***Sam’s View***
	I set my alarm to go off at 7:55, right before Taylor would call.
So when I was awakened by the phone ringing, I wasn’t exactly
happy. 
	“Why must you call me so early! Let me sleep for God’s sake!” I
screamed. “Well, I hadta tell ya. We’re starting the first movie at 9.
Just thought you’d want ta know.” “Fine. But from now on I’m
turning off the ringer before I go to sleep!”
	I took my shower & got dressed in a record time. I used the
lightest powder I could find, practically white, red-copper lipstick, &
red & purple eyeshadow. It diverted the attention from the barely
noticeable bruises to my eyes. It looked pretty good, or at least I
thought so. 
	I was completely ready by 8:30, so I hurried over to the
Hanson’s. Troy & Kay ran up ahead of me, eager to get there. There
were already 7 or 8 younger kids running around in the front yard, so
Troy & Kay joined them. Diana was on the front porch, watching
them. 
	“Hi Sam! The boys are in the TV room. You’ve already met
Jason & Mat, I assume?” she asked. “Yeah, they’re inside with them. I
think they called everyone this morning & woke them up.” “I
wouldn’t doubt it,” I said & walked inside. 
	Taylor, Zac, Isaac, Mat, Jason, Krissy, Chris, & two girls Zac’s
age were already there. They were all sitting around in a circle,
debating about which movie to watch. 
	“Enough room for me?” I asked from the doorway. “Yeah,
here,” Jason said, scooting over to make room for me between him &
Zac. I plopped down & looked at what movies we had to choose
from. ‘Speed,’ ‘Don’t be a Menace,’ ‘Basketball Diaries,’ & ‘What’s Eating
Gilbert Grape’. “Well, we hafta save the Leo movies for last,” I said,
pushing them aside. “We can’t watch funny movies until everybody
else’s here, so I say ‘Speed’.” “Yeah, that’s what I say,” Taylor agreed.
“Me too,” Zac spoke up. I looked around the room. Slowly, the two
younger girls agreed. 
	As we were convincing everyone, Amanda & a guy Ike’s age
showed up. We agreed that action movies had to have munchies, so
Zac, one of the girls his age, & I were voted to make them. There was
a debate about what we should make, so we resolved to make 3
boxes of pizza roll-ups, nachos, & a bowl of mixed fruit. The others
agreed to call up some more people, tell them to call some other
people & be here ASAP. 
	When we got into the kitchen, I decided to take over. “OK, Zac,
you do the pizza rolls cuz they’re easiest, you,” “Janie,” “Janie, can
you cut up some fruit?” I asked. “Yeah, just keep me away from Zac,
though,” she said, giving him a threatening look. He pretended to
look scared & got the boxes out of the freezer. “I’ll make the nachos,
cuz I’m just the master,” I said. “Bater?” Zac asked. I grabbed another
box of pizza rolls from the freezer & threw them at him. Bam, square
in the chest. “Ow! Bunghole,” he mumbled. “The almighty bunghole!
I am cornholio!” Janie imitated. 
	“Zac, you’ll hafta tell me where everything is, I don’t know my
way around your kitchen,” I said. “Here,” Janie said, walking over to
me. “Over here,” she pointed to a cabinet, “is where the chips are.
The hot sauce is in the freezer & the cheese dip stuff is there,” she
pointer to another cabinet. “Where are the little containers of
guacamole & refried beans?” I asked. “You put that stuff on there?
OK, they should be in the fridge.” I got out all the supplied & Janie
got out a pan. I arranged about 50 nachos on the pan & put it in the
oven along with the pizza rolls. Janie cut up a huge bowl of apples,
bananas, oranges, kiwis, & mangos. By that time, the pizza rolls were
done, so we brought out what we had done so far. 
	I was amazed by how many people had showed up in the 15
minutes we’d been in the kitchen. 3 people Zac’s age, 4 people Ike’s
age, Steph, and... Ashley. I lost my voice for a second, but quickly
recovered. “Um, does anybody, uh, want something to drink?” I
asked. Taylor looked at me strangely, but no one else seemed to
notice my hesitation. “Taylor, why don’t you help me?” I asked.
