Todd felt his heart quicken with something he had rarely felt before - panic. It was true - he was a solid rock, the calm one, the rational one who could always see a soluation. He was always rational, except that he wasn't. Not this time, not when it came to Joy. He'd do anything for her, and now they were trapped inside of this builidng with no way out, no way to get her help.
"Do you swallow any of it? Spit it out!" Todd exclaimed, knowing that sheer panic was coming through on his voice. Scottie grabbed a trashcan and handed it to Todd. Joy luckily had not swallowed any of the pie, but she knew she was still going to have a reaction. She wasn't that allergic; she knew she wouldn't die, but she wasn't sure what exactly would happen.
"How allergic are you?"
"It's not that bad. I'll still be able to breathe."
"What can I do?" Todd asked, feeling fear run through his veins.
"Just get me some water. I'll be fine."
Todd jumped up and grabbed the flashlight from the floor where it had been resting. He rushed out of the room, letting the door close behind him.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Cedar asked, and Joy nodded before remembering that none of them could see her.
"I will be. I'll be a little uncomfortable, but I'll be fine."
"He seems like a really great guy. He really cares about you. You're lucky to have such a great boyfriend," Cedar said, thinking about her own boyfriend, who was often more like having a child than a partner.
"What, Todd? He's not my boyfriend. We're just...friends."
"Really? The way he looks at you, I just thought...I mean, he cares so much about you. It's obvious that the boy's in love with you."
"No, I don't think so. I mean, he's never said anything..."
"Joy, of course he hasn't. He's a boy. So tell me, do you like him?"
"I think I might, I don't know."
"Make up your mind. Boys like him don't come around every day."
Todd was back with a styrofoam cup of water in his right hand and the flashlight in his left. Sabrina was glad to be able to see again. The dark made her jumpy. Above their heads, something creaked and moaned.
"What was that?"
Scottie said "Pengilly" at the same time that Todd said "the wind."
Sabrina, afraid and guilible, believed the former.
"So, what now?" Scottie asked, seeming bored.
"We're going to be here a while, so we might as well get comfortable," Cedar said, wishing her sketch wasn't locked up across the hall.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Todd asked again, and Joy looked up at precisely the right moment to see the fear and love mingle in his eyes. Cedar had been right, she knew at that moment. Still, she didn't know how
to take the next step, or even what the next step was. When you look like you're twelve, boys don't exactly jump at the opportunity to be in a relationship with you, she'd learned. She nodded, closing her eyes. She could feel her mouth beginning to itch, and knew it was beginning.
"Truth or Dare?" Scottie proposed, and everyone but Sabrina groaned.
"I've never actually played before," she admitted shyly. There had never been time to stop and "play" since her feet hit the ground at fourteen months old. Her parents had never allowed anything different, and over time, she had become accustomed, and possibly even dependent, on working constantly.
"How is that possible? You were a teenager, right?" He said, chuckling inwardly.
"Not really," she admitted, as if she'd done something wrong. In Scottie's eyes, she probably had. She'd never discovered such a strong polar opposite before in her twenty-one years. She didn't understand how someone could be exactly the opposite of driven, exactly the opposite of herself, all play and no work.
"Okay, you first, then. Truth or dare?"
"Uh, truth. That seems safest." Todd and Joy were barely listening, but Cedar actually seemed interested in their little game.
"What is hottest about me? What's my best feature, baby?"
"You cocky bastard," Cedar said, smiling.
"I don't know..." Sabrina said.
"That's illegal. You have to answer."
"Well, uh, your eyes. You have pretty eyes." And she was right; they were a green-blue hazel. She wasn't telling him anything he hadn't heard before.
"Hey Todd, truth or dare?" Cedar asked.
"Huh? Oh, I don't know."
"Truth or dare?"
"Fine, truth."
"How long have you been in love with Joy?"
He blushed bright red, but it was unnoticeable in the dim light.
"I don't have to answer that."
"Answer it. You can't back out of a truth. Rules of the game," Scottie said.
"I didn't agree to play this game."
"Dude, it's cool. We all know you love her. Just tell us all how long it's been."
"No comment."
Joy started scratching her hand, a result of the hives that were starting to spread over her skin.
"Are you okay?"
"No comment," she replied, sounding a little bitter.
"Joy, truth or dare?" Sabrina asked, sounding more sure of herself.
"Dare." Before Sabrina had even opened her mouth to issue the dare, Joy wrapped her itching hand around the back of Todd's neck and kissed him, finally doing the one thing he'd been hoping for for almost a year.
The wind - or the Pengilly ghost - howled again above their heads, but neither Todd nor Joy even heard the sound.
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