Slumber Party
Chapter Three—Truth in a Dare
All night long Ash had thought that when Misty discovered his little secret, he was going to die. Well, he changed his mind. He wasn't going to die...
...He was dead.
He ducked down execution-style, squatting as he clutched his head, or rather his hair, in a desperate attempt to keep his wig from sliding any further. Any moment now Misty was going to find him out. Maybe it was for the best—it would only hurt for a minute, and then it would all be over. For that matter, maybe the anticipation would kill him before Misty did. That was probably her plan all along, as she had yet to approach him. In fact she was...she was...
...Laughing.
Well, that was unexpected. Maybe he really was dead already, because in life she would never let him off that easy. He dared to peek at the scene before him, and he realized why he hadn't been hit by a pillow within the past few seconds—the girls had abandoned him and ganged up entirely on Misty. Angie also must have remembered how ticklish Misty was (especially on her stomach—he knew from experience,) and in between swipes of the pillow she took full advantage of that recollection to torture Misty mercilessly. Although, he noted with satisfaction, despite Angie's best efforts he was still the only one who had ever made Misty laugh so hard she had tears in her eyes. (And more than once, at that.)
He had a ten-second window of opportunity—he quickly yanked his wig back around and reached under his hair to make sure that the band that fitted around his head was actually secure this time. He cautiously patted a few stray hairs back into place, adjusted his ribbon, and—
"Ash!"
Time was up.
Misty was calling to him as she tried to fight back—pounding Angie aggressively with her pillow—and roll out of the gaggle of girls at the same time. She might have been successful, too, had Jess not been sitting on her legs.
"Ash!" Misty yelled again. "Help me!"
He received no strange glances when she looked at him, so apparently he had fixed his wig correctly...but he couldn't risk losing it again. He needed an answer, he needed to sound like a girl, but he couldn't be a party-pooper...this was too hard for him.
"Ash..."
"Uh, I can't," he stammered out.
Everyone turned to look at him, though Jess was still sitting on Misty, who looked more than a little disgruntled. "Why not?" she yelped.
"I might break a nail."
The other girls' instantaneous giggles drowned out Misty's answer, but she was either yelling his name or expletives—with her, they were practically synonymous, anyway. But once Angie finally let up, the other girls followed suit and allowed Misty to sit up and catch her breath. She wasted no time before shooting Ash a murderous look. He was sure there were more where that came from...at least it was only a look...
"Any more stunts like that and I swear, I'll be forced to conclude that you're the female Ash Ketchum," she said dryly. If she only knew—Ash flushed. Point well taken.
"So, what do we do now, Angie?" Zippo—no, Zildy!—asked. Angie only had to think for a moment before she grinned and answered.
"How about a game of truth or dare?"
Once again, everyone but Ash squealed. Though he tried to act enthusiastic. He looked to Misty to follow her lead, and was surprised to find that he may not be the only one with reservations. She didn't look unhappy, but she sure didn't look thrilled.
They gathered around in a circle, Ash almost forgetting to sit like a 'lady,' and at the last minute nervously crossed his legs off to the side instead of splaying them out spread-eagle. "Who wants to go first?" Angie asked.
"You mean to accept a truth or dare or to issue one?" Jess asked.
Angie shrugged. "Either one."
"I'll start then," Jess said. She looked around the room, her eyes narrowing until her gaze settled on a victim, and then a smirk spread across her face. "Natty. Truth or dare?"
"Jess," Natty said, giving Jess one of those maddening girl looks that said I know everything in the world and you obviously don't or else you wouldn't have asked that question—Misty was quite good at it too, "don't you know me better by now?"
Jess returned the look for all it was worth and then some. "You still have to say it," she said.
"Okay, okay. Dare."
Jess grinned again. "All right. Let me think for a minute," she said, giving a dramatic pause, but even Ash could tell that she already had an idea in mind and was just trying to build suspense. All this for a dare. It couldn't be that bad...could it?
"I...dare...you...to..." Jess drew the words out slowly, and then paused once again before finishing in one large breath. "...Take off your bra and wear it on your head as you go up to ask Mr. Tanner how he's doing!"
Natty shrieked, and the other girls laughed while Ash gaped at Jess in horror. It could be that bad. When his turn came around, he had better pick the truth—unless he wanted to find out if Misty was able to recognize her own bra on his head.
"Jess..." This time Natty's tone was a whole lot closer to a whine.
"Hey, you picked the dare," Jess pointed out.
