Page 31 of I Don’t Need Your Protection (Harrington Bay Academy #1)

Addie

“Yes!” Jemma and Luna say.

I’m not the biggest fan of Truth or Dare, but I don’t want to be a party pooper. We all shift over on our beds so we’re closer to one another. Clarissa smiles at me. “As the newest member of my sleepover, I think we should give the honor to Addie. Truth or dare?”

It’s not a good idea for me to choose truth because I’m supposed to keep my identity hidden, and I really don’t want to lie any more than I need to. So I say, “Dare.”

“Ooh, I like that.” She crosses her legs and thinks for a few seconds. “Let’s start small and build our way up. Hop on your left leg and tap your head, saying the words, “I’m a big dope.”

“Uh…okay. But no photos.”

“Agreed. Whatever happens in my room stays in my room. ”

I hop on my left leg and tap my head, saying in a very squeaky voice, “I’m a dope.

I’m a dope. I’m a dope.” I try to be as funny as possible because this is all fun and games and I want to have a great time with these girls.

The three of them roll over with laughter, tears streaming down Jemma’s face.

“You’re hilarious, Addie!” she says between laughs.

“Wait until you see my moves.” I do some odd dance moves that once again has them laughing.

“My stomach hurts,” Luna says as she continues to laugh. “I didn’t know you were so funny.”

“Okay, okay, stop!” Clarissa says as she clutches her stomach. “We’ll be laughing all night.” She focuses her attention on Luna as I drop back down on my bed. “Luna, truth or dare?”

“I could never compete with what Addie just did. Truth.”

“Tell us your most embarrassing story. But don’t pick something Jemma and I know about.”

She scowls. “Fine. This just happened to me yesterday. I…” Her cheeks grow red.

“I gained a little weight over the last few weeks and couldn’t fit into my black pants.

You know, the ones that make my butt look good?

But I forced them on because I wanted to wear them to the electronics store to buy a new charger. You know who works there.”

“A total hottie.” Jemma giggles.

“Well…I asked him to help me find a charger—I pretended I didn’t know which charger to get and asked him a million questions so we could talk more.

And then I accidentally dropped one of the chargers I was holding.

He wanted to pick it up, but I told him I got it.

So when I bent down to pick it up…” Her face grows as red as a tomato. “My pants ripped.”

“No!” Clarissa gasps.

“Yes.” She groans. “I should have let him be the gentleman and pick it up.”

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” I say. “But how did the guy react? Was he sweet about it?”

She hangs her head. “No. I mean, he pretended like nothing happened and gave me the charger I needed, but then I heard him whispering to his coworkers and laughing. I ran out of there as soon as I paid.”

“Now it’s Jemma’s turn!” Clarissa announces. “Truth or dare.”

“Truth.”

Clarissa taps her chin. “Were you the one who started that rumor about me last year?”

“Are we really going down that road? You told me you were over it.”

Clarissa lifts her chin. “I just want you to admit it out loud in front of everyone.”

Jemma’s eyes sweep over us, then she folds her arms over her chest and mutters, “Yes, it was me. Okay? But that happened when we were in a fight.”

“Do you know how much trouble I got in with my parents? They thought I was a criminal or something!”

“It was supposed to be a joke,” she shoots back.

“Am I supposed to know what we’re talking about?” I ask.

Clarissa waves her hand. “It doesn’t matter. It’s my turn. And I choose a dare.”

Luna is about to say something, but Clarissa tells her she wants me to choose her dare. They all fasten their gazes on me.

“Uh…I don’t have a lot of experience with this game, so I might pick something lame.”

“Who cares,” Clarissa says.

“Okay. Um…stick your head out of the window and yell, “The world worships the ground I walk on.”

She gawks at the window. “It’s pouring.”

“At least the rain will drown out your voice,” I offer with a sweet smile.

She grumbles about choosing truth next time as she drags herself to the window and opens it. Sticking her head out, she yells as loudly as she can, “The world worships the ground I walk on!” just as the rain gets lighter.

“It certainly does not!” a man, presumably her father, calls back.

We all burst out laughing.

“That was epic!” Luna says.

Clarissa flashes me a smile. “This is so much more fun with Addie. Who’s next?”

We play for a few hours, with me always choosing dares.

The girls seem suspicious, but none of them ask any questions.

I think they’re hoping to get to know me better through this game.

One of the dares Luna orders me to do is to call Javion and tell him that he sounds like a rhino when he snores.

He gets mad and starts cursing at me, and I quickly end the call.

That has the four of us laughing the hardest we laughed all night.

