Truth or dare," She asked me as we sat on the bench waiting for the bus.
Soccer had just let out and I had run into Helga there while waiting for the bus I'd missed. It was a nice day outside, a cool autumn one with the smell of freshly fallen leaves coating the ground in a carpet of crisp copper crunching under one's feet as they walk.
I'd only just sat down beside her, our small-talk having withered away with the sun as it set for the day just behind the trees that made up our local park across the street.
"You wanna play a game while we wait?" She'd asked, and without hesitation, I'd agreed- only because if Helga was suggesting it... it was sure to be well worth my time.
So I'd thought.
"Well? You gonna answer or have you already chickened out?" She teased, a smile bright on her face.
"Truth." I replied, her eye roll giving me a mild anxiety attack.
"Figures. Goody-Goody Awnold can't take a risk and pick DARE." She wriggled in her seat a bit before thinking and nodding her head as she spoke. "How long did it take you to get that free trip to San Lorenzo?"
I smirked. "A few months. I sent a lot of letters."
"And they wrote back?" She asked while turning to look at me.
I shrugged with a smile. "Guess so. Why do you ask? You looking for somebody?"
"Nah just... just curious. What did the letter say?" she pressed but I shook my head.
"Nope. It's your turn," I said with a sly smile. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare. DOI. Dare me up. Do your worst." She crossed her arms smugly over her chest and leaned back a bit while waiting for my next move.
My eyes danced around the surrounding area. I should have known Helga would pick a dare. As predictable as I was with the 'safe' answer of Truth, she was just as predictable with her 'safe' pick of Dare. It was easy for Helga to do silly and outrageous things, no sweat. But opening up to somebody... now that was a different thing entirely.
"I dare you to..." I dragged out the vowel as I searched for a unique idea. "I dare you to lick your elbow."
She scoffed. "That's it? That's all you got? THAT'S your worst?"
"What? It's funny."
"Because I can't reach it? You need to open up your humor window, bucko. That's about as funny as watching paint dry."
I chuckled but held firm on my dare-stance. "C'mon Helga, you have to admit- you laughed pretty hard when it happened to Chocolate Boy."
She dropped her arms to her sides to hold the edge of the bench as she leaned over and laughed at the memory. "THAT'S because the doofus had melted malted milk balls all over his damn elbow and the kid wouldn't just WASH it off. 'Waste of chocolate.' Criminy."
This seemed to amuse her for a while before she gave up on her laughter to snarkily say to me, "Pick another one. A NOT lame one."
"Helga..."
"A NOT lame one, please. Dare."
I tilted my head back and thought for a moment about a dare that would really stump Helga- a dare worthy of her willingness to comply with whatever that d-word told her she had to do.
A smile lit up my face and I looked at her knowingly while said with a firm tone, "I DARE you to pick truth next time."
This took her for a surprise and she stumbled a bit at what the proper response should be. "Pi-pick, pick TRUTH next time? S-sheesh ARNOLDO, that's the LAMEST dare YET!"
"If it's so lame... then just do it. How about THAT, Helga G. Pataki?" I retorted, a laugh lacing my smooth baritone voice.
"Truth... huh?" She asked after a moment; the word shakily falling off of her lips and into the air around me.
"Yeah, Truth. You have to pick truth."
She pulled out her phone and glanced at the home screen blinking 5:44pm in her face as we waited for the 5:50pm bus. "Fine. I'll pick truth next round. Your turn."
Sticking my nose in the air, I made my decision- again. "I pick truth. Again."
"Geez ya little weasel, we should have just played 20 question at this rate. You're absolutely no fun, Hair Boy."
I kept my eyes on her though and waited for her question almost impatiently.
"Okay smart guy," she began while twisting her body to sit sideways on the bench so she could look at me full-on. "Why do you want me to pick truth so dang bad? The REAL reason, not some lame football-headed excuse. What's so special about ME picking truth?"
I copied her movements to sit mirroring her with my body twisting to face her. "Because you'll never talk to me candidly any other way. This way... you kind of have to."
"Let's get one thing cleared up here bucko- I don't HAVE to do ANYthing I don't WANT to."
"Right. You don't." I agreed, though she continued without stopping.
"And if I don't WANT to answer your silly little question, I certainly don't have to. Got that? Dare be damned." She was glaring at me, but behind her blue eyes focused hard on me I could see a twinge of fear that I'd come to know so well in my 17 years of life I'd spent around Helga G. Pataki.
"Of course, Helga. Is it my turn now?"
She glanced at her phone again, 5:48 blinking at her. "Sure. Shoot your oh-so-important question. I'm all ears"
I could hear the roaring of the bus approaching us, my time quickly running out.
"It wasn't heat of the moment. Was it?" I asked, my voice louder than I'd wanted but still shaky and nervous as it fluttered out of my mouth.
"Wh-what?" She asked, her cheeks hinting at a pink that matched the sleeves of her baseball tee.
"You heard me." It was a cheap shot, but I wasn't sure my racing heart couldn't handle repeating the question I'd asked myself for years any more times than need be.
"Uh..." She was struggling, her tongue seemingly dry as she continuously licked her lips in nervousness. "I... don't know what you're talking about."
