Page 5 of I Dare You
If only I had listened to my aunt Justina and hadn’t drawn any attention to myself, none of this would have happened.
If only I had listened, my parents would be…
A knock on the door interrupts my thoughts.“Are you okay?”asks a voice I don’t recognize.
I don’t say a word because the voice belongs to a boy.Why is there a boy in the girls’ bathroom?
“I know you’re in there.I can hear you breathing,” he says.“So come out.I promise, I won’t make fun of you.”
Curiosity gets the better of me, and eventually, I unlock the door.
When I open it, I see a boy standing before it, holding a spare change of clothes.I soon recognize him as Dandy Rivers.We’re in the same science class.He keeps to himself, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t subjected to ridicule because he’s different.
He’s forever in T-shirts featuring something related to space or astronomy, and with his thick glasses, he’s been open to ridicule as the class “nerd.”
But Dandy doesn’t seem to care.
When kids call him a freak or a nerd, he simply holds his head high and pretends they’re not there.
I wish I had his confidence.
He doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him.
He doesn’t care if he sits with the popular kids or not.And that takes guts.
He juts the clothes out, reminding me that I’m staring at him like I’ve forgotten how to speak.I see there is a pair of bright orange gym shorts and a multicolored T-shirt with a unicorn eating a cupcake.
Without choice, I accept the clothes and reenter the stall, locking the door behind me.I remove my soiled dress and wipe myself down with toilet paper.Once I dry myself as best I can, I step into the clothes.
Peering down at myself, I chuckle because I resemble a rainbow.
I can hear Dandy running the taps, so I know he’s waiting for me.
With a deep breath, I open the door, and when Dandy turns over his shoulder to look at me, we both burst into laughter.That soon turns to uncontrollable fits of hysteria.We’re gasping for air, unable to talk.Words aren’t necessary because at this moment, laughter is all that we need.
Dandy holds the sink to stop himself from falling, tears streaming down his cheeks.I lean against the wall, attempting to measure my breath, but each time we look at one another, more laughter ensues.
This goes on for minutes.
I’ve never laughed this much before.
Dandy grips the sink with both hands and bends low, inhaling deeply.“Holy moly,” he says between breaths.“Lost and found clearly belonged to a clown.”
His comment starts us off again.
I don’t know how long we laugh for, but by the end of it, I barely remember why I’m wearing these hideous clothes.It suddenly doesn’t matter.
“I’m Dandy Rivers,” he says, offering me his hand.
I shake it.“I’m Hallie Holiday.We’ve got science class together, but we’ve never spoken.Sorry about that.”
Dandy shakes his head.“Don’t be.If we had, we would have never experienced this.”He uses his finger to gesture back and forth between us, and I instantly know what he means.
This is a memory we’ll never forget.
“I think we’ve just become best friends.”
His words touch me in ways he can never imagine because I’ve never had one of those.
