Truth or Dare (Ch. 16: Girl's Night Out)

I crawled out of bed at ease, ready for Friday to begin.  After checking my phone to see no missed messages, I reached into the closet to get out my outfit for the day.
Once I was dressed in a pair of tight fitting blue jeans, a black belt, a dark grey long sleeve shirt and a navy blue short sleeve top over it, I straightened my hair and went downstairs.  On my way down the stairs, I started to think about the dream and if it could possibly be true.  I went into the Kitchen to find Lauren sitting at the counter.
“Good morning,” I started, deciding to be nice and show her that her stunt the night before hadn’t scared me.
“Hi,” she said back.  Something was obviously on her mind, and it shocked me as the dream replayed in my head.
“So, Jayden said that you and Craig went out last night,” I said, taking an apple from the bowl on the table and sitting on the stool next to her.
“Yea,” Lauren said.  She wasn’t being snotty to me, and that slightly caught me off guard.  Usually she would have snapped at me if I asked anything about her personal life, but today she simply answered in a bright voice.  I was confused; I thought she liked Jayden.  Was she dating Craig in order to get closer to Jayden and attempt to seduce him?  Maybe this was all just part of her plan .  What if she really did like Craig, though?  I wasn’t sure.
I didn’t know what else to say, so I ended the conversation by saying, “I’ll see you at school.”
“Okay,” she said kindly.  It was a quick, and oddly pleasant, conversation.
I got up from the stool I was seated in and left the house.  On my way to school, I was thinking about different possibilities.  There was a chance that Lauren was just using Craig, but there was also a chance that she really liked Craig more than Jayden now that she was working with him to break us up.  Maybe her and Craig only went out to plan more pain for Jayden and I, or maybe they were just hanging out.  I had no idea what to think about the two of the together or how my dream related.
The parking lot was filling up when I pulled in behind my classmates.  I looked around for Jayden’s or Natalya’s car so that I could park near them.  Natalya’s green slug bug stuck out from the other black, white, grey, and red cars, and I started to move towards the open spot next to her.  Consciously, I checked to make sure Craig wasn’t parked near her.  I pulled in and parked.
She was still in her car talking on her pink razor phone.  I waved and turned off my car as she waved back.  The two of us got out of our cars at the same time and met in front of the two cars.  It was just like the morning after I had the dream.  That dream only occurred a week ago, but it seemed like so much longer.
“Hey girl, ready for tonight?” she asked as we started to walk through the parking lot to the school building.
“Definitely!” I said with a giggle.  “What time are we thinking?”
“How bout right after school?  We’ll hit the mall and a movie,” she said, looking around for Daniel as we walked.
“Sounds good to me,” I said, a smile making it’s way across my face when I saw Daniel sneaking up behind Natalya.
He wrapped his arms around her petite figure, and a small shriek escaped her lips.  Daniel leaned in and touched his lips to Natalya’s, and suddenly, I felt arms wrap around my waste as well.  Familiar lips kissed my cheek.  I turned around to face Jayden.
Jayden kissed me like he hadn’t seen me in days and he missed me, but I didn’t mind and I kissed back with just as much force.  When the five-minute bell rang, advising us to start moving towards our classes, we all broke apart and started walking.
“So I had another dream last night,” I said, looking up at Jayden as he snaked his arm over my shoulders.
“Really?  About what?” he asked, his eyes beginning to look slightly worried.
“I was a fly…” I started, and Jayden looked at me like I was crazy.  “…but I was sitting on a wall in your den, and I saw Lauren…”
He started to look really nervous.  “You’re dreams tend to see things that really happen somehow, she wasn’t with me was she?”
I giggled at his worry.  “No, babe, she was with Craig.  They were fighting over Lauren not being able to find anything in my room… and then they kissed.”
Jayden stopped walking suddenly.  “Do you think…?”
“Think they’re going out?  I’m not sure if my dream is even true.  But I think there’s a possibility.  I mean it was weird, she didn’t even snap at me this morning in the kitchen.  I almost wonder if she gave up on breaking us apart.  Was she at your house last night?” I asked, looking around a little and noticing that Daniel and Natalya were gone.  I assumed they went to her locker.
