I Dare You

Chapter 7

We walked out of the store and onto the sidewalk as we started towards the ice cream parlor.

"You didn't get the suit?" I asked Marcel as Anne and Devon walked in front of us as they talked about school. "Nah," he shrugged. "Why? Did you like it?" He asked wiggling his eyebrows at me. "I'm not saying you looked bad." He beamed at me. We got to the ice cream place and a ordered. Devon got cookie dough, Anne got chocolate, Marcel got cheesecake, and I got cookies n cream. "Oreos?" Marcel looked at me.

I nodded my head,"I am slightly addicted. They're my guilty pleasure."

He laughed at me, "Oreos?"

"Yes! Don't judge me." As Anne reached for her purse, I stopped her,"No, Anne. I can pay. Seriously, I got it."

"But I can't let you do that, let me-" "nope, it's fine." She relaxed her hand and grabbed her ice cream. "That'll be 26.76." The cashier said. "I got it." Marcel said as he reached for his wallet. "No, I got it." I said pulling my credit card put of my back pocket. "No. Let me pay."

"No, we invited you to join us, so let me," I argued.

"Nonono! Let me pay. You were nice enough to let us come with you, so.." He offered some money to the cashier.

"No!" I hip bumped him, causing him

to lose balance and trip. Devon, Anne, and I started laughing as I handed the man my credit card. We took our ice cream and sat down, still laughing. "That was not funny! You embarrassed me in front of everyone."

"We're the only ones in the store Marcel," Anne said making Marcel grimace and us to laugh even harder. "So, are you two excited for homecoming?" Anne asked looking at Marcel and I. "Erm, yeah. I guess so." Marcel said. I nodded my head in agreement. We then talked about plans for homecoming and what were doing before and after. Anne invited all of us over including, Marcel, Louis, Jennifer, Lilly, Georgia, my mum, and I, so we could get ready at her house and eat. Then after, Jennifer invited us all to her house to hang out. She was the only one who didn't have siblings so we all agreed. My dad was coming home from South Africa Friday, so he would stay with my brother. On the walk back to where my car was parked, Marcel and Devon started talking. "I know you know. You know." Anne whispered to me. "You know I know what?"

"About Marcel." I still wasn't picking up on what she meant. "The truth."

"The truth as in?"

"His cancer? Yes." My heart dropped to my stomach. I can't believe he would lie to me about such a serious thing. "But...but, he told me it was just a disease, that it wasn't..." She gave me a side hug and whispered. "I don't know exactly what he told you, but please, keep this to yourself. Mesothelioma is a cancer."

"S-so he lied to me." She released me from the hug.

"I don't know what he did. But he doesn't like talking about it. He hasn't even told Louis yet. This is a rough time for all of us as we know that the end might be near." I looked up at her, tears forming in my eyes. I couldn't tell if it was because he lied to me, I pitied him, or the fact that he might die. "He might-"

"yes," she said quickly.

"Why wouldn't he tell me?" I asked, mostly directing it to myself.

"He really cares about you. I can tell by how he looks at you. You're a good friend" She said. We walked the rest in silence, just listening to Devon and Marcel's conversation as I stared at my feet as I walked.

"Hello? Addy? We're hear." I couldn't lift my head. I just stared at the ground, like I was in a daydream. "Addy! Addy cake!" I snapped my head up at Devon at the familiar nickname my dad calls me. "The car." He gestured to the my car that we reached. "Oh, the car. We should go home." I said fumbling with my keys as I tried to unlock the door. "Thanks for joining us guys." I quickly waved to Marcel and Anne and walked to the driver's seat.