Chapter 21
"What sort of game is this?" Racetrack asked interested.
"Oh, it's a fun one," said Mel sarcastically.
"It's called truth or dare." They all nodded like they knew what was going on. "The rules go like this: 1) anyone can ask the questions. 2) You ask this, "truth or dare?" Then the person who is asked has to choose one or the other. If it's a dare, make up one and make it good. If it's a truth ask them to tell the group something that's a truth. 3) You have to do whatever you're asked or told to do, no questions asked." I had my audience awed.
"Who starts?" asked Kid Blink.
"Me!" I shouted energetically. "Are you ready?" They nodded. "Kid Blink, truth or dare."
"Truth," he said confidently and winked at his compadres.
"Is it true," I paused for dramatic affect, "that your eye patch is fake and only used to get girls?"
He started blushing and looked away, "Yes."
"Alright, you're finished. Your turn to ask."
Kid Blink turned to Racetrack. "Racetrack, truth or dare."
"Heck if I'm gonna choose truth. Dare."
Kid Blink suppressed a laugh. "I dare you to go moon Medda's high-faultin' hoighty-toighty aristocratic friends at that table over there."
Racetrack's eyes got real big. "What? Medda will never let me back in here!"
"Are you chicken? Boc-boc…"
"NO!" He reluctantly pushed himself up from the table and strolled nonchalantly over to the other table. Now I didn't actually see what happened, but I saw the reactions of the adults. They were hysterical, all screaming and the men laughing. Racetrack bolted back to our table pulling his pants up. "Ya know, I think I'm done with this game." He left us heading for the buffet table.
"Alright. My turn! My turn!" Amanda wiggled in her seat and threw her hands about in the air, catching on to my game. "Bumlets, truth or dare."
"I ain't doing nothing that Racetrack had to do," he laughed nervously, "truth."
"Alright then, did you tell Robyn Jack's plan?" It became very quiet at the table. Bumlets got that 'deer in the headlight look' and looked nervously at Jack. Jack looked confused. He glanced at me and coughed.
Everyone looked at each other and at various time said, "What's Jack's plan?" or "What's he talking about?"
"Well answer…" I whispered through a forced smile. After I elbowed him in the ribs, he glared at me angrily. He faced the table and it's occupants. "Yes," he choked.
"Alright Bumlets it's your turn to ask," I said.
"No no no," Mush spoke up.
"Hey! He talks!" Amanda laughed.
"I wanna go. Personally, I like this game. Now that I understand it, I wanna go. I'm next."
"Okay, Mush. You can go next," said Bumlets, trying to get out of the limelight.
"Jack! Buddy, old pal! Truth or dare."
Jack hesitated. "Ummmmmm…errrrrr…humana…gosh…dare." Amanda nudged him quickly and he winced. "I mean truth." She smiled at him.
Mush pulled a slightly sinister voice out. "Explain your plan."
"What's with this plan thing? How come I was never told? How come I'm NEVER told?" Mel asked, slightly irritated.
"You're not the only one. How come I don't know anything about this either?!" Spot sounded much angrier.
And so, the beans spilled. The audience gasped, cooed, and awed in all the right places. Spot, in turn, turned red, than purple, then green, and then orange. Melanie just turned pink. Spot stood up and pushed away from the table. "I can't believe you did all this. I think that's just a bunch of s***!" And he stomped off. Then he stomped back and grabbed Melanie. "I never liked Sapphire anyway." He pulled Melanie to her feet.
"What are you doing?" She looked faintly pleased, but struggled anyway.
"Didn't you hear? There's a last dance call."
"Last dance call? I didn't-," He winked at her. She caught on and followed him to the dance floor. They waltzed off into the artificial sunset.
"Hey Lily, would you care to join me on the dance floor?" asked David, like a gentleman. She gratefully accepted and they walked to the dance floor.
Mush and Sniffles headed out the door clutching each other's hands.
Amanda pulled Jack to his feet. "Oh yeah baby, we're dancing. Let's go." And he followed her.
Kid Blink randomly walked towards a group of giggling girls.
*****
"So did you see the show?" I overheard Spot asking Mel as they danced.
"Yeah, Medda was great, but does she sing any other songs?"
"Some, but that one is a real crowd pleaser, but, uh, did you see the one after Medda?"
"There was one after Medda?"
"Oh yeah, it was great!"
"Really? What did you like about it?"
"Well there was this one dancer who caught my eye."
"Oh yeah, and which one would that be?"
"Well, she was really pretty, very sexy. I think she was wearing blue, and she had the brightest hazel eyes I had ever seen, kind of like yours."
"How could you see her eyes so clearly if she was on stage?" Mel inquired.