Natty gave an exaggerated sigh. "All right, all right, if you insist. Give me a second." And right then and there she reached under her shirt and began unhooking her bra.
She was undressing right in front of them? Of course she was, they were all 'girls', but...she was undressing right in front of them?! Brock would have been in heaven now, but Ash was...well, somewhere else. He jerked his head away from the sight and hoped no one would notice how uncomfortable he was. He couldn't look, he wouldn't look—he could see movement out of the corner of his eye, but he forced himself to concentrate elsewhere...he wasn't going to look, nope, not even a little peek...
Hey, how did she do that without taking off her shirt?
Girls were strange creatures. He didn't know it was possible to undress without...um...undressing. He hoped his face was a minimal pink as he returned his attention to Natty. That had been a close one.
Natty now had a—hot pink? He didn't know they made underwear in those colors—cotton bra fastened on her head, the cups sticking out like ears. She stood up, and Ash blinked. The girl must be a masochist, she looked like she was enjoying this. "Well, here I go," she said, and headed up the stairs.
Everyone looked at each other for a moment, and then Angie spoke up. "Come on, let's follow her!" They jumped up, though Ash's reaction was a bit delayed, and scurried up the stairs amidst a flurry of hushed shhs that was accompanied by a cropping of giggles. Ash trailed behind, torn between being mortified or morbidly interested in Mr. Tanner's reaction. Girls were crazy...
Angie's parents were in the living room. The group of five hung back in the hallway while Natty took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and walked into the room.
"Mr. Tanner?" she asked, giving him a demure smile and batting her eyelashes. How she kept a straight face was beyond Ash's understanding.
Mr. Tanner lowered his paper and looked at her. If her appearance surprised him in the least it didn't show. He gave Natty a cordial nod and said, "Yes?"
"How are you doing tonight?"
There was another wave of giggles out in the hallway. Mr. Tanner treated them the same as Natty's unusual accessorizing and ignored them. "I'm good, thank you for asking. May I assume you are quite well, also?"
"Oh, yes," Natty assured him, and then she just stood there, a light pink blush rising in her cheeks. Looking at her, Ash came to two conclusions. One was that shock had worn off and she finally realized the delicate predicament she was in. And the second—despite the circumstances, she was still having fun. Yup, that proved it. Girls were honestly insane.
"Um, well, I just wanted to say hello," Natty said, and Ash gathered from her tone that she was ready for a hasty retreat. "I'll go now."
"All right," Mr. Tanner said mildly. "Take care."
He picked up his paper and began to read it again, while Natty turned and began to walk out of the room. She made it as far as the door before Mr. Tanner called out one more time. "Truth or dare, I take it?"
"Yup," Natty said sheepishly, and hightailed it out of there to join the rest of the group. The girls didn't even try to hide their gales of laughter. Even Ash grinned. There was something to be said for a man who had to live in a household of girls—Mr. Tanner was cool.
They trekked back downstairs, Natty took her bra off her head and stuffed it in her overnight bag, and then they gathered around in a circle. Ash ended up with Misty on his left side and Angie to the right. "Who's next?" Angie asked.
"I'll go," Natty said, and though Ash would have guessed she would chose to inflict revenge on Jess, she turned to someone else. "Zildy. Truth or dare?"
"After that stunt? Truth," Zildy said, shaking her head. "Besides, my bra isn't as pretty as yours."
Natty stuck her tongue out at Zildy and Zildy crossed her eyes before Natty posed her question. "So...what's the worst lie you've ever told?"
"Let's see, there are so many," Zildy said, and the other girls giggled—again. Didn't they ever get tired of that? It sounded like they were all high on helium. "Umm...the worst lie I ever got caught telling, or got away with?"
"It doesn't matter," Natty said.
"Okay, then. Last year, remember how Manda had a crush on my ex-boyfriend Kyle? And she came up to me in a jealous rage and asked me how far we'd gone?"
"Yeah..." Natty said eagerly, while Ash trying to figure out what difference it made how far away from home they had been.
"I told her I never even kissed him," Zildy said smugly.
"And....?" Jess joined Natty in her prompting. Zildy took the time to give both girls a long, ambiguous look before returning her gaze to Natty and giving her a self-assured nod as she said,
"I french kissed him."
Ash expected and hence was prepared for the squeals that followed this statement. No wonder girls always had headaches—they were always screaming. He had no clue what being French had to do with kissing, though.
Misty apparently knew, but looked more shocked than excited. "He put his tongue in your mouth?" she gasped.
