[interesting]

Paul's parents left the house around 7. In the meantime, Paul and I played videogames. Rita and Danielle vanished into Danielle's room. As soon as the parents left, however, both of them came down the stairs and joined us in the living room. We were so absorbed in our game that we didn't pay any attention to them - that is, until we hit game over.

Paul looked across the room to his sister.

"What are you doing here?"
"This is my living room too..."

There had always been a small amount of tension between them, but it was palpable today. Rita seemed to ignore it completely. I couldn't tell if her attention was focused more on me or on Paul.

"Why don't you go somewhere else?"
"I can stay here if I want to."
"Whatever."

Paul ignored her from there and started a new game; I told him to play this one alone and headed for the bathroom. While I was in there doing what needed to be done, I wondered if I could somehow use the situation to my advantage. But what was my advantage, really? I didn't want to try anything with either Danielle or Rita, given their age at first, but also given the respect I had for Paul, Danielle and his entire family. It was just my mind playing tricks on me. But there was this perverse pleasure that I had in fantasizing about her being older, and more mature, and me getting to know her better in the meantime, so that eventually... Try as I might, these ideas had been lingering in my mind for so long that it was hard to simply ignore them.

When I came back into the living room, I detoured in the kitchen and inquired if anyone wanted something to drink. I ended up bringing back four glasses of grape juice. I set Paul's down beside him, since he was busy playing the game; I handed two glasses to Rita and Danielle and got thank-yous and winks from both of them. I finally retrieved my own glass and sat down.

"Hey Paul..."
"What?"
"How about we build a fire tonight?"

Paul lived in a wooded area; his father had cleared several paths in the back woods they owned and one of these paths led to a fire circle. The air was still warm; light was waning. Paul seemed to like my idea. I half-expected what came next.

"Can we help?"

It was Rita. I said nothing. This was entirely Paul's decision; at least, that's what I told myself to keep from getting involved. I was perfectly content in having him make the call.

"I suppose..."

There was hint of resignation in his voice which made me smile.

"I'll finish my game... Danielle, if you want to join us at the fire, could you get the stuff we'll need?"
"Sure."

Danielle and Rita got up and left the living room.

"Sorry about that, man."
"It's all right. I don't really mind."

He smiled at me.

"Rita's all right, she's just a little over-eager for my tastes. Besides, once we get started talking out there, I'm pretty sure she'll be so bored she'll leave us alone."
"Yeah... we can be pretty boring."

We both laughed at the notion of our stories driving people away. He finished his level easily, without me holding him back. We shut the machine and headed outside.

"We might want to bring a jacket... it's gonna get chilly later."
"Good idea."

The sun had vanished behind the trees. The chill of night was slowly setting on the area. It wasn't cold, but without a warm sweater or jacket, the wind bit at your skin. We actually waited for the girls to be ready before heading out into the path. It was barely a minute's walk. The fire circle hadn't been used in a while, it seemed. We had to clear it first, then set up the wood and kindling. I let Paul do it; I had never been good at these things. There was a bench there with enough place for two people, or three if you squeezed yourself. We gave it to the girls. I didn't mind crouching. Besides, the bench had to be cold.

It took Paul roughly two minutes to get the fire started. A thought hit him.

"You know what would be good? Marshmallows. Danielle, could you go get them?"
"You do it. It's your idea..."
"I'll go."

I volunteered, but Paul would have none of it.

"I'll go. Stay here and keep the fire going."
"Sure..."

Paul made his way back to the house. I picked out branches for the marshallows, handing one to each girl, keeping one for me and one for Paul.

"This is nice."

Rita was staring at the flames; her eyes tilted towards me.

"When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow."
"Too bad."

I smiled. I thought about finding a witty remark to answer, but I decided it would be wasted here.

"Say, you could go get your guitar and play us something..."
"Don't feel like it."

I actually didn't feel like playing guitar. I felt more social than that. I had a few stories in my mind which were popping up, inspired by our presence in the woods near the fire. Stories crept up on me all the time; I was somewhat bothered not to have anything to write on at the moment.

"What do we do then?"
"I don't know... let's wait for Paul."

