‘Dare,’ I said, hesitantly.
Persephone got to her feet and walked slowly around the outside of the circle, tapping her finger on her lip. Her face was serious, like she was a lawyer in a court or something. It didn’t do anything to ease my nerves. She was really putting some thought into my dare. I started to regret my decision.
What if she dares me to kiss Rio? I thought. Of course I wanted to kiss him, but not in front of everyone.
I glanced sideways at Rio. His face looked tense, too. He was probably worried about the same thing. This dare was going to be a disaster!
‘I changed my mind. I want truth!’
Persephone looked at me and shook her head. ‘Afraid I can’t permit that. If I’m not mistaken, you called dare.’
‘Dare!’ QC called. Then everyone joined in. ‘Dare! Dare! Dare!’
I put my hands over my face. My friends had turned into the Rodent Tribe!
‘Okay, okay,’ Persephone said, putting her hand up for silence. Then she took a big deep breath and continued. ‘I need quiet so I can think.’
She started walking around the circle again. ‘Let me see. What would be an appropriate dare for Kitty?’ She made it sound like I was about to be sentenced for murder.
Izzy jumped to her feet and shone her torch in Persephone’s face. ‘Okay, time’s up.’ She nudged Persephone out of the way. ‘I’ve got one. I dare Kitty to run to the end of the beach shouting “I love leeches”. And every ten metres you have to do three star jumps and a push-up.’
I shot to my feet. I was thrilled that I’d been let off the hook with a classic Izzy dare – more of a training session than a dare. It would be embarrassing to run around shouting dumb things, but I was sure it was going to be easier than any dare Persephone would have come up with.
Izzy shone the torch in my face, shouting like a sports coach. ‘All the way to the end of the beach. And don’t forget the push-ups.’
Before I had a chance to go anywhere, Persephone stepped in front of me. ‘That’s not a proper dare,’ she said, putting her hands on her hips. ‘It doesn’t even have a kiss in it.’
I knew it was now or never. So I quickly ducked past Persephone, relieved that I’d dodged her dare. She really had been thinking of daring me to kiss Rio. What an escape!
‘I love leeches!’ I said. I then did a few half-hearted star jumps and a really pathetic push-up. I had always been bad at those.
‘Louder!’ Izzy called after me. ‘And you’re meant to be running. If you fail, you’ll have to do another dare!’
I picked up the pace. I was sure Persephone wouldn’t be so slow to nominate a kissing dare if she got another chance.
As I ran I realised I needed to decide who would go next for Truth or Dare. If I picked Rio and he chose truth, I could ask him anything! I could ask if he’d seen me watching him on the bus every afternoon. But I wouldn’t do that, because he’d think I was a total stalker.
I stopped to do star jumps and then ran on again, thinking of more truth questions. I could find out Rio’s favourite ice-cream flavour. That might be a wasted question, but it would be cute to know. I could even ask him if he liked me. I stopped to do a push-up and then decided I couldn’t ask that. If he said no, I’d be so embarrassed I’d have to leave the country.
I was almost at the headland, still running through some questions in my mind, when I heard a strange shuffling sound ahead of me. Something big and black was on the beach, digging in the sand. I stopped in my tracks. I was in trouble if it was a feral dog – but it was the wrong shape. After a minute I realised it was actually a turtle, digging a hole, and it was probably about to lay eggs. How cool!
I backed away slowly so I didn’t disturb it. Then I turned and ran back to the others. ‘A turtle! A turtle!’ I whispered excitedly.
Izzy was shining me with her torch. ‘You’re meant to be shouting “I love leeches”. And you didn’t do any star jumps or push-ups on the way back. Looks like you’ll be doing another dare.’
I waved her complaints away. ‘No, no,’ I said, out of breath. ‘It’s really a turtle. Down there on the beach.’
‘Is it alive?’ Mia asked.
I nodded. ‘I think it’s about to lay eggs.’
‘Wow!’ Persephone said, grabbing my hand. ‘Where?’
We all crept quietly along the beach until I found the turtle again. She’d finished digging and was now laying eggs in the hole.
‘Let’s stay and watch,’ TC said.
‘As long as we don’t go too close, I bet she won’t even notice we’re here,’ Mia said.
Mia directed us into position a few metres from the turtle, and said we should lie on our stomachs so we wouldn’t disturb her. As the turtle got on with her mothering duties, Mia filled us in on everything there was to know about turtles. She was quite the expert on them – our very own eco-guide.
It was pretty unreal, lying there on the beach in the dark, watching the turtle lay her eggs and listening to Mia. It also saved me from having to face another dare. On the other hand, my discovery prevented me from asking Rio any important questions. Then I realised that, as Rio was lying right next to me, I could just ask him anyway. I decided to start with an easy question.
‘I’d love a mango ice-cream right now,’ I whispered. ‘How about you?’
‘I’d kill for a Belgian chocolate.’
‘Really? I thought you’d be a forest fruit sort of guy.’
Rio laughed. ‘Is that because I remind you of a blueberry? Or am I more of a raspberry?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said, smiling. ‘They’re both nice.’
I felt my face go red for the second time that night. I was basically telling Rio he was cute with my stupid fruit metaphors. Luckily I was saved by Persephone’s phone beeping with a text.
‘It’s my mum,’ she whispered loudly. ‘She’s at the camping ground waiting for me. And we’re taking the guys back to Paradise Point, too.’
I felt my heart sink. The night was about to come to an end and I hadn’t asked Rio anything important.
‘Shame we have to go,’ Persephone said, getting up. ‘We didn’t even get to finish Truth or Dare. I had some really good things planned.’ She gave me a sly smile.
I felt a shiver run down my spine at the thought of being dared to kiss Rio. I was glad Persephone hadn’t dared me to do it in front of everyone. But another time, when Rio and I were all alone, on the beach, under the stars … who knew what might happen? I got goosebumps just thinking about it.
‘We should have another round of Truth or Dare,’ Rio said, getting to his feet. ‘Next time, you can come to our beach.’
‘Sure!’ I said, way too quickly. I caught Persephone smiling at me again. She knew just what was going through my mind.
‘Shame you can’t stay a bit longer to watch the nature show,’ Mia said, not moving from her turtle-watching position. ‘When she finishes laying the eggs, she’ll bury them, then drag herself back into the water. She’ll be done in another hour or so.’
‘Yeah, it’s a shame,’ TC said.
I couldn’t tell if he was serious about the turtle or not, but he seemed reluctant to leave Mia. His friend QC was also slow to drag himself away from Izzy.
I stayed with Izzy, Mia and the turtle as Persephone and the guys disappeared into the darkness.
‘I feel like something beautiful is just about to begin,’ I said with a sigh.
‘I know, isn’t nature wonderful?’ Mia said, not taking her eyes off the turtle.
‘Yeah,’ Izzy added, getting nature-loving on me, too.
I smiled to myself. Izzy, Mia and I were talking about two completely different things. I was thinking of Rio, and my friends were obsessed with a turtle.
Izzy and Mia totally rocked, and maybe one day soon Persephone would join our group, too. We could be one big happy gang of four. And, who knew, before the holidays were out, we might all have boyfriends! Now, that would really complete the picture. Not even I could draw something as perfect as that!