Ash barely held back a gag. He did not need to know that! Was she old enough to do that? Heck, was anyone old enough to do that?
"Yeah. It was slobbery," Zildy said. Ash shuddered slightly and hoped no one else had noticed. There were intermittent giggles in the silence that followed. Finally they moved on when Zildy turned to Misty. "Your turn," she said. "Truth or dare?"
Ash felt a weird prickling sensation on his skin, and he felt heady. He couldn't tell if he was nervous or interested in what Misty was about to do. He wanted her to have fun, but for some reason he didn't want her to embarrass herself...
"Dare," Misty said. He could have guessed that.
"I dare you," Zildy said, the innocence in her tone belying her next words, "to—flash us."
And Ash's brain stopped functioning at that point. Change that to embarrass him. Misty...was...going...to...kill....him.
She was currently gaping at Zildy, a faint blush to her cheeks. She giggled nervously. "Uh-oh," she said good-naturedly.
Well said. Understatement was an excellent form of comic device. He never knew Misty was so funny. He could feel himself break out into sweat. He had to get out of this; he preferred to keep his life intact. He gulped as Misty stood up. He wouldn't look, he wouldn't look...
He was still doomed.
"You mean...like mooning?" Misty asked Zildy to clarify. He did not need that mental picture...except it wouldn't be mental for much longer...oh, dear...he could feel his face growing pale as Zildy shrugged and then nodded in the affirmative...
"Psst." There was a soft whisper off to the side. "Are you okay?"
Angie was speaking. He turned to her and thought rapidly, then faked a blush. It wasn't much of an act. "Where's your bathroom?" he whispered.
Angie grinned, then pointed to the corner. "There's one over there in the corner," she said. "Hurry back, you'll miss the dare."
Which was exactly what he was hoping to hear. Misty had turned her back when he stood up and bolted over to the corner. He barely made it inside and shut the door when he heard the others squealing and clapping. Misty must have completed her dare—his face burned just thinking of it, and he wiped his brow. If she ever found out that he had been there...
That was it; he was calling it quits. No, he wasn't quitting; he was cutting his losses. He could claim he didn't feel good and go home, take his bra off, sleep in his own bed...and he'd never see any of these girls ever again. Okay, Misty, obviously, but she didn't know 'Ash' from Ash, so it made no difference. Besides, they'd probably be nice to him. Girls were sympathetic to sickness; it was Brock and Tracey he had worry about, because they knew the truth.
Wait a second. They knew the truth...
Uh-oh.
It suddenly occurred to him that they had an excellent blackmailing tactic against him. If he quit, they'd probably threaten to tell Misty unless he returned, and then where would he be? (Besides dead.) And even if they didn't, they wouldn't let the matter go easily. He'd never hear the end of it.
He was stuck. He'd just have to grin and bear it, and—sheesh, why was he shaking? Well, the night was young and torturous, there was no escape route in sight—but it couldn't hurt to hang around the bathroom for a little while longer. He leaned against the bathroom door and slid down to a sitting position, savoring the feeling of just being himself. Well, it was hard to feel masculine wearing a pink dress, but at least he didn't have the pressure of 'acting like a little lady.' Ash suddenly had a new appreciation for Misty's tomboy behavior. And that's when he recognized her voice and realized that he could hear through the door.
They were continuing without him...and he didn't care a bit. But he did pay attention when Angie said, "Okay, I think it's my turn. Misty—truth or dare?"
"But I just went!"
"Doesn't matter."
"Okay, okay." Ash grinned at the indignation in her tone as she said this. "Truth, I guess."
Ash listened closely as Angie asked her question. The way these girls played the game, this should be good. He almost wished he were out there...
"My question is—and you've got to be completely honest, remember. Do you or do you not....have a crush on Ash Ketchum?"
...Or not. He nearly choked, which was a remarkable achievement considering he hadn't even eaten or drunk anything. Where the heck had that come from? Why did everyone seem to think Misty had a crush on him? At least he had nothing to worry about...
"What?" Misty shrieked. Forget the difficulties of listening through a bathroom door—people in the next house probably heard that scream. He grinned.
The other girls were giggling at her reaction. "I said," Angie repeated. "Do you or do you not have a crush on Ash Ketchum?"
"Where in the world would you get that idea?"
"You said he was cute."
"He is. That doesn't mean I like him!"
Score one for Misty. Ash made a mental resolve to call her pretty next time he saw her. She deserved it.
"Don't you?"