“Um, OK. What does everybody want?” he asked. A chorus of “Dr.
Pepper,” “Jolt,” & “Pepsi” rose from the crowd. “OK, some of
everything. C’mon,” I said, signaling for Taylor to follow me. 
	“OK, what’s this all about? Ashley?” he asked when we were
safely inside the kitchen. Could you possibly warn me from now on
so I don’t go & make an ass out of myself in front of Ashley?” I
questioned. “Sorry, kinda slipped my mind,” he apologized. “S’OK.
You can help me make drinks now.” I slapped him on the back, hard.
He coughed slightly & smacked me back. “K.”
	We poured ten cups each of Dr. Pepper, Jolt, & Pepsi. We
loaded them all on two pans & carefully carried them back out to the
TV room. We set them up on a table, which we had to drag across the
room so they would be next to the food. 
	By the time we were ready to start the movie, there were about
twenty people in the TV room. I didn’t recognize half of them,
making the situation particularly awkward. 
	“Sam!” Taylor called. “Huh?” “You can sit here on the couch
between me & Ashley.” I shot him a deathly look, but he just
grinned. I plopped myself down on the couch, being careful to stay a
safe distance from Ashley. Zac put in the movie while two other kids
his age turned off the lights & shut the blinds. There was complete
darkness for a few seconds before the previews started. “Dammit, I
hate these,” Zac mumbled as he hit the fast forward button. 
	Fifteen minutes later, the movie started. “Finally,” Zac sighed &
leaned back against the couch. “Hold on,” I said. “I’ll go get the
nachos so I won’t hafta get up again.” I brought the nachos out & sat
back down next to Ashley. I saw a few couples sitting together
around the room. Neither Ashley nor I had moved an inch since I sat
down. I knew it was going to be a looong two hours. 

		***Tay’s View***
	At the end of ‘Speed’, I noticed that Sam & Ashley had barely
even breathed through the movie. A few people showed up during
the movie & I could tell it would be difficult to make Sam feel at ease
around everyone. Hell, I didn’t even know some of the people. I
introduced her to a few people in between the movies, but she still
stay silent. 
	Everyone agreed the second movie would be ‘This Boy’s Life’,
because there were still five or six people missing. Everyone refused
to go get more food, since almost everything was gone. But I don’t
think anyone was even paying attention to the food. 
	I noticed that everyone had pretty much divided into groups of
four or five. Jason, Ashley, Sam & I had pretty much divided into a
group. We were all sitting on the couch, except Jason, who was
sitting on the floor in front of the couch. Mat hadn’t showed up yet,
he said he would come at around noon. 
	Halfway through the movie, Mat arrived, & not unnoticed
either. He burst through the door, yelling, “I’m here! You can all stop
worrying about me, I got here safely, settle down!” Objects flew
toward him & various people yelled things back, like “Shut up!” or
“Sit the hell down!” Through the darkness I saw him grin, run over
to Jason, & sit down next to him. 
	The end of the movie came & everyone was griping for food.
We had mercy on Sam, Zac, & Janie, so we decided Ike, Krissy, & one
of Ike’s friends should get everything made. We agreed on frozen
pizzas, so the crackers & cheese were brought out as appetizers. 
	“Duh-wayne,” Jason immitated Toby. “Doncha just love the
clothes they wore. What fashion sense,” Mat said. “Yeah. Taylor’d
look just perfect in that boy scout uniform, doncha think?” Sam
asked. “Oh yeah. It’s just him,” Ashley agreed. “Uh, no?” Everyone
cracked up. 
	“Hey guys. wuzzup?” Amanda asked, walking towards us in a
group, including Steph & some of Ike’s friends. “Not much. Doncha
think Tay would just look hot in that boy scout uniform?” Sam asked,
giggling. “Oh yeah. Taylor, you’d look so fine in it!” “Will you guys
shut up about that already. I couldn’t stand to wear something that
tight.” “He’ll buy it. He knows he desperately wants that outfit,”
Ashley whispered. 
