Her Soul

19. it would never end

She was at the school cafeteria eating her chocolate sandwich peacefully. She sat alone usually with a book borrowed from the library.

"Hey, Aviana right?" He sat near her. His hair and eyes were the same color- a deep brown.

"I am Novak." Who did not know him? Literally, everyone knew him.

"There is a party at my house tomorrow night. I want you to come."

Aviana stopped eating her sandwich. Novak's friends sat at the other end, their heads were turned towards her. A few of them were giggling at something. She had no idea what came over her but she told ok. Maybe because the entire cafeteria thought she would refuse or maybe because it was Novak, the freaking Novak who had invited her.

The next thing she knew, she was standing in front of his house. His house was a big one. It stood isolated, near the forest. As she stepped in she felt totally out of place. But it was not that bad like she feared. No one troubled her, everyone seemed to be minding their own business. Novak was nowhere to be found.

She wandered and came to the backside of the house. Here people were enjoying themselves. Somewhere dancing, somewhere playing spin the bottle, somewhere in the bush doing things. Then she spotted Novak. He sat with his friends at the far end.

"There she is!" One of Novak's friend shouted. They pushed Novak to his feat. He came near Aviana.

"Aviana you made it. Come join us." He took her to his friends. There were nearly ten of them. Four were girls. They whispered and laughed between themselves seeing Aviana. Aviana sensed something was wrong. She could not put a finger on it but she felt it. Something was off.

"Sit." Novak pulled her down. There was a bucket in front with folded bits of paper.

"This is the dare game. You pick one and do what it says. Whatever it is," one girl explained. Everything was going well. It was just a dare game. But she was not going to do a kiss dare, it might sound dramatic but she was saving it for the special one. Their chances passed around, starting with Novak. They were all cheesy, cheap, easy, stupid dares. Some were also humiliating.

It was Aviana's turn now. She picked up a dare with sweaty hands. Before she got to see what was in it, Novak plucked it from her. He read out for her, "Go to the forest and walk for fifteen minutes, alone."

Her eyes widened. No one got such a dare. All others were simple. Dirty maybe but not scary. Aviana wanted to get the paper back and read for herself. Novak put it in the bucket before she could reach out, eyes sparkling with mischief. Everyone around her had challenging, vile looks. The reality trickled in slowly. They were playing her. Novak had invited her to entertain his friends. They all knew she would not go to the forest.

The forest was near a cemetery. There had been rumors that the forest was haunted. Not that Aviana believed in ghosts, but no one ever went to the forest.

"Do it Aviana," Novak said in a teasing tone.

"She won't because she is a coward."

"You played the game, you had to."

"No, I won't go," she refused. She started moving away.

Nova stopped her. "Can't happen. You played, so you have to do it." He plucked her cellphone from her and put it in his pocket. "You can't call your mom to pick you up."

"Do it."
"Do it."

Everyone started shouting. Somewhere laughing at her. Isn't that why he had invited her, to make her a laughing stock. She decided it was time to put an end to this. "Ok."