Dare to Be Different Read online

  Other books by Nicole O’Dell

  Risky Business

  Swept Away

  Truth or Dare © 2009 by Nicole O’Dell

  All That Glitters © 2009 by Nicole O’Dell

  Print ISBN 978-1-61626-250-1

  eBook Editions:

  Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-60742-283-9

  Kindle and MobiPocket Edition (.prc) 978-1-60742-284-6

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without written permission of the publisher.

  Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. niv®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.

  Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 719, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683, www.barbourbooks.com

  Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses.

  Printed in the United States of America.

  Bethany Press International, Bloomington, MN 55438; March 2011; D10002724

  Table of Contents

  Book 1: Truth or Dare

  Chapter 1: Rule the School

  Chapter 2: This Is Real Work

  Chapter 3: Sleepover Party

  Chapter 4: Truth or Dare

  Chapter 5: Sunday School

  Chapter 6: Hostess Macy

  Chapter 7: Youth Group

  Chapter 8: I Dare You

  Chapter 9A: Daring to be Different

  Chapter 10A: Out of the Club

  Chapter 11A: Making Amends

  Chapter 9B: I’ll Do It

  Chapter 10B: Consequences

  Chapter 11B: The Freedom of Forgiveness

  My Decision

  Book 2: All that Glitters

  Chapter 1: Time for a Change

  Chapter 2: Making a Mark

  Chapter 3: Give Me a “Yes”

  Chapter 4: Squeaky Clean

  Chapter 5: Is It a Date?

  Chapter 6: God’s Way

  Chapter 7: Famous Last Words

  Chapter 8: Pep Rally

  Chapter 9: Invisible

  Chapter 10: What They Don’t Know

  Chapter 11A: Gone Too Far

  Chapter 12A: Real Friends

  Chapter 13A: Lessons, the Hard Way

  Chapter 11B: Party Time

  Chapter 12B: Just Not Right

  Chapter 13B: Truth and Consequences

  My Decision

  TRUTH OR DARE

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to my mom, Carolyn, who

  cried when she read it. I never understood, until

  I became a mother myself, how much heartache

  could come from watching a child face important,

  life-altering decisions. Mom, your long-suffering

  faith in God and unconditional love for me inspire

  me as a mother and a writer to make the

  decision-making process easier for young girls.

  I love you, Mom.

  Chapter 1

  RULE THE SCHOOL

  The first bright yellow light of day peeked through the blinds covering her window. Lindsay Martin stretched and yawned as she slowly woke up. Having tossed and turn much of the night, she was still sleepy, so she turned over and pulled the puffy pink comforter up to her chin and allowed herself to doze off for a few more minutes, burying her face in the coolest spot on her pillow.

  But wait! Lindsay sat up quickly and threw back the covers, remembering that it was the first day of school. She jumped out of bed.

  She had carefully selected her clothes the night before; the khaki pants and screen-print tee were still hanging on her closet door, just waiting to be worn. But now they seemed all wrong. Frantically plowing through her closet for something different to wear, Lindsay pushed aside last year’s jeans and T-shirts and found the perfect outfit: not too dressy, not too casual, not too anything. As an eighth grader, she wanted to look cool without looking like she was trying too hard—the fashion kiss of death. Confident that she had selected the perfect outfit, she padded off to the bathroom to get ready to face the day.

  Happy with how she looked—jeans with just the right amount of fading down the front, a short-sleeved T-shirt layered over a snug long-sleeved T-shirt, and a pair of sunglasses perched atop her blond hair—she bounced down the stairs, slowing as she reached the bottom. Lindsay sighed when she recognized the smell of bacon coming from the kitchen. “Mom, I’m really not hungry, and I have to go meet the girls!”

  “Now you know I’m not going to let you head off to school without breakfast, so at least take this with you.” Mom held out Lindsay’s favorite breakfast sandwich: an English muffin with fluffy scrambled eggs, cheese, and two slices of bacon.

  Lindsay wrapped it up in a napkin so she could take it with her and gave her mom a quick kiss before rushing out the door. “Thanks, Mom. You’re the best!”

  Hurrying toward the school, Lindsay munched on her sandwich along the way. Nerves set in, and halfway through her sandwich, her stomach rebelled; she tossed what was left into a nearby trash can, where it fell with a thud.