	Fifteen minutes later, three pizzas finally came. They
disappeared within seconds. Luckily, each of us had grabbed a slice.
But who said that pizzas was very clean, let alone safe, food?
	“Hey Tayles, want some pizza?” Sam asked, tearing off some.
”No, & I don’t’ call me that. Pizza is a very dangerous food,” I said.
“C’mon, have some pizza!” she persisted, nearing it to my face. “No
thanks, I have my own. I think I’ll be fine.” “OK, but don’t say I
didn’t try.”
	After that, I ate in somewhat peace. A small food fight started,
but Mat ended it by standing up & screaming “Stop!!”
	After about forty five minutes and four people arriving, we
were ready to start the next movie, “Don’t Be a Menace”. Hardly
anyone had seen it yet, it’d just come out on video.  
	While Zac was zapping past the previews, I whispered to Sam,
“What’s going on with you & Ashley?” “Absolutely nothing. It
sucks,” she replied. “Just loosen up a little. Like, talk to him, or
something.” “Yeah right! And make a complete stupidass of myself!”
“Don’t worry about it. Just relax & act natural,” I explained. “Oh, OK.
You win,” she sighed. 
	I couldn’t help but notice Emily sitting over by the wall. She
was gazing at Ike & Krissy, barely paying attention to her friends.
Suddenly, she snapped out of it & looked over at me. I grinned,
surprised that she actually noticed me. She gave me a stuck-up bitchy
smile & went back to drooling over Ike. I rolled my eyes, confused
about what she could possibly see in Ike. I decided I’d better stop
thinking about it now, it was getting pathetic. 
	To my left, Sam was still frozen to the spot. I elbowed her
slightly & somehow, she yanked on my rat tail. I gasped & struggled
to get it away from her. While I was suffering, Ashley looked over at
us. 
	“Tay, what happened?” he asked. “Sam pulled my damn rat
tail again!” I hissed. She grinned. “Oh really? Gimme five, sista,” he
said, holding his hand out. She just looked at his hand for a second
before slapping it. I smiled to myself, glad that they weren’t a bunch
of statues anymore. 
	“There! Here we go peoples! Sit back, relax, & shut up!” Zac
yelled as the movie started. “Yeah Zac,” someone yelled back. After
that little outburst, everyone shut up & watched the movie. 
		***Sam’s View***
	When the movie was over, it was about 4. About 7 or 8 people
left, making it a hell of a lot quieter. When everyone was finally
settled down, we watched ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?’
	“Hey guys, I’m Arnie!” Mat exclaimed when the movie was
over. He twitched & flicked his nose. “Ya know, this is kinda fun. I
could get used to this,” he said, continuing. “Well, I gotta get goin,”
Ashley groaned, standing up. “My ‘rent said to be back around 6. I’ll
come by tomorrow sometime, probably.” “Bye!” everyone said. He
walked out the door, along with about 10 other people. 
	Now there were only 11 of us left; Ike, Taylor, Zac, Jason, Mat,
Krissy, Janie, Chris, another girl Zac’s age, a guy Ike’s age, & me.
“Well, I’m tired of sitting here on my ass,” Jason groaned, standing
up. “Yeah, me too,” I agreed. But, instead of standing up, I put my
head on the arm of the couch & kicked Taylor. “Get up, I wanna lay
down. Quickly, he untied each of my shoes & jumped up. “You little
bunghole!” I cried, sitting up. 
	I acted like I was going to chase after him & he jumped a few
more steps back. I slowly tied my shoes & laid back down. Suddenly,
Chris burst into a fit of giggles. Taylor smacked him, & he tried
unsuccessfully to muffle himself with his hand. 
	“OK Taylor, whatever you said, I don’t have that, I didn’t do
that, & it’s not funny,” I sighed. “Hey Sam,” Jason called from the
back of the couch. “What do you- ugh!” I was interrupted by my
intestines getting crushed. “Ack! Help help, I’m being repressed, I’m
being repressed!” I cried. “Yes!” Zac yelled & jumped off my
stomach. 
