Part 3!
Thanks for all your reviews!!! I adore you all!!!!
Truth or Dare
Chasy-Roo
Gill was rifling through a filing cabinet wildly in search of a missing document. Papers flew through the air, an artillery of impending paper cuts.
Elli sat with her face in a book, unable to look at him without having the soap opera fantasy pop up into her head with vivid clarity. She glanced at the clock, then thought, Akari should be here any second…
The door burst open, bringing Akari and a warm spring wind into the room.
The girl stared with fixation at the papers that were seemingly falling from the ceiling, then bellowed, "SNOW!!!"
She skipped over to the snow maker, (Gill) and danced with her tongue sticking out.
Elli's hand flew to her face as she tried to cover the blush that appeared when she saw them together. Instantly (in her head) the chaotic scene shifted to one of Gill turning around with a loving grin and embracing Akari with a heartfelt sigh. Elli shook her head. She couldn't let that happen again.
What actually happened was of quite a different nature.
"Get out, Akari!" Gill barked, slamming the cabinet shut then opening another.
"But Gilly, its time to go play Truth or Dare! We promised Lukie!" she said, still twirling as the last papers fluttered to the ground.
"I'm far too busy today. I cant find this paper that I need copied and printed by tomorrow."
She suddenly yelped and went cross eyed as she tried to look at her tongue.
"I got a paper cut on my tongue!" she whimpered to him.
He glanced at her once over his shoulder then mumbled, "Your such an idiot…"
She nursed her stinging tongue for a moment then asked, "What does the paper say?"
"It says 'TOP SECRET' in big red lettering on the front. And then it has a dancing duck in the top right corner." He mumbled as he began to shift through the cabinet more vigorously.
"Dancing duck, huh?" she asked with a tilt of her head.
"Yeah, my father's idea."
She glanced around the room for such a paper, then said, "If I find it, will you come play Truth or Dare?"
He scoffed, then said cynically, "Sure, whatever. But I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon--"
He looked down at the paper she had just shoved under his nose. Sure enough, it was the paper he had been looking for, complete with a salsa dancing duck.
"Wow!" Elli exclaimed from the other side of the room, "He's been looking for that all day, and you found it in one minute!" She then had to cover her cheeks again as the two looked over at her, they were standing very close.
"How did you--where did you find it?" Gill finally asked as he took it from her.
"It was on your desk!" she declared.
"Are you kidding me…?" he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Nope!" she exclaimed, "Gee, Gilly. You always seem to overlook the things that are right in front of you."
His lips curled as he looked at the paper in his hands. Stupid paper, he thought bitterly.
"Well then lets go!" Akari shouted as she pried him from his spot.
He dragged his feet with a determined frown. "Noooooooo!"
"Oh Gilly, stop being such a spoil sport!" she exclaimed with her hands on her hips.
"I've got work to do…" he mumbled as he walked back over to his desk.
She quickly jumped behind Gill and pinned his arms down with hers.
"Oh you can do that later." she said as she dragged him once again toward the door, him screaming protests all the way. She glanced over at Elli who was practically hyperventilating, and asked, "Do you want to come too?"
Elli's cheeks deepened in color as she batten the air in front of her face and said, "N-No, no, I couldn't possibly!"
Akari just shrugged and pulled the not-too-happy Gill out of the building.
---
As they neared the 'Special Spot,' Akari saw the unmistakable azure haired boy sitting under the tree.
"Lukie!" she exclaimed, unwinding her arm from Gill's so she could wave enthusiastically to the boy who was now sprinting down the hill toward them.
"Hey, Akari!" Luke said with a huge grin as he picked her up off her feet and spun her around.
"Wooooow!" she exclaimed with a laugh as she wound her arms around his neck tightly. Once she was back on her feet she smiled up into his golden eyes and said, "Boy, you are here early Lukie!"
"I was just so excited I couldn't wait anymore!" he replied.
Gill just stared with annoyance written all over his face. Luke noticed this and wondered for a second why he was in a bad mood already. Then he cautiously asked the other boy, "Do you want me to spin you around too, Gill…?"
Gill's eyes enlarged to the size of golf balls.
"I guess I could…" Luke continued cluelessly, "But it might be a little harder since you aren't as light as Akari here--"
"I don't want you to spin me!!" Gill barked at the blue haired boy.
"Okay, now…" Akari said, trying to stop her giggling so she could glare affectively at Gill, "We came here to play a game, so lets get down to business!"
They sat down in their regular seats. Akari at the base of the tree, Luke on her left hand side, Gill across from her. Everyone happy and calm….except for Gill, that is…
"I think it was your turn Akari." Luke said as he leaned up against the trunk of the tree.
"Alright. Since Gilly threw a hissy fit the last time he wasn't called on, I'll choose him."