"No! I mean, well, yes, as a friend..."
"You still haven't answered the question."
"I have too!"
"No, you haven't. It's a yes or no question." Ash frowned. Score one for Angie. Misty was stalling, and Angie called her on it again. "Do you or do you not..."
"...I know, I know, have a crush on Ash! I..."
"You what?"
"I...well..."
Why wasn't she talking? Why? It was eerily quiet outside the door, especially compared to the noise from the rest of the evening. Inside the bathroom, there was silence as well as Ash held his breath and wondered why he felt like he was about to pass out. He didn't dare move for fear of missing Misty's answer.
"All right," Misty finally said, her
voice subdued. "Yes, okay?"
She what?!
Ash sprang up so rapidly he felt dizzy and stumbled right into the toilet. He reached over to catch himself but tripped, swiping everything off the back of the commode into the trashcan beside it, which promptly tumbled over and spilled its contents onto the floor with a loud clang. Darn it, he was going to attract attention...he bent down to get the wastebasket and only succeeding in kicking it over to the door, which he crashed into himself as he scrambled over to pick the wastebasket back up but tripped over the trash on the floor instead. He tried pulling himself up but accidentally grabbed the metal towel rod, which came off in his hand and dumped three apricot-and-pink hand towels on top of him. There was one final loud, resounding bong as he tried to use the sink for support to stand up and ended up knocking the ceramic with the towel rod instead.
He decided it would be prudent to stop moving. Once again it was quiet outside the door. He closed his eyes and grimaced, and then calmly propped the towel rod up in a corner, placed the towels on the edge of the sink, righted the trashcan and cleaned the floor. He then took a deep breath, pasted a smile on his face, and opened the bathroom door.
Five girls were staring at him with wide eyes—Misty's were slightly suspicious. Ash gulped—that had been the exact sort of thing that 'her' Ash would do. There was at least one small mercy. She was wearing pants again.
"Are you okay?" Angie finally ventured timidly.
"I knocked over the trashcan," Ash squeaked, looking embarrassed, though the hot flush on his cheek was actually caused by the continued look Misty was giving him rather than by his actions "I'm sorry. I cleaned it up," he told Angie.
"Oh, that's no problem," she
said. She did not lose her bewildered
look, but didn't press any farther.
"Want to rejoin the game?"
"Sure," he said, and crossed
back over and sat down. Angie shook her
head slightly, then regained her composure and turned to Misty.
"Since you've gone twice, do you want to issue the next challenge?" Angie asked. Misty nodded. She looked around, and her gaze settled on—drat. His newfound knowledge meant that the simple act of her looking at him could make him blush. Surely she didn't mean what he thought he meant by the word like.
Not that Angie hadn't made that fact quite clear...
"Ash," Misty said, and he jumped. But he didn't think she noticed; she still had a pink tinge to her cheeks herself from her previous admission. "You haven't gone yet. Truth or dare?"
He rephrased the question to himself—so, Ash, which is the lesser of two evils?—then answered it. "Truth."
"Umm..." It was obvious Misty was at a loss for ideas. "Well, I know it's been done, but it's still fun to know—who do you have a crush on?"
Boy, that was ironic. And tricky to answer. If she liked him...then what did he think about her...? Though he couldn't answer truthfully in any case. This was a bunch that watched The Princess Diaries—he assumed they were expecting him to tell them what boy he liked. And he needed an answer, fast...oh no.
No, he wouldn't. He swore he was never going to do that...although, it would be a shame to leave without doing what he came to do, and suffer for nothing. And this probably did count as an emergency situation. But that didn't stop him from fuming. Worse than bras, worse than panty hose, this was the lowest of the low. If he survived Misty's killing him—then he would make sure Brock was next on the list. As far as Ash was concerned, if Ash died young it would be tragic, and if Brock died young it would be—justified.
He cleared his throat and looked down at the ground, pretending to go shy at the question. "Well..." he said, one hand on his cheek as if it were just so hard to admit this that he had to hide his face, "There was this one boy, back where I used to live. He was a gym leader, and I thought he was really cute."
"Really?" Angie said, suddenly interested. "Gym leaders are really cool. Where does he live?"
Ash sighed to himself, and watched Misty carefully. She was grinning to herself, probably about to brag about the fact that she was a gym leader herself, but he bet his answer would knock that thought right out of her head. "He lived in...Pewter City."
He was right...Misty was sipping her drink and almost snorted it out her nose when he spoke. "You're kidding," she said in disbelief. "You had a crush on Brock Slate?"
