Day 14: Truth or Dare / 20 Questions

Equestrianism

Bobby glanced between Mirtala and Kitty. A handful of campers had come together in the television lounge for a specific game. When Kitty had spun the bottle, it landed on Mirtala, who sat to Chloe's right, much to Bobby's consternation. She had been getting a little too close with his friend, but sitting to Chloe's left, he crossed his arms, deciding it was in his best interest to let the round humiliate Mirtala. If he was lucky, Kitty would've made her run back to the cabin in tears.

Kitty was a mean girl. He knew that from summers in Whispering Rock. They had never gotten along and wouldn't in the foreseeable future. But if there was a trait about Kitty that Bobby respected, it was her cruel craft. No one in camp disliked Mirtala more than Kitty, the comment the circus kid had made about Kitty hiding her body odor with perfume an uproar among the cadets.

Kitty drummed her fingers on her knee. She eyed Mirtala, who stared at the bottle facing her. The corners of her mouth lifting, she jeered, "Okay, try to not chicken out, Mirtala. Truth or dare?"

Mirtala squared her shoulders, her bells jingling as she raised her head. "Truth."

She looked at Franke, who giggled behind her hands. Kitty chuckled with her, both girls observing Mirtala like prey. Bobby had been in the crosshairs of Kitty's gleaming gaze when he was younger and knew how to avoid it, but Mirtala focused all of her attention on Kitty.

Kitty cleared her throat and flashed a grin with too many teeth at Mirtala. "So, did you and your family really not bathe because of your water curse?" she questioned, Bobby noticing how Mirtala tensed.

"Kitty! That's insensitive!" Phoebe snapped. She offered a quick, comforting grin at Mirtala. "You know, there isn't any shame-"

"I asked her a question, and Mirtala has to answer it honestly," Kitty interjected. She traced her thumb across her polished nails. "By the way, I'm still playing by the rules, so keep your nagging to yourself for once."

Phoebe grimaced. "It's still-"

"Hey, the name of the game is truth or dare! Kitty can ask whatever she wants, and asking if Mirtala's family stinks is one of them," Franke added, Phoebe scowling. She rocked in her spot, grabbing her knees. "So, Mirty, what do you have to say?"

As Mirtala growled, JT patted her shoulder. "Don't be shaken up by 'em. We won't make fun of ya."

Mikhail, who had been observing impassively as he sat next to Bobby, reclined further in his bean bag chair. "If anything, we will not judge. Mean girls and bully excluded, of course."

Mirtala sighed, her shoulders sagging. She puffed out her cheeks and clenched her fists. Bobby, although he disliked her, empathized with her aggravation. Kitty was a constant source of grief. Even if they had come to a mutual understanding of 'don't let your arrowhead business interfere with mine,' he still detested Kitty more than anyone else in camp.

"We bathed, obviously," Mirtala finally said. "We just couldn't go in places like the ocean or have the tub full of water."

Kitty frowned, arching a neat eyebrow. "But how did you bathe if-?"

"Nope! I already answered your question. Specifically, you asked-" Mirtala threw up air quotes. "- 'did you and your family really not bathe because of your water curse?'" She stuck out her tongue. "I don't have to tell you any more than that!"

Franke spluttered, throwing her hands out. She jerked between the respondent and her girlfriend, and Bobby cackled into his fist. Kitty was stone-faced, leering at him, before threading her fingers through her hair, evidently deciding it was enough.

As Phoebe laughed, JT lifted the brim of his ten-gallon cattleman. "Well, I tip my hat to you, Tala. Way to figure that one out."

"Clever girl," Mikhail added, sitting upright and clapping a few times.

Chloe hummed, nodding. "It was an interesting use of semantics. You answered exactly as Kitty questioned and nothing more despite what she was insinuating."

"Aw, thanks, Chloe!" Mirtala beamed as she took the glass bottle. Bobby folded his arms, his leg bouncing as she giggled with Chloe, who simply smiled in return.

Mirtala set the bottle back in the middle of their circle. She bobbed her head from side to side, her bells jangling. She twisted it a few times on the floor before spinning it as quickly as she could. She rose to her feet, pressing her knuckles to her chin, her eyes going impossibly wide, the anticipation heightening as the bottle finally slowed.

Bobby blinked. His reflection was elongated in the bottle. It pointed at him like an arrow on a map. He smirked, jagged teeth covering his lower lip. Lifting his head, he sneered, exposing his green gums and challenging her.

Mirtala pivoted on her heels to Bobby. "Okay, Bob-o, truth or dare?"

He hunched forward, contemplating the only choices. Choosing the truth meant answering a potentially embarrassing question. He was already in a room full of people he loathed. Kitty was weaponizing her ammunition the longer everyone spoke, and Franke was somewhat adept in that tactic. He could only imagine the rumors they'd spread on the bulletin board if he hadn't gotten there first with the embarrassing revelations he learned from everyone. He also didn't want Mikhail within earshot of his secrets, as Bobby still stung from the humiliation in the parking lot during the first summer session. And he just didn't want to hear anything from Phoebe, who saw his crude behavior as a crux for his weaknesses and a reason for him to attend her therapy sessions like Crystal.

