-12-

My eyes had been closed for exactly six seconds that night when I sensed that something was very off.

I opened my eyes to see a face pressed up against the window of the tent.

Stacey's face, to be precise.

I bolted up. "What are you doing?" I whisper-yelled.

I think she shrugged, but only her face and a very messy bun on top of her head was visible. Her hand came into view, and she mimicked the action of pulling a trigger. "Bored!"

"So you decided to watch me sleep?"

"No. I wanted to get your attention, but I peeked inside for not even a second and then you looked up. I'm so embarrassed."

She didn't sound embarrassed. More sarcastic than anything.

"Anyway," she said, "I wanted to tell you that I'm down to my last resort of laundry. I got Anna to show me my toiletries and sleeping bag, but I'm gonna need my clothes in the morning."

"It's nine o'clock," I said. "Do you need to know now?"

"Well, I didn't think you'd be sleeping. Gosh. Just come outside!"

I rolled my eyes and met her outside the tent. One look at her told me that she was very much at the bottom of her suitcase. She wore a large orange T-shirt (it was still almost to her elbows) and some black gym shorts. I felt self conscious with my flannel pajama pants, because so far only the little kids and I have been wearing them. I noticed that Faron and Stacey always just wore T-shirts and shorts to bed. Even Anthony did that. Was I unusual?

"Where'd you hide them?" Stacey asked.

I sighed. "In the closet in the basement."

She nodded, and then looked up at me with a gleam in her eyes. "Wanna climb the tree now?"

"Now? I'm not wearing shoes!"

"Me neither. I've seen you in the tree; I know you can climb it. Where's the challenge if we can both just climb it?"

"But my feet...."

"Oh, toughen up!"

"How do I know you haven't been practicing climbing without shoes just so you could make fun of my in my pajamas?"

"I haven't!"

"You're barefoot every time I see you."

"You think I'd try to climb the tree without shoes on? Who does that?"

"Apparently us, after tonight."

"Yeah! Let's go!"

We walked across Martha's large yard to the tree.

"You go first," Stacey said.

"Nah, ladies first, remember?"

"Oh, please." She rolled her eyes.

"You're the one who's making me go without shoes. You go first."

"Oh no, I insist." Then her hands were on my back, pushing me closer to the tree.

"You're impossible," I said.

"That's irrelevant."

"No it's not!"

"Climb the stupid tree, Loganberry!"

I sighed heavily and then attempted to climb the tree just as I had before. It was a little more painful without my shoes on, but I found it easier in a way. I was more agile, so to speak. Once I got past the new scrapes on my ankles, it wasn't that bad.

"Your turn!" I called down once I was up.

Stacey smirked and then began to climb the tree. I felt relieved to see that her method looked more stupid than my feet first method. See, I just heaved my feet up and then pulled the rest of my body up, but Stacey just wiggled her whole body up and then lifted her head as if she were doing a sit-up.

I started laughing at her. To my surprise, she laughed with me.

"You looked stupid," I said.

"You too," she responded. "But yeah, I probably resembled a giant fish."

"I don't know what you think of when you imagine a giant fish, but I imagine a fish much larger than you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Stacey laughed wholeheartedly.

"I don't know."

"Are you saying I'm smaller than a giant fish?"

"Well, you're definitely skinnier than the giant fish I was imagining."

It was hard to see much in the dark, especially among all of the leaves in the trees, but I thought I saw Stacey blush.

"You're not going to start complaining about how you're not skinny and you're the fattest person on the planet like every other girl does? Like Napoleon Dynamite said: 'I see you're drinking 1%. Is that 'cause you think you're fat? 'Cause you're not. You could be drinking whole if you wanted to.'"

I could definitely see her blushing now.

"I'm not like that," she said.

I sighed. "Good. I've never met a girl who could accept a compliment before."

"Compliment?" She laughed. "You said I was skinnier than a giant fish!"

"Which is a compliment, in some ways...."

Stacey doubled over in laughter. I reflexively put my arm around her, with my hand gripping her shoulder so she wouldn't tumble out of the tree.

She seemed to tense just like earlier today when I adjusted her ping pong paddle. I was worried she'd chew me out for touching her, but she looked up at me with a grin. "Wanna play truth or dare?"

