Dared

Chapter 15

After what feels like an hour, I stop. My legs are roaring with pain and my breath comes out in loud rags. I look around at the unfamiliar neighborhood that I am in.

Neatly trimmed hedges and perfect lawns spread on both sides of the road. Far away a sprinkler spews water leisurely.

My heart is a thundering mess and my back is soaked with sweat. I bet I stink like a dirty barn. The last of my physical strength is begging me to lie down. I flop onto a well-pruned lawn and lie on my back.

The night is silent, save for my raging heart and loud panting that come out like a dog lapping water. I clutch the side of my stomach where a strange pain has begun to develop. When it starts numbing me, my mind spins into action.

Kara's image flashes across my eyes, her bright smile, the warm coffee like orbs of her eyes, peering at me from below her lashes. And then she is replaced by Dylan, Noah, and Wayne all laughing at me, throwing diapers my way.

The intensity of the laughs multiplies by the second, hurting my brain. I badly want to scream to the night. But I hold it back in fear of choking on my own breath.

I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.

Everyone's probably calling me a coward by now. I can imagine Kara laughing, as she relates the tale of me taking off, to Hailey.

"Don't mind that coward! He's a baby! Someone like Nick can be a way better friend to you than the big doofus Jenkins!" Hailey's voice rings in my mind.

I press my palms to my ear, writhing around on the grass praying that the voices would stop.

Please!

My eyes sting with tears, and my heart feels like an old steam engine screaming for life. Once my breathing has returned to normal, I lay still, letting the strange feeling of doom numb every part of my body.

Maybe it's the run or maybe it's the beer, but I feel like half of my body is inside a hot furnace.

The knots in my stomach tighten, making me want to puke.

A dog howls in the distance and the sprinkler is still spraying water into the silent night. I wish I can shut the thoughts raging inside me.

I don't want to lose Kara. She's the best thing that has happened to me. She is the only person that has made me feel alive. And I don't want to let her go!

To see her in the locker room and pretend that she is a stranger would rip my insides out. The thought of going a day without seeing her eyes would kill me. And what hurts me the most is the fact that after Monday, the warmth in them would be gone.

And when I look at them I'll see no warmth, like a cold cup of coffee.

It pains me to think that, and I do all that I can to rip the image out of my mind.

My leg buzzes. I pull my phone out and sure enough, the caller ID says Kara. Her picture appears on the screen, with her bright eyes crinkled with a wide smile.

I watch her picture, not knowing what to do. The call ends but immediately buzzes with another. Kara.

The look of worry in her eyes fills my mind. I don't want to scare her or make her think that I ran away. Hell, that's the last thing I want her to think.

I answer the call.

"Brian?"

"Hey," I say, my voice small. It echoes in the silent night.

"Thank Goodness! What happened? Is anything wrong?"

My heart feels like a ceramic plate hitting the floor and my stomach burns with a fire I can't explain. "No, everything is alright," I whisper.

I can hear her sigh, "Oh Thank Goodness!"

Her smile materializes in my mind and I do all that I can to cling to that image. It feels like ice on a blistering burn. Numbing. But better.

"What happened, Brian?" she asks slowly, her voice laced with anxious caring.

"I don't know, I guess that I - I guess that I needed a run," I say slowly pulling myself to a sitting position.

"Oh," she says, "I hoped that helped with taking all the adrenaline out of the system. I guess today's win can be a lot overwhelming."

Silence ensures for a few beats before I blow a "Yes."

"Where are you?"

I look around at the neighborhood which is slightly familiar than I think but my mind is doing a poor job locating it in my memory.

I honestly don't know.

"Uh, just nearby," I say.

"Good," I can hear the smile in her voice, "Are you coming back?"

"Yeah."

I end the call and push my phone into my pocket. This might be the last day that I hang out with Kara Merrick and I am going to make it the best.

Rising to my feet, I begin to walk towards where I came from. Setting my GPS tracker to the lake, I follow it's instructions out of the neighborhood.

Turns out I circled the same block seven minutes from the lake, for a good half of my run.

The party at the lake is louder than ever when I return. The music has toned down to soft blues as kids mingle around eating barbecue and drinking beer.

I stay closer to the trees, watching the scene hoping to spot Kara. She's with another cheerleader on a picnic towel, listening to what the other girl is talking about.

Her eyes wander to the trees now and then, and they spot me. They brighten up instantly, as she excuses herself from the conversation to make her way towards me.

She is beautiful with the dim lights creating shadows of her eyelashes on her cheeks. Her smile widens as she comes closer to me.

"The run was good?" she grins

"Very," I tell her.

"Oh, of course, you had a very good run," she pulls herself onto her toes to wipe grass off my hair.

If I smell funky, she decides to evade mentioning it. I hope that she does not mind the faint stench of dog urine spewing off my clothes.

She is still in my jersey and it looks perfect on her. Especially when she goes around flashing my name on her back.

She looks perfect and everything feels perfect when she smiles up at me. And the thought of losing all that rips my insides in half.

Kara Merrick might begin to consider me a stranger, come Monday. I have to remember her the way that she deserves to be remembered.

With a bright smile and warmth radiating off her eyes. Just like a warm cup of coffee. Before the burn in my stomach could reach higher and make me puke all over myself, I take a swift step towards Kara, tilting her chin up and pressing a kiss to her lips.

It takes a second for her to react, but her lips start moving along with mine.

She tastes of barbecue and sauce. My mind silences after weeks of its torturous ravings. And fills it with thoughts of Kara.

Pulling back, her eyes are glazed and she looks slightly shocked. A shudder runs down my spine, anticipating her next move.

The smile breaking on her lips sends the sweetest shudders through my body.

"I'm sorry, Kara. I'm falling for you and there is no way I can hold it in any longer."

Her smile widens and her cheeks blush pink. She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear, "You don't have to be sorry. I am falling for you too, Brain and in fact, I was hoping that you'd kissed me sooner"

My heart warms from the inside. This is the best day of my life.