Protector - Laurel Dewey [178]
Heather leaned forward, speaking in a confidential tone. “You have to kiss Patty on the lips.”
Emily’s eyes widened in surprise. Mary matched Emily’s reaction. The rest of the girls broke into fits of giddy laughter.
“Heather!” Mary said in shock.
“You agreed to a double dare, Mary!” Heather haughtily said over the cackle of giggles. “Are you going to take back your promise?”
Mary looked at Emily between the eerie shadows that clutched the room. Emily suddenly felt trapped and anxious. “Okay,” Mary said. “I’ll kiss her but it won’t be like a boyfriend.” Mary leaned closer to Emily, who directed her attention toward the ceiling of floating stars.
Part of Emily was in that room and part of her was someplace far away. She focused on the star-filled ceiling and the familiar sound of “Nessun Dorma” rising above the sound of the crashing waves and wind. She felt Mary’s warm lips touch hers but she didn’t react. Her body was lifting out of her physical skin and drifting behind the thin veil of reality.
Heather watched Emily with great interest, not sure what to make of her unusual reaction. She expected something else. She wanted to see a jolting reflex or disgust for the kiss and she wasn’t getting it. Mary pulled back as Emily kept focusing on the ceiling. “So, Patty,” Heather said, “is Mary a good kisser?” Emily remained faraway, not moving a muscle or blinking an eye. “Patty!” Heather said loudly. Emily still didn’t react. “My, my!” Heather smugly said. “I think Patty’s in love!”
The girls, save for Mary, erupted into a rowdy chorus of laughter. The raucous sound brought Emily partly back into reality.
“Heather!” Mary said. “That’s mean!”
“I’m just kidding!” Heather said offhandedly. “She knows I’m kidding! Right, Patty?”
Emily was still not completely back inside her body. “Yeah . . . Sure . . .”
Heather nonchalantly sat back on her sleeping bag and stole a glance toward the kitchen. In the glow of the kitchen night-light, she saw Jane lighting a cigarette and opening the sliding door. Jane stepped outside and closed the door behind her. Heather turned back to the group with a devilish grin. “Okay, Mary. It’s your turn. Remember though, that you have to ask the question to the person on your right-hand side.”
Mary looked to her right where Emily sat. “Can’t I go to the left for a change.”
“No! We always go counterclockwise, which is to the right!” Heather said impatiently. “Go!”
Mary turned to Emily and reluctantly asked, “Truth or dare?”
Emily remembered Jane’s words regarding not letting anything slip out of her mouth by mistake. As much as she didn’t want to kiss another girl, she had only one response for Mary. “Dare?”
Heather looked both relieved and brimming with sinister intent. She snuck another quick glance toward the kitchen and saw that Jane had moved farther into the darkness of the backyard. “Go on, Mary! Make up a dare!”
Mary hemmed and hawed, which irritated Heather. “I don’t know. I’m not good at making up dares.”
“I’ll help you out if you want,” Heather quickly said.
“Okay.”
“How ’bout ‘Blind Man’s Hide and Seek’?”
“Yeah, that’s a good one,” Mary agreed.
“What’s that?” Emily asked.
“We put a blindfold over your eyes, spin you around and then we hide and you try to find us without taking off the blindfold,” Heather explained.
The whole thing sounded fine to Emily. “Okay,” she said, standing up. “What are we gonna use for a blindfold?”
“How about a dish towel?” Heather forcefully suggested. The girls agreed. “I’ll get it!” Heather announced, popping to her feet and creeping into the darkened kitchen. Taking a quick look around the room, she grabbed a dish towel. Heather then hunkered near the floor and saw Jane standing outside in the center of the backyard with her back to the closed sliding door. Reaching to the side of the wall, Heather took the wooden dowel and inconspicuously placed it in the track of the glass door to prevent the door from opening. She slowly backed up out of the kitchen and returned to the living room. “Here’s the towel!” she said, tossing