“Yea.  I heard her and Craig talking… well more like yelling,” Jayden said, steering us into the English classroom.
“Did you hear what they were arguing about?” I asked, hoping that he would say something relevant to my dream, showing me that it could be true.
“He yelled something about some girl not being perfect, and Lauren told him to find proof himself.  Then they got really quiet,” he said as we sat down in our desks at the back of the room.
“It’s my dream,” I said quietly, slightly freaked out by the coincidence of it all.  But I was glad that I had a hint at what was going on, even though I still had a feeling Lauren would try and break Jayden and I up.  I just knew it somehow.
“What does that mean?” Jayden asked as the final bell rang, letting class begin.
“I’m not sure…” I turned to face forward, slightly more relaxed since I had a clue into the drama.  I looked over to see Natalya smiling, and I couldn’t wait to hang out with her after school.  We definitely needed girl time.
The class period went by really show, but soon the bell rang, and we were off to our next classes.  My mind kept buzzing with thoughts of my dream; it kept repeating and I couldn’t seem to get it out of my head.  I wasn’t feeling as threatened any more, though; it was a nice feeling.
For the most part, Lauren and Craig said nothing to me all day, and I was at peace.  It was a nice Friday, and after English it passed quickly.  I was glad when the final bell rang, and Natalya and I walked to her locker.
“So, where to first?” she asked, opening the locker with a smile plastered on her face.
“I don’t care.  You choose,” I answered, placing my books in her locker and grabbing my mostly empty back pack.
“How about we go to the movie first,” she suggested.
I agreed, and we left the school in separate cars.  We stopped by my dad’s house and left my car there, then continued on to the movie theatre in Natalya’s car.  The music was blasting on the radio, and we were singing along with all of the songs we knew.  Laughter and bad singing filled the car as we neared the theatre.
“So what movie are we seeing?” I asked her as she parked.
“We could see that new one with Johnny Depp,” she suggested with a grin.  Natalya’s celebrity crush was Johnny Depp, she was absolutely crazy about the multi-talented star.
“The musical?” I clarified, unbuckling my seatbelt.
“Yea!  Sweeny Todd!” Natalya squealed excitedly.  She was so hyper.
“Ok.  Let’s go!” I said slightly mockingly, opening my door.
We went to the booth and bought our tickets.  After they checked our identification to make sure we were seventeen, we went into the theatre.  The movie wasn’t horribly busy at 3:30p.m. on a Friday afternoon, and this movie wasn’t a new release like others playing in the neighboring auditoriums.  Natalya and I found pretty good seats near the center of the theatre, and we sat down.
The movie theatre grew dark, and the movie started with it’s previews.  Every other preview, Natalya would lean over and tell me that we had to see that movie.  We did that every time we went to a movie together, pointing out other movies that we most likely wouldn’t go and see.
Finally the overture began to play, starting the movie.  Natalya and I were quiet as the demon barber slit throats, and his lady baked them into pies.  Through scenes of obviously fake blood and evil intentions, Natalya and I stared at the moving screen.
As the movie came to an end, we stood up and exited the theatre.  We walked by the concession stand, and both of our stomachs growled.
“I vote we get food,” I volunteered when we both looked at each other.
Natalya giggled.  “Second that!”
As we laughed, we made our way to her car and got in.  We agreed to get tacos from Taco Bell.  She drove there, but this time the music wasn’t so loud.  The two of us were talking about the different parts of the movie that we liked, disliked, and those that disturbed us.
We parked, entered the restaurant, and ordered various Mexican food items.  Once we took a seat at the table, Natalya started conversations.  “So you and Jayden seem pretty happy together,” she said with her ‘I’m-so-happy-for-you’ look.
“Yeah.  I really like him,” I said, smiling as I thought of Jayden’s eyes, his kiss, and the way he talked to me like no other guy had before.
“It’s only slightly obvious!  You are glowing when you’re around him!” she continued, taking a bite out of her taco and chasing it down with a swig of Pepsi.