"I was sitting up front and center 'cause Denton told me I had to for some reason and 'cause I needed to talk to Race about something and he was already sitting there. Anyways, there was this one part in the dance where the girls got up close and personal, flirtin' with us."
"Oh, I'm sure you enjoyed that."
Spot smirked. "You know that girl I was talking about?" Mel nodded. "She came over to where I was sitting."
"Lucky you."
"And that's how I could tell her eye color."
"So what happened next?"
"She came in real close, like she was about to kiss me."
"Like this?" Mel mimicked what she had done earlier.
"Uh huh."
"Then what?"
"She came a little closer."
"Like this?" Mel came closer like she had before. "Then what?"
"She came in real close," their noses were almost touching, "then at the last second she turned her head and kissed Race on the cheek!"
Mel found it very difficult to keep a straight face, so she just gave up. "And the look on your face was priceless!"
Spot glared at her.
"What?! It was only a joke. A mighty funny one at that, but it didn't mean anything. I was only playing my part!...Wait a sec, you're jealous."
"What?! I'm not jealous! Why would I be jealous?"
Mel just smirked at him.
"Alright, so maybe I was a little jealous."
Mel gave him a "yeah right" look.
"Okay, fine, I was jealous."
Mel looked at him in mock disbelief, "was that the infamous Spot Conlon admitting he was jealous? Oh my goodness! What is the world coming to?!"
"Hey, don't advertise it alright?"
Mel smiled back mischievously, Spot glared at her in return.
"Don't worry, I won't," she said. "What were you jealous about anyways?"
"I thought Race had stepped on my toes and took my girl."
Mel scooted a little closer and rested her head on his shoulder. Gosh what dorks. I turned to look a Bumlets.
"Shall we?" Bumlets asked and held out his hands.
"We shall not! Don't you remember what happened last time we danced?"
"Not at all. What happened? You can tell me while we're dancing." He winked at me and I gave in. We started dancing. He was pretty good at it, as I mentioned before, and I did the whole girly thing where I put his head on his shoulder, etc etc. But enough of that.
During a particularly slow song, Bumlets whispered in my ear, "Truth or dare?"
Hunh? Wait, this wasn't supposed to happen to me. "Truth."
"If you had an opportunity to leave here, would you?"
Oops. My eyes grew large, and then for some strange and odd reason, they teared up. I seriously had to think on that one. I like it here and all, but home…modern day…driver's license…grrr. "Yes I would."
Then suddenly the record or whatever screeched to a halt and Bumlets moved away from me. I lost him in the crowd, which had shifted towards the stage. Medda appeared in a new fabulous gown. I panicked as the crowd pressed against the stage, well and because I think I said a very bad thing. It sounded logical and forthright at the time, ya know honesty being the best policy and all that, but…crap! I had to find him. I pushed myself through the crowd as Medda began to sing about a nightingale. I silently willed her to shut up and rushed up the staircase I had slowly walked down…was it only hours ago? I scanned the crowd but couldn't see his head of black hair.
The dress was slowing me down. I tugged at it in frustration. Medda was singing, "Nightingale, when you are singing tenderly, oh tell her nightingale. That it's a lover's melody just so when ever you are singing she'll know the message you are bringing. Nightingale bring back my love to me!" She finished with a grand flourish.
That's when I felt the tug on my arm. I turned around and it was Bumlets. I rushed towards his arms, but he prevented me and pointed to the seating area where all our friends were sitting in couples happy. "And why can't we be like them?" he asked. I shrugged not knowing the answer. "Come with me." We walked back to the lodging house. Then we climbed up to the roof and sat with our feet dangling over the edge. We'd left the party in a somber mood. Bumlets sat quietly, staring at the city lights. There was no sunrise this time. "You don't have to leave."
"I don't belong here," I replied to the side of his face.
"It's gonna be a long night," he said, swinging his legs. His shoes made loud thumps against the side of the building.
"Excuse me?"
He fell back against the roof so that he was lying on his back looking at the stars, but he didn't answer. "What are you talking about?" I asked again.
"Obviously you can't leave. You're stuck here. You don't really know how you got here and you don't know how to get back. You DO belong here. We're all a bunch of misfits; does it really matter what year we were born? We're not leaving the roof until you figure that out."
And so it went, we argued for hours. It hurt him that I was so eager to get back. Now that I was, I'm just not a huge fan of changes. Especially big ones that take away modern comforts such as deodorant, heavy metal/alternative, and daily showers. "I don't really wanna go," I finally admitted and Bumlets shot straight up into a sitting position.
"Then don't."
I leaned my head against his shoulder and sighed. "Fine." He started laughing.
