CHAPTER SEVEN: FEVER CHILLS

"Truth or dare?" Bobby asked Adam with a smirk.

Adam kept his voice low and serious as he chose dare. Bobby looked like this was just what he was hoping for.

"I dare you to kiss Bianca."

Adam looked at him with a shocked expression, but Bianca didn't look to defensive about it. Everyone was pretty sure that Bianca was actually happy about it.

As soon as Ms. Oh had gone for a bathroom break, everyone had chosen truth or dare as the first game of the night. Now it was getting out of control though.

Adam searched for words while Bianca stayed silent and everyone else encouraged him. Fiona also stayed quiet as she sat in between Jenna and Alli.

She gave him a plastic smile and said, "Go ahead. It's just a game, right?"

Adam nodded in agreement before turning around to face Bianca in the circle they'd formed.

"Do it, do it, do it!" everyone but Fiona cheered. Ms. Oh stepped into the room to watch the teenagers, but she made no move to stop Adam from leaning forward to kiss Bianca. She remembered what it had been like to be a teenager, and she didn't want to take the fun away from these kids.

They deserved a little freedom after the friends they'd lost last December. So she casually sat at a table behind the circle and began softly joining in on the chanting.

A couple of the girls grinned at her joining and encouraged her to chant louder with them.

Adam took Bianca's face in his hands and placed a subtle and very gentle kiss on her lips. But Bianca didn't want a gentle kiss, so she quickly gripped Adam's face and began kissing with more force.

Adam was taken aback but he made no move to pull away. So instead he flicked his tongue across her bottom lip, telling her to open her mouth. Bianca obeyed and Adam's tongue entered her mouth without hesitation.

She moved so that her hands were resting on his shoulders and his were cupping her cheeks as the kiss continued to deepen. The kiss went on for a minute longer before Bobby eventually interrupted them.

Bianca was blushing at how long she'd gone on kissing with Adam. She never thought that this day would come. But she also knew that he would never leave his precious Fiona for her.

"Okay," Bobby announced, "now it's time for the ghost stories."

Wesley and Connor rubbed their hands together mischievously while the girls huddled next to each other. Fiona quickly took her seat next to Adam as soon as the circle began rearranging.

Adam gave her an apologetic smile at how far he'd let the kiss go with Bianca. But she looked as if it hadn't even fazed her as she sat close to him.

Unfortunately Bobby took his place on her right. Adam was waiting for Fiona's word to tear his head off as Ms. Oh dimmed the lights in the lunchroom.

There were a few quiet laughs and squeals as Ms. Oh joined the group again, and Dave began the scary story.

"Once long ago there lived a poor family. In this family was a daughter and son. One day the mother asked the two to go to the garden to see if they could find any potatoes left. Now winter had come and what food they had stored away was gone and the mother hoped they might find a few potatoes so she could fix potato soup. Well, the two went to the garden and begin to dig the earth looking for potatoes."Dave glanced over everyone before continuing.

"As they searched, the wind grew cold and beat against their threadbare coats. Just as they were ready to give up, the young boy hit something with his hoe. He dug hurriedly, hoping to find another potato to put in the pot for the night's meal. Suddenly, there on the end of the hoe was a toe. The young boy rejoiced at the meat he had uncovered and thought how good this would make as a flavoring for the potatoes. Taking the few potatoes and the big toe they headed on home. The young boy showed his mother the treasure he had uncovered in the garden. The mother, thinking it to be part of a wild animal, cleaned the toe and potatoes and put them on to cook. After the meal was prepared the mother told her young son he could have the bone and the meat remaining on it, since he was the one who had found it. That night everyone went to bed satisfied and fell asleep."Adam noticed that Fiona was trembling and gave a small smirk. Fiona didn't notice and listened intently to the creepy story.

"Late in the night the father was awakened by moaning outside the house, saying, 'I WANT MY BIG TOE. I WANT MY BIG TOE.' The father got up and went to look, but found nothing. He went back to bed and the moaning started again, this time closer to the house, saying, 'I WANT MY BIG TOE. I WANT MY BIG TOE.' The mother got up and went outside to see if she could find the source of the noise. She searched in the barn, around the house, and on top of the hay and found nothing. The mother went back to bed and the moaning started again, even closer to the house saying, 'I WANT MY BIG TOE. I WANT MY BIG TOE.' This time the girl got up and searched. She looked out the window, around the house, in the barn, and, behind the barn, but could find nothing. The young girl went back to bed and the moaning started again, even closer to the house, saying, 'I WANT MY BIG TOE. I WANT MY BIG TOE.' The father called to the boy and asked him to go see, if he could, where the sound was coming from. The young boy looked in the kitchen, under the table, around the house, in the barn, and then he thought; I've looked everywhere but under the steps. Just as he bent to look, something said…, 'YOU'VE GOT IT!'"

Dave grabbed Sadie's sides as he yelled the last words, causing her to scream loudly. A few others screamed, but most of them were laughing at how badly Dave had scared Sadie.

Adam was still laughing at Fiona's scream as she playfully shoved his shoulder. He grinned and leaned close to kiss her neck when a loud sound of glass breaking shot through the halls.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked around. Ms. Oh flipped the lights back on and said comfortingly, "I'm sure it was just a rat knocking something over. You guys stay here while I go check it out."

Wesley immediately stood from his place next to Connor and Anya. "Do you really want to go out there alone, Ms. Oh? I mean, last time people stayed here overnight, the students got murdered."

Adam stood from his place next to Fiona in anger even though she was tugging at his arm for him to calm down and sit back down.

"And just what do you know about what happened here ten months ago? In case you forgot, I was here."

Wesley was lost for words. Anya quickly stood to defend him and said, "Don't be such a jerk. He was just trying to give Ms. Oh some pretty helpful advice if you ask me."

Adam glared at her but said nothing. Fiona tugged harder at his sleeve, making him sit back down next to her. Her eyebrows met as she ran her manicured fingers through his windblown hair.

Everyone turned to see what Ms. Oh was doing when they realized that she had left a long time ago.

"Now what?" Connor asked after a few heartbeats of silence. No one answered.

Bobby finally looked up at everyone and said, "Now we wait…"