It is agreed, and Aidan turns in his seat so he is facing me and Seth. Mira boldly stands to join him on his seat. Though her rowing may be accomplished, her grace in flashy platform pumps in a rocking boat is lacking, and she nearly topples over the side. Aidan grabs her just in time by the largest body part within reach—her backside—and pulls her to their seat. He flushes crimson and thrusts his hands into his lap.
“Sorry,” he says.
Mira hoots. “Sorry? You saved my life! And my new skirt and shoes! Imagine what the lake would have done to them! Grab away, Cowboy!” She smooths her skirt so the poodle isn’t creased and then kisses his cheek. “Thank you!” The rosy hue on Aidan’s cheeks spreads to his ears.
Yes, another realm. That is the only place I can be. The Mira I knew yesterday would never do such a thing, but maybe today we are all in a different place from where and who we were a day ago. Certainly the Destiny they all think they know would never join them in an excursion like this. I wonder about the structure of Hedgebrook, and the structure we have all built into our lives, some of our own making, some thrust on us—girders, timbers, nails, wire—sometimes desperate pieces of string that hold us up but at the same time keep us from being anything other than what we have always been.
Aidan and Mira slide to the floor of the boat, pulling their seat cushions with them, and lean back against the seat, their knees bunched up together. “A game,” Mira says. “Time for another game.”
No one protests. Mira has earned this one. “A truth-ordare game. Each person has to answer a question—any question the rest of us choose—or take a dare. I’ll go first.” I briefly glance at Seth and then turn my gaze to Mira. We lock eyes, and I feel my stomach floating somewhere beneath my ribs. Not me. Not me. She looks away, and I feel breath return to my chest. “Seth,” she says. “What made you do it? Why’d you tell Mr. Bingham about his comb-over calamity? You could have just kept your mouth shut and let him parade around with it all cockeyed for the whole class hour. Why’d you bail him out? All you got was grief from it.”
An easy one. I would have posed something much tougher.
Seth leans forward, his hands clasped between his knees like he is thinking. He finally smiles at Mira and shakes his head. “Honestly, Mira, it was just a big miscalculation on my part. I had seen him look in his desk drawer at the beginning and end of every class period since the first day of school, so I got curious. Finally, one day I snuck a look. You know what’s in there? A mirror. He’s checking to make sure everything is in place. I guess those carefully sprayed strands mean a lot to him. I mean, let’s face it, Bingham is flat-out at the bottom of my list of favorite teachers, but—” Seth shrugs and looks up. “This goes no farther than this boat, right?”
Aidan, Mira, and I nod in unison.
“Okay. The truth is, well, I felt sorry for him. His hair is the most important thing in his life, and I was squirming just watching him walk around with it straight up in the air like—”
“A rooster?”
“Exactly. After two minutes, I couldn’t stand it anymore and my hand just went up before I could even think what I was going to say. That’s where I went wrong. When he called on me, I had to say something. I tried to make light of it, thinking that would make it easier on him, but I didn’t calculate on the fact that everyone else in the class has Bingham at the bottom of their list too. They were waiting for a chance to laugh at his expense. And they all did.”
Aidan sighs. “Boy, did they. Me included.”
Mira grimaces. “Sorry. Me too.”
“But you only told him the truth in the kindest way that you could,” I say.
“Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth, no matter how you say it. They want to stay in their fantasy worlds.”
Yes, I suppose they do. And until today, I would have seen nothing wrong with that.
“So that’s my truth. You can’t tell anyone. I had a momentary soft spot for Bingham. It won’t happen again.”
“Our lips are sealed,” Mira says.
Seth slides to the bottom of the boat too. “Better ballast,” he explains, looking up at me. “Plus, we can lean back.” He gives the hem of my skirt a tug and raises his eyebrows. I guess he expects me to join his efforts at being better ballast. It is not like we are on a stormy sea, but I slide to the floor anyway. He’s right. It is more comfortable. It is warmer too, with more protection from the brisk breeze that is picking up across the lake. My whole left side is snug against Seth, and I try to move over, but it is no use because the curve of the bottom pushes me toward him. He will simply have to endure my close proximity since it was his idea.
“Who’s next?” Seth asks.
Aidan looks at me and smiles. His eyes narrow. “I have a question for—”
“Wait!” I say. “Shouldn’t we know what the dare is before we answer questions?”
Mira nods. “You’re right, Des. That’s the rules of the game.” She looks around our small quarters. There is not much one can do for a dare. “How about if someone refuses to answer they have to swim to shore?”
“Are you crazy, Mira?” Aidan protests. “That water has to be fifty degrees.”
I give Aidan the same menacing stare he gave me a moment ago. “It’s not a problem if you answer your question, Cowboy.” Perhaps now he will choose his question more wisely. He seems to get my drift and is not so eager to ask a question at all anymore.
“That’s right,” Mira says. “Just pony up, Cowboy. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be called a dare.”
Sometimes I am envious of Mira’s perky replies. They pack a punch but are so cheerful and genuine one can’t protest. Aidan is quiet.
“What was your question, Aidan?” I prompt.
He sighs and looks upward. I know he has reevaluated and is cautiously considering his query. Very wise because I had a question ready that would have sent him swimming to shore. Nothing comes between Aidan and his test scores. “All right, Des. What’s your favorite color?”