Part 9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So after the long and painful death of my mother's "lappy" (laptop) I had the horrible experience of watching all my precious stories disappear right before my eyes. (Even the beginning of this chapter that I had gotten a good deal into vanished….that was very frustrating…) In addition to that I was suddenly was swamped at school and work and found myself with very little free time. This is partially why I haven't updated in….months… So I am super sorry for any of you that I have given grief. No worries now, hopefully I will begin writing as fast as I was before. So now, after a terribly long wait, I present to you…..

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Truth or Dare

Bo-Bo

Luke's big toe twitched.

And then there was the sound of crying….more like blubbering…"

"Lukie…." (sob, sob)

His toe twitched again.

"Lukie……" (sob, sniffle)

His hand came up and scratched his butt.

"Lukie….YOU MISSED IT!!!!!" Akari wailed.

"Geh?" Luke mumbled slowly opening one eye.

Akari scrambled toward him on the floor and stuck her face right up close to his. Tears were bubbling down her cheeks. "Lukie! Eleanor died!!!!!!!!!!" She collapsed to the ground in grief.

Behind her the "I Couldn't Help but Love You" theme song was playing dramatically as the credits rolled. Discs, bearing the long solemn faces of the characters, lay all over the floor along with empty soda cans, half eaten cookies, fingernail polish, and curlers. The place basically had Slumber Party!!!! written all over it.

"Oh?" Luke said groggily, pulling his foot out of the popcorn bowl, "Is that all?" And closed his eye again.

Akari stared a gasp. "Is that ALL!? She just sacrificed herself so that her children can have a happy life and you say, 'Is that all'!?"

Luke froze, pretending to be asleep.

Akari gave up, whipped her tears on the sleeve of her oversized t-shirt, swiveled back to the television and exclaimed, "We only made it through the first two discs!!! ….and its almost nine…"

Luke shot up.

Nine!? Already!?

He leapt to his feet and hastily gathered up his belongings while Akari blabbered on about how she wondered what would happen in the next episode.

"Do you think Danny and Fran will get back together? Who do you think is the father of Staci's baby? We have time to watch at least one more episode right…? I'd hate to return the set to Elli without enjoying the entire series! You agree right?"

She turned around and realized her guest was trying to make a break for it the same second Luke looked down at his toes and found they were flamingo pink.

"Your leaving!?" She gasped at the same time he yelled, "What did you do to me!?"

She shrugged. "You chose that color."

He stared at her in horror.

"I told you it wouldn't look good with your hair color, but you insisted… don't blame me…"

"You painted my toenails!?" He gasped.

"Well, sure…" she cocked her head to the side. "You asked me to…"

Luke wiggled his toes in disbelief.

"I did your fingernails too!" she added cheerily. "I think they look wonderful with your eyes!"

Luke dropped the blanket he had had wadded in his hands and looked at his purple fingernails.

"This cant be happening…" he muttered, running his fingers through his hair…only to find he couldn't.

He pulled one plushy powder pink curler from his hair and shivered when a ringlet bounced in his peripheral vision.

He dashed to the mirror and whipped his flaming bandana off his head to find it entire covered with more pink curlers.

What's Bo gunna say when he sees me like this…?

"I was shocked too…" Akari muttered, appearing in the mirror behind him like a ghost in a horror movie. " I never though you were that kind of guy…"

"I'm not!" he yelped.

She raised an eyebrow. "Riiiiiight…."

He tugged at the ringlet, willing it to go straight. "Look…when I get really tired I do…weird things…"

"Weird things…? Describe…'weird things'." She said pulling a notepad from seemingly nowhere and impersonating a psychiatrist's voice.

"Well.." He said plopping on the couch, "I sleep talk…heck! I can keep on a conversation in my sleep! And I sleep walk too…"

"Sleep….walk…too…" she mumbled as she scribbled in her notepad. "Has this happened since your childhood?"

"I don't know… Its happened ever since I can remember…so, I guess…"

"Ever since you could remember, huh?" She made some loud marks on the paper then looked up at him curiously. "My diagnosis is that you have an inferiority complex toward your brother."

