearsed this for a few weeks. She also helped get needed supplies for Owen's Dare outfit. "Each dance will have a separate theme," she explained. "The freshman/sophomore dance will be New York City. Take this however you want."

All the freshmen and sophomores started chattering, discussing what to wear.

"That's enough," I cut in.

"Thank you, Natalie," Adriana said. "The junior/senior dance will be City of Stars. Again, feel free to use your imagination with this."

More talking erupted.

"Alright," Owen spoke, breaking conversations. People stared at him, and I almost burst into laughter. He cleared his throat before continuing. "Um, no alcohol or drugs of any kind will be allowed at these dances. Food and drinks will be provided, and accommodations for allergies or diets will be made if you alert us."

"Tickets," I began, "are going to be sold Monday to Friday. The homecoming game will be on Friday, and the dance will be on Saturday. We do have a limited amount of tickets, so get yours soon. They'll cost $10, and couples tickets will cost $15."

Owen spoke again. "The dress code—"

People laughed. He was talking about dressing appropriately while wearing a tutu and suspenders.

"—will be found in the handout. Each ticket comes with a handout, that gives any extra details, and, as I said, includes the dress code. But, the baseline is nothing too revealing."

The principal smiled and came back on stage. "Alright, give it up for the dance committee!"

People clapped and cheered as we stepped off stage.

Back with Sophie and Paul, Owen groaned, throwing his face in his hands. "That was so embarrassing."

Paul chuckled.

"Would you do it again?" asked Sophie. "Or, would you get whipped?"

Owen scoffed. "I'd do it again. Easily."

"Good choice," I complimented. "Anyway, we should address the issue of homecoming."

"What about it, Natalie?" Paul questioned.

I shrugged, trying to hide my blush. I could ask him right here and right now to go to homecoming. With me. As my date. "Well, Owen and I get free tickets," I explained. "You guys wanna go? A-As a group."

Everyone nodded, though I could tell Sophie was slightly disappointed. She wanted me to ask Paul.

But, I just couldn't do it. At this point, he was too good of a friend to lose.