Pure

Chapter 2: Partners?

Sure."
Calm down. It's not that bad, said one voice in my head.
Did you see the things on that freakin' list?? responded another.
"Holy- shit- fuck," they both unanimously decided to say. And so did I apparently, judging by the looks being cast my way. Hoping they'd just overlook my seemingly random outburst, I decided to stay silent.
"So, uh, what should we do first?" asked Riley nervously, his confidence growing stronger with each word. We all began scanning the list, while I silently prayed for something- anything- to come save me from what we'd just decided. There was a moment of consideration on their part, and celebration on mine, but my success was short lived when Grace, of all people, spoke up. We all looked at her eagerly.
"I mean, I don't know," she said in response to our eager faces. "But it might go faster if we had a partner, or something?" She offered, her suggestion coming out more as a question than a statement.
"Maybe like highest and lowest together. Because, like, that way we can have the lesser with the more experienced," Casey said carefully. I knew this was her idea of a peace offering, because Jordan, though an asshole, was nothing short of gorgeous, and any other girl in our school would be 'lucky to have him'.
But I wasn't one of those girls.
I only saw the asshole-iot that he really was, that most were able to look past because of his freakin' face.
"Yeah, sure," Ezra said quickly. Casey flashed him a smile, happy with her assumed partner.
"Wait, so Ezra and Casey, me and Riley, and that leaves Jordan and... Ella," Grace stated slowly, trying to keep track of all the scores in her head. Slow nods accompanied the pairings as each one of us came to terms with who our partner was going to be.
"But that still leaves us with nothing to do," Casey pointed out.
"Yeah, yeah," Ezra said, dismissing Casey's statement with a wave of her hand.
"Dude, we should have a competition!" Riley exclaimed like he had just unearthed a otherworldly treasure. Mentally, my palm was permanently attached to my forehead with this group, and Riley's brilliant suggestion was no different. But the more I mulled it around in my brain, the more the idea made sense- if I could stall Jordan just long enough for one of the other teams to win, then I wouldn't have to do nearly as many things as they would. And, I could use some relationship experience with Jordan... even if it was all fake. It actually may be better that way, I decided. I wouldn't say I was exactly on board, but I wasn't drowning any longer.
"Rite-Aid," Grace said suddenly. Everyone looked at her expectantly. "Two things. We should probably get condoms if we want no mishaps. And lucky for us, 'buying condoms' is third on the list." I don't know how she said that without blushing, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that I was embarrassed by the prominent color in my cheeks.
And about what I said before? With the boat and all that? I must have not gotten my sea legs yet because, man, I was right back in the water before I knew it. And I'm fairly certain that when I went down, I swallowed a bunch of water because when I reached the surface I was quite legitimately choking. And not just metaphorically. I turned my embarrased? choking (hey, no judgement. I can't control my bodily functions, as odd as they may seem) into a semi- believable cough, and no one swiveled their necks at me this time. My triumphs are far too short-lived and far too few, so hey,  I take my victories as they come.