Luke nearly fell off the couch. "My what!? I don't even have a brother!"

She blinked at him innocently. "We were acting out a scene in "I Couldn't Help but Love You," weren't we?"

Just then there was some wild knocking at the door.

Akari jumped up to get it and was shocked to see Elli standing there panting heavily.

"A-Akari!" she gasped. "C-Come quick! Something is wrong with Gill!!"

Akari wordlessly threw a jacket over herself and quickly followed Elli out the door and down the road.

Luke ran to the door and yelled after her, "Wait!! What am I supposed to do!? Don't you have any nail polish remover or something!?"

Bo wandered by just then, caught sight of Luke, and fell into a bush.

---

Gill's eyes slowly opened and he instantly became aware that something wasn't right. He was in his room. Yes, that was normal even though he didn't remember how he got there. He was dressed in a pair of his pajamas. Well, that was weird, since he didn't remember changing into them…but that wasn't what was bothering him. He couldn't remember anything from the night before after he took Pat home, but that didn't really feel like it either.

He rolled his head to the side.

And there it was…

There she was…

"Akari?" he breathed.

She had her face buried in her arms propped up on the bed while kneeling on the floor, sleeping peacefully.

Was he dreaming? Was she really here? Why would she be here, but…why shouldn't she be here…?

His hand reached out and brushed against her hair slightly. He was hesitant, as if he feared she would vanish at his touch.

"Your real." he whispered with a smile and let his hand rest on her head gently. "But why…?"

Her large brown eyes opened then and stared for a moment into his dark blue ones.

"Hey, Gilly." She whispered. "I'm glad your okay." A small smile curled her lips.

"Okay? What happened to me?"

"You don't remember?"

He just stared.

"Well," she began, "They said that Toby found you this morning under a tree and you were all wet."

"Wet!?"

"Yeah, like you fell in the river."

"Oh."

A large tear slid down her cheek and she said, "I'm so glad you are okay! I was so worried that you were hurt. I don't know what I'd do without you Gilly."

He was touched by her sweet display of concern…until she started slapping her cheek. "Sheesh!" She exclaimed, sitting up rubbing her face. "I hate it when I don't get enough sleep! It makes my eyes all teary!"

Needless to say, he felt a little depressed.

---

Latter that day Akari, Luke, and Gill (after reassuring everyone that he was fine) (Elli had overreacted, thinking it was a life or death situation. She has watched too many soap operas…) were sitting underneath the tree at the Special Spot.

Gill was watching Luke suspiciously and Luke was squirming under his gaze.

"I like that look." Gill finally said. "What do you call it? ….The homemaker?"

Luke's face burned. He had tried, in vain, to pick the nail polish off his fingernails and to hide his perfectly ringlet hair beneath his bandana. But those stubborn curls decided to pop out every which way until he very much did look like a housewife.

"Shut up you wet cat!" Luke spat, proud of his new name to call Gill.

Gill rolled his eyes. "Well I suppose you could be a home wreaker…but you wouldn't even be worth a dollar."

Luke's eyes narrowed menacingly.

"Okay that's enough!" Mediator Akari broke in just before the bloodshed.

Chase could be seen making his way up the hill carrying something behind his back.

"Hey Chasy-Roo!" Akari cheered happily. "Come sit by me!!"

Chase's face rapidly turned rosy as he sat down between her and Luke, and hastily placed a little flower he had been holding in her hands.

"Oh, for me?" she said, shocked by the simple and sweet gift. "Oh Chasy you are the best!" And with that she popped the flower into her mouth, chewed and swallowed.

This took all three boys by surprise. They just stared for a moment before Akari grinned softly and exclaimed, "How did you know I love those flowers!? They taste just like sugar!!"

Chase laughed and blushed even more while Gill felt his stomach twisting again and couldn't help but want to lash out at Chase like a wild animal.

The others all appeared on the slope then to come join the game. Chase noticed with a grin that Akari wouldn't let anyone sit between them. But then she also wouldn't let anyone sit between Chase and Luke…or Luke and Gill, for some unknown reason…

"Who's turn is it?" Akari asked, once everyone was settled.