"Um, I'm not good at thinking of things to ask."

"It's all right. I have a truth or dare app."

"Oh, that helps," I said.

"Let's get down from the tree," Stacey said. Then I realized I was still holding her in place with my arm, and I hastily let her go.

She held out her hand for me to shake and said, "Congratulations, Loganberry. You've climbed the tree."

"You too."

Then, she slowly lowered herself from the tree. She was much more graceful than I probably looked when I jumped. I decided to try the same technique, lowering myself to the ground, and only having to drop down about a foot onto the grass.

Stacey grabbed my hand and pulled me. She led me to the front of the yard, with the road about twenty feet away. The street lamps, porch lights, and the moon were the only thing lighting the night.

She let go of my hand. "Let's sit here."

We sat across from each other and she pulled her phone out of her pocket. I silently wondered how she managed to keep her phone inside the pocket of her shorts as she practically hung upside down from the tree, when mine wouldn't even stay in the pocket of my jeans. Probably because my phone didn't have a case, and it was more slippery or something.

"We'll just pass the phone back and forth, all right?"

I nodded.

"Truth or dare?" Stacey asked.

"Truth."

She tapped the screen and read what it showed. "When was the last time you cried? Why?"

"Um...I can't remember."

"Really?"

"I guess I sorta cried when the triplets left."

"Come on, when was the last time you legitimately cried?"

I thought. "Oh! Uhh, it was after the last date I went on."

Stacy leaned forward. "You're gonna have to tell me this story."

I raised my eyebrows. "Alright. So, I had the guts to ask this girl on a date, and we went bowling. Things weren't going that well because neither of us really knew what to say, and when she talked, I couldn't think of a straight reply. Then I accidentally let go of the bowling ball and it flew behind me and pegged her in the stomach.... She told me not to expect anyone to ever go out with me again. I sorta cried that night because I felt like a hopeless loser." My face flushed with embarrassment.

"Oh, wow. You know, if I was in her place, I would've laughed. Unless, you know, it hurt really bad. Then I'd slap you and then laugh."

"Good to know." I took the phone from her. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Alright... Of all the people in this room, who would have the most trouble keeping a secret?"

"Uh, to be honest, I think you," she said.

"Gee. Thanks. I choose truth."

"What is the worst food you've ever eaten?"

"Grandma's fruit salad. For sure."

Stacey looked at me in confusion. "What the heck was wrong with her fruit salad?"

"I have no idea."

She chuckled and handed the phone back to me. "Truth."

"If you could choose brains or beauty, which would you pick?"

"Brains. Beauty is overrated."

I smiled and told her to pick truth again.

"You're no fun," she said.

"You haven't picked dare either!"

"Touché." Stacey smirked. "Anyway, when did you have your first kiss?"

"It says that?"

She showed me the screen. "It says that. Now answer."

"Well, I haven't."

"Really?!"

"What? Have you?"

"It's not my question. I pick truth."

"Ugh. What's wrong with these questions? It wants to know what physical feature you first look for in a person."

"Well, the top two would be their height and their face," she replied thoughtfully.

"So a short midget with a pudgy face?"

"No," Stacy laughed. "A tall guy with a nice face."

"You didn't give specifics." I winked, but she probably couldn't see it. "And I think I'm ready for a dare."

She smiled and took the phone, then read the dare. "Whisper what action you would like to inflict upon the person to your left. Well, guess I'm the person on your left."

"I don't feel like inflicting anything upon you."

"You don't wanna pinch me?"

"No, pinching is rude."

"You don't wanna hug me either?"

"No?"

"You sound unsure. You have to whisper something, Logan."

I quietly whispered the first thing that came to my mind when I thought of Stacey.

"Logan! Did you say you wanna punch me?"

"No! I said prank!" I ripped the phone from her grasp. "You're getting a dare! No choice!"

Stacey laughed. "Alright."

"Go to the kitchen and eat something that is not meant to be eaten alone."

"Are you serious?!"

I nodded.

She sighed and stood up. Together we snuck back into the house. Using the light of Stacey's phone, we found the fridge. Stacey pulled out two bottles: ketchup and mayonnaise.

