“Alex, I’m soooo bored.” I sat on his couch flipping through one of his mom’s magazines.

“Well, we have to wait until everyone gets here.”

“Who’s all coming?”

“Brian, Nick, and Sage.” He took the magazine from my hand and placed it on the coffee table.

“Why does Nick have to come?”

“He’s my friend. Why do you hate him?”

“I don’t hate him.” How could I explain it to Alex? “He just really annoys me. He’s childish.”

The door bell rang. Alex went to see who had arrived.  A minute later, a blonde haired girl followed him into the living room.

“Hi, I’m Sage. You must be Ashton. Alex talks about you nonstop.”

“Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”

A few minutes later Brian and Nick arrived. We were hanging out at Alex’s house. Howie and Kevin were double dating, so us teenagers decided to hang out.

“So, what do you want to do?” I asked everyone. I was tired of watching Brian and Nick play video games. They would do it all night if you let them.

“Yeah, it’s boring watching you.”

“Shut up Sage.” Brian stuck his tongue out at her. She got up and turned the game system off.

“What the hell?” Nick huffed. I liked this girl a lot. She didn’t give a crap about offending the boys.

“I know what we can do. Let’s play truth or dare.” Sage suggested.

“I’m in.” Alex announced and flopped down on the couch next to me.

“Me, too.” Brian agreed.

“Umm…sure.” I said. I had never played truth of dare, so I was a little nervous. I had heard some crazy stories about this game.

“Nick, you playing?” He looked more nervous than I did. He squirmed in his seat and then nodded his head.  I kind of felt sorry for him.

“I’ll start. Brian truth or dare?” Alex asked him.

“Dare.”

“I dare you to smell the feet of everyone in the room and rank them from best to worst.”

Brian walked over to me and sniffed my feet. Then he moved to Sage. He picked up Nick’s foot and made a horrific face. That caused me to giggle. Finally he came to Alex and his face looked like it was distorted in pain. “Well from best to worst goes Sage, Ashton, Alex, and Nick. Your feet really stink. Ashton, truth or dare?

“Truth.”

“Name one person in the room you would least like to be stuck with on a desert island.  Why?”

“That’s easy. Nick. He’s annoying and would whine the whole time. I would have to stick a sock in his mouth to shut him up.” He glared at me. I just smiled back at him. “Alex it’s your turn. Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“I dare you to pretend to be the person on your right for 10 minutes.”

“Is practice over yet? I’m tired. I just want to play video games. I didn’t dooooo anything, Kevin.” Alex said in a whiny voice. We all started laughing except Nick. He imitated Nick perfectly.

“It’s not funny. I don’t sound that way.” He complained.

“Listen to yourself. That’s just what you sound like.” I told him. He pouted for a moment.

“Truth or dare, Sage?”

“Dare.”

“Kiss Brian.” She scooted closer to Brian and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“Okay, Nicky. Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“What is one annoying habit of each person in the room?”

“Brian you always bite your nails. AJ, have way too much energy during dance rehearsals. Sage, you talking way to fast. Ashton everything about you is annoying, from the way you talk to the way you walk and everything in between.”

“You’re an asshole, Nick. I find you just as annoying.”

The game continued on with each of us doing some pretty silly things or answering stupid questions. I was having a great time. I finally knew what it was like to have friends. Finally, it was my turn again.

“Truth or dare?”

“I’ll take a dare this time.”

Alex thought about it for a moment. I was a scared to see what he was going to make me do. “I dare you to sit on Nick’s lap for the rest of the game.”

I gave him the dirtiest look I could make. I didn’t want to do it, but at least I could make Nick’s life miserable. Nick looked pissed. I saw him flick off Alex. Quickly I sat down on Nick’s lap.

“Brian, truth or dare.”

“Truth.”

As I thought about a question to ask Brian, I continued to wiggle around on Nick’s lap. I was having fun with my dare. “When did you have your first kiss?”

“I was 12 and it was with Jenny Maxwell.”

All of a sudden Nick pushed me off his lap and ran out of the room. I sat there stunned. What was his problem? Brian and Alex looked at each other and started to laugh.

“What is so funny?”

“I think you gave little Nicky a hard on from all that wiggling you were doing.” Alex couldn’t contain his laughter. I thought about it for a moment. They had to be lying. I couldn’t have given Nick a hard on. Eww!!!! My face turned at least three shades of red. I wasn’t in to playing the game anymore. I stood up and went into the kitchen to get a drink.

“Why did you leave the room Nicky?” Alex was teasing him.

“Shut up.”

“Did you have your first hard on from a girl?”

“Shut up, AJ.” Nick said getting angrier by the minute.

“Did it turn you on?”

“Go to hell, Alex. I hate you.” Nick ran out of the apartment slamming the door.

I had overheard the conversation. Poor Nick, I felt bad for him. Alex didn’t need to pick on Nick. I was just as embarrassed about the situation as Nick was. I didn’t try to do that to him. I just thought wiggling around on his lap would annoy him. It just made things worse.