Read Dare Me for Free Online Page B

the note on the table:
    Ben,
    Didn’t want to wake you. We’re going out for groceries and to run some errands.
    See you later. Hope you found the bacon in the microwave.
    Mom
    Shit, yes! In the clear. All I have to do is figure out a story, and I’ve got plenty of time. First, I’m showering and hitting the sheets. Next time we do a dare, it won’t be at six in the morning.
    I shower, crawl back into bed, and close my eyes, but I can’t drift off. All I can see is that view from beneath the water. I try to shake the image away but it doesn’t help. I grab my phone and text John: U okay?
    He texts back a moment later: Yeah. What about your head?
    No worries, just a cut.
    Good. U working tonight?
    Yeah. Swing by.
    Maybe tonight I’ll let him know what’s up with Dad’s job and all. Least he’ll be clued in to another bit of my motivation. But I still need to tell Ricky I might ruin all of this for us by moving. He’s going to fly off the handle, like his dad.
    I slide my phone onto my nightstand and roll over, burying my head in pillows, and soon enough, am out.
    —
    “Ben! Ben! Jesus, it’s one o’clock. Get up.” Mom’s voice accompanies the removal of my pillows. She gasps. “What happened?”
    Shit, I never came up with an excuse.
    “I, uh, hit it during the night. Fell off the bed.”
    She looks at me like I told her my imaginary friend tried to perform brain surgery.
    “Maybe I was sleepwalking?” I turn away because even I’m barely buying this.
    “Right. Okay. You can tell me what really happened when you’re awake. You’ve got to be at work at 3:00 so you may want to get moving.” She settles my pillows and gives me a concerned look.
    I nod and rub my eyes. “How were your errands?”
    She doesn’t answer. I look up, expecting her to be gone, but she’s standing there looking like I asked her about the meaning
of life.
    “Mom?”
    She jumps. “What? Oh, right. Fine. Just fine. Now get out
of bed.”
    She leaves in a huff and I wonder what that was all about, but there’s no point in trying to understand. They’ve been weird all week, and I’m sure the end of the month will only be worse. I lay back and grab my phone.
    There’s a text from Ricky: Video’s ready.
    I scramble out of bed and turn on my computer. My leg thrums while I wait. I log on and pull down the bookmark and there it is, Dare #2. I watch and it scares the hell out of me all over again. It’s worse than watching the surfing, which is ridiculous, because I know none of us got hurt. Not really. But seeing it now, how close we were to the ledge, how high up it was, and how ridiculous the blindfold made it, I cringe.
    But we’ve got hits. We’re already over five hundred views. The comments are pouring in, and all are giving us props.
    I text Ricky: Nice job. O. P. happy? I’m sure he got in touch with him first.
    Off the charts. We’re making some loot. Says he’ll know how much by Monday.
    Sweet. I don’t ask for more. I’m going to enjoy this for now and see what happens.
    —
    Mom didn’t check on my cut again because she and Dad spent the afternoon having one intense conversation. The last I caught of it was Dad at the kitchen table, hunched over, Mom hovering with her hands at her hips. I heard him say, “I don’t know if we can swing it.” She sighed, and I told them I was leaving. Neither said a word to me.
    I pull into Pizza and More, and Chuck’s throwing bags into the Dumpster. I climb out, grab two that are sitting by the back door, and toss them in.
    “Thanks, Doc.”
    “No problem.” I turn to head in, but Chuck stops me.
    “No, no, no. Explain.” He points to his forehead.
    “Oh, that? Yeah, craziest thing. I must have fallen out of bed or something. I woke up with this.”
    Chuck frowns. “Really?”
    I should have spent more time on this. I look away. “Yeah. Ridiculous, right?”
    “I think ridiculous fits.”
    I look at him and he hits me with a hard glare, but then smiles.