"What sort of game is this?" Racetrack asked interested.
"Oh, it's a fun one," said Mel sarcastically.
"It's called truth or dare." They all nodded like they knew what was going on. "The rules go like this: 1) anyone can ask the questions. 2) You ask this, "truth or dare?" Then the person who is asked has to choose one or the other. If it's a dare, make up one and make it good. If it's a truth ask them to tell the group something that's a truth. 3) You have to do whatever you're asked or told to do, no questions asked." I had my audience awed.
"Who starts?" asked Kid Blink.
"Me!" I shouted energetically. "Are you ready?" They nodded. "Kid Blink, truth or dare."
"Truth," he said confidently and winked at his compadres.
"Is it true," I paused for dramatic affect, "that your eye patch is fake and only used to get girls?"
He started blushing and looked away, "Yes."
"Alright, you're finished. Your turn to ask."
Kid Blink turned to Racetrack. "Racetrack, truth or dare."
"Heck if I'm gonna choose truth. Dare."
Kid Blink suppressed a laugh. "I dare you to go moon Medda's high-faultin' hoighty-toighty aristocratic friends at that table over there."
Racetrack's eyes got real big. "What? Medda will never let me back in here!"
"Are you chicken? Boc-boc…"
"NO!" He reluctantly pushed himself up from the table and strolled nonchalantly over to the other table. Now I didn't actually see what happened, but I saw the reactions of the adults. They were hysterical, all screaming and the men laughing. Racetrack bolted back to our table pulling his pants up. "Ya know, I think I'm done with this game." He left us heading for the buffet table.
"Alright. My turn! My turn!" Amanda wiggled in her seat and threw her hands about in the air, catching on to my game. "Bumlets, truth or dare."
"I ain't doing nothing that Racetrack had to do," he laughed nervously, "truth."
"Alright then, did you tell Robyn Jack's plan?" It became very quiet at the table. Bumlets got that 'deer in the headlight look' and looked nervously at Jack. Jack looked confused. He glanced at me and coughed.
Everyone looked at each other and at various time said, "What's Jack's plan?" or "What's he talking about?"
"Well answer…" I whispered through a forced smile. After I elbowed him in the ribs, he glared at me angrily. He faced the table and it's occupants. "Yes," he choked.
"Alright Bumlets it's your turn to ask," I said.
"No no no," Mush spoke up.
"Hey! He talks!" Amanda laughed.
"I wanna go. Personally, I like this game. Now that I understand it, I wanna go. I'm next."
"Okay, Mush. You can go next," said Bumlets, trying to get out of the limelight.
"Jack! Buddy, old pal! Truth or dare."
Jack hesitated. "Ummmmmm…errrrrr…humana…gosh…dare." Amanda nudged him quickly and he winced. "I mean truth." She smiled at him.
Mush pulled a slightly sinister voice out. "Explain your plan."
"What's with this plan thing? How come I was never told? How come I'm NEVER told?" Mel asked, slightly irritated.
"You're not the only one. How come I don't know anything about this either?!" Spot sounded much angrier.
And so, the beans spilled. The audience gasped, cooed, and awed in all the right places. Spot, in turn, turned red, than purple, then green, and then orange. Melanie just turned pink. Spot stood up and pushed away from the table. "I can't believe you did all this. I think that's just a bunch of s***!" And he stomped off. Then he stomped back and grabbed Melanie. "I never liked Sapphire anyway." He pulled Melanie to her feet.
"What are you doing?" She looked faintly pleased, but struggled anyway.
"Didn't you hear? There's a last dance call."
"Last dance call? I didn't-," He winked at her. She caught on and followed him to the dance floor. They waltzed off into the artificial sunset.
"Hey Lily, would you care to join me on the dance floor?" asked David, like a gentleman. She gratefully accepted and they walked to the dance floor.
Mush and Sniffles headed out the door clutching each other's hands.
Amanda pulled Jack to his feet. "Oh yeah baby, we're dancing. Let's go." And he followed her.
Kid Blink randomly walked towards a group of giggling girls.
*****
"So did you see the show?" I overheard Spot asking Mel as they danced.
"Yeah, Medda was great, but does she sing any other songs?"
"Some, but that one is a real crowd pleaser, but, uh, did you see the one after Medda?"
"There was one after Medda?"
"Oh yeah, it was great!"
"Really? What did you like about it?"
"Well there was this one dancer who caught my eye."
"Oh yeah, and which one would that be?"
"Well, she was really pretty, very sexy. I think she was wearing blue, and she had the brightest hazel eyes I had ever seen, kind of like yours."
"How could you see her eyes so clearly if she was on stage?" Mel inquired.