	“Omigod, I think you killed me,” I moaned, curling into a ball.
“Told you I could kick her butt!” Zac cried, running around the
couch. “Uggh.....you guys can have my CD player, VCR, & TV,” I
joked. “Whoa! Let’s go you guys!” Ike said, walking to the door.
“You’ll hafta carry me,” I groaned. I knew they’d refuse & walk off,
so I rolled over & turned my back to them. 
	Seconds later, I was being lifted in the air. “Omigod let me go
right now!” I screamed. They started carrying me to the door. “Okay,
wait until you get to where ever you want to go, then put me down.”
	“Onward, soldiers!” Zac & Chris commanded. I glanced around
at who was carrying me. Ike, Taylor, Mat, Jason, & the guy Ike’s age
were heaving me along the hallway. All the other girls were standing
off to the side, observing & some were giggling. The others were
rolling their eyes. 
	As we turned the corner, I realized where they were going. 
	“You’re not carrying me upstairs!!!”

		***Tay’s View***
	It took a while to get Sam upstairs, she kept smacking us & we
had to walk real slow so we didn’t drop her. When we got to our
room, we put her down & she immediately went after us. 
	“Don’t you ever, ever, do that to me again! I’ll kill you all! You
scared the living shit outta me!” she yelled. “Your point?” Ike’s
friend Paul asked. "Agh! Just leave me alone, you mean assmunchers.”
I shrugged  & looked over my shoulder to see the rest of the girls
coming. 
	“Well, now that everybody’s in one place, how bout we do
somethin?” I asked. “No, Taylor. Not another orgy,” Mat groaned.
“Oh, fuck you. No wait, that’s Sam’s job,” I replied, smirking. “What
the hell did you say about me!” Sam demanded. “Nothing, just that
you were fucking Mat.” Sam seemed surprisingly calm. She stood
beside me & put her arm over my shoulders. It was kind of awkward,
but I couldn’t find a way to avoid it. 
	“Know what I’ve been wondering?” she asked. “Uh, what.” She
swiftly grabbed my tail & held onto it with both hands. “If I yank
hard enough, will your empty little head pop right off?” she
grumbled, giving a little tug. “Cool,” I mumbled. Carefully, I peeled
her fingers from the braid & tucked it in my shirt. 
	“Well, let’s do something!” Janie whined. We all sat in a circle,
with Krissy in Ike’s lap, & thought about what to do. “I know! What
about....Truth of Dare?” Mat asked in a low voice. “Gee....OK,” Sam
said in an even deeper voice. “How bout it?” Jason asked. “Count me
out. The only person I wanna do stuff with is Ikey,” Krissy cooed.
‘Pathetic,’ I thought. “I don’t even wanna know what kinda stuff,”
Zac mumbled. “Haha, very funny,” Krissy said sarcastically. 
	“OK, c’mon Krissy,” Ike said, standing up & helping her. On
his way out the door, he turned & hissed, “If you guys even try to
watch us, you’re dead.” He shut the door. “Who’d wanna watch
them?” Chris questioned. I shrugged. 
	“Who asks first?” Paul asked. “Well, since it’s Sam’s birthday
soon, she gets to ask,” I decided. “Gee, thanks. Umm.... Janie Truth or
Dare?” “Dare.” “OK. Umm, I dare you to go change & come out here
& dance around wearing only a pair of boxers & your bra!” “Nuh-uh.
No way!” she exclaimed. “Would you rather have truth?” Paul asked.
“No! But, uh, I don’t seem to have any boxers with me. Looks like I
can’t. Darn,” she sighed, slightly grinning. “Oh, no prob. You can
borrow a pair of mine, ol buddy ol pal,” Zac said, patting her on the
back. “Gee, thanks,” she mumbled. “But, where do I change? Not in
here!” she asked. “You can change in the bathroom,” I suggested.
