The Experiment (Draft)

Dares

Lydia:

I love the swimsuit, just not on me. It's so cute, a retro one piece, white with black designs on them. It looks good on my curves, but not on my legs, all pasty and lumpy, riddled with deep purple lines across them. It's the only choice I have though. Hopefully there will be lots of bubbles in the hot tub to mask them. I throw on a purple silk robe and grab a towel as I head down the stairs, followed closely by Luke, and I make sure I don't cast a glance his way. When I reach the living room, I look out the window and see Owen already in there. Good thing this is a big hot tub. Being the gentleman that he is, he opens the door for me and lets me climb in before him. I didn't like the last part, my flat butt right in easy glancing view.

My oh my am I lucky. I can barely see through this water. And I am so lucky I can- Oh my heavenly stars. Luke takes his shirt off and I try so hard to not stare. I sneak a glance or two at his lean stomach muscles moving as he climbs in, and- wow, Owen stands to make room for Luke, and he is so big! my word, those biceps! Okay, Lid, I  tell myself,  it's alright. they are just people who happen to have incredibly nice bodies.   I focus on an aspen tree just between their heads. Oh my, now they are staring at me! Did they say something?

"What?" I ask, cringing on the inside.

"I said, I thought blue was your favorite color."  Luke says, enunciating each word jokingly. 

"Umm, it is."

"So why is your room white?" Owen says, confused.

"Well, my favorite color to wear is white, like, I feel like I look good in white, but I like the color blue, like if I had to get an object of a certain color, I would pick blue. But I don't understand why they gave me white sheets."

"So why is blue your favorite color?" Owen inquires.

"Well, hmmm. I feel as though the color blue can represent any emotion. Like, Navy for sad, or Tiffany for happy, or denim for melancholy. It's just so versatile and beautiful."  

"Well that was a lot more detailed than I imagined." Owen laughs.

Awkward silence. 

This, was odd, because I knew that Owen and Luke were friends, but they weren't speaking. Were they mad at each other?

"Let's play a game." Owen suggests.

"Alright" Luke agrees.

"I'm game."

"Okay truth or dare. I'll go first. Luke, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Have you ever kissed anyone?" Luke smiles and looks down. 

"Naw, man I haven't." 

"Really?" Owen says,"The hottest guy in our grade hasn't kissed anyone?"

"Nope, and that makes it my turn. Owen, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Alright. Jump out and lay in the snow for thirty seconds, then jump back in."

"Okay, here I go." Owen leaps out into the snowbank and starts counting out loud.

"Ouch, cruel." I say to Luke. We make eye contact for the first time in a long time, and I feel the longing start to creep back in my heart. I look away, I can't deal with this anymore.

"Thirty!" Owen yells as he jumps back into the hot tub, and starts shivering. "Oh man! Alright, my turn again. Lid, truth or dare?"

"Truth"

"Alright, have you ever kissed anyone?"

"Yes, when I was little." It was the truth. I was kinda embarrassed to say that I was 16 and hadn't been kissed before. I wanted to be kissed so bad, but not on any random stranger.

"That doesn't count!"

"Says who?"

"Says me!" He exclaims

"Okay, Owen, truth or dare?" I ask

"Truth, I am not doing snow again!"

"Have you ever kissed anyone?"

"Yes actually. Remember when me and Hailey dated for, like a week  freshman year? Well, I kissed her then, so that counts. Luke, my man, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Alright you two virgin lips, kiss."

"WHAT?!?" We both say, synchronized. 

"Hey, you have to do it! It was a dare!" 

Oh, how I always dreamed I would kiss Lucas Browns lips, How I used to long for them, but I had pushed that feeling far from my mind, for so long. But now being around him again, I had resisted those things. I kinda actually wanted to kiss him.

"Don't worry though, I will leave you two lovebirds alone." Own says as he gets out of the tub. "Plus, our required time is up." he says as he shuts the door behind him.

I turn to look at Luke, but it seems he is already looking at me.

"Lydia, I'm not going to kiss you right now, because it's not fair for you to think that your first kiss was on a dare. I will kiss you for real soon, just not as a dare." 

My heart leaped into my throat, and it almost brought tears to my eyes. All those months of thinking that he didn't like me, that he thought I was creepy, those months of heartache seemed to vanish, as he lifted my hand to his lips, kissed it, and didn't let it go as we walked back inside.