I giggled.  “New topic.  Girls night, remember?”
“True.  New topic.  What do we do next?” she asked, finishing off her taco, as I got down to the last piece of mine.
“We could go shop.  Get outfits for tomorrow night,” I suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” she said, tossing our trash onto the tray and standing up.  “Let’s go.”
Natalya and I left Taco Bell with our stomachs full and got into her car.  She started the car, and the song Barbie Girl by Aqua was playing on her favorite station.  I turned the music up, and we began to sing along with the windows down and we drove the couple blocks to the mall.
Just as the song finished, we pulled into the parking lot.  Natalya and I kept our eyes open for parking spots as we drove up and down the full aisles.
Suddenly Natalya shrieked, “Snack bar!”  She pulled into the front row spot quickly and turned off her car before someone else could take her perfect spot from her.  We shared a celebratory high five, grabbed our purses, and got out of the car.  She locked the doors, and we headed up to the entrance.
We shopped for a couple of hours, hitting almost every store.  When we exited the mall, I had four bags in my hands.  In one bag, I had a new pair of jeans, a pair of black sweats, and a short black skirt with leggings.  My second bag held a pair of purple heels.  The third had a pair of purple disk earrings, a black and purple beaded necklace, and a purple plastic bracelet.  A fourth had a fitted purple shirt with lace along the bottom.  The last back contained a new black purse.
It would be the perfect outfit for the next day.  I checked my cell phone for the time.  “Oh my gosh, it’s already 8:00.  Time flies.  What now?” I asked, showing Natalya my phone as we walked to her car.
“I don’t know.  Ice cream?” she suggested, unlocking her door.
“Works for me,” I said, joining Natalya and tossing my bags on her back seat, then getting in.
We pulled out of the spot and were again traveling down the road to a different destination.  Natalya and I had agreed on going to Dairy Queen and getting some ice cream.  Dairy Queen was only here blocks from the mall, so it took us just less than three minutes to get there.
Natalya parked the car and we got out again with our purses and went inside the cozy little ice cream shop.  We both ordered the same thing, a small Oreo blizzard, and took a seat in the corner at one of the two seat tables.  It was hard to think of something to talk about, since we had used pretty much all of our conversation ideas already.
I finally thought of something.  “So what time are we all going out tomorrow?” I asked, taking a bite of my ice cream.
“I don’t know.  What time works for you?” she asked, sipping her water.
I was about to answer when my phone started to ring from inside my purse.  “Hold on,” I told her as I reached into my bag and answered my phone.  “Hello?”
“Hey babe, what are you doing?”  It was Jayden.
“It’s girls night with Nat.  Why?” I asked, holding up one finger just to led Natalya know I would be off in a minute.
“I wanted to know if you wanted to do something,” he said, a slight hint of disappointment running in his voice.
“Sorry, babe.  Tonight is all about me and her,” I said.  Natalya gave me a look that reminded me about tomorrow.  “But tomorrow night, double date with Nat and Daniel, cool?”
“Yea, works for me,” Jayden said with a slight chuckle.
“What time works for you?” I asked, giggling as Natalya made funny faces at me like I always did to her when she was on the phone with Daniel.
“How about we meet up with them somewhere at like 5:00.  I want you to myself before then,” Jayden said, seduction ringing in his voice.
I held up five fingers to question Natalya if 5:00 worked for her, and she nodded.  “That’s perfect,” I said.  “But I gotta go now.  I’ll call you when I get home.  Okay?”
“Okay.”
Jayden and I hung up and I turned towards Natalya.  “I’m so sorry,” I said, giving her an apologetic look.
“It’s not your fault.  Don’t worry about it.  I used to do that to you when Daniel would call, it’s time I took a taste of my own medicine,” she accepted, laughing and taking another bite of her ice cream.
We finished our ice cream with minimal conversation, and just sat there for awhile talking about random things.  Finally, Natalya looked at her watch.  “Wow, it’s already 9:00.  We’ve been her for an hour,” she said, shocked that we could sit in an ice cream shop for so long.
