Dare to Love (Young Adult Romance) (12 page)

“Jennifer!”

“Hello, Mr. Wakefield,” Jennifer
said, smiling shyly.  “This is my best friend, Laura.” 

“Hello, Laura, I’m pleased to meet
you.”  We shook hands, then he said, “Well, follow me, girls, I have your Teddy
bears ready to go.”

Jen and I grinned at one another as
we stepped into the back room of the store.  “Here they are,” Mr. Wakefield
said.

We spied a huge box full of Teddy bears. 
“Wow, this is great,” I said, as I bent to pick it up. 

“Yes.  Thank you,” Jennifer said,
turning to leave. 

“Wait!” Mr. Wakefield cried.  “You’re
forgetting some.”

We spun around and he motioned toward
several huge boxes in the corner of the room.

Jennifer and I glanced at one another
sharply and our mouths dropped open.  “All of these ... are for us?” I asked
him incredulously.

“Yes,” he said, smiling. 

I almost hugged him. 

I moved toward the boxes.  They were
filled with Teddy bears—all the same type, but in a variety of colors.

“Thank you so much,” I said.

“Yes!” Jennifer said,  “Thank you.”

“Why don’t you pull your car around
and you can load up here?” Mr. Wakefield suggested.  “That way, you won’t have
to lug these huge boxes through the whole mall.”

I dashed out to my car, and drove
around to the back door of the store.  The door was open and Jennifer was
stacking the boxes on the sidewalk, within easy reach.  I opened the trunk, and
hurried back inside to help Jennifer.  After we thanked him again, Mr.
Wakefield closed the door behind us.

Jennifer and I grinned at one another
as we each picked up a huge box.  Unfortunately, the boxes were just too big to
fit into the trunk.  And there was no way we could fit them in the car, either.

“We’ll have to take them out of the
boxes,” I said.

Jennifer nodded and we began tossing
the bears into the trunk.  When it had filled to capacity, we began loading the
car.  Finally, we unpacked the last box.  My car looked like a great big toy
box!  We had stuffed Teddy bears into every nook and cranny.

Jennifer and I giggled as we climbed
into the car.  She glanced around.  “Wow, do we need to distribute the flyers?  We’ve
already gotten so many bears.”

“Might as well.”  I pulled into a
parking space.  “Wait here, Jen.”

I grabbed my stack of flyers and
dashed along the rows of parked cars, leaving flyers on each car’s windshield. 
When I ran out of flyers, I headed back to my car.

“We’ve done pretty well today,”
Jennifer commented.

I had to agree with her.  I couldn’t
help giggling when I glanced in my rearview mirror and caught sight off all the
happy, Teddy bear faces.

Back at the station parking lot, I
unlocked the trunk and began stacking the bears into Jennifer’s arms.  Then I
filled up my own arms, and we made our way, laughing, toward the station.  I
somehow managed to open the front door, and I stepped inside.  I crashed into a
rock hard body!

Strong arms shot out to steady me,
but not before Jen crashed into me!  The Teddy bears went flying.  “Shoot!” Jen
muttered from behind me.

I watched the stuffed bears tumble to
the floor and then I glanced up.  Dare was watching me, eyes twinkling with
humor. “Wow!  Where did you guys get all the bears?” he asked.

“From the mall,” Jen said
matter-of-factly.

“Did you win the lottery?” he asked.

I laughed.  “Nope.  Jen and I
officially launched a Teddy bear drive today.  These bears were donated by the
manager of the mall toy store.”

Dare shook his head.  “That’s
incredible.”  He nodded toward the floor.  “There must be twenty bears here. 
You guys don’t waste any time, do you?”

“Nope,” I told him, and glanced at
Jen.  “We could use some help unloading the car, couldn’t we Jen?”

She nodded.  “Sure could.”

“Hey, no problem,” Dare said.                         

“Wait ‘til you see the car,” Jen
warned.  She turned and headed out the door.  I followed her, and Dare fell
into step beside me.

