The Game

Part One

Dares? During church?

Leave it to my younger sister to come up with something so inappropriate. It’s not like I’m a super religious girl, but I also treat Sunday morning the same way I’d treat any ‘event’ where I’m dressed up. Looking and acting proper is what you’re supposed to do. Besides, there aren’t exactly a lot of dares someone can do while sitting in a pew in the middle of a church service. 

Abigail and Kate. My sister, Abigail, would normally never drag someone to church with us. But Kate wasn’t just anyone. She was my younger sister’s best friend, and they had a mini sleepover last night at our house. Kate’s options were to either Uber home at the crack of dawn, or somewhere else to kill time on a Sunday morning, or to tag along with us until they could resume their weekend antics. Though neither Kate nor her family were particularly religious, she was more than old enough to sit through a service while twiddling her thumbs or maybe texting the whole time. 

Or so I thought.

Apparently properly sitting through worship was too tall of an order for the two girls, as they both eagerly approached me as our church’s coffee hour was wrapping up and people were heading to the sanctuary to find their seats. 

Never one to beat around the bush, Abigail looked up at me with a smile. “We’re doing dares during church. You’re going to play with us.”

Leave it to my younger sister to be so brazen. Telling, instead of asking. Like it had already been decided. Decided between the two of them, perhaps, but certainly not with me. “Excuse me?” I asked, a faint scoff in my voice. My eyes instinctively glanced around to make sure no nearby adults were listening in. The coast was clear, but still. 

Instantly teaming up on me, Kate jumped in as well. “Come on! You basically ignored us all night. It’s just a little game. What’s the harm?”

Ignored. I’ve never been part of their sleepovers, so it was ridiculous to try to pin the previous night on me. Arguing with teenage girls can be impossible sometimes. Kate’s blunt ‘logic’ made sense, in a way. If I denied a dare, it’s not like either of them had the power to make me do it. I was the older girl. Or, of course, I could just deny the game itself.

The two girls must have sensed my hesitation, as Kate spoke up again in the silence. “We’d say ‘Truth or Dare,’ but I don’t think any of us want written evidence of our answers, right?”

Well, sure. Growing up, Abigail and I used to pass notes to each other on whatever blank space we could find on the service’s bulletin. You can’t exactly talk much during church, as even mumbles and whispers will earn you the side eye from anyone nearby who’s trying to pay attention. And I wasn’t about to risk my sister or her BFF having any personal and/or embarrassing information about me scrawled in my handwriting.

“No, but still. Girls, it’s a little inappropriate, don’t you think?” I said, regretting the choice of words immediately. Addressing two eighteen year olds as ‘girls’ like I might do when babysitting or tutoring. 

And they pounced right on it. Abigail placed a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow, “Suddenly so religious, sis? It’s fine. Kate and I will play by ourselves, and silently judge you for being boring the whole time.”

I actually fell for it. 

Despite knowing my younger sister as well as I did, it was still difficult to keep her from getting under my skin sometimes. She called me a lot of things. Stuck-up, prudish, nerdy, and plenty of others. The reason her taunting gets to me so much, vain as it might sound, is that I’m actually a pretty popular girl. Believe it or not, you can get straight A’s and wear mildly conservative outfits and still have plenty of friends. Life isn’t some movie where all the cool kids ditch class, wear provocative clothes, and party every weekend. 

Abby, however, seemed to think otherwise. She loved showing off cleavage and thigh, and wrapping every boy that she could around her finger. I knew for a fact that she drank with her friends, and I’m almost 100% sure that she’s not a virgin. And I covered for her countless times before I left for college. Made excuses and sent her warnings texts. Helped her sneak back in a few times when she called me at 4 AM, standing outside and urging me to go disarm our security system so it wouldn’t make a noise when the side door was opened. 

All that sisterly protection, but Abby could never help herself. She always wanted me to be more like her. If not dressing slutty and going to a party, then at least doing dares during church would suffice. And calling me ‘boring’ was a surefire way to get me to prove otherwise, even if I knew in the back of my mind that I had nothing to prove to her.

Against my better judgement, I gave in. “Fine.”

“Yay!” Abigail’s judgmental pose and expression immediately vanished, and her body suddenly crashed into mine for a no-warning hug. I let out a faint girly noise as I was knocked off balance for a moment, and then the tight embrace was over as quickly as it had begun. Gliding her hand down my arm, Abby clasped my hand with hers and gave a light tug towards the sanctuary. “Come on, sis! Let’s get a good seat.”

“Yeah, sis!” Kate giggled, hooking her arm in mine on my other side. The way they collectively attached themselves to me seemed almost planned in how quickly it happened, but it definitely wasn’t something they would have concocted prior to this. It was just best friends reading each others’ minds. A connection which didn’t bode well for me, as the thought of being outnumbered only crossed my mind after the two girls began walking me to the sanctuary. 

Now that we were older, it was pretty common for us to sit by ourselves or sometimes with church friends during worship. The whole ‘sit together as a family’ thing only really applied on the big days like Christmas and Easter. Going to church on Sunday was already more than enough to make our parents happy, so they were fine if we did so on our own terms most of the time. Even during a weekend visit like this from my university, there was no pressure to sit as a family.

I expected Abigail and Kate to choose a spot in the very back, since dares were involved, so imagine my surprise when I was walked all the way to one of the middle pews instead. Part of me really wanted to squirm out of their grip, but I figured that would just end up making more of a scene than letting them guide me. Abigail has always been the super touchy type, and Kate wasn’t much different. Choosing a spot right by the middle aisle, Kate sat down and gently pulled me down with her by our linked arms. At the same time, Abigail let go of my hand and squeezed past both of us so she could sit on Kate’s other side. 

At least I wasn’t going to be sandwiched between them for the whole service. 

Worship hadn’t started yet, which meant plenty of people in the sanctuary were idly chattering over the Prelude music. It would be the last easy opportunity for us to talk as well, and Abigail capitalized on the moment by jumping right in. “You can go first, sis!” she grinned, leaning forward a bit so I could see her past Kate. For a moment, I thought she was going to do the unfair thing and try to make me the first one to take a dare. Instead, she did the opposite. “Go on. Dare one of us!”

Tired of being attached to Kate, I squirmed a bit in the wooden pew and pulled my arm free of hers. She loosened her grip and allowed me an easy escape, but used the opportunity to shift in her own seat to look at me. Now I was met with both Abigail and Kate staring at me, with an uncanny similarity in their curious, amused smiles. Which girl would I dare first, and what would I come up with that was possible to do undetected in a church pew with others around?

I honestly had no idea, but I knew I had to think quickly. Knowing Abigail, she’d make me pass my turn if I took too long, which meant I’d be the one doing more dares between the three of us. In the back of my mind, I knew the best option was to simply stand up and walk away. I was seated near the edge of the pew, right next to the center aisle, and the escape route offered plenty of alternative seating options for the service. Sitting alone would be better and more peaceful than sitting with Abigail and Kate.

But I wasn’t thinking clearly under the pressure. Two sets of eyes were on me, and I was paying more attention to the girls in front of me than I was to the aisle behind me. Though a dare hadn’t yet formed in my mind, I blurted out “Kate.” She’s more manageable than my sister most of the time. 

“Bring it on,” Kate smirked, shifting in her seat and sitting up a bit. 

And just like that, the game began.