Kindred Love

Truth Or Dare

Justin's birthday party had been a fun event. It was reaching the evening hours, and most of the kids had been picked up by their parents, but there were still 4 kids who hadn't. They had asked to stay a little longer so that they could go into the jacuzzi out back. The remaining kids were Daphne, Chris, Jason, and to much of Justin's annoyance, Rachel, who had been flirting and clinging to him the whole day.

It had been mentioned in the invitations to bring a bathing suit in case it was warm enough to go swimming. It had been too cold that day to go swimming in the pool, but fortunately, there were enough activities to keep the kids occupied without it being a pool party, and everyone ended up having a good time. As it reached the evening hours, though, the jacuzzi was looking inviting.

"I have an idea," Rachel perked up, as they all soaked in the jacuzzi, the steam whirling around their heads. The other teens looked in her direction, waiting to see what she had in mind. "We should play Truth or Dare," Rachel suggested.

Justin rolled his eyes, trying not to let panic take over him. He knew this could be trouble for him.

"Nah, that's dumb," Chris said.

"You're just afraid of what we might find out about you," Daphne challenged.

"I'm game," Jason said smiling at Daphne.

"Me too," Daphne said smiling back at her latest crush. "Jus?" Daphne asked.

"Fine," Justin replied reluctantly. Rachel giggled that annoying giggle that got under Justin's skin.

"Great. Now who goes first?" Rachel asked.

"I'll go," Daphne volunteered.

"Okay, Daph. Truth or Dare?" Rachel asked.

"Truth," Daphne answered.

"Do you or have you ever liked Justin as more than a friend?" Rachel asked raising an eyebrow at her. Daphne saw the look Rachel was giving her, and burst out in giggles.

"Eww. No. That would be like, incest," Daphne said incredulously and then looked over at Justin. "Sorry, no offense," Daphne told him.

Justin didn't seem phased by her answer, and just giggled back. "None taken," he said.

"Okay, Daphne, it's your turn to ask someone," Rachel dictated.

"All right," Daphne answered, taking her time to look at the other faces around her and trying to decide who she wanted to ask. "Okay, Chris. Truth or Dare?" Daphne finally asked.

"Truth," Chris answered. Daphne smiled at Chris mischievously.

"Is it true that you and Tommy Johnson once sneaked into the girl's locker room to watch the girls change out of their gym clothes?" Daphne asked.

Everyone in the hot tub gave a shocked look as they waited for Chris to answer. Chris seemed surprised that Daphne knew about that, and turned a little red from embarrassment, but smiled.

"Uh, yeah. But it was Tommy's idea; not mine. It was more of a dare," Chris explained. The group all gave him that look that said, "Yeah, right."

"Chris?" Rachel dictated again.

Chris rolled his eyes. Her bossiness was really getting on his nerves. "All right. Rachel, truth or dare?" he asked.

"Truth," Rachel answered confidently.

"Did you tell Kathy Baker that Justin would be your boyfriend before the end of the school year?" Chris asked with a devilish smile.

Rachel started blushing profusely. She was going to kill Kathy for telling Chris that. She and Justin both avoided each other's eyes, while everyone else stared at the two of them.

"Um, I'll take the dare," Rachel said quietly.

Chris smirked, feeling a little justified. He thought Rachel was annoying, and knew for a fact that she had run her mouth about him to people at school on more than one occasion. He smiled as he thought of how he could make this even better.

"All right, Rachel. I dare you to flash Justin your boobs," Chris said smiling with his arms crossed in front of his chest. The expression on Rachel's face was priceless. Served her right.

"What?! You're sick. I am NOT doing that," Rachel yelled. Justin covered his face with his hands. Daphne and Jason were laughing hysterically. Chris stared at her in amusement.

"Rachel, this was YOUR brilliant idea. Now you want to back out because you can't handle the heat," Chris said.

"Chris, come on, it's not a fair dare. Make her do something else," Justin told him.

"No way, Justin. She asked for it. Either she does the dare or we all quit playing," Chris said looking at Rachel. He knew that put her in a rough spot. He could tell she had a hidden agenda with this whole truth or dare game. She didn't want the game to stop.

"Just dare her to do something else," Jason urged, not wanting anyone to be upset. He was having a good time and didn't want any tension amongst them.

"Okay, okay," Chris answered, and then took a moment to think about what he could dare her to do. He saw a flash of relief on hers and Justin's face as he contemplated. Chris looked around the backyard and spotted a black marker that they had used for a game earlier that day. Suddenly he came up with the perfect dare.

"All right, I got it. I dare you to let me write 'I ? Justin' on your right butt cheek with a black magic marker," Chris said laughing.

Rachel gave Chris a look that said she wanted to strangle him. The rest of them, including Justin were now laughing again hysterically.

"Are you crazy? That's permanent!" Rachel cried.

"At this rate, so is your crush on Taylor," Chris said. He was really enjoying this.

"Rachel just do it, it's not as bad as the other dare," Daphne pointed out.

Rachel let out a breath of defeat, but shot Chris another death glare. "Fine, I'll do it. But only if Daphne writes it. I don't want Chris anywhere near my butt," she said.