"Definitely mayonnaise," she breathed. She took a spoon from the drawer and stuck it inside the mayonnaise. She licked off one side of the spoon and forced it down before running to the sink and rinsing out her mouth.

She came up gasping and took the phone from me. She read a dare for me on our way back outside.

"You are now invisible! Steal the first thing that comes to your mind!"

The first thing that came to my mind was Stacey's phone.

"Oh, wow," she said.

"Heh. Eh, blow a kiss to the person facing you."

She sat back down on the grass and then blew a kiss at me. "Don't expect me to do that again. Now...." Stacey snickered. "Do the chicken dance."

She then turned on the video for the chicken dance. I groaned and stood up to embarrass myself with the chicken dance. Stacey laughed uncontrollably. Her cheeks must have been cramping up halfway through.

Once that was all over, I was able to read another dare for Stacey. "Go out, and stop the first person you see and say 'I love you'."

Stacey stood up quickly. "Oh yeah."

She walked to the sidewalk, with me following her at a distance. It took a while, but finally a man came walking at the intersection of two streets. Stacey ran to him, then stepped in front of him, and put her hands on his shoulders and said, "I love you."

The man's eyes widened, and he bolted out of Stacey's grasp and down the street. Stacey walked back to me, laughing.

She took the phone from me and said, "We're just going to randomly choose truth or dare for each other, no buts."

"I don't have a choice?"

"Neither of us does. I'm making you do truth now. Ah. I think these truths were meant for larger crowds. Out of all the people in this room, who would you most like to date? Obviously me."

"Uhh, okay. Sure." I read the next question to appear on the screen. "What is your secret fantasy?"

Stacey frowned. "Do I have to answer truthfully?"

"Duh."

She exhaled heavily. "It was to go to junior prom with a certain guy. No questions please."

I just handed the phone back to her and awaited my truth.

She read the question silently and then scooted over to my left side. "What do you feel when you think of kissing the person to your left?"

I could feel my face pale. "I...don't know?"

"Surely you must feel something." Stacey smirked evilly.

"Embarrassed."

"Oh. Boo. Apparently I'm embarrassing."

"Well, sorry."

She smiled. "It's okay. I understand." She moved back in front of me and handed me the phone.

"What is one talent you wish you had?" I read.

"Oh!" She put her finger to her chin and thought. "I've always wanted to play the piano. Or a violin. But you know what I would really want if I could play the piano?"

"What? A harpsichord?"

Her face lit up immediately. "How did you know?"

"I was right? You really want a harpsichord?"

"I just think it would be so cool. It even sounds cool. Harpsichord. I saw one in a movie and I wanted one because it's like the father of piano. But the colors are inverted and stuff."

I smiled. "I think that'd be cool, too."

"I know, right?" She took the phone back and asked me a question. "If you could change one physical thing about yourself, what would it be?"

"Oh, easy one," I said. "My dimples."

"What?!" She looked appalled. "Dimples are so cute! I've always been jealous of people with dimples."

I smirked. "Sometimes they hurt when I smile too much. Like right now."

Stacey reached out and pinched my cheeks. "Now ask me a question."

"Do you have a favorite sibling?" I asked.

She laughed. "No."

"Can you tell me how your relationships are with each of them?"

"That's not part of the question."

"Look, if we're going to get to know each other at all, we can't be limited."

"Alright. Jake mainly sits in his room doing nothing and he doesn't talk to me unless he needs help on homework. Kayla's the annoying one who's always stealing my makeup and my clothes. Her excuses are that I never even use the makeup or wear the clothes she likes to steal. She's just a pest. And Kyle always does mean things like leaving jacks in my bed and tell all his friends that I have a boyfriend, which I don't. I guess I love them all equally. What about you?"

"Well, Anthony's kind of a weird brother. But he's always there when I need advice, and when I have a Twix bar. Lily sometimes tries to ask me for advice, but she always leaves, thinking boys are useless. Presley and Anna are my little buddies. We do everything together."

"Aw."

"Yeah. Ask me a question."

"Question? You're getting a dare this time."

"Ugh. Get it over with."

"Ask your neighbors for an ice cube, and then take it back five minutes later and tell them you don't need it anymore."

"What? What if they're asleep?"

