[quidproquo]

Okay, first real chapter. Nothing too sexual here either, so if you're one of those people, once again, skip ahead. Please give me feedback, as this is my first story.

Chapter One: Leah's Idea

Leah and I were sitting on the couch in her basement, watching the end of another movie. Leah's parents and siblings had gone to bed, and she had cuddled up close to me and laid her head on my chest. I noticed her fiddling with a lose thread in the couch, and what Kyle said came back to me, and I wondered if she was bored.

We had already seen this movie, so I didn't mind talking to her during it. I kissed her on the top of her head to get her attention.

“Are you bored?”

“Yea, a little bit.”

“Do you want to talk?”

“Okay.”

“Tell me more about your vacation.”

“I already told you most of it.”

“You didn't tell me about your family. How was seeing your cousins and stuff?”

“It was pretty good. We mostly just hung out by the lake and played games. All the girls went shopping and sunbathing. That was a lot of fun.”

I was mildly surprised. Leah was a pretty active, sporty girl, and I couldn't picture her having fun just lying around by the water.

“You went sunbathing?”

“Yea, do you like it?” Leah looked up at me.

“Yea, you look good.”

She smiled. “My cousins took me to buy a bikini so I would have bad tan lines.”

Now, if you don't know Leah, this doesn't sound strange at all, but if I hadn't been sitting down, I might have passed out. Leah was always very concerned about being 'modest' and 'appropriate.' I tried to encourage her to loosen up a little more, but I'd been taking it very slow, because I liked her a lot and I didn't want to scare her off. She was pretty skittish about her body and sex and things like that...

“Wait. You wore a bikini? In public?” I was trying not sound too shocked.

Leah laughed. “Yea, I know, right? They talked me into it, and I thought I was going to really hate it, but it was kinda fun once I got used to it.”

“That's cool.”

“Is that okay with you? I thought about calling you and asking if it was okay with you.”

“Of course it's okay. Why would you need to ask me?”

“Well, I'm your girlfriend, and I don't want make you look bad or whatever.”

“Why would you make me look bad?”

“Well, like, I just don't want to seem like a slut or anything.”

“Leah, sweetheart, I promise you: You have never, ever seemed like a slut. Every girl in the world wears a bikini. You're pretty tense about this kinda thing. You really need to loosen up.”

Leah looked thoughtful. “My cousin Veronica said the same thing. I just want to really respect my body and maintain a good reputation, you know?”

“Yea, I know sweetheart, and I appreciate that, but I think sometimes you're a little more serious about it that you need to be.”

“I'm sorry. Does that bother you about me?”

“No, no. Leah, I like you a lot the way you are. I just think you might enjoy life more if you could chill out about this stuff a little bit.”

Leah seemed to brighten up. She kissed me, and said, “Thanks! You're probably right. I don't mean to be a prude... Maybe if I'm like, being really anal about something you could let me know, like, quietly, you know?”

I gave her a hug. “Yea, sure.”

Leah lifted up her shirt to show her tanned stomach. I was shocked. I had never even seen her stomach before. She looked scared but excited.

“So, was the bikini a good investment?” She put her shirt down quickly, looking nervous.

“Yea, you look gorgeous.” I pulled her back towards me and held her.

We sat in silence for awhile. This time though, Leah didn't look bored, she looked conflicted, like she was deep in thought. After we sat there for awhile, I thought she might be upset about something. I started to worry that she was regretting showing off her newly tan stomach. I was worried that if she felt bad about tonight, that she would be even more tense and uncomfortable with her body than before. I didn't know what to say.

“Are you upset with me?”

“No, why?”

“You just look like something is wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong, I'm just a little tired.”

“Do you want me to go so you can go to sleep?”

Leah help unto me. “No, I want you to stay. Can you stay?”

I laughed. “Sure, I can stay. What do you want to do?” Honestly, I was getting kinda bored of just sitting there.

Leah looked at me. I could tell she was trying to decide if she should say something or not.

“Hey, just spit it out.”

“Have you ever played Truth or Dare?”

“Umm, when I was younger. Where did you get that idea?”

“From some of my cousins.”

“Oh yea? Did they play?”

“Can't tell, it's a girls only secret.”

I smiled. “Okay. So, did you ask me because you want to play?”

“Umm, maybe...”

“What do you mean, maybe?”

“I just don't want it to get to sexual or go to far, like, with the dares, you know?”

“Yea, I understand. If there was something you were uncomfortable with, I would give you a different dare or whatever. I wouldn't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with, you know?” I said as I held her close, “I want you to always feel safe with me, okay?”

“Yea, thanks. Sorry, just, one more thing.”

“Anything.”

“Promise me you'll never tell anyone, not anyone, if we play, okay? Like, don't even tell people we've talk about this, or anything. Please?”

I laughed a little. “I wouldn't do that.”

“Promise me.”

“Okay, I promise.”

“Thanks.”

“So, do you want to play tonight?”

“Ummm... yea!” Leah looked less nervous and more excited.

“Okay, who should go first?”

“Umm, you ask me first.”

“Okay,” I said, “Truth or Dare?”

To Be Continued...






Okay, please let me know what you think. I already have some ideas for the game, but any suggestions for how the game should go or ideas for truths or dares that would fit the characters would be greatly appreciated. Ideas for the story in PRIVATE MESSAGE only please. Please don't post on the thread, because if I use your idea it would have given away the story. If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to really work on suspense in this story. (Let me know if that is actually working or not.)

Please let me know what you think about the character development. Are the characters 3 dimensional enough? I hope you like it, next update soon.