"Good. I didn't really want to touch your ass anyway," Chris smirked. Daphne jumped out of the jacuzzi and returned shortly with black marker in hand.

"All right, Rachel, turn around," Daphne said, trying not to laugh. Rachel pouted and did what she was told.

"Rach, just move the bottom of your bathing suit over for me, and I'll write it," Daphne told her. Rachel grabbed the bottom of her bathing suit and pushed it over. Jason and Chris were still laughing as they watched intently, and Justin had covered his face again, not wanting to look.

"Justin, what are you, afraid?" Chris elbowed. "You should be happy! She's branding you on her ass. How many people can say someone did that for them?" Chris asked.

Justin just shook his head, keeping his eyes covered. He hoped his parents wouldn't come out there or were watching from the window. That would just be too embarrassing.

Daphne had finished writing the words and started filling in the heart. The letters weren't too big. She had to make them small enough so that they would fit with the little space she had to work with. She made sure that the letters would be low enough so that her underwear would be able to hide it.

Daphne smiled as she put the cap back on the marker. "All done," she said. Rachel immediately turned around and sat back in the jacuzzi, hoping that at least some of the black ink would come off in the water. It was a good thing her one-piece bathing suit was already black in color. She sat there quietly, still fuming, trying to think of a good revenge on Chris. She had plenty of information, true and false, that she could use against him on Monday at school. That would wait though. Now, it was her turn again to pick someone for a truth or dare, but this wasn't going as she had planned, and now it seemed like the wrong time to put what she had in mind into action. She decided to wait it out, and targeted Jason next for a truth or dare.

The game was still going on a half an hour later. The mood had gotten a lot lighter since the "butt cheek" drama, and surprisingly they were all laughing and having a good time with the game. Daphne was the most fun with this game. She was willing to face up to any truth and was up for any dare they asked her. She loved being spontaneous so this game was fun for her. The night was turning out to be very interesting, especially since she and Jason had managed to hide the fact that they were holding hands under the bubbly jet water. They had been sneaking smiles and looks all night, but the others either didn't seem to notice or they didn't care.

Justin played the game pretty well, and was relieved that they had stopped including him and Rachel in the same truth or dare. What he didn't expect, happened next.

It was Rachel's turn again. She smiled at Justin and giggled. "Okay, I choose Justin now. Truth or dare?" she asked. Justin could tell by the way she was looking at him, that something was up. He didn't know if a truth or a dare would be safer, it could go either way.

"Dare," Justin finally answered nervously. Rachel got a devilish look on her face.

"Okay. Justin, I dare you to kiss me on the mouth for at least 5 seconds," Rachel said, forcing herself to sound brave, when she was really scared out of her mind. Justin gave her a look that said he might not have heard her correctly.

"Huh?" Justin asked stupidly.

"I said, I dare you to kiss me, full on the mouth, for AT LEAST five seconds," Rachel repeated. She made sure to accentuate "at least", so that Justin might get the hint that she wanted a long kiss.

He looked at her and frowned, and then looked at Daphne, who was giggling. "Like I didn't see that coming," she whispered sarcastically. Chris laughed at her comment. Justin took a deep breath. It was only five seconds, and it didn't have to mean that he would be her boyfriend or anything when it ended.

"Okay," Justin said and put on a fake half-smile. Rachel looked so excited that she might start jumping up and down, and he almost expected her to start doing just that. She didn't though.

Justin made his way over to Rachel and reluctantly leaned close to her face. She had her eyes closed and her neck out and her lips a little puckered. Her eyelashes fluttered in anticipation. He didn't know how he was going to get through this. He didn't want to kiss Rachel. He would much rather it have been a certain brunet with hazel eyes in front of him right now. The boy who occupied his thoughts 90% of the time. That is when he got an idea. He would just imagine that it was Brian he was kissing. That way he could make it look convincing, satisfy Rachel, and it would make it a lot more bearable.

Justin put his lips against Rachel's, and gave her a soft peck, imagining that they were really Brian's luscious lips. He was surprised at how soft and smooth these lips felt, and he pictured Brian's beautiful face, and began kissing Rachel again, harder, and eventually added his tongue to her mouth and explored all around it. He felt himself get an erection as he imagined Brian's tongue dancing with his and pulling him in closer to him; devouring him.

Chris, Jason and Daphne stared at them in shock as they watched Justin and Rachel make out in front of them. Justin certainly hadn't looked happy about having to kiss Rachel, but he seemed to be more than enjoying it now. Daphne looked at her watch and started clocking the kiss.

"One minute and seven seconds," Daphne said quietly. It seemed that her voice had broken the spell, because it was then that Justin pulled away from Rachel and then had a slight look of what appeared to be disappointment on his face.

Rachel's eyes were still closed, her mouth still puckered as if she weren't aware that the kiss was over. She finally opened her eyes, and stared dreamily at Justin.

"Way to go, Taylor!" Chris encouraged with a smirk.

"Wow, Justin," was all Rachel said.

Justin smiled at her in agreement. He just wished his first kiss was with the person he imagined it with. Rachel was a good kisser though. At least it hadn't been a bad experience.

