Chapter Twenty

Christmas came fast, almost taking Aaron by surprise. His stomach knotted just thinking about what he was going to say—in front of the entire youth group—at the Christmas party, and how he was going to explain to all of them what happened.

Part of him wanted to lie, tell them that it was all a stupid mix-up and that he was just a miniscule pawn in the entire deal. But that still, small voice inside him told him that he needed to tell everyone the truth, and that there was no way out of it. He could lie but it would all come back to bite him in the future—the near future, considering Rebecca wouldn't take well to his 'stretching of the truth'. No, he had to prepare himself for double humiliation all over again.

It's not as if it isn't well-deserved, Aaron, he told himself sarcastically as he got ready to go. Rebecca probably wouldn't go, but he still had to make an appearance. Especially for his Dare speech.

"So... Aaron," Teri said that night. "What're you planning on doing about the Dare tonight?"

He grimaced. "I was hoping you'd already explained everything for me, but I guess not." Shrugging, he continued, "Well, I guess I don't have anything to do but explain everything to the people."

"Have you planned something to say?" Teri asked with her eyebrows raised as if she was surprised he wasn't going to run and hide from what he had to do. Well, that's what he wanted to do.

"Sort of," Aaron shrugged again, moving off to talk with some of the other kids at youth group that night.

Teri was quick to get to the point at the party that night. After the exchanging of Secret Santa gifts, she took the floor to explain about the Dare. "This year we had… well, we had a strange case as far as the person who was Dared. I think I'll turn the explanation over to Aaron, the Dared for this year."

Thanks, Teri.

Aaron smiled nervously out at all the faces looking at him. There were only twenty some people there that night, but the fact that they would know all about his horrible mistake made his stomach clench tight. "As you all have realized, Rebecca Pier and I have become good friends in the past months. And even more of you know that she's… well, she's sick. But that's beside what I'm talking about. The Dare I was given months ago was to befriend Rebecca, who'd made a reputation for being shy to the extent of not talking to anyone. Well, I befriended her, and as the Dare states, I wasn't allowed to—and I didn't—tell her about my motives for becoming her friend.

"I'm sure you've all heard the gossip," Aaron continued after a few snickers from his audience. "It's up to you to decide what's true and what's not, I guess. I did not just become Rebecca's friend because of the Dare… sure, that's what made me get to know her in the first place, but after a while I realized that even after the Dare ended, I would still want to be her friend. And so when the news got out that I had received a Dare and that Rebecca was involved, of course everybody thought it was true. It was, although my feelings are not the same as when I started out with the Dare. Rebecca knows everything now, but I still made the mistake of accepting the Dare and not telling her the truth. And that was the worst decision I could have ever made on my part, and I had to work hard to earn back every bit of trust I had to begin with. I deeply regret that mistake."

Aaron looked up to see that Teri had tears in her eyes and her jaw was slack with amazement. She cleared her throat and took the floor yet again. But her words were not what anybody expected. "Aaron is wrong. It was not his fault, and not his mistake. The juniors and I were the ones who came up with the Dare in the first place… if we hadn't given that specific one to him, this never would have happened. Sure, he could have spilled the beans to Rebecca and told her everything, but I still think he thought his loyalty was to the Dare and those who'd solved it before. I know how much he wanted to solve it, and I can't imagine having it backfire like it did, losing his reputation as a good guy and his friendship with someone who is obviously really special to him. So, Aaron, I'm sorry that we had to put you through all of this. And I would really like to apologize to you and Rebecca… I don't know how you'll ever forgive me, though."

"I already forgave you, Teri," Aaron said, his throat a little tight as well. A swell of warmth washed over him as he realized that Teri was not his enemy, but had been feeling the same exact guilt that he had over these past few months.

Anne stood up with a smile on her face. "As far as I'm concerned, Aaron has solved the Dare… that and more. I believe this certain Dare will go down in history. It's definitely a story to tell."