"He was nice," Ash said defensively. Misty always took offense when the subject was Brock and girls. She'd better not undermine his plan.
"I know that. It's just, he's the other guy I travel with," Misty explained, still gaping at Ash, though he couldn't look her in the eye. "It's a small world."
"More than you know," Ash mumbled, then hit himself mentally and put false amazement into his voice. "I mean, wow."
"You mean that guy who tried to flirt with me yesterday?" Angie said, looking both amused and surprised. "I didn't know he was a gym leader. And he was a bit...needy, don't you think?"
"No, he's sweet, once you get to know him," Misty said before Ash could open his mouth. He bristled—she was interfering. She always had to be nosy and meddle with other people's affairs. And just this afternoon she had been making fun of Brock in front of Angie, so why the change of heart now? It wasn't as if she liked him...
No, that was right, she liked Ash. Ash couldn't believe himself. He couldn't have already accepted that fact. And there was absolutely no way he was acting...jealous?
While he was dumbfounded, conflicted about the weird emotions he was feeling, Misty continued. "I mean...yeah, Brock acts really dumb around girls, and it really gets on my nerves, but as a friend, he's great. He always cooks for us, and makes sure we take our vitamins, and keeps Ash and me from fighting—or at least from fighting too much," she amended.
Ash recovered enough to jump in and do his part. "But he doesn't even mean to annoy girls, he just tries too hard," he told Angie. "He had a crush on my older sister once. He always sent her flowers and candy, and when it was time for the town parade, he decorated a float in her honor. It had a big heart on it that said I Love Emily. My sister was so embarrassed that she left the parade and refused to go outside for three days. But he let me ride on the float. I was just a little kid, and I got a crush on him. It lasted until we moved."
Misty was unsuccessfully holding back a laugh. "Yup, that sounds like something Brock would do," she said wryly.
But Angie looked impressed. "Wow...he must have really liked her..." she said.
"Brock will do anything to get a girl," Misty told him. Angie smiled at that.
"Anything?"
"Anything," Ash confirmed.
"Hmm..." Angie said thoughtfully, but otherwise Ash couldn't read her expression. She turned to Misty and politely asked, "Misty, did you say that both you and this Brock are staying at your friend Ash's house?"
"That's right," Misty said.
"And you said that Brock likes me...and you like Ash..." Angie said slowly. Misty flushed but didn't disagree. Ash flushed too but no one was looking at him.
"What are you thinking, Angie?" Zildy asked. Angie just stood up, walked over to the bathroom, and walked out two seconds later with her hands hidden behind her back. She was holding something...what object of importance could she get from the bathroom?
"I'm thinking..." Angie said, giving each girl a challenging stare, "Of the ultimate dare. I'm thinking..." she whipped her hands around and displayed them for all to see. In them she was holding...
Ash's head drooped. Boy, and he thought the night couldn't get any worse. He was wrong. This was almost enough to put his new dilemma involving Misty temporarily out of his mind. Forget death by Misty's hands...she would have to fight his mom for the right to be the first to kill him...
"I'm thinking," Angie said devilishly, "We pay a little visit to Ash's house, and leave him and Brock a present. I'm thinking..."
And for the first time that night, Ash finished the sentence for her. "Toilet paper," he said weakly.
He was going to t.p. his own house.
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A/n: "Toilet papering" and "rolling" is pretty much universal, right? If not, you can guess what you do with it, or will find out in the next chapter... ^_~ And see, some of you guessed right on the Truth or Dare game...I know it's been done before, but how many times has Ash wreaked havoc in a bathroom at the same time? lol
Wow again! Thanks so much for all your responses. I just may be able to incorporate a couple of suggestions into the last chapter...(we're halfway there, btw.) We'll have to see, but Gary fans may at least get a cameo. But I'm also glad to see that there are so many people with the same weird sense of humor as me! ^_~ Although parts of this are more cute than funny, but ff.net doesn't have that category...eh, Spook? ^_^;
Speaking of cute...I have a new picture on my profile, check it out! It reminds me of pokémon. Yes, okay, I know it's a picture of two baby chicks, but one of them has a mallet! lol Okay, so I'm just obsessed. Hope you like it...I love it. ^^ In the meantime I'm busy working/revising, so I'll see you again within the next week!
Disclaimer: I own 12 commercial
releases of pokémon tapes, 4 CDs and one monopoly game...does that count? No?
Oh well, it was worth a try...