“OK, fine. Zac, could I borrow a pair of boxers?” Janie asked. “Sure,”
Zac said, grabbing a pair off the floor. “Ew! Clean ones! Please!” she
shrieked. “Fine.” Zac walked over to a dresser & started fishing
through it. While he was, Janie came up & whispered something to
Sam. “Nope. Sorry!” Sam replied. Janie looked disappointed &
pissed, but just turned & walked toward Zac. She took the boxers he
handed her & headed out the door. 
	“What did Janie say?” I asked. “Oh, nothing,” Sam replied.
“Fine, don’t tell me.” “Fine, I won’t.”
	Zac walked back to the group & sat back down. He had a weird
grin on his face. “Zac, what did you do?” I asked. “Nothing.” But his
grin got wider. “Zac,” Sam started, but the door opened. 
	“Zac, these are really big. Are you sure they’re yours?” Janie
asked. “Yeah. Now go change!” he yelled back. “Don’t come back, ya
hear?” Tara yelled. It was the first thing I heard her say since she’d
gotten there. 
	“Zac, did you give her those silk purple ones?” I asked. He
gave me a guilty smile. “Maybe.” “Those things are like four sizes too
big for you!” I exclaimed. “Well, so? She said they looked pretty.” I
shook my head. “I just hope she can hold them up.”
	A few seconds later, Janie burst in, a towel wrapped around
her. “Sam, can I please do something else?” she pleaded. “You could
do that without the bra & boxers,” Sam suggested. “Uh! But these
don’t fit.” She glared at Zac. “Opps, forgot to tell ya. They’re a few
sizes too big,” he said, trying to hold back a grin. “Sam?” “Hurry up,
we gotta get back to the game,” Sam sighed. “Well, I can’t just strip
out here. You hafta introduce me!” she exclaimed. “Fine. I have an
idea.”
	Sam led Janie to the door, & they whispered for a few seconds.
The Janie stepped into the hall, leaving the door open. Sam grinned &
began introducing. 
	“And now, ladies & gentlemen, get ready or the luxurious
Janie!” Janie strutted into the room, one hand holding up the boxers,
the other waving above her head. She wandered over & walked
around outside the circle. I caught a glance of Chris, his eyes wide &
mouth gaping. I slapped my hand over my mouth to suppress my
laughter. 
	“Is that enough?” Janie asked. Sam nodded. “Thank God!” she
exclaimed & ran out of the room. Sam closed the door  behind Janie
& cracked up. Tara joined in. “Man, I didn’t think she had it in her!”
Sam gasped. “I knew she would do it, but not in that huge of boxers!”
	I looked over at Zac. He had the weirdest look of disbelief on
his face. “I didn’t know she could do that kind of stuff that well,” he
mumbled. Next to him, Chris had the same dumb look on his face. I
doubted he even noticed that she left. 
	Janie came back a minute later. “Zac, your boxers are in the
hamper,” she said. He gave her a weird glance, but she gave him a
‘talk to ya later’ look. 
	“OK, my turn,” Janie sighed as she glanced around the circle.
Her eyes landed on me & she got a devilish look on her face. “Taylor,
Truth or Dare,” she asked slowly. “Dare, I guess.” “OK...I dare you
to.... kiss Sam.” My first thought was ‘No. Absolutely not.’ But I didn’t
want to insult Sam. I liked her, but only as a friend, & I definitely
didn’t want to ruin it, even if it was ‘only a kiss’. Especially if it was
just over a stupid little dare. But I didn’t want to seem like a chicken.
I just sat for a second, glaring at Janie. I slowly look around the circle.
Zac was grinning, Chris had finally snapped back into reality & was
looking from me to Sam. Jason & Mat had questioning looks, and
Paul was whistling. Tara’s expression had barely changed, but then it
hadn’t all evening. 
	I could feel my face flushing & I didn’t know how I could even
look at Sam. I held my breath & turned to look at her. Her face was
slightly pinkish & she was biting her lip. I could almost read her
expression, so I prepared to ask Janie a question, but she answered
me before I had the chance. 
	“No, you can’t back out of this one. You hafta go through with
it,” she said. Suddenly, I got an idea. I looked back over at Sam &
nodded. She looked at me, a confused look on her face, but nodded
back. I closed my eyes & leaned in toward her........