I noticed that Rita was trying to get me talking; my constant shut downs were not working in my favor. I just didn't know what to talk about with a fourteen year old girl? Would I ask her about school? Her friends? If she had a boyfriend? Why should I care about any of these things, other than the simple act of making casual conversation? My hesitation kept me from proceeding with any form of interrogation, or answering any of her inquiries in detail.

I was glad when Paul came back with two foldable chairs and a bag of marshmallows. He helped the fire up, then we sat down in our chairs and started roasting. The action filled the silence that existed between the girls and us.

Paul and Danielle started having idle chat about family stuff. It wasn't anything interesting so I paid no attention. I realized that, in any event, if we were to spend some time with Rita and Danielle, I might as well try my luck at conversation, if for no other reason than to accumulate some experience in the matter.

"So, Rita... how long have you known Danielle?"

Having been asked that question earlier, it felt an appropriate starting point.

"Long time... We go way back to kindergarten."
"Is she your best friend?"
"Now she is. It wasn't always like that though. We used to fight a lot when we were kids."

This made me laugh. At fourteen, she was still a kid in my book, though I could understand where she stood.

"Fight about what?"
"Silly stuff. Games. Toys."
"So you two are pretty close."
"Oh yeah... Danielle's the best. Plus, she has all these cool things."

I could relate to her. I did feel that their family had been privileged moreso than mine; it was nice to relish in that comfort while I was here. Perhaps this friendship was also about me enjoying the luxuries I couldn't normally have access to. At least Rita seemed able to admit it. I felt a bit ashamed.

"Yeah. It's a great place, with better people."
"Amen to that."
"You go to church?"
"Oh no... Oh I said Amen... No! My mom goes but I don't."
"And your dad."
"Parents are divorced. My dad is with his new girlfriend in Montreal. I barely see him. You?"
"My parents? Still together. Sometimes I wonder why though... my dad is pretty weird sometimes."
"Weird?"
"Yeah. He'll go on a binge... like last year, he bought himself a motorcycle."
"Cool."
"Not cool. He hasn't ridden it once. I think it's a mid-life crisis."

Rita smiled at my misfortune. I couldn't really blame her. I often smiled at my situation in order to relieve the stress that came with it.

"Dads suck sometimes..."

I nodded in agreement with her. Danielle turned to me.

"So do we want to do something tonight or just hang by the fire?"

I answered.

"I don't know. Do you have anything in mind?"

Rita added.

"Talking is nice."

Danielle came back with her question.

"Yeah, we can talk, but if we want, we can also do something and talk."

Paul, for a change, seemed to agree with his sister.

"Yeah... maybe we could make something of it."
"Like a game?"
"Sure."

Rita seemed excited.

"Oh! I know! Let's play Truth or Dare!"

Everyone took a step back.

"I'm not sure that's wise..."

Danielle was the first to talk.

"I meant truth and truth..."
"Oh!"

Rita's correction seemed more to everyone's liking. But Paul, despite not being worried, still asked the obvious question.

"And how is that played?"
"Well, basically, we take turns asking someone a question and they have to answer."
"Okay, but how do we know who's asking the question, and to whom? We just ask the person to our left, or randomly, or..."

His sentence trailed off. I'd played such a game several years back with Paul and another friend, Stephen. It had been pretty boring and we'd moved on pretty quick. Rita didn't have an answer. I decided to provide one.

"How about we each ask a question which we are willing to answer ourselves; everyone else answers it then we get to answer it as well?"
"And what if someone doesn't want to answer."

The question came from Danielle, a valid one in my mind but it didn't seem to please Paul, who was getting impatient.

"This is complicated, let's just forget it."
"No, wait... We could tally scores. Everyone who fails to answer one gets one point; then at the end, whoever has the highest score... must do a dare for the group?"

Danielle was providing an answer to her own question. Rita added.

"And in the case of a tie, both people have to do the dare."

There was a pause as these options were considered. No one seemed to mind, but Paul felt the need to be a little more specific.

"Fine... but nothing dangerous or too... weird for the dare."

Everyone agreed. It seemed like this game was actually going to happen after all. It would be a nice change of pace from the talks about our stories, and I welcomed the chance to get to know the girls a little more.

Meanwhile, the marshmallows were still roasting on the sticks.