"Logan, it's summer vacation. Most people don't go to bed at 9:30. Now, come, come."

"Do I have to?"

"I had to tell that ghetto man that I love him! Yes, you have to do it!"

I groaned.

Together we walked next door to the neighbor's house, only Stacey hid around the corner to hide while I was left to ask for an ice cube.

I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. An elderly woman with white hair and a cane opened the door and smiled at me. A rush of warm air came from her home and I realized it was getting quite chilly outside. Her TV was on behind her. I recognized a very intense episode of Chopped, and I was tempted to ask her if I could watch it with her, because it got to me every time.

"Um, hi," I said. "My name is Logan. I'm visiting Martha next door. I was wondering if you had an ice cube I could borrow?"

"Sure, sonny," she said. "Would you like to come inside?"

"No.... I'd better not."

"Well, I'll just shut the door to keep out the breeze. I'll be back."

She shut the door in my face and I was left waiting for her to come back. I heard a laugh and remembered Stacey was hiding around the corner. She poked her head out so her bun was pointing to the side and gave me a thumbs up.

The door opened again and the lady slowly held out her hand. She pressed the ice cube into my palm and then closed my fingers over it.

"Here you go, sonny."

"Thanks...."

"You're quite the looker, sonny. Probably got a lot of girls back home, eh?" She winked at me.

"No."

"Sure, sure."

"Uhh." I cleared my throat. "I'd better be going. The cube will be melting."

"Have a good night, sonny."

"You too...granny."

I caught a glimpse of her face before she shut the door. She looked confused.

I exhaled heavily and walked over to Stacey, who was silently cracking up.

"Oh, Logan, that was great!" She could hardly form her words, she was laughing so hard.

"Shut up."

"Whatever you say, sonny."

"So in five minutes I need to give this back?" My fingers were getting cold from holding the ice.

"Yep. I'm just going to ask you random questions now. This app is getting stupid."

"Oh. Okay."

"So," she said. "What's your favorite animal?"

"I don't know," I said. "I've always liked dogs. What about you?"

"Dogs, yes. I also kind of like llamas."

I laughed. "They're tough."

"Yeah." For a second, her face turned serious. "That's why I like them. You can ask the next question."

"Okay. Is your favorite color orange?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"You wear orange, like, everyday."

She smiled. "Well. What's your favorite color?"

"I definitely don't have one."

"You're one of the rainbow, eh, sonny?"

"That's even worse than Loganberry," I complained. "But if I had to choose favorites, I'd probably go with green."

"Green is my second favorite color!" Stacey beamed. "Okay, next question. What's your best friend's name?"

I hesitated. Then I decided to do something weird. "Stacey," I said.

She paled. At least, from what I could see from the glow of the streetlights next to the old lady's house. "What?"

"I told you I avoid people."

She gave me a small smile. "So I'm your best friend because you don't like other people?"

"No one else has ever listened to me describing my hobbies and then told me I was still awesome."

"Well, Kathryn was my best friend, but I guess that's you now, huh?"

"Sucks for Kathryn."

Stacey laughed. "Come on. Let's go back on the grass for now." She grabbed my hand again. I found it weird. She could grab my arm, or my wrist, or just not grab me at all, but she chose to grab my hand.

We sat down in the same places we'd been sitting for the whole game.

"Alright, I'll just read myself another dare," Stacey said.

She looked at the phone screen and her face dropped.

"What does it say?" I asked.

She didn't say anything.

"Come on. You'll have to do it no matter what. How bad can it be?"

She just lowered the phone as if she were going to put it away. I reached forward and took it from her, reading what it said.

Be tickled by the person to your right.

"Oh my," I said, and then looked up at Stacey evilly, sliding the ice cube into my pocket.

"Don't take too long," she said, her face grim. "Get it over with." She lifted her arms so her sides were exposed.

I poked Stacey and she flinched. So, I just tickled her stomach until she was laying on her back, in tears from laughing. Her muscles turned hard as rock from the tension and the laughter.

(Laughing gives you abs.)

"Uncle! Uncle!" she pleaded.

I collapsed next to her. "Ticking is pretty hardcore."

"So is being tickled. I literally can't feel my stomach."

"I have succeeded."