"I was sitting up front and center 'cause Denton told me I had to for some reason and 'cause I needed to talk to Race about something and he was already sitting there. Anyways, there was this one part in the dance where the girls got up close and personal, flirtin' with us."
"Oh, I'm sure you enjoyed that."
Spot smirked. "You know that girl I was talking about?" Mel nodded. "She came over to where I was sitting."
"Lucky you."
"And that's how I could tell her eye color."
"So what happened next?"
"She came in real close, like she was about to kiss me."
"Like this?" Mel mimicked what she had done earlier.
"Uh huh."
"Then what?"
"She came a little closer."
"Like this?" Mel came closer like she had before. "Then what?"
"She came in real close," their noses were almost touching, "then at the last second she turned her head and kissed Race on the cheek!"
Mel found it very difficult to keep a straight face, so she just gave up. "And the look on your face was priceless!"
Spot glared at her.
"What?! It was only a joke. A mighty funny one at that, but it didn't mean anything. I was only playing my part!...Wait a sec, you're jealous."
"What?! I'm not jealous! Why would I be jealous?"
Mel just smirked at him.
"Alright, so maybe I was a little jealous."
Mel gave him a "yeah right" look.
"Okay, fine, I was jealous."
Mel looked at him in mock disbelief, "was that the infamous Spot Conlon admitting he was jealous? Oh my goodness! What is the world coming to?!"
"Hey, don't advertise it alright?"
Mel smiled back mischievously, Spot glared at her in return.
"Don't worry, I won't," she said. "What were you jealous about anyways?"
"I thought Race had stepped on my toes and took my girl."
Mel scooted a little closer and rested her head on his shoulder. Gosh what dorks. I turned to look a Bumlets.
"Shall we?" Bumlets asked and held out his hands.
"We shall not! Don't you remember what happened last time we danced?"
"Not at all. What happened? You can tell me while we're dancing." He winked at me and I gave in. We started dancing. He was pretty good at it, as I mentioned before, and I did the whole girly thing where I put his head on his shoulder, etc etc. But enough of that.
During a particularly slow song, Bumlets whispered in my ear, "Truth or dare?"
Hunh? Wait, this wasn't supposed to happen to me. "Truth."
"If you had an opportunity to leave here, would you?"
Oops. My eyes grew large, and then for some strange and odd reason, they teared up. I seriously had to think on that one. I like it here and all, but home…modern day…driver's license…grrr. "Yes I would."
Then suddenly the record or whatever screeched to a halt and Bumlets moved away from me. I lost him in the crowd, which had shifted towards the stage. Medda appeared in a new fabulous gown. I panicked as the crowd pressed against the stage, well and because I think I said a very bad thing. It sounded logical and forthright at the time, ya know honesty being the best policy and all that, but…crap! I had to find him. I pushed myself through the crowd as Medda began to sing about a nightingale. I silently willed her to shut up and rushed up the staircase I had slowly walked down…was it only hours ago? I scanned the crowd but couldn't see his head of black hair.
The dress was slowing me down. I tugged at it in frustration. Medda was singing, "Nightingale, when you are singing tenderly, oh tell her nightingale. That it's a lover's melody just so when ever you are singing she'll know the message you are bringing. Nightingale bring back my love to me!" She finished with a grand flourish.
That's when I felt the tug on my arm. I turned around and it was Bumlets. I rushed towards his arms, but he prevented me and pointed to the seating area where all our friends were sitting in couples happy. "And why can't we be like them?" he asked. I shrugged not knowing the answer. "Come with me." We walked back to the lodging house. Then we climbed up to the roof and sat with our feet dangling over the edge. We'd left the party in a somber mood. Bumlets sat quietly, staring at the city lights. There was no sunrise this time. "You don't have to leave."
"I don't belong here," I replied to the side of his face.
"It's gonna be a long night," he said, swinging his legs. His shoes made loud thumps against the side of the building.
"Excuse me?"
He fell back against the roof so that he was lying on his back looking at the stars, but he didn't answer. "What are you talking about?" I asked again.
"Obviously you can't leave. You're stuck here. You don't really know how you got here and you don't know how to get back. You DO belong here. We're all a bunch of misfits; does it really matter what year we were born? We're not leaving the roof until you figure that out."
And so it went, we argued for hours. It hurt him that I was so eager to get back. Now that I was, I'm just not a huge fan of changes. Especially big ones that take away modern comforts such as deodorant, heavy metal/alternative, and daily showers. "I don't really wanna go," I finally admitted and Bumlets shot straight up into a sitting position.
"Then don't."
I leaned my head against his shoulder and sighed. "Fine." He started laughing.