Gill raised an eyebrow.
"Truth or dare, Gilly?"
"humph…dare…"
She thought with a tilt of her head. "I dare you to…to…laugh uncontrollably for five minutes!"
"Are you kidding me…?"
"Nope! And you might as well do it so you can save up your chickens!" she said with a wink.
He sighed, opened his mouth up as wide as he could, and took a deep breath.
"Wait!" she yelled, holding up her hand. "Lukie, you got a stop watch?"
"Yes-siree!" he said, whipping said device from his pocket. "I had the strangest feeling this would come in handy!" He pressed a few a few buttons cheerily, then indicated to Gill a 'three, two, one,' with his fingers.
Beep
"A-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
Luke and Akari stared. The smiles falling from their faces.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH--Ooooh--heeheee-HAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
"Ya know…" Akari began, with a side glance at Luke. "This should be funny…"
"Yeah, I know…" Luke said, scratching his head. "But its not. Its actually kind of scary…"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! TEHEHEHEHEHE!"
"Yeah…disturbing even…"
Gill's eyes were vacant orbs. His face emotionless even though he was forcing out, what should be, contagious laughter. And his finger, that remarkably resembled claws, were hooked in the tangles of grass on either side of him. All in all, he looked rather terrifying.
Akari sighed. "How much longer of this do we have to endure?" she asked Luke.
He glanced at his stopwatch, "He's only been laughing for 30 seconds now…"
"Oh shoot!" she exclaimed, "Does he always laugh like this?"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
"I dunno…" Luke said with a shrug.
"Well, if he does, I cant imagine people would want to tell him any jokes."
Luke nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah…his laughter is scarier than his anger…"
Gill, who was still there and could hear everything they were saying, narrowed his eyes with annoyance…but continued laughing.
"GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
"So, Lukie, how was work today!?" Akari asked cheerfully.
"Oh, alright, I guess…" Luke said with a shrug. "Its also kind of why I was here so early today…I broke my ax…"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Oh-no! Not your ax!" Akari gasped.
Luke whimpered slightly. "Yeah…it was….really emotional…"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"That's awful!" Akari said, placing her hand comfortingly on the young man's shoulder. "You can tell me about it….if you want to…of course"
He sighed. "Well, I was chopping some wood, like always…"
"KAHAHAHAHAHA--(gasp for air)--AHAHAHAHAHAH!"
"….and then I hit some really hard wood."
She nodded encouragingly.
"And you see…my baby can chop through every type of wood imaginable. So I thought 'this would be no big deal, right?"
"BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
"But it was a big deal… I chopped, but the wood didn't even crack…."
"GEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!"
"…and then I chopped again, this time it split a little, but not enough…"
"TEHEHEHEHEHEHE!"
"A-And then…I chopped one…last….time…a-and….the bladeoftheaxfelloff!!!!"
His last words were so garbled together that it took her a second to realize what he had just said.
"O-Oh, the blade fell off!?"
"TAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
He nodded slightly, his bottom lip quivering.
"Oh how horrible!" she exclaimed, taking one of his callused hands in both of hers.
His eyes were now fixed on their hands. Thoughts of his ax now vanished.
"GEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!"
"Don't worry." she said with a sweet smile, rubbing his hand gently. "I'm sure your father will be able to fix it!"
"Fix what?" he asked as he stared into her eyes.
"AHEM!" Gill muttered and then continued laughing madly again.
"O-Oh yeah! My ax!" Luke said smacking himself in the head. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure he will!"
"That's great!" She said cluelessly, slipping her hands away from his. Then she leaned over to look at the stop watch he had in his left hand. "Crap, still another two minutes…."
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"So…." Akari mumbled. "What did you have for breakfast….?"
Luke was about to answer when a tall boy with peach colored hair poked his head around the tree.
"What are you guys doing….?" he asked quietly, his violet eyes going wide with confusion as he saw the hysterical blond boy.
"Oh! Chasy-Roo!" Akari yelled suddenly, leaping to her feet.
"H-Hey Akari,…Luke,…Gill…" Chase said with a little smile curling his lips, and then a worried glance at Gill. "What's wrong with him…?"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it!" she said with a toss of her hand. "Come sit down and play with us!" She grabbed both of his hands in hers and brought him over to a spot next to Gill, urging him to sit.
He sat down awkwardly, eyeing the boy next to him with an uncertain sideways glance.
"So what are we playing?" he asked turning back to the cheery brunette who was bouncing in her seat.
"We are playing Truth or Dare!!" she exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh…really?"
"YES! And right now we are waiting for Gill's time to be up on his dare of laughing for five minutes uncontrollably!"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"
"Oh…." Chase nodded, peaking at Gill again out of the corner of his eye. "How much longer does he have…?"