"Helga, it was your dare. You have to answer it's-"
But she cut me off. "I said I didn't HAVE to alrig-"
I kept prying though, "-a DARE, Helga, you have to answer. Why won't you-"
But she wouldn't give up"-ht? And why do you even care? It was-"
"-just answer the question?" I stopped, her words trailing to a finish just after mine.
"-like a million years ago! Move on already!" She took a deep breath to calm herself, the bus pulling up to us and slowly halting with a noticeable jerk.
Helga scrambled to pick up her backpack and escape our tense situation, but her bag hadn't zipped all the way and as she swung it around to hook on her shoulder, all of her papers scattered through the wind in every direction.
"Criminy! Is this a joke?!" She cursed out while dropping her bag and chasing after a few sheets of white as they danced in the wind.
Without a second thought, I followed suit; dropping my bag full of dirty soccer uniforms and following after her to help pick up her runaway homework.
By the time we'd collected it all, the bus had given up on us; the schedule it was on too strict for the driver to want to wait for two teenage kids playing tag with assignments, worksheets and doodles.
I walked to Helga who was trying to organize her stack that was wrinkled from gripping the papers so tightly. "I think we got most of them." I said nodding down to my arms that held more papers crumpled and clutched tightly to my chest.
She pursed her lips and sighed before reaching up to take a few of the papers. "Thanks." her reply was glum; almost in defeat.
One by one she took the papers and organized them into a semi-neat stack that she brought to her backpack to shove inside with little care; then slung the backpack over her shoulder. I watched on hesitantly; my thoughts unsure as to what we would do now that we missed the bus.
The school we'd walked from was nearly five miles from our houses. And the next bus didn't come for another twenty minutes.
We meandered our way back to the bench and carefully sat down beside each other, my words still floating through the air and through our minds.
It wasn't in the heat of the moment. Was it?
The sounds of the city filled the silence that wedged it's way between us like an unwelcome stranger on the bus stop bench. Each melody of honking, hollering, tires skidding and police wailing wavered through the air from the distance and into my suddenly-sensitive ears. I found myself lost in the noises of the world around us- so lost that 6:10 went from 20 minutes away to only a few minutes away in a short span of time; Helga finally speaking to break the ice from where she sat only inches away.
"Why'd you pick that question." It was a statement. She wasn't asking- she was demanding
I cleared my hoarse throat, "Because I want to know."
"Bull. You want the answer, you're going to have to give me a lot more than that."
She had my attention. I'd always wanted the answer to this question, even if I knew what it would be in my deepest of inner-thoughts. The only difference was that I wanted the answer from Helga herself, not just mine and Gerald's ridiculous theories that plagued my head day in and day out.
"Because I never believed it. Even when I suggested it I knew it wasn't true."
"So why do you need an answer then? Sounds like you already have one."
She turned her head slowly to look at me, her eyes looking directly into mine- Forlorn. Lost. Scared.
"I want to hear it from you. Heat of the moment... or not?"
The rumbling of the bus' engine roared from down the street; it's blinking lights waving for us to get ready to board- though we refused to move.
"You know," she began as she peeled her eyes from mine to mindlessly gather her things once again "it WAS YOU who offered that and all. The 'heat of the moment' thing."
"I know."
"In FACT..." her voice was borderline playful, and I couldn't read the expression of hers that honed in on me as we sat "...I was going to tell you the truth. I was ready to give it up. But you knew that. Didn't you?"
The brakes from the bus pushed down as the elephant-sized vehicle slowed to it's stopping point just ahead of us. Helga stood to stand, but instead turned away to walk in the direction of her house.
"Where are you going?" I asked while standing and taking a few steps towards the open and inviting doors of the bus; the driver looking out at me impatiently as I hesitated.
"I think I'll just walk home. Its kinda nice out and all." She shrugged lazily and continued to walk, though her pace seemed slower than usual and I thought I caught her blue eyes looking over at me as I remained perched and ready to load the bus.
"You gonna get in or what, buddy? I don't got all day," the driver whined, his eyes tired as they glared at me in irritation.
My eyes drifted to Helga who had stopped where she was and stared back at me almost expectantly.
It WAS YOU who offered that and all. The 'heat of the moment' thing.
Was this another chance? Was she giving me my answer?
Could this be another chance to either let her let it all out, or was this going to just be another excuse? Did she want me skip out on the first bus back to the regular scheduled programming of nicknames and spitwads and denying the feelings we both knew were harbored somewhere deep inside our scared teenage souls? Or did she want me to walk with her so she could finish the question I'd posed not just now, but years ago when we were young and naive and afraid of what feelings could possibly mean?
"Come on, kid. You coming on or stayin' here?" The driver asked again, his tone more sympathetic now than it had before.
I took my foot back to stand just outside of the bus and shook my head. "No, no. I uh... I think I'll just walk my friend home. Thank you, though."
With a grumble, the driver slammed the folding doors shut and sped off leaving Helga and me to our five mile walk in it's wake.
Slowly, a smile creeped up on Helga's face and at that look, I knew that I'd taken this second chance in a way I could never have taken the first.
Because this time... I was ready for the answer.
I don't know where this concept came from, but it's another cute way I thought they could maybe one day deal with their confessions or whatever.
Tell me what y'all think! :)