As I walked beside him, I cautiously
glanced in his direction.  Why did he always have to look so handsome?  He
turned and smiled at me.  Our eyes locked only briefly, but I couldn’t help
noticing how his sparkling blue eyes appeared lighter in the bright sunlight—reminding
me of two shimmering topaz’.  I remembered how his eyes had seemed to darken
just before he had kissed me on the ride at the carnival. 

The kiss!  My pulse quickened just
thinking about it.  Suddenly, I wondered if he had kissed Courtney, too.  That
particular thought was effective in quelling my romantic notions.

I was relieved when we reached the
car and hurriedly unlocked the door.

“Wow!” Dare said when he spotted the
remaining bears.  He grinned. “You girls are really something.  Well, load me
up,” he said, extending her arms.

Jennifer and I quickly began stacking
bears into his outstretched arms.  Since he was wearing a short-sleeved, cuffed
shirt, I couldn’t help but notice how his biceps bulged against the
constricting band of fabric.  Suddenly, I got a funny feeling in the pit of my
stomach. 

When Jennifer turned to add another
bear to the growing pile, I nodded slightly in the direction of his arms, and
lifted my eyebrows.  Jennifer immediately understood my meaning.  She nodded
her head vigorously and mouthed, “I know.  Wow!”

I reached for another bear and spun
around. Dare was watching me through a gap in the stacked bears that I hadn’t
noticed before.  He smiled crookedly. 

Oh, my gosh!  Had he seen me admiring
his arms?   I knew I would be as red as a tomato in two seconds flat so I
turned away.  When I turned back with another bear, Dare had a bland expression
on his face.  If he’d seen me, he wasn’t giving himself away.

When Dare held as many Teddy bears as
he could handle, both Jennifer and I loaded up.  I knew the three of us were
quite a sight as we trudged back into the station. 

When we reached the door, we found my
dad holding it open, and grinning from ear to ear.

“Wow!” he declared.  “Look at all
those bears!  Where did you get them?”

Jennifer and I glanced at one another
and laughed.  Quickly, I explained about the toy store.

“Well, that’s just terrific,” Dad
said.  “I’ll have to call over there and thank the manager personally.  Now,
where will we put all these bears?”  He glanced around the station.  “We’ll
have to build another room onto the station just to house them all!  Let’s
see...  For now, I think we’ll put them in the conference room.”

Dad picked up several of the bears
off the floor, and led the way.   We stacked the bears in a corner. Dad shook
his head.  “Incredible,” he laughed, as he draped his arm across my shoulder
and gave me a squeeze.  “I’m so proud of you kids,” he said, and I realized, I
felt pretty proud of myself.         

Dad checked his watch.  “I think it’s
about time to call it a day, gang.  What do you say?”  He glanced at me.  “You
think you’re up for some Italian food, hon?  We could head over to Mama
Bittolis.”  

Wow! I thought.  Lunch at McDonalds
and dinner out, too!  I smiled at my dad.  He knew Mama Bittolis was my
favorite restaurant.  We always went there when we had something to celebrate. 
I guess it was his way of thanking me for the toy bears. 

“Oh, my gosh!” Jennifer groaned
suddenly.  “What time is it?”

“Six,” Dad told her.

“I’ve to get home!  We’re having
company for dinner.”

“I’ll take Jennifer home.  Okay,
Dad?  Then I’ll head home and get ready for dinner.”

“Okay, hon.  I’ll see you there. 
Bye, girls.  See you later, Dare,” Dad said.

Jennifer dashed out of the room, and
I smiled slightly at Dare before following her.  To my surprise, he began
walking along with me.  “Uh,” he began somewhat tentatively, “I was going to
see if you’d like to catch a movie later.  But I guess you’ll be with your dad
most of the evening ... or...”

“Uh, yeah, probably,” I murmured.   

Suddenly, Jennifer appeared at my
side.  “Laura, I have to go!  My mom is going to freak if I’m late.”

I glanced at her and then back to
Dare.  “Dad and I will probably be pretty late,” I told him.   