"Rachel, honey, your mom is here to pick you up," Jennifer called from the window inside the house.

"All right," Rachel answered and stood up to get out of the jacuzzi. Justin stood up at the same time, and got out with Rachel. Thankfully, his erection had gone down the minute he remembered that it wasn't Brian he was kissing, but was this persistent blond girl in front of him instead. He handed her a towel.

"Happy Birthday, Justin," Rachel said with a smile. "I knew today would be fun," she added. Justin smiled back at her.

"Thanks for coming, and for the present, and the uh..." he was interrupted by Rachel kissing his cheek.

"See you at school on Monday," she said, and walked back into the house to say her thank yous to the Taylors and then leave.

Justin got back into the Jacuzzi and noticed his friends staring at him in disbelief.

"Oh, my God," Daphne said.

"I can't believe you kissed her! And like THAT!" Jason said.

Chris shook his head. "Man, you are so screwed. Now you'll never get rid of her. AND, everyone in school will know about that kiss by lunchtime on Monday," he assured, giving Justin a sympathetic look.

"She's already planning your wedding as we speak," Daphne said, only half joking. Justin rolled his eyes. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justin went to search for Daphne in the cafeteria at their usual table. He smiled when he saw her and Jason sitting there. He knew that they liked each other, and he was happy for his friend. He knew that Jason was a good kid. He walked over to them and sat down at the table.

"Hey guys," Justin said with a smile.

"Hey Justin," Jason replied and Daphne looked up at him as well and smiled. He opened up his sack lunch and reached for his sandwich and started eating it.

"Oh, my God, Justin, I can't believe how right Chris was," Daphne told him.

"What do you mean?" Justin asked.

"He said that everyone would know about that sweet little kiss you and Rachel shared by lunchtime, and he was right. Everyone knows about it. She's been talking her pretty little head off about it to anyone who will listen," Daphne told Justin. He rolled his eyes in response.

"Shit," Justin said quietly. Daphne looked at her friend closely.

"Justin, what was that kiss about, anyway? You told me that you didn't like Rachel in that way," Daphne said.

"I just... well I didn't want to hurt her feelings," Justin lied.

"Well, what are you going to do now? She's already telling people that you are her boyfriend," Jason said.

"What?" Justin asked alarmed. "But I'm not," Justin protested.

"Well, then you should probably set her straight on that. Oh, and look. Here's your opportunity, because she's coming this way," Daphne said with a smile, and Justin glared back at his friend, knowing she was amused by all of this.

"Hi, Jus," Rachel purred as she sat next to him. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek and smiled.

"Look, Rachel..." Justin started.

"I know, I know. You probably wanted to be there when we started to tell people that we're together. I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself," Rachel smiled.

"Rachel, we need to talk," Justin said slightly annoyed.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Rachel asked concerned.

"Why did you tell people that we are together?" Justin asked.

Rachel gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"You told people that I'm your boyfriend, and I'm not," Justin accused.

"But I thought... that kiss. The way you kissed me. Then you smiled at me. I thought you liked me," Rachel said, starting to panic.

"I do like you. Just not in that way. I like you as a friend," Justin explained.

"But the kiss..." Rachel protested.

"Rachel, it was a DARE. A game. That's all it was," Justin said firmly, looking Rachel dead straight in the eyes so that she would know that he was being serious. Rachel had a look of denial that turned into a look of hurt.

"Don't you get it, Rachel. He doesn't like you. So get your sorry ass out of here and prey on some other poor guy," Chris spat, as he walked up to join them. Rachel spun around to face Chris and glared at him.

"Shut up, Chris, you don't know anything," Rachel yelled.

"I do know that it is you who is going around spreading untrue rumors about me," Chris growled. Rachel looked back at him in surprise, but didn't deny it.

He got in her face, and pointed his index finger in her face. "Know this, you little bitch. You don't want to mess with me. If you don't stop yapping your mouth about me, you will be sorry. I can tell a false rumor way better than you, and I will make the rest of the school year miserable for you if you make me," Chris warned.

Rachel lowered her eyes in defeat, but didn't say anything. She turned back towards Justin sadly.

"I'll see you later, Justin," Rachel said and walked away.

Daphne, Jason and Justin turned to look at Chris with a questioning look.

"She deserved it," Chris said. They nodded slightly.

"Don't worry, I didn't believe Laura for a second when she told me that you still wet the bed," Daphne said. Chris frowned at her, and Jason and Justin started laughing.

"Rachel is lucky that I let her live for that one," Chris said under his breath.

"Don't worry, as soon as I heard the rumor, I set people straight. After all, I know for a fact it's not true," Jason said, trying to make Chris feel better, and saw that it had, as he gave him an appreciative smile.

"Thanks," Chris said. He looked over at Justin. "You know that it's not over with her, right?" Chris told his friend. Justin gave him a confused look.

"What?" he asked.

"Rachel is not so easy to get rid of. Trust me. I was there when she did the same thing to Trevor. She didn't want to take no for an answer."

"Shit," Justin cursed again. How the hell was he going to get out of this?