Read Dare Me for Free Online

this.
    “Today we will be jumping off the Wash Kill Bridge, into what is known around here as the Gorge.” Ricky motions for me to pan, so I do.
    The camera follows a line over the railing and down to the water below. Ricky continues.
    “The jump is estimated at seventy-five feet into a moving river, depth unknown. There’s only a twenty-foot width of water at this point, so we can’t waver in either direction.”
    I pan up the walls of the far ledge and my heart pounds in my chest. I return to Ricky’s smiling face.
    “To add a true element of danger, we will be jumping blindfolded.” Ricky holds out the napkin and motions to John.
    I zoom in on him and he’s calming himself, holding his breath and letting it out slow. The napkin is tied around his head and he looks more like some prisoner of war than my friend. I feel awful for what I’ve made him do.
    “Now, let’s test to make sure he can’t really see.” Ricky holds up his phone and has pulled up a pic of some model in a bikini. There’s no way John won’t react if he sees a little skin. Ricky walks over to the railing.
    “How many fingers am I holding up?” Ricky places the phone in front of John’s face.
    “Funny. I bet one.” He doesn’t say anything about the model.
    Ricky cocks his head and shrugs, then steps back and squares to the camera.
    “Without further ado.” Ricky steps back to John, saying something to him, and John stands while Ricky holds his elbow. He releases John and my knees wobble. John’s stooped, and this looks like it’s going to end badly. I want to scream for him to stop but I don’t.
    Ricky counts. “In five, four, three, two, one . . .”
    John straightens, presses his arms to his sides, and jumps into the air like he’s on the edge of a pool. I hold the camera on him, and he seems to hover, his mouth working like a fish. In an instant he’s gone, and I’m following his splash in the water below.
    He surfaces, the napkin blown off his face, and screams, “Yeah, woo hoo! What’s up now?”
    We cheer and it takes all I have to stay focused on him and not lose my shit screaming my head off. Ricky rushes over, grabs the camera like I’m handing him a football, and sprints across the bridge. He crouches along the rock ledge and shouts questions to John. I hear pieces of what John’s saying, mostly, “Awesome,” and, “I’d do it again.”
    John and Ricky cross the street, and John shakes like a dog when he’s close to us. “How you like me now? Yeah.”
    “Nice work,” I say and pound fists with him.
    Ricky clasps my shoulder. “You’re up.”
    I look over at the bridge and my stomach knots.
    “Don’t hesitate, Ben. Just go for it,” John says. I don’t argue, only nod, and in a moment I’m on the railing and Ricky has tied the napkin around my eyes. Everything is black and Ricky asks John,“Ready?”
    I’m not.
    “All you have to do is stand and hop.” Ricky’s voice tickles my ear.
    Goose bumps rise along my neck as I feel Ricky’s hand beneath my elbow. I rise with him and stand.
    I can hear the water rushing below. I can feel the gentle whip of breeze. I’m trying to get calm, to find my zone of relaxation. Then something rumbles and my legs wobble.
    “Shit. Car. Sit down, Ben.” Ricky’s at my side again, grabbing my elbow. My stomach lurches, but he pulls me to the railing. I sit and go to rip off my napkin, but his hand is at my wrist. “Hold up.”
    The bridge rumbles with the car and the brakes squeak. “Hey, what you all doing?” Sounds like a local hick.
    “Filming a movie for school. You know, class project about the Gorge?” Ricky’s voice is smooth.
    “Is that right? Why you all wearing masks? And dressed the same? And why is that boy sitting on the railing? That’s dangerous. Kid got killed ’bout three years back jumping. You ain’t doing that now, are you?”
    I want to take the napkin off and for this to be over. I want to thank the man for stopping and then