Dare Me More

TWO

Mike woke up moments after to give Jacky a hand. He wasn't hungover and didn't drink enough to be on their level of messed up. She'd never heard Mike complain before.

Christy remained snoring on the floor, but they managed to get a few pics of her uncanny facial expression before she woke herself up before ten. She demanded that Mike buy them all burgers since he wasn't suffering from a headache that could hammer down a nail. Even if she didn't look like death, a morning Christy was not to be messed with. Jacky had learned that lesson with her many, many sleepovers.

They sat on the floor in a circle where they slept. The window blew in that morning breeze but not cold enough to rug up.

"We need to do this again," Christy said after munching on her third burger for the morning. Her cropped hair stood out in the back and her mascara was smudged under her eyes. Jacky had given Mike a thumbs up when he ordered ten two-dollar burgers, five of them for Christy. That guy knew her best friend well. "I seriously missed having a night in and not paying for an Uber to come get us for once. We can just pass out on the floor with no precaution."

"Dude, you only say this because I'm the one with the free house," Jacky said, picking out the diced onions on the inside of her bun.

"And walking distance to the nearest shopping center."

Jacky rolled her eyes. "All the more reason, right?"

Mike dusted his hands from crumbs. "We could just hang out at yours, babe. I don't see why we need to keep coming to Jacky's all the time."

Christy glared at Mike, and Jacky felt herself choking back a laugh. "Clare is eight months. No way would Mum let us have a night like yesterday."

He sighed. "We don't always have to drink."

"Disagree," Christy and Jacky said. They passed each other a high-five. It was Mike who rolled his eyes.

The radio blasted an early 80's duet song that made Jacky think of Cole, which reminded her about the message he sent.

Jacky turned to Christy, praying she didn't tell her to fuck off this time.

"So, Cole left me a voicemail this morning."

Christy scoffed down the rest of her burger. "What for?"

"I left him one last night. I don't remember what it was about but it warranted a response. Here, listen."

Cole's voice came through clear. Jacky tightened her hold of her phone, adrenaline working her way up through her body. Everything was happening too fast for her to process.

Mike collapsed on his side in a fit of laughter, but it was Christy that made Jacky's heart drop to her stomach. She stopped mid-bite into her fourth burger, stared Jacky down with wide blue eyes, and gasped. It was the complete opposite of her reaction early that morning. "Shut. Up. You called Cole. That's who you directed your dare to?"

Jacky's eyes widened. "What did you make me do? What did I say?"

"Exactly what I told you to do; tell him he's sexy and that you wanna get all up in that sexiness." Christy dropped her burger down on its wrap, and repeated "Oh my god" for a minute to Jacky's face, squealing as she went.

The skin on Jacky's lip started to disappear the more she played with it. She didn't say anything too crazy then. She couldn't help but be relieved by that, but was that all she said? Christy didn't say she said anything else, and a part of her wanted to believe her. However, she was making her nervous the more she carried on, going as far as to shake Mike's arm. He remained hysterical on the ground. She had to have said something else.