You & I: Autumn Cupid

Chapter 11: Red Cup Challenge

''This is the world's longest game of cup toss. Boys, give me a toss!"

"What am I? Chopped liver?" I fake pout.

"Ok!" Gabe says before lobbing the ball to the other end of the hallway.

"Oh I think you landed in green!" Nathan cheers. "Alright James, give me a toss." James tosses his ping pong ball and knocks over a red cup before landing in one. "Right in red. Now, you guys are probably curious what all these colors mean."

"Hey! I didn't throw mine yet!" I poke. I toss my ping pong ball and it lands straight in a blue cup. "Blue! Wait, what does blue mean?"

"I'll show you," Nathan says before we all make our way back to the living room where all the cards are. "Alright Gabe. You landed on green which means you get money. So go ahead draw the card and see how much money you get."

"$20 bucks!" Gabe shouts as he reads the card. "That's not bad I can buy a nice pizza." He takes the 20 Nathan hands him.

"Alright James. You landed on red so you get a dare. The dare cannot be terrible. What you got?"

"Oh Yeah!" James yells and I flinch backward while laughing. "Smash through a wall of legos wearing the Kool Aid man costume."

"Perfect. Look's like I got one right here." Nathan reaches behind him and pulls out a Kool Aid man costume in its packaging. I laugh even more. Is he Mary Poppins now? "Go ahead and put this on now buddy and, uh, smash through a lego wall."

We build the lego wall on the one bridge over the moat and wait for James to bust it down. The boys are joking about how dirty the lego wall is and how it needs to come down. I, however, freak out when my boyfriend crashes through the wall and falls flat on his stomach. 

"Oh yeah," he moans in pain.

"Sugar! You ok?"

The boys are laughing their heads off while James is dying on the ground.

"I'm gonna oh yeah you with this lego," James threatens. I laugh and shake my head as we walk back inside.

"I got blue! What do I get?" I ask when we're inside.

"Blue is a prize! Draw your card!"

"A new tv? I don't even need one!"

"Knee boarding!" James and Gabe yell before running away.

"You're up Nathan," I say as I place a ping pong ball in his hand.

"Alright boys, it's my turn. I'm going for that purple square in the middle there. That's the grand prize. We have no idea what it is but it's worth hundreds of thousands of dollars."

"Let's just hope it's not another lego wall," James says while rubbing his head. I lean in and place a kiss on his temple, hoping that will help with his pain.

"Good luck throw boys. Here we go!" Nathan lets the ball go and it lands directly in a red cup. "I landed on dare."

"It had better be another lego wall," James says while creeping up behind Nathan.

"I've landed on dare. What will be my fortune? One minute handstand on a wall."

"Bro," Gabe sympathizes.

"You always get the easy dares!" James complains.

"One minute?!" Nathan whines.

"Have fun with that."

The boys mess around while trying to get Nathan to do an upside down handstand. He eventually does, after several attempts. We continue with the video, each getting dares, cash, and the occasional prize. The next item we have to use is a slingshot. Gabe uses it like a bat and lands in a blue cup. Nathan tries to use the slingshot and it fails and lands in a red cup. James tries a downward shot and it lands straight in a red cup. I launch mine to the other end of the hallway and it lands straight in a red cup.

"What! Are you serious?!" I yell in anger and disbelief.

We all draw our cards. Gabe gets a Harry Potter wand remote. Nathan has to be on his knees for the rest of the video. James has to sit in the moat in the canoe while someone rides the jet skis and makes waves. I might have the worst dare. I have to do whatever dare James gets. Now I have to join him in the canoe.

We get out onto the water and sit there for a solid five minutes before Nathan tears around the corner on the jet ski. James is holding a go pro for some footage and I'm sitting across from him, absolutely terrified.

"Alright. So far not too bad," James commentates while Nathan continues to circle us like a shark.

"So far," I say as I grab hold of the low sides of the canoe.

"Oh, we're getting a little wavy."

"A little?" I ask as my grip tightens on the boat's low sides. I can hear Gabe yelling from shore, but I can't quite make it out. Something about waves?

When Nathan makes a tail swipe at the bow of our boat, my entire back gets drenched. Plus, we shift our direction.

"I got a good two inches of water up my feet!" James yells and I start laughing. I laugh even harder when Nathan gives us another tail swipe and James yells, "I'm up to three!"

"We're going down!" I yell when Nathan keeps splashing more water into our boat.

Either luckily or unluckily we've washed under one of the lowest bridges on the property. Still, we've taken on too much water and the canoe starts to tip over. James and I make a wild grab for the wooden slats under the bridge in hopes of stabilizing us, but it's no use. Nathan and Gabe say something about getting lunch instead of helping us. I grumble about them never helping us out of bad situations before James gives me a boost and I climb on the bridge we got washed under. We get back inside, dry off a bit, then continue with the video.

Finally, after a lot of dares later, Gabe drains the ping pong ball in the purple cup. The card says to outside. When we walk out, a school bus is parked in the driveway. We all climb inside and explore. The boys all say that they don't remember being this tall on a bus. I shake my head and watch them mess around. James opens the top hatch and crawls on top. I laugh and lounge in one seat.

"Yo there's a mirror up here so I can see all the kids in the back."

"What up Nathan!" I yell from my seat.

While Gabe and James mess around with the controls at the front of the bus, I climb on two seats and stick my head out the top to see what James is up to.

"How's the air up here?"

"Great. Best view on the property."

"I said air, not view. Now help me up?" James laughs before helping pull me up onto the top of the bus. "You're right. The view's pretty good up here."

"You still up there?" Gabe yells from inside.

"Never came down," James responds.

"I'm up here too!" I yell as I stick my head back inside.

"Well, we should probably head back inside. We gotta make this thing look bussin!" Nathan yells from the driver's seat.

"Oh my gosh. James get me outta here," I say as I pull my head out of the hatch.