Chloe gazed up at him. He didn't want Chloe to reel from his secrets. He feared she'd find him far too strange for her tastes and leave. The thought chilled him to the bone, so he leveled his glower at Mirtala and made his choice.

"Dare," he said with full confidence she wouldn't be able to torment him.

Mirtala gasped. She scampered over to him and balanced on her tiptoes. She gestured for him to move, but when Bobby remained still, she rolled her eyes.

"As everyone knows, I'm the prima donna of my circus, and we have a little pony. Too bad for me, though, because Sugarcube belongs to Frazie," Mirtala informed, "which means I never had the chance to have a pony of my own."

The gears in Bobby's head started to turn. JT's mouth dropped. Kitty clapped her hand over her mouth, but he still saw how her cheeks raised to crease the corners of her eyes.

Thrusting her finger at his nose, Mirtala shouted with all the air in her lungs. "So, Bobby, get on your hands and knees, and let me ride on your back! I dare you to be my noble steed!"

Mikhail broke out into a wheezing fit. He hunched forward, smiling so hard that it seemed his cheeks were aching. He choked on laughter, unable to verbalize it. Across from him, Phoebe's face darkened as she stifled her amusement. Squealing, Kitty and Franke grabbed each other's hands, and JT shifted the brim of his hat over his face, having the decency to hide his humor.

Bobby, however, exploded.

"No! Hell no! Ya stinkin'-! I'm gonna make your butt your new face!" he roared, shooting to his feet. He went to snatch her braids only to freeze. He weakly looked at Chloe, and she frowned at him.

"Bobby, enough. Control your aggression," she said, her words cutting him. She sighed. "Your reaction is inappropriate. Don't threaten Tala because you're upset with a reasonable dare."

Bobby withered instantly. His confidence dropped to zero. He glared at Mirtala, who aimed her thumb at the ground. Losing his composure, Bobby collapsed to his knees and pressed his palms to the floorboards, head bowed.

Mirtala jumped on his back. The pressure almost made him buckle. He felt her legs dangling by his ribs. She took a fistful of his hair, the matted build-up so extreme that he barely felt it, and she directed him to the left. And as if his body was controlled by a puppeteer, Bobby crawled in a circle as Mirtala cheered.

"Trot, Bob-o, trot!" she exclaimed, kicking his sides with her heels.

"He's - he's a beaut," JT managed to say over Mikhail's coughing.

"I've never seen that breed before," Phoebe added, her comment smothered by Kitty and Franke's laughter.

Bobby groaned to himself. He wanted to throw Mirtala off with every fiber of his being. But she tilted his head to the right, ordering him to go faster. With a disgruntled growl, Bobby quickened his pace, hands and knees smacking harshly against the floor. His face burned, and sweat beaded his brow, feeling the smaller girl bouncing on his back like he was a true, genuine pony in a carnival petting zoo.

"Whoa, Bob-o! Hold, boy!" she shouted, stopping him in front of Chloe. She swiveled her legs and hopped off, patting his head. "Great work, my noble steed. You can go back to your pen now."

And just like that, it was over. Everyone's laughter died down. Blood rushed between his ears, silencing Kitty's remarks. He shuddered as he shuffled back to his spot, his face purpling in embarrassment like a massive bruise.

"I'm gonna - I'm gonna get you for that," Bobby warned, bristling and burning.

"If the bottle lands on me," she teased, leaning into Chloe. When Chloe simply looked at her, Mirtala seemed to get the hint and fixed her posture.

Chloe patted his arm, her touch calming. "You did well. Perhaps Fathians have similar DNA to horses."

Bobby couldn't find it in him to respond to Chloe's earnest claim. With everyone grinning at him, he snorted and avoided them. Instead, he grabbed the bottle, spun it, and hoped for it to land back on Mirtala.

But his turn never came. As the bottle slowed, Milla caught them past their bedtime and sent everyone back to their cabins. Dismayed, Bobby had no choice but to follow her rules when the others departed. Even Chloe hopped to her feet and ran off.

Only Mirtala stayed behind to walk with Bobby back to their bunks, Milla following close behind. They said nothing as they exited the lodge, walked over the bridge, and marched to their cabins, which was where Milla left them. As Bobby heard JT telling something to the other boys in their hut, Bobby looked over his shoulder to the girls' bunk.

Mirtala was standing in the doorway with Chloe. She waved at him, her arm waggling like a dog's tail. Chloe extended her fingers high into the air, clenched her fists, then performed a series of intricate hand gestures. It was her Cygnan manner of saying good night. Dumbfounded, Bobby held up his hand, unable to fix his expression into anything resembling positivity or negativity.

But when Chloe turned around, Mirtala smirked. She flounced inside the cabin. It took all of Bobby's willpower not to run over to Mirtala and throw her over the cliff. Breathing in deeply, he held it, his chest puffed out, and he exhaled it in a loud, dissatisfied snarl.

If I ever see her stupid brother again, I'm gonna slug him in memory of this moment.