  After her short walk down the tree-lined streets, she arrived at the meeting spot—a large oak tree in the front yard of the school—about fifteen minutes early. Shielding her eyes from the sun and squinting, Lindsay watched the street for the first sign of her three best friends. She expected Sam and Macy to arrive by school bus—they lived too far away from the school to walk. Kelly lived close enough to walk, but her mom usually dropped her off before heading to her job as an attorney in the city. Lindsay was thankful that she lived so close to the school. She loved being the first one there to greet her friends each morning. Since her mom didn’t have to leave for work, and Lindsay didn’t need to catch the bus, she had a bit more flexibility and could save a spot for them under their favorite tree.

  The bus pulled into the driveway, squealing as it slowed. It paused to wait for the crowd of students to move through the crosswalk. When it finally parked, the doors squeaked open and students began to pour off the bus just as Kelly’s mom pulled up to the curb right in front of Lindsay.

  “Bye, Mom!” Kelly grabbed her new backpack out of the backseat and jumped out of the car. At almost the same time, Macy and Sam exited the bus after the sixth and seventh graders got off.

  Excitedly the four girls squealed and hugged each other under their tree, never minding the fact that they had been with each other every day for the entire summer. They shrieked and jumped up and down in excitement as if they had been apart for months. They were eighth graders. This was going to be the best year yet. They each felt something more grown-up and exciting about the first day of eighth grade, and they were ready for it.

  With a few minutes to spare before the bell rang, the girls stopped and leaned against their tree for a quick survey of the school yard. It was easy to identify the sixth graders. They were nervous, furtively glancing in every direction—the most telltale sign of a sixth grader—and had new outfits and two-day-old haircuts. The girls easily but not fondly remembered how scary it was to be new to middle school and felt sorry for the new sixth graders.

  The seventh graders were a little more confident but still not nearly cool enough to speak to the eighth graders. Most students, no matter their grade, carried backpacks, and some had musical instruments. Some even had new glasses or had
discarded their glasses in favor of contacts.

  “Look over there.” Kelly pointed across the grassy lawn to a student. A new student, obviously a sixth grader, struggled with his backpack and what appeared to be a saxophone case. Two bigger boys, eighth graders, grabbed the case out of his hands and held it over his head. They teased him mercilessly until the bell rang, forcing them to abandon their fun and head into the school. The girls shook their heads and sighed—some things never changed—as they began to walk toward the doors.

  Kelly and Sam both stopped to reach into their backpacks to turn off their new cell phones before entering the school—it would make for a horrible first day of school if they were to get their phones taken away.

  “You’re so lucky,” Macy whined as she watched Kelly flip open her shiny blue phone, which was carefully decorated with sparkly gems. Sam laughed and turned off her sporty red phone, slid the top closed, and dropped it into her bag. Macy’s parents wouldn’t let her have a cell phone until high school.

  “When did you guys get cell phones?” Lindsay asked.

  “I got mine yesterday, and Sam got hers on Saturday,” Kelly explained. “My mom wanted to have a way to reach me in case of an emergency and for me to be able to reach her. I’m not supposed to use it just anytime I want to.”

  “Same with me. I might as well not have it. I can call anyone who has the same service or use it as much as I want to on nights and weekends, but that’s it,” Sam complained.

  “It’s still way more than I have. You’re so lucky,” Macy whined.

  Lindsay sighed while she smeared untinted lip gloss onto her lips. “I have no idea when I’ll ever get to have a cell phone. My mom thinks that they are bad for ‘kids.’ “ She rolled her eyes to accentuate the point that she not only thought she should have a cell phone but that she definitely disagreed with the labeling of herself and her friends as kids. “She won’t even let me use colored lip gloss. She thinks I’m too young.”

  With their cell phones turned off, backpacks slung over their shoulders, lip gloss perfectly accenting their skin tanned by the lazy days of summer, and their arms locked, the four best friends were ready to enter the school to begin their eighth-grade year.

  Seeing their reflection in the glass doors of the school as they approached it, Lindsay noticed how tall they’d all become over the summer. Four pairs of new jeans, four similar T-shirts, and four long manes of shiny hair—they were similar in so many ways but different enough to keep things interesting.

