The Yes Game

Prologue

The game started in the middle of a boring moody summer as all summers are in South Dakota. Mother nature couldn't seem to decide if she wanted to scorch you or drown you or blow you away, sometimes all in the same day. They were eleven and thus friendship was dictated primarily by geography. Molly and Izabelle lived next door to one another and Sawyer was across the street. Jersi's yard bordered Sawyer's with a broken wooden fence and Erin was just around the corner. That's all it took to make them fast friends.

They spent most of their days sprawled out on Molly's trampoline if they could get to it before her brothers claimed it. Sometimes their presence didn't stop them from invading, jumping among the girls' prone bodies and making them scream and squeal resulting in a turf war. Other days, when it was raining or too hot to be outside they camped out in Jersi's basement playing Just Dance on her hand me down Wii and watching makeup tutorials on YouTube. Jersi's mom was newly single -again- and on a mission to be her 'best self', she was always working out and reading self help books. While she was busy finding her best self she mostly left Jersi to her own devices, making her house the clear choice of hangouts.

One afternoon when they had been pelted by pea sized hail the entire run from the trampoline to Jersi's house and the thunder was so loud and intense it was shaking their teeth, Sawyer plucked one of the self help books from the coffee table. She held it between her thumb and forefingers like a pair of dirty underwear. Say Yes to the Universe the title screamed in bold red letters.

"Say YES to the Universe," Sawyer read dramatically. She flipped the book open to a random page and started reading, "the universe frequently presents you with opportunities to step out of your comfort zone and grow as a person, say yes to it! Say yes to new experiences! Say yes to things that scare you! Say yes to trying new foods, to going sky diving, and to that cute guy that asks you out for coffee!" Sawyer collapsed onto the couch behind her in a fit of giggles. Molly, Iz and Erin laughed with her but Jersi just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, and then before you know it that cute guy is my next step dad," she disappeared behind the fridge door, coming back up with a jug of lemonade.

Later that day after the sky was done with it's temper tantrum, the girls wanted to ride their bikes to the store to spend Molly's babysitting money but they weren't supposed to leave the neighborhood while their parents were working. It wasn't very far, only three blocks further than they were permitted to go and everyone was in for the quick excursion except for Erin.

"I dunno guys," she chewed on her lower lip and held up her wrist. Her chunky watch phone had a tracking device on it and her parents checked her location hourly.

"Leave it here," Jersi urged, reaching to unclasp it for her.

"But..."

"The universe wants you to say yes!" Sawyer exclaimed, throwing her arms out, clearly speaking for the universe.

It started as a joke, "say yes," they'd challenge each other when one of them balked at anything, and it blossomed from there.