"I'm not sure…" Toby mumbled from behind the tree, "But I would like to start.""Of course you can!" Akari exclaimed, while dragging him over to come sit with the group.

"Great." he said sleepily. "Luke, truth or dare?"

Luke winced. "T-Truth?"

"What do you call that outfit?" Julius cut in.

"Homemaker!" Akari sputtered at the same time Gill mumbled, "Home wreaker…"

Julius tipped his head to the side thoughtfully. "I don't even know who to agree with…its that shocking…" he muttered under his breath.

Attention floated back to Toby who was visibly thinking up a question.

"Do you…often…dress in women's clothing…?" Toby asked.

The group burst into laughter, all except Luke of course who was turning violet with anger and embarrassment. "No, I never dress in women's clothing!" he spat.

"Riiiiight…." Toby mumbled before nodding off on a very disgusted Luna's shoulder.

"Shud up you--you lazy boy! Luke isn't into that sort of thing!"

All eyes turned to the figure who had just appeared on the hillside. The tough looking, undeniably cute young man who worked with Luke at the carpenter's. None other than Bo! TA-DA!

Said undeniably cute boy raised an eyebrow cutely. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"He cant play." Julius announced curtly.

"Yeah, this is a grown up game." Luke piped in. Bo's face fell dramatically at his betrayal.

"A grown up game?" Gill said mumbled.

"What are you playing?" Bo asked sweetly, even though he was trying so hard to sound gruff and tough.

"Truth or Dare!" Akari gushed. "Do you want to play, Bo-Bo!?"

"Dang it Akari!" Luke cussed silently.

"Bo-Bo?" Gill muttered. "Akari, your nicknames are getting worse and worse…"

"I know!" she exclaimed, collapsing to the ground in defeat. "My creativity is dwindling!"

"Truth or Dare isn't a grown up game!" Bo challenged, his hands on his hips.

"S-Sure it is!" Luke threw back. "We are grown ups and we are playing it!"

Bo raised an eyebrow, this time in disbelief of Luke's stupidity. "Shud up Luke. Akari invited me and I'm playing." And with that he plopped down between Luna and Gill.

"Fine!" Luke spat bitterly.

"It's your turn Luke." Akari reminded the blue haired pouting boy.

He scratched his head then pointed to Bo. "If you are sure you want to play…Truth or Dare, Bo!"

"Truth!" Bo declared.

"Do you have a secret crush!?"

"No!"

"That's a lie! I know you do!"

"You don't know anything!"

"I know enough to know who you have the hots for!"

"Shud up you home wreaker!"

"You heard that!?"

"Enough!" Julius yelled rubbing his head. "And I thought Luke was annoying…now there are two of him…anyway, its your turn Bo."

Bo grinned, he sensed the power he had over these older people and he liked it. "Luna, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." she muttered.

"I dare you to cut your hair!"

"No you little beast! I'm not going to cut my hair!"

"You have to, you have to! I dared you!"

"Cant we still do chickens?" she begged.

"I think we cut those out a long time ago." Luke chipped in, liking the idea of torturing the princess.

"I don't care. I refuse." she said with a pout.

"But you have to…I dared you…" Bo said sadly. He was beating the strength of her pout easily and even whipping up a few tears.

She stared at him for a long hard moment before buckling. "I guess…but don't expect me to cut it all off…just a few inches for you."

He would take that small victory. Bo smiled up into her face with false adoration.

"Okay." Luna said, back to business. "Gill, Truth or Dare?"

Gill looked up with plain annoyance on his face. "Truth…"

"Great!" She exclaimed, leaning over Bo to look him in the eye. "Why were you on the side of that river this morning?"

Gill avoided her gaze. "I don't know."

"Don't know? That's weird. What did you guys do last night?"

"Well after dinner we played 'go fish'…and then Gill walked Pat home and Chase walked me home." Akari said, trying to be helpful. "You remember the date don't you?"

Gill nodded.

