The Subcrawl (A Romantic Comedy)

Chapter 10

Cessnock

Chloe

This is all Liam McCall's fault.

I had everything under control. I was going to complete the task with no issues, was totally on course to do it, then that bloody prick Alex flummoxed me with his fake flirting . . . And then Liam threw me off balance further when I realised precisely why the fake flirting was happening.

For some reason, whether true or not, Alex thinks Liam fancies me.

And judging by Liam's reaction, it seems it is in fact accurate.

Stupid fucking Liam and his rubbish pretty eyes with his apparently ridiculous unrequited crush on me has just landed us both with a one way ticket to Dare Central. I honestly feel like I could puke right now.

"Woohoo!!!!" Lola breaks what was maybe a tense silence of about 2 seconds but it felt like far longer to me. I'm starting to feel hot and sweaty. "Are you two ready for a dare?"

"No," both myself and Liam say at the same time. Lola laughs delightedly. In her world, Lola-land, she can't understand why people wouldn't embrace challenges like this with the gusto she does. Lola however does not seem to have a self conscious bone in her body. She's not just the heroine in her own story, she's the main character in everyone else's too.

She leaps to her feet and skips around to me, diving into my "goody" bag and retrieving my bingo card before I can even stop her. "Let's see," she murmurs, eyes tracing the different dares. I can practically see the cogs spinning in her brain. "I think that Chloe should . . . Kiss a stranger."

That's it. I think I'm about to die. Can you expire from being terrified at the very idea of carrying out a dare? I might be the first victim of such a death. I take no pleasure in that.

"Lola . . ." Becky starts, looking worried. But Lola doesn't let her continue.

"Come on Chloe, it's about time you got back on the horse, this would be a great start."

Not a great figure of speech to use - Lola however is unlikely to know that I actually fell off a horse when I was younger. And  I most certainly did not climb back on it. The memory sparked by her words does not dilute my panic.

"There's not exactly a lot of eligible strangers in here for Chloe to kiss," Claire points out; I think she senses my panic too. "Maybe she should wait until another pub for someone a bit less . . . Old, drunk and ugly?" She flashes me a smile, like she's found me my solution.

It's full of good intentions but the dread of having to get the dare done at all would just hang over me.

I want to say no, but I can't find the words. I'm terrified of being the party pooper, especially as I failed this particular challenge due to my own stupidity.

Becky looks around the pub. "There's not one stranger here I'll allow Chloe to kiss," she announces. Becky to the rescue.

I might - might -  just get away with this.

"Well, how about she kisses Liam?" Oh look, my new favourite person Alex has piped up again. "I know he's not a stranger, but I'm sure we can all agree he's strange."

He smiles again at both of us. The smile is pure unadulterated evil. Alex would be the villain in everyone else's show. Not the one you feel sorry for, the one you would cheer for joy when he was eventually dropped from a great height and squished.

That's how strongly I feel about Alex right now.

Lola brightens further. "That could work! Kill two birds with one stone and all that."