“Where do we go now?” I asked, checking my cell phone.
“I don’t know.  You choose,” she said with a laugh.
“Want to just go back to my dad’s?” I suggested, standing up and grabbing both of our empty paper cups and reaching into the trash can behind me.
“Sure, works for me,” Natalya agreed, standing up and grabbing our purses.  She handed me my purse, and we left the shop.
Once in her car, she again started it up and backed out of the parking lot and onto the road.  We got to my dad’s house after about ten minutes, and got out of her car again.  I reached into her back seat and grabbed my bags, then we walked through the front lawn and into the house together.
I breathed a slight sigh of relief when I noticed that nobody else was home.  We walked together up to my room and put my bags on my bed.  “So what do you want to do?” I asked, dropping onto the plush mattress as Natalya sat quickly next to me.
“We could always watch another movie,” she suggested, motioning towards the shelf of DVD’s sitting against the wall.
“Okay.  You choose,” I said with a small laugh.  The thing about Natalya was that she always hated making decisions like that unless she knew exactly what she wanted to see like she had earlier.
With a sigh, Natalya got up from the bed and walked to the shelf and began to look at the movie choices.  “How about A Walk To Remember?” she suggested, taking the DVD off the shelf.
“Okay,” I said.  I loved the movie, but it made me cry every time I saw it.
Together Natalya and I went back downstairs and into my dad’s den where the DVD player was set up.  I put in the movie, and we sat on the floor against the couch with our knees pulled up to our chests.
The movie was watched in complete silence, and like always, tears fell from both of our eyes at the end.  We wiped our eyes, and I got up to take the disk out and turn off the DVD player.  Natalya looked at her watch again and decided that she should probably head home.
I walked Natalya to the door, DVD in hand, and bid her good-bye with a sisterly hug.  We decided that we would meet the next day at her house at 5:00 and go on our double date.  It would be fun, we both knew that much.
Once I had closed the door, I walked back upstairs and placed the DVD back on the shelf.  I got into the shower and washed, then put on a pair of my mom’s old sweats and a college t-shirt, then I climbed into bed and called Jayden.
He answered on the first ring, like always.  “Hello?”
“Hey,” I said, wrapping myself in the covers as a chill ran down my spine.
“How was your girls night out?” Jayden asked.
“It was really fun.  I love our girl nights!” I said, smiling even though I knew he couldn’t see it.
“I think it’s great that you and Nat do that.  Girls need to hang out with their friends,” he said, supporting our girls night completely.
“Exactly.  Especially when we have boyfriends like you and Daniel.  You guys just get on our nerves,” I said in a joking voice, gigging so that he would know I didn’t mean it.
“Well, babe, you’re not exactly perfect either,” Jayden kid back.
We were both laughing, and I decided to add, “Actually, I am.”
“True,” Jayden said.  We both stopping laughing, and I felt a blush forming in my cheeks.  I began to wish that Jayden were there so that I could lay in his arms as we talked.
“So what are we doing tomorrow?” I asked, changing the subject to something that would involve more conversation.
“It’s a surprise,” Jayden said, and I felt my knees slightly weaken under the covers.  A guy had never tried to surprise me.
“Oo la la,” I said cheerfully, becoming excited for the next morning.
“I’ll pick you up and noon, be ready,” Jayden said with authority.
“What am I supposed to wear?” I asked.  The last thing I wanted was to be under dressed or over dressed for whatever occasion he had planned.
“Just wear jeans and a t-shirt and you should be fine,” Jayden said.
“I can do that.  Will you at least tell me where we’re going?” I tried to push, pleading helplessly through the phone, hoping to weaken his cover just a little bit.
“Nope.”  Jayden stood his ground, and it slightly shocked me.  I considered begging, but thought better of it and decided not to.  “You get some sleep, and I will see you tomorrow and noon on the dot,” Jayden concluded.
“Okay, bye.” I said.
Jayden and I hung up, and I plugged my phone into the charger.  I laid back, and in no time, I was asleep.