7 Days {edited}

Twenty

When it was time for lunch, I came up with the most amazing dare. "Hey, guys..." I said, pulling Jordyn and Cami aside. "I dare you to ask your crushes to sit with you at lunch today."

"What?!" Cami practically shrieked.

"Shhh," I whispered with a finger over my lips.

"Sorry," she said, more quietly.

"You really think I have the guts to ask Adam to sit with me?" Jordyn asked, eyebrows raised questioningly.

"Sure. If you can score three goals in a soccer game, then you can definitely ask a guy to sit with you," I encouraged her.

She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. "Fine. But you have to do the dare too."

"What?"

"Yeah. Ask Blake to sit with you."

"But-"

"What? Is the new girl too chicken?" she teased.

"No. I just-"

"Come on. How hard could it be?"

I gulped. This wouldn't be that hard of a dare if I actually liked Blake. I usually had no trouble talking to guys. The only difference was, I didn't like him. Not like that, anyway. And doing this dare would imply that I did.

What had I gotten myself into?

- - -

Fortunately for me, Blake already sat with our group, so I didn't have to do any of the work. I was, however, forced to sit by him. Jordyn's orders.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey, Rain. Good job in the game today," Blake replied.

"Yeah, you too." To be honest, I hadn't paid any attention to him during the soccer game, but he didn't have to know that.

Jordyn nudged me all giggly and I glared at her. "Where's Adam?" I asked with a smug look on my face. Payback.

"Uh...couldn't find him," she said.

I looked to my right. "Oh, look. Found him. At the table right next to ours. Why don't you go invite him to sit with us?"

"Oh, I'm sure he already has plenty-"

"Ah, ah, ah! No buts. You accepted the dare." I narrowed my eyes at her. "Now do it."

She gulped, then slowly got out of her chair. I watched her walk up to Adam's table, drying her sweaty palms on her orange T-shirt. "H-hey, Adam. Wanna sit with me?"

He looked over at our table, then back at her. His table was surrounded by other guys, including Ryker, Kirby, and Sam. Finally he said, "Well I'm kind of already sitting with my friends..."

Jordyn's shoulders slumped dejectedly.

"But," he continued. "I'll look for you at session."

Her face broke into a smile as she said, "Okay! See you then." She practically skipped back to our table.

"Now was that so hard?" I asked her in a mocking voice.

"Shut up," she replied, shoving me in the shoulder.

"What was that all about?" Blake asked.

"Uhhhh, nothing," we said at the same time.

Meanwhile, Cami was eating her salad across the table, being careful not to mess up her lipstick. I didn't get why girls ate with lipstick on, but oh well.

"Cami, I thought you were gonna ask Josh to sit with you today," I reminded her.

"Oh. Um. I couldn't find him."

"Where have I heard that one before?" I asked, giving Jordyn a pointed look. She sunk low in her seat, embarrassed. "Cami, it's now or never. You promised."

"But...what if he doesn't like me?"

"Oh, he will. You're gorgeous!" I assured her.

"Um, guys? Am I interrupting something? 'Cause I can leave," Blake spoke up.

"No! Don't leave!" Jordyn exclaimed. She looked pointedly at me, the same look I'd given her a minute ago.

"Uh, okay." He went back to his chicken tenders.

"Cami," I said in a mothering tone.

She looked at me innocently. "What?" Her voice was sugary sweet.

"You know what I'm talking about. Now go."

"Ugh. Fiiiine," she groaned. Then she stood up, fluffed her hair, and strutted across the room to Adam's table. They were out of earshot, so I talked to Blake while I awaited her return.

"Having fun at camp?" I asked him.

"Yeah, it's great. I can't wait to go boating tomorrow!"

"Boating?"

"Yeah. Once a week, usually on the fourth or fifth day, Pastor Brett lets us go boating with one of the other staff. He has this awesome speed boat and you can go water skiing, knee boarding, or tubing. It's really fun!"

It did sound like fun. "Does everyone just go at the same time, or what?"

"No, you have to go in shifts. Only eight passengers can be in the boat at a time," Blake explained.

"Sounds fun. I can't wait to try it out! I've never been boating."

"Really? I bet you'll love it!"

"Ahem, still here," said Jordyn, clearing her throat and raising her hand a little.

"Oh, sorry," I said. "What's your favorite water sport?"

"Definitely water skiing. It's so fun!"

"I bet." Suddenly, I didn't even care about the boys and the dares. I just wanted to get out in the water!