Dared

Chapter 04

On Wednesday, I'm determined to let Kara know that I am serious. So before heading to school, I empty a vase in Mom's bedroom and carefully carry it to my car.

The flowers smell good and look fresh. I hope that Kara likes flowers.

I want her to like flowers. Walking into the locker room is surprisingly hard when you have to protect a bunch of flowers from wild kids who seem to want to squash against it for no reason.

Kara sees me first, shoving two kids aside as I walk over to her, sporting a huge grin. She stares at the flowers in my hand for a full minute until I come to a halt beside her.

She looks a bit dazed when I hand them to her, "For you. I hope you like them."

She smiles at the flowers, softly stroking the petals, and breaks into a grin, "Thank you. They are beautiful."

"But not as beautiful as you," I say

Her smile drops as she fixes her eyes on me, giving me a don't-you-dare-try-that-crap-on-me look.

"Alright," I say, raising my hands in surrender, "Message received."

"Good," Kara says.

She goes back to lightly stroking the petals, her lips parting into a smile.

She gives me a narrow-eyed look, "How did you know that I liked lilies?"

Okay. So they were lilies. And Kara liked them. Great job, Brian.

"I told you that I know you," I wink.

And sure enough, she does not buy that. Kara Merrick is very hard to please. She raises her eyes, unmoved with my charming grin.

"Okay, fine," I shrug, "I took them off Mom's dressing table. I guess she brought them last night. She buys those flowers all the time. It's like an obsession."

I lean against the locker next to Kara's while she ogles the flowers.

"Your Mom loves lilies?"

"Er...hard to say. I mean, I don't know a lot about flowers. But she does like flowers in general."

She smiles, shaking her head.

"So, Kara Merrick. Can I have that address I'm looking for?" I grin again.

She laughs, opening her locker to stuff her bag.

"You owe me that, you know?" I ask.

"What for?" she shuts her locker, turning to face me.

"The flowers, of course. I got you those," I point to the bouquet that she is holding.

"No, your Mom did," she counters.

"But I brought them to school," I say with a scoff, "Do you know how hard it was, walking in here without squashing all those?"

She laughs again, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

The shrill ring of the bell sounds overhead, and the soft lull of the locker room turns fierce as students push each other away in their hurry to rush to class.

Kara cradles the bouquet in her arms like a baby and starts walking out of the locker room. I follow her outside, but she turns left instead of right.

"Merrick, wrong way!" I holler.

"I have squad practices today. Good luck with Mr. Kendrick, Brain," her eyes widen dramatically, "And Oh, don't forget that letter from the admissions office."

She smiles mischievously, before turning around and heading towards the grounds. Her hair bounces behind her with each step.

I tear my eyes off her and manage to pick my jaw off the ground.

What the heck?

Never falter, Brian.

But, I guess the lilies worked their magic on Kara, because when I show up to her locker on Thursday she is in her cheerleading costume, leaning against her locker. She has her arms crossed over her chest, watching me as I make my way towards her.

"Where are the flowers today?"

Crap!

I run a palm through my hair instantly regretting it. It messed up the hair I took over an hour to tame.

Kara laughs, at my discomfort, her shoulders shaking.

"Well, no flowers today," I suck my bottom lip into my mouth, giving her an apologizing look.

"Well that's too bad," she grins, "I was planning on trading my address for flowers today."

I raise my eyebrows at her, at which she tosses me a small smirk.

"Well, I guess I'll have to find some flowers right?" I say

"Right," she bites down on her lip hiding a smile.

I groan, my shoulders slumping as I manage to push myself against the locker next to Kara's.

That's a bummer. She steals a glance at my face, waiting for me to say something.

"How about a compromise?" I say suddenly jerking off the locker and coming to stand in front of her, "A sort of a trade-off. A different one. Like, say, I'll buy you something nice in exchange for your address."

I raise my eyebrows suggestively.

"No chance, Jenkins," she says pushing off her locker.

"Oh, come on," I say pouting at her, at which she breaks into a grin.

"Well," she looks at me intently, "I'm going to the art gallery tomorrow for research on the essay for Mr. Kendrick. You can come if you want."

Not an address, exactly. But still, it is progress, right?

"You mean like a date?" I ask her

She is already walking towards the exit of the locker room. She tosses a shy smile over her shoulder, before disappearing in the mass of students crowding the locker rooms.

Okay. So that's a date. I'm already feeling the pump in winning this dare.

It's excellent.