Then it’s only truths for the rest of them because there’s no way they can compete with that.

“Okay, one last dare for Addie,” Clarissa says when we start getting tired of the game. “Let’s make it a good one, girls.”

They’re quiet for a few minutes as they contemplate the perfect dare to choose for me. Then Jemma sits up. “I got it. Addie, do you like milkshakes?”

“Of course.”

“So your dare is to go to the ice cream store in town that sells all those odd flavors. Choose three of the worst possible flavors and drink the entire milkshake.”

“Wait, what ice cream shop are you talking about?”

“It opened two years ago,” Jemma tells me. “They’re famous for experimenting with all these weird and unique flavors. Most of them are hits, but some of them…” She makes a thumbs-down gesture.

“But it’s in the middle of the night,” I point out. “And it’s raining.”

“Don’t tell me you’re backing out of a challenge,” Clarissa says. “You know the rules of the game. You need to do every dare you’re given.”

“And the rain isn’t so bad anymore,” Luna says. “We should go right now before it gets heavy again.”

“So what are we waiting for?” Clarissa jumps up and skips to the door.

“Your parents will let us go out in the middle of the night?” I ask as I get up and join them at the door .

Clarissa shares a secret look with her friends.

“What?” I ask.

“Hmm, I’m not sure if you’re cool enough to know.”

“Cool enough to know what?”

She grins. “Of course you’re cool enough!” She leans forward and whispers, “This stays between us, okay? I’m trusting you.”

It makes me feel good that she feels like she can trust me. It seems we’re heading in the direction of being really good friends. “I won’t tell anyone,” I promise.

“See. I knew we could trust you. Okay, so when my ancestors built this house, they added a secret tunnel that leads outside. I think it was a precaution, in case they had to escape from their enemies or something. Maybe it was during a time of war. Whatever, it doesn’t matter.

It was passed down through the generations about a secret tunnel, but no one was able to find it. Until a few years ago.”

“You found it?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “My brother. So we kids keep it a secret from our parents. It’s how we’re able to sneak out without them knowing.”

“Where does the tunnel lead to?” I ask.

“A few blocks away. It’s an old abandoned house that no one uses. My brother put up warning signs so no one would come near it. We keep a car there.”

“Oh. Are you sure we won’t get caught?”

She chuckles. “Of course not. We’ve been doing it for years. Parents are always so clueless. Come, let’s go before it’s too late.”

As we quietly sneak to the basement to where a secret door is located, I get worried. I don’t like the idea of sneaking out because I don’t want to get in trouble. But if we can make it back quickly…

“Don’t be so scared,” Clarissa says with a laugh as she playfully hits my shoulder. “It’s tons of fun. You’ll see.” She uses a key to open a very old door, the creak echoing down what sounds like a long tunnel. “Quickly, quickly,” she whispers as she pushes us in and closes the door behind her.

“Wait,” I say.

They all look at me.

I didn’t have a chance to tell Caleb where I’m going. If I sneak out, I’ll be out there in the world and not in the safety of Clarissa’s house like he expects. And I didn’t take my phone with me to text him in the car.

“Addie, you’re wasting time,” Jemma hisses. “Her mom can come up soon to check on us.”

“Let’s go .” Luna grabs my hand and she and Clarissa pull us along.

If we get to the store, make my milkshake, and hurry back to Clarissa’s house in only a few minutes, everything should be okay. I mean, would my parents’ killers be waiting for me at the ice cream store? As careful and safe as I want to be, there’s a thing called exaggeration.

The tunnel is crazy. There are rats and bugs, which has us all screaming and then hushing each other, and it’s so darn cold. It feels like I’ve gone back in time and am walking through an ancient tunnel. It’s cool that Clarissa has this part of history here.

“What if the tunnel collapses on us?” I ask.

“Then we die,” she says.

I gape at her.

She giggles. “It’s okay. I brought my phone. There’s some service here, but it’s spotty.”

Eventually, we reach the end of the tunnel and pass through another old door. The house we find ourselves in is run-down and basically a dump. There are signs all over warning people to keep out. And in the center of the room is an ordinary-looking car.

“In case someone finds it, we don’t want it traced back to us,” Clarissa explains as she unlocks the car. “It belongs to my brother.”

Luna opens a garage door for the car to drive out of, and then she hops into the car. It seems the rain has gotten heavy again, and I think I hear thunder in the distance.

“So much for the light rain,” I say. “And we didn’t bring jackets.”

Clarissa stares at her pajamas and then hits her forehead. “How stupid. Should we back out?”