Dare Me

|01|

"I dare you, Allie."

Half a smile appears on Maisy's lips. The flames of the campfire cast a soft light on her face, making her hair look much brighter in the dark.

"Why would I even want to talk to him?" Allie says, her voice strained.

Maisy's smile widens, and she turns to Lane who sits on the ground next to her. "Did you hear that? Allie doesn't want to talk to Keith..."

Lane bursts out with a snort of laughter that stops immediately as Allie stares at him with a pointed look. He looks away.

"Allie, c'mon. You don't have to lie to us. I can totally understand you, he is a star..." Maisy says as she observes Keith standing with his loyal pack of fans next to another campfire. Her grips on the bottle of beer tightens and she takes another gulp.

Allie bites her lip and looks down. She noticed him long before the stupid game.

"He is going to win, now that the game is approaching the finals," Lane says.

Allie raises her eyebrows. "I thought you said you didn't sign up as a Watcher to this game. You kept saying you don't support it and-"

"Of course I don't. It just that dear Maisy keeps me updated against my will," Lane says, and rolls his eyes.

"Hey! you are all lucky I'm here and keeping you informed, only because you two were so scared to sign up."

"You were afraid too!" Allie says.

"And look at me now, paying for my mistakes," she says and lifts her bottle up.

"So dramatic," Lane mutters.

"If only I'd known then how cool it is , I would've signed up before it was too late to become a Player." Maisy glares at Jairo, Olivia and Keith; the last Players left in the game. They were the only ones who completed every single challenge they got for the past few weeks.

"And you know what, I would've done better than Olivia. In her last challenge she almost lost the game. She hesitated too long before she sneaked in to the principal office."

"To do what?" Lane asks in horror.

"To put 3 seconds glue on his chair, Lane. Didn't you listen when I told you about it?" Maisy asks and takes another sip. "Anyway, she made it at the end. Dammit, she sure enjoys all the sprakling lights."

"That was terrible. I don't know how poor Mr. Green has been showing his face ever since. He has no idea what is going on in school..." Allie says and shakes her head.

"A bit of breaking the rules won't kill anybody. Only because you are afraid to start living your life, doesn't mean everyone has to sit aside and let opportunities pass in front of them." Maisy stares at her, her eyes shine in the darkness.  

Allie freezes in shock, and then clenches her hands into tight fists in her lap. "What the he- what is going on with you tonight?"

Maisy finishes her beer bottle and throw it aside. "I'm just trying to help you, Allie. You lost your confidence, and you no longer stand your ground."

"Maisy, you are drunk, stop it. It's none of your busine-"

"Oh, yeah?" Allie cuts off Lane, and looks at Maisy. "And what exactly do you offer me to do, join a stupid game like this?"

Allie tries to stop her hands from shaking. She is sick of people telling her who she is and what she is capable of. She is tired of being told that if she hadn't been so quiet, perhaps people would've noticed she exists!

"No," Maisy laughs. "You wouldn't survive a simple challenge like going to talk to a stranger."

Allie feels her throat clenches. She notices Keith taking off from the group of people around him, staring at his golden device. How can he be so confident and full of life?

"Oh!" Maisy yells, jumping to her feet. "There's a new challenge for Keith!"

Allie can't stop her curiosity and hurries up to read from Maisy's silver Watchers device.

Jump from the edge of the cliff, at the end of the forest, to the sea.

6 minutes.

750$

"Oh. My. God." Maisy says, her eyes widening.

"He accepted the challenge! For God's sake, is he crazy?" Lane says from the other side of Maisy, staring at the screen too.

Allie's heart starts beating fast. She turns to look for Keith, who is running to the edge of the forest, and dozens of people after him.

"Come on, fast!" Maisy yells and runs after the crowd. Lane and Allie share a look of terror, and then follow her.

The three of them push through the people to find a better view. Allie stops at the far right of the crowd, watching Keith as he moves alone toward the edge of the cliff.

4 minutes.

"Hey, where is Maisy?" Lane asks and looks around.

"I don't know..." Allie says, not taking her eyes off Keith.

"Jump! Jump! Jump!" The crowd's screams grow louder.

Keith takes one more step and looks down. The Players golden device shimmers in his hand. The moonlight falls on his body; his skin looks pale against his black clothes. Allie wishes that he'll turn around one last time, so she'll imprint his face in her memory again; His dark short hair, brown chocolate eyes and witty smile.

Keith pulls up his shirt and then kicks off his shoes and black jeans.

3 minutes.

#Anna97: I cannot believe I'm missing this!!!

#Tom_m213: Tell me about it! He's great.

#Nora_8: He's. taking. off. his. clothes. and. I'm. not. there!

Lane looks at Allie from the corner of his eyes. "You know... not everyone has to be a player in life. Maisy might be right, such a challenge would've been too much for you... and probably for me too."

Allie's body stiffens.

"Jump! Jump!" The crowd shouts louder.

2 minutes.

#Drake18: At least if he dies - Jairo and Olivia will be in the finals!

Allie takes a few steps forward before she realizes it.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Lane calls after her.

But Allie ignores him. She runs toward Keith; her heart pounding in her chest, her cheeks burning.

"Allie!" Lane shouts behind.

Silence falls on the crowd, and Keith turns around in confusion. A look of wonder appears on his face when he sees Allie running to him.

She stops in front of him, looking up to his eyes. "Let's not miss another minute thinking."

1 minute.

She reaches for him with her hand, refusing to glance down to the sea, to realize how deep the fall will be. His eyes, still wide open with surprise, flicker between her palm to her face.

A little smile appears on his face when he ignores her hand and pulls her into a hug, and jumps right into the abyss.

Nora_8: What. The. Hell!