The Dare

Part 1

"You know what I heard? I heard her sister's a nut. Batshit crazy."

"Well, I heard her sister's a vampire. She killed their parents and kept their corpses 'til they rotted." 

"Ew! That's disgusting!"

"I'm just telling it like I heard it."

"No way that's true! That's insane!"

"It's got to be. Have you ever seen her parents?"

"Maybe they're just shy. Like hermit crabs."

"Or maybe they're dead. Maybe her sister stuffed them and kept them in the attic like in that movie 'Psycho'."

"Maybe she ate her parents!"

"I heard she howls at the moon and worships Satan. And at night she goes out into the woods and hunts. I even heard that she'll eat dogs if she finds them."

"Oh my gosh. I'm going to be sick."

So this is what Jake got for mentioning Robin Reed... again. Sheesh, all he'd said was that she looked pretty today. He sighed.

"You guys are crazy. Just because she's kinda shy-" They all turned to look at him.

"She's crazy! Everyone knows it!" Shelly piped up.

"That family's pretty weird, man." Michael added.

"I was talking about Robin. She's really nice. And smart, too." All three nodded. Even these girls at his lunch table had no quarrel with her: she was kind to everyone.

"That doesn't cover up the fact that her sister's a loon." Ethan said, laughing.

"You've never even met her. I'm sure she's just quiet, or maybe she's home sick." 

"Maybe. But you've never met her either. How can you be so sure?" Michael said.

"I don't know. She just seems like a nice girl. I'm sure her family is just as nice. Maybe they're just... hermits."

"Jake, you're always defending her-" Ethan started.

"So?" His friend sighed in annoyance.

"Let me finish, wouldya? Dude, everyone knows you like her. Just ask her out already, jeez."

"What? I can't do that-"

"And why not?" Michael asked.

"I don't even know her that well."

"If you ask her out, you'll get to know her. Problem solved, huh?" Shelly smiled encouragingly.

"I can't just ask her out!" 

"Sure you can. In fact... let's make it interesting-" Ethan began.

"No, we're definitely not doing whatever is about to come out of your mouth."

"You didn't even let me finish yet!"

"I don't need to let you finish. I already know it'll be stupid." Michael snickered, earning him a glare from Ethan.

"Go ask her out. Invite her to go watch a movie Saturday. And then, once you bring her home afterwards-"

"Christ, Ethan, keep your sick bullshit to yourself!" By this point, everyone was laughing but Ethan.

"Let me finish! I was going to say that you should go check out her sister."  Silence fell. Naturally, the first one to speak up was Shelly.

"Do it, Jake. That's the only way you can see if it's true or not, yeah?"

"So wait: you guys want me to go out with this girl and try to sneak a peek at her sister-who is probably just sick or handicapped-to make sure she's not a werewolf or a cannibal or something?" He laughed. "You guys are crazy if you think I'm going to do that."

"...It's not a bad idea, you know." Michael mumbled.

"What?"

"Well, come on, it's not like it'd hurt anybody." He shrugged. "What's the harm?"

"That's just messed up, you guys. I'm not doing that."

"Oh yeah?" Ethan leaned in closer. "Well, I dare you to." Silence again.

They'd all been friends since grade school. They knew that Jake never backed down from a dare. He refused to, not even when they dared him to jump off of the monkey bars and he broke his arm, or when they dared him to strip down to his underwear in front of Shelly (much to her horror, at the time).

They all stared at him.

"...I'm not going to hurt her. Is that clear?" They all nodded. "Alright, fine. Just don't let it get around school, I don't want her to hear about it." They nodded again and then the conversation immediately switched to something else-sports or something. Jake's mind was still on Robin.