		***Sam’s View***
	He brushed his lips against my cheek. I didn’t know what I had
been expecting, but I didn’t think that was it. But at least it was over
with. I didn’t want to make any more of an ass of myself than
possible. 
	“What the hell was that!” Janie questioned, glaring at both of
us. “Exactly what you told me to do. I kissed her,” Taylor explained.
“Nuh-uh! A kiss is on the lips, mouths open & using tongues!!” Zac
almost yelled. “Fine. Since it’s my turn, Zac, Truth or Dare?” Taylor
asked. “Dare,” he answered without thinking. “I dare you to show us
exactly that-” “Fine!” “-with Tara.” Zac clamped his mouth shut. his
face turned a bright shade of pink. I guessed that Tara was the girl
sitting next to Janie who had barely talked. Her face turned brighter
than Zac’s. “Go on Zac. Show us how it should be done,” Taylor
pressed. Zac got the most frightened look on his face & turned to
Tara. “Here,” Chris said grinning. He stood up so Zac was sitting
next to her. Chris pushed Zac over so her was sitting just an inch
from Tara & sat down on Zac’s other side. 
	I could tell that Zac liked her, his hands were shaking. He took
a breath & turned toward her. 
		***Zac’s View***
	At first I couldn’t even believe that Taylor did that. But then
suddenly I was sitting right next to Tara, and everyone was waiting
for me to kiss her. I wasn’t sure what to do. I thought about what
they always did in the movies, but only when they kissed they
weren’t sitting in a room full of other people cheering them on. Well,
they were kind of, but it still wasn’t quite like this. 
	I took a deep breath & turned to her. Her face was a deep shade
of red, as I expected my face was. I tried to grin, but didn’t quite pull
it off. My hands were trembling terribly, but I rose one to her face. I
gently stroked her face. I closed my eyes & leaned in toward her. 
	I lightly pecked her on the lips at first. Her lips tasted good, like
strawberry. I kissed her again, longer this time. She barely
responded. In my mind I pleaded with her to help out. I didn’t think
I would be able to live through this if I didn’t have any help. Luckily,
she began responding. I backed off & then kissed her again, closing
my lips over hers. Awkwardly, I tried to pry her lips open with my
tongue, but they were plastered shut. I tried again. She finally
realized what I was trying to do & slightly opened her mouth. I slid
my tongue inside her mouth unsure of what to do. I brushed it over
the top of her mouth. Suddenly, someone sneezed. 
	Tara & I jerked apart. I looked directly at the ground, unable to
make eye contact with anyone. When I finally did, I saw almost
everyone grinning. Chris & Paul were holding back laughter &
Taylor was nodding. “Well, I’m sure that’ll help everyone out from
now on,” he said. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Tara. It was just
too embarrassing. 
	“OK people, no more kissing dares. This is turning into a
porno,” Mat sighed. “OK. Uh, Chris, Truth or Dare?” I asked.
“Truth.” “Um, who would you rather do, Pamela Anderson or
Heather Locklear?” “Isn’t it Pamela Lee now?” Paul questioned.
“Somethin like that. I don’t really know. Chris?” “Um, Heather
Locklear I guess, cuz that guy Pamela Lee or whatever married
would probably beat the crap outta me,” he decided. “Zac, that was
so lame,” Taylor groaned. “What do you expect? I couldn’t think of
anything!” I replied. 
	“Jason, Truth or Dare?” Chris asked. “Dare.” “OK, I dare you
to..... sit on Mat’s lap!” “Oh, come here honeybunch!” Mat exclaimed
in a high voice, holding his arms out. “OK!” Jason squealed. Jason
ran to Mat & plopped down in his lap. “Hi there baby!” Mat cooed.
“Hi sweety,” Jason replied. “Ew, I don’t like you like that,” Mat said
& shoved Jason off him. Everyone started laughing. 


*****So, did you like it? For those of you that are frustrated or angry,
 like I said, this is a story about friendship and love, not
lust. Keep that in mind.