1. The Dare

My mouth hung open. "Can you repeat?"

Jasmine was just smiling evilly as Emma pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. "Well you have to go to a guy and tell him that you've missed him, and you have to touch his arm seductively. We have to choose a guy with big muscles," she looked around her for a brief moment and my heart stopped as I saw her gaze stop on Nathan Ferrera. I knew I shouldn't have told her about my little crush on the red Ferrari owner. She looked back at me, grinning, "Him."

I knew that if I had begged a little, they would have let me pass on that dare with a small punishment, but I didn't like to be shy Edith. I wasn't shy Edith anymore; ever since I hung out with the girls, to be honest. So I decided to do it. I wanted to prove to them that I could be like them. I mean, what could go wrong?

"Okay, I'll do it," I said with confidence. Emma and Jasmine smiled at me and shoved me in the direction of Nathan Ferrera and his 'clan'. I was a bit nervous as I approached him; my hands were shaking so I hid them behind my back. The fact that he wasn't alone wasn't helping but I knew I could do this. The big one let out a wolf whistle as I stopped in front of them, and I smiled at him. The not so big one looked confused and was watching me curiously.

I looked at Nathan and he had an eyebrow raised. "Hello, Edith," he said. Aww… how sweet of him. I almost laughed in his face.

"Hi, Nathan," Time to use my hands. I held up one hand on his arm and traced my fingertips on his strong muscles. It was a good thing he had a sleeveless shirt because it would have been funny watching me touching his sleeves. The contact of my hand on his bare skin almost made me jump backward, but I managed to stay still.

"I've missed you," I said, looking him in the eyes, trying hard not to laugh or blush. I made a pretty good job because he looked confused.

"I've missed you, too," he said nonetheless. I wanted to burst out laughing. It was the first time he was talking to me and he had missed me. I smiled instead. "Umm… Edith, this is Alex and Ross. Ross, Alex, this is Edith," he said pointing to the right person.

"Nice to meet you, guys," I told them. They nodded.

"Um... may I accompany you to class?" Nathan offered after an awkward silence.

"Sure," I said. "Bye, guys." I looked at Emma and Jasmine as I passed by them, and they gave me a thumps up behind Nathan's back. We reached my next class and I looked up at him.

"See you later," I said.

"Yeah," he answered. With one last look at me, he left.

I sat down on my seat and sighed. He probably thought I was retarded. Screw my chance with him. Barely a minute passed before the girls joined me. We were very early so they would have all the time to question me.

"You were fabulous!" Emma squealed and hugged me tightly.

"How sweet of him to walk you to class," Jasmine said.

"Sweet. Ugh! I bet he thinks I'm retarded," I frowned.

"Silly Edith. I'm sure he doesn't," Emma said. "And at least you did the dare." Well that was surely a satisfaction.

About halfway through the class, a small piece of paper landed in my lap. I opened it and read.

Want to do something this weekend? We could go watch a movie – Taylor.

I looked at Taylor from behind and I saw him smile. I shook my head slightly. He raised an eyebrow, and I sighed. I scribbled back on the paper.

Sorry Taylor. I've already planned something with Emma and Jasmine. Maybe some other time – Edith.

I passed the paper on to him, and looked back at the teacher. Just before class ended, I saw a piece of paper shot right in front of me and land on the floor. The teacher was on his feet at once and picked it up. Unfortunately, he was one of the teachers who read the notes out loud.

"Edith, care to come with me to the dance next Friday? From Tyler. How sweet. Detention today, Tyler. Miss Miller, do you have something to say?"

"I wasn't sending any notes, Sir," I said innocently. The teacher quickly announced the end of the class and I mouthed "Sorry" to Tyler.

I gathered my books and made my way out of the class. "I have the perfect dare for you," Emma announced, appearing instantly at my side. "You have to say no to every invitation to a date, and you have to give a new excuse each time. Considering how popular you are among the boys of this school, I think it might be fun to watch what you come up with."

This might actually be fun, I thought. "How much time?" I asked.

"You've got one week. The dare ends next Friday," Jasmine added. "And to make you more creative, if you give in or if you can't find a suitable excuse, we are going to sell your car."

"What?" I gasped. "No way!"

"You don't care for your truck, then?" Emma asked innocently.

I glared at her. "I mean 'no way, I'm going to win this dare'; but what do I get if I win?"

"No more makeovers for a month," Jasmine said. Emma stared at her in disbelief but Jasmine patted her back gently. "You'll survive; and don't forget if she fails, we can sell that old, rusty car." She looked at me. "Deal?" she extended her arm.

I took her hand and shook it, as Emma pouted beside us.

"Deal," I said.

I left the girls and told them I would meet them later at Emma's place. I hopped in my truck and made my way home, more determined than ever. I was going to win and Emma wouldn't be allowed to put any of her face paint on me or force me to try on clothes all day for a whole month. Plus, I was going to keep my truck. This was going to be one of the easiest and most rewarding dares I had ever done. I was used to tell the boys of my school 'no', after all. I mean, what could go wrong?