I was sure I didn’t imagine the hurt
look that flashed in his eyes.  “Oh, well.  Okay.  Maybe another time.”

I nodded, then hurried with Jennifer
to my car.  I was about to climb in when I spotted Dare in the doorway of the
station, watching us.  “Drive safely,” he called.  

***

“You should have said ‘yes’!  You
could have made it back from dinner in time for a late movie,” Jennifer
shrieked, when I told her that Dare had just asked me out.  “Laura, why did you
say no?”

“You saw him hug Courtney, too, Jen,”
I reminded her.

“So?” she cried in a shrill voice.  “What’s
that got to do with anything?  I’m telling you it was probably perfectly
innocent.”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled.  “I mean,
one minute he’s hugging Courtney, and the next minute, he’s asking me out.”

  “Not the next minute,” Jennifer
grumbled.  “Laura, he obviously likes you.  Do I have to hit you over the head
to make you see?  For Pete’s sake, he asked
you
to pizza, he asked
you
to the carnival, he asked
you
out today...”  She wagged her finger at
me.  “You don’t have to be a detective to pick up those clues.”

“If you’ll remember, Courtney was at
the carnival, too.  And, she was at the station with him the other day...”

“Doing research,” Jen reminded me.

“Right,” I muttered dubiously. 
“Research.  And we can’t forget today when...”

“That’s right,” Jen cried,
dramatically throwing her hands in the air, “the infamous hug!  Oh, would you
please stop being so suspicious,” she grumbled, shaking her head.  “You like
him, right?”

“Yes,” I admitted.  “I like him.  I ...
think I even
like
him, like him.”

“So, go out with him.”

“I can’t,” I insisted miserably. 
“And besides, Jen, did you hear him when we were about to pull away?”

She nodded.  “Yes.  He told you to
drive safely,” she said matter-of-factly.  “So?”

“Right,” I said, nodding.

“So?” Jennifer shrieked, seemingly at
the end of her patience.

“He just assumes I’m going to drive
like a speed demon.”

“Oh, for Pete’s sakes, Laura.  He
does not.  He was just being thoughtful.  Besides, you
are
a speed
demon,” she added huffily, and then snapped her head forward and fell back
against the seat.

“I’m reformed!”

Jennifer ignored me.  Neither of us
spoke for several minutes, but I finally broke the silence.  “I’m sorry, Jen. 
I can’t believe we’re fighting about this.  I do like Dare, but I just wouldn’t
feel right about going out with him if he’s dating Courtney.”

“All’s fair in love and war,” she
said succinctly.

I shook my head.  “No, I don’t
believe that.  I sure wouldn’t like it if Dare was my boyfriend, and some other
girl was making eyes at him.”

“You don’t make eyes at
him
,
exactly,” Jennifer declared.  “You make eyes at his ... arms!”

We both cracked up laughing then. 
This was probably the most ridiculous argument we’d ever had.

“Laura, I really think Dare’s a
decent guy,” Jennifer said, suddenly serious.  “I really don’t think he would
have kissed you if he likes Courtney.”

“Maybe...”

“There’s an easy way to handle this,”
Jennifer said, as we pulled into her driveway.

I watched her curiously. 

“Ask him,” she said.  “Ask him if he
likes you.”

“Oh, that’s so ... junior high,” I
said, shuddering.

“It is not.  It’s an honest, quick
approach to your problem.”

“Maybe...”

***

After I dropped Jennifer off, I
headed home.  Dad was waiting for me in the living room.. He had changed out of
his uniform and was dressed for dinner out.

“Hi, hon,” he said, “ready to go?”

“Just give me a sec.”  I dashed to my
bedroom and grabbed a sweater.

Dad grinned at me when I returned to
the living room. “You know, Laura, I’m really proud of you and Jennifer,” he
said.

I watched him, my eyes questioning. 

“When you girls decided the
department needed Teddy bears, you sure didn’t waste any time getting them.  I
appreciate it. And I want you to know that I appreciate how you helped out with
little Joey the other night, too.”