We just lay there for a while, staring at each other's faces. Moonlight glinted off of Stacey's electric blue eyes, as well as her tears from our tickle fight.

I felt a wetness on my leg. "Um, my ice is ruining my pants."

"What?"

"It's melting in my pajama pants."

"Oh!" She laughed. "You should give it back now."

"Ugh."

"I'm sure old granny will be glad to see you. Come on." We stood up and I began walking before she could grab my hand, because I couldn't think straight when she did that.

We resumed our places, with me by the door and Stacey around the corner.

I rang the doorbell again and there was granny.

"Hello, sonny!"

"Uh, hey. I'm done with this ice cube and I wanted to give it back to you." I pulled the half melted ice from my pocket and handed it to the old lady.

She looked at me weirdly and then nodded. "That's nice of you."

Then the weirdest thing happened. Even weirder than Sherlock echoing my thoughts earlier this morning.

Granny took the ice cube, and slowly lifted it to her mouth. She swallowed it whole, and then said, "G'night now."

She closed the door slowly and I just stared at it until Stacey came from around her corner, wheezing with laughter.

"That...that was amazing!" she said.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to look at this house again," I said.

"Logan." Stacey was able to say my name even though she was breathing hard, trying to keep from laughing. "I think you deserve a hug for that one. These pranks aren't supposed to scar people for life. Do you want a hug?"

"I...I have no idea what I want anymore."

I thought of going to bed. It seemed weird. There was no way I'd be able to sleep after seeing this lady swallow a whole piece of ice when she had no clue what I'd done with it.

Stacey threw her arms around me anyway, and laughed into my shoulder.

"Logan...I can't breathe!"

I awkwardly hugged her back. Little kids were the only people who ever hugged me, and I wasn't sure how to react.

Stacey pulled away and we sat down in the yard for one last dare.

"This one's yours, Loganberry." Stacey handed me the phone so I could read my final dare.

Kiss the person in front of you.

"Are you kidding me?!" I said aloud.

"What is it?"

"I swear there's some kind of creepy psychic watching us through your phone!"

Stacey mocked my voice. "You'll have to do it anyway. How bad can it be?"

I shoved the phone in her face and let her read it. Her face dropped as she read what it said. When she spoke next, her voice was slightly teasing, but for the most part, she was dead serious.

"Looks like you'll have to do it," she said, meeting my eyes.

"I've never kissed anyone before," I said slowly, trying not to stutter.

"I still don't believe that. It's about time you did."

"Why aren't you against this?"

"It's a dare, Logan. Nothing that happens tonight is allowed to have any affect on anything but our friendship. Truth or Dare is all about doing stupid things."

She kept staring at me, waiting for me to do something. What was I going to do?

I had to kiss her.

I leaned forward and kissed her softly on the cheek. Heat flooded my face the second my lips touched her skin. It wasn't as scary as kissing her on the lips; it only lasted a second. What scared me, though, were the shivers that I felt head to toe in that one second. Even after I pulled away, I felt jumpy and cold and just plain nervous.

"There you go," Stacey said, though her voice was almost inaudible. She had acted as if kissing was no big deal, as if she did it all the time. Why did she sound so squeamish after a tiny peck on the cheek?

I cleared my throat. "I guess we can go to bed now."

"Yeah."

Together, we stood up and walked in the direction of the tents. I was about to part ways with Stacey when she said, "Wait."

I turned. "Yeah?"

"Here." She held something out to me. My phone.

I laughed nervously. "You stole this?"

She smiled. "It was sort of a prank. Don't turn it on yet."

I nodded and slipped into my tent. I lay there for a while, and when I couldn't sleep, I turned my phone on.

iPhone disabled. Try again in 780 minutes.

I did the math. Stacey'd disabled my phone for 13 hours. At 11:00 AM tomorrow, I'd be able to get back on.

I wasn't mad. In fact, I was smiling when I fell asleep.

__________________________

Heyyyyy! Long chapter!

Logan's not good at flirting, is he? ;)

I love him.

So does zohappy

What are your thoughts? What are you wanting to happen?

Don't forget to vote!

Here, I brought you some fried pineapple. It tastes bad so I thought I'd give it away. *gives you nasty pineapple*

BYEEEEE!