Pat looked at him with a worried expression. "Do you remember anything after taking me home?" she asked timidly.

He shook his head.

"Maybe he was mugged." Bo offered.

"Mugged!? In Waffle Town!? Don't be ridiculous!" Luke exclaimed, chucking a rock at Bo's head. The smaller boy dodged it easily and stuck his tongue out at his co-worker.

"I don't know…." Julius said dramatically, "I've been seeing some strange folks around here recently."

"Really? What do they look like?" Luke asked, suddenly extremely interested.

"Well, they wear bandanas, nail polish, and curl their hair…and they are boys…"

"Shut up you!" Luke spat. "You have no room to talk! I mean…just look at you!!"

"I'm so offended…" Julius said sarcastically.

"Gill's turn!" Akari said suddenly getting everyone's attention again.

Gill looked at Akari's with a blank expression. "Truth or Dare, Akari?"

"Truth!" She proclaimed.

Gill racked his brain but couldn't come up with anything good so he asked the first thing that came to him. "Do you like tomatoes?"

"Hmmm…not really." she said smiling.

"Oh…"

"I like oranges!"

"Hey me too!" Chase exclaimed next to her.

For some reason that made Gill really depressed.

"My turn!" Akari said happily. "Chasy-Roo truth or dare!?"

"Dare…I guess." he said.

Suddenly from behind her back Akari pulled two pairs of fuzzy pink handcuffs. She attached one pair to the wrists of Chase and Luke and the other pair to Luke's other wrist and Gill's wrist. The three boys stared at the odd contraption with utter confusion.

"I dare you to spend twenty four hours handcuffed like this!" Akari exclaimed.

Three pairs of horrified eyes looked up at her desperately.

"There's gotta be another dare you want to do, right!? I mean this is just inhumane!" Luke complained, caught between Chase who already looked like he wanted to gnaw his own hand off to escape and the dark cloud of Gill, who seemed to be slowly marinating in anger at the thought of be attached to Luke.

"Nope, this is my dare!" she sang. "It's funny how these were the only type of handcuffs at the store though…I mean the police don't use pink fuzzy handcuffs do they?" she asked innocently.

Julius snickered.

"What kind of game is this!?" Bo exclaimed with horror as Luke tried to convince him to make a key to let him free of the cuffs. Bo tried desperately to hold back the crocodile tears that were threatening to spill over.

"Aw, don't cry Bo…" Luke begged.

Akari ran over to help Chase take is apron off since he only had one hand now and figured it would only get in the way. Gill looked over just in time to see him bend over slightly, so she could reach easier, and for her to stand on her tip toes. It looked familiar…

Suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks. He had seen them stand like that before! Just last night when he saw them…. Gill felt nauseous all of a sudden again. They were practically a couple! But why did that bother him so badly!? It was so incredibly frustrating!

Akari slid back to her regular height, holding Chase's apron, and smiled warmly up into his face as it quickly turned a rosy color.

Maybe,…maybe…Chase was competition for Akari's friendship. Yeah that must be it! he decided. (WRONG!)

Chase and I are both trying to have Akari as our friend…I feel sick when I see them together because I'm jealous that he is being friendlier to her than I am…THAT MAKES SENSE! (WRONG!)

"I'm not going to lose!" Gill said declared.

"Who you talking to?" Luke said eying him suspiciously.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh my gosh! Its been so long!

If you haven't noticed, I have apparently fallen in love with Bo in the space of this chapter. Don't ask why. I didn't even know what character to add to this chapter and wasn't going to until Bo just appeared and he is so dern cute! I've made him all "I'm so though but really I'm not!" so he is going to be a fun character to play with. (if you noticed how he said "shud up" instead of "shut up" I did that on purpose…I guess to make him seem really young or something.) (I should stop trying to explain things….)

Amnesia from a broken heart? Didn't think it was possible but now it is! Sheesh! My story is becoming more of a soap opera than that soap opera Elli watches!

PLEASE REVIEW!!!! I NEED IDEAS!!!!

Stay tuned for part 10! (wow….ten is a big number…)