Luke glanced at his watch. "Twenty seconds."
Gill's eyes practically sparkled with anticipation and his laughter became louder suddenly, making Chase jump a little.
"GAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"He's kind of….scary when he laughs, isn't he…?" Chase muttered.
Akari nodded enthusiastically. "We totally and completely agree!"
"Don't worry!" Luke announced triumphantly, "He's got ten seconds!" and then he started counting down. "Ten, nine, eight, seven--" (Akari joined in happily) "six, five, four--" (Chase caught on) "Three! Two!! One!!!"
Gill gasped heavily as if he had just run a mile and his head drooped forward.
"You okay, Gilly?" Akari asked leaning toward him.
He just sat there huffing and puffing, locks of his white blond hair falling in his face.
Chase turned to him. Wondering if he should pat him on the back, get him a glass of water, or just sit there. He chose the latter.
"G-Gill…?" Luke called hesitantly.
Suddenly Gill's head shot up and his eyes locked onto the girl across from him.
"N-Never….(pant)…never ask me…(pant)…t-to do that….(pant)…again!"
She nodded, eyes wide. Then she frowned and tipped her head. "Aren't you overreacting just a tiny bit Gilly?"
He stared at her.
"I mean, come on! Its not as if the dare asked you to risk your life or anything!? You were just laughing!"
Gill sighed heavily, giving up, then glanced over at Chase who was staring at him wide eyed.
"So…Chasy-Roo…?" Gill mumbled, taking him off guard. "That's her nickname for you…?"
"Yeah…" Chase said. "She said when I first met her, that she thought my apron looked like a kangaroo pouch….and I guess Chasy-Roo just stuck…"
Gill looked over at the grinning Akari and rolled his eyes.
"So!" she began, "Gilly, it's your turn!"
"Alright… Akari, truth or dare."
"Truth!"
"Do you know how much I hate you?"
"Yes!"
"Good."
"Okay my turn!" she rubbed her chin. "Lukie, truth or dare!?"
"Um….dare!" he said punching the air with his fist.
"I dare you to….roll down the hill until you throw up!"
"W-What!?" The blue haired boy's eyes widened fearfully. Then he jumped to his feet and ran over to the edge of the forest and acted as if he was talking to the bushes except for the fact that strange noises came from him. He toddled back to them, brushing his mouth off on his glove and sat back down next to Akari with a pink face.
"S-Sorry… I get sick just at the thought of throwing up…"
"Well okay then!" Chase exclaimed leaning back with a shocked expression on his face that he shared with the other two observers of that scene.
"Um…yeah…you can just say you did that dare…" Akari mumbled. "Now its your turn!"
Luke's eyes scanned the faces in the circle once before landing on the newcomer's face.
"Chase, truth or dare."
Chase contemplated this choice thoughtfully. If he chose dare, then he would likely have to do something similar to what Luke and Gill were asked and he didn't really want to puke or get lightheaded off laughing. So he decided to play it safe.
"Truth." he stated proudly. Nothing bad could happen if he said truth.
"Do you have a secret crush!?" Luke asked with a wide grin.
Chase fell back in surprise. That was the only dangerous truth question!
"Um…why do you need to know that?" he inquired with a suspicious glance and a raise of his eyebrow.
Luke's face fell. "I don't care…"
"Then why did you ask me that!?"
"B-Because that's always the first truth question!"
"No its not!"
"S-Sure it is--Hey you don't think that I…?"
Chase scrutinized him.
Luke puffed up his cheeks, "No!…no…don't even go there!"
Chase rolled his eyes then laughed. "I wasn't! I was just kidding!"
"Oh…" Luke mumbled calming down.
"I'll tell you…" Chase said, rubbing a strand of his peach colored hair in-between his fingers as a blush lighted his cheeks.
"N-Never mind." Luke said in a huff as he turned away. "I don't want to know anyway."
Gill and Akari just stared. Their eyes jumping from boy to boy as if it had been a tennis match.
"I'm hungry." Luke complained finally. "Lets go get something to eat and play again tomorrow."
"Can I come too?" Chase asked, searching Akari's eyes.
"Why, yes, of course, Chasy-Roo!! The more the merrier!" She exclaimed.
They all stood and started walking down the hill together. Akari wound her arm through Gill's like always, and like always, began to talk his ear off. She found herself laughing at something she said and thought particularly funny, but frowned when she say the stoic expression on her escort's face.
"Well, what's wrong Gilly…? Do you not like my joke?"
"No that's not it…" He said touching his cheek gingerly with his free hand. "It hurts to laugh."
Thanks for reading. I hoped you liked it! Please review!!!!
Any comments are appreciated!!