  Kelly Garrett was the leader of the group. The girls almost always looked to her to get the final word on anything from plans they might make, to boys they liked, to clothes they wore.

  She was a natural leader, which was great most of the time. Her strong opinions sometimes caused conflict, though. Sam Lowell, the comedienne of the group, searched for ways to entertain them and make them laugh. She was willing to try anything once, and her friends enjoyed testing her on that. Macy Monroe was the sweet one. She was soft-spoken and slow to speak. She hated to offend anyone and got her feelings hurt easily. Then there was Lindsay. She was in the middle, the glue. She was strong but kind and was known to be a peacemaker.

  Amid complete chaos—students talking, locker doors slamming shut, high fives, and whistles—the first day of school began. There was an assembly for the eighth graders, so the four girls headed toward the gymnasium together rather than finding their separate ways to their first classes.

  The girls filed into the bleachers together, tucking their belongings carefully beneath their feet so nothing would fall through to the floor below. The room was raucously loud as 150 eighth graders excitedly shared stories of their summers and reunited with friends.

  The speakers squealed as the principal turned on his microphone and tried to get everyone’s attention. “Welcome back to Central Middle School. Let’s all stand together to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.”

  Conversations slowly trailed off to a dull roar as teachers attempted to create some order in each row. The eighth graders shuffled to their feet and placed their right hands over their hearts to recite the pledge. The principal began: “I pledge allegiance to the flag.…”

  Lindsay joined in, but her mind wandered as she looked down the row at each of her best friends. She thought back over the great summer they had just enjoyed. Together, they had spent many days languishing in the hot sun by Kelly’s pool. She remembered the day when Sam got a bad sunburn from lying on the tanning raft for hours and not listening to the girls when they suggested that she reapply her sunscreen. She had wanted a good tan, and she paid the price. Kelly had the bright idea of using olive oil and lemon juice to take away the sting—she thought she’d heard that somewhere—but all it did was make Sam smell bad for days, along with the suffering that her burns caused.

  They had gone shopping at the mall whenever Sam’s mom would pile them into her SUV and drop them off for a few hours so they could check out the latest fashions and watch for new students—boys in particular. Their favorite mall activity was to take a huge order of cheese fries and four Diet Cokes to a table at the edge of the food court so they could watch the people walk by.

  They had a blast burying each other in the sand at the beach whenever Macy’s dad took a break from job hunting to spend the day lying in the sun. One time they even made a huge castle with a moat. The castle had steps they could climb, and the moat actually held water. It took them almost the entire day, but the pictures they took made it all worthwhile.

  They had also shared a weeklong trip to Lindsay’s Bible camp. It was a spiritual experience for Lindsay, who used the time to deepen her relationship with God. She enjoyed being able to bring her friends into that part of her life—even if it was just for a week. Macy, more than the others, showed some interest and said that she’d like to attend youth group with Lindsay when it started up again in the fall. All four girls enjoyed the canoe trips—even the one when the boat capsized and they got drenched. They swam in the lake and played beach volleyball. The week they spent at camp was a good end to what they considered a perfect summer.

  Although there was a certain finality to their fun and freedom with the arrival of the school year, it offered excitement, too, as they took this next step toward growing up together. What would it be like in the future? In just one year they would start high school together. After several years, they would head off to the same college and room together, as the plan had always been. At some point, they would each find someone to settle down with and get married. They had already figured out who would be the maid of honor for whose wedding. That way they each got to do it once. And they would be bridesmaids for each other. Then they would have children. Hopefully they would have them at around the same time so their children could grow up together, too. Beautiful plans built on beautiful friendships … what more could a girl ask for? “… One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The Pledge of Allegiance ended, and all the students sat down to hear about the exciting new school year.

  Chapter 2

  THIS IS REAL WORK

  Second period—the dreaded class two periods before lunch—seemed to drag on forever with lunch still two hours away and the day stretching on so long ahead of it. But not for Lindsay, Kelly, Macy, and Sam; they loved second period this year. Not only was it their favorite class—home economics—but it was also the only class that they all had together. It was like a little break in the day.

  On the first day of school, Mrs. Portney, the much-loved home ec teacher, allowed them to break into groups of four. It would be in those groups that the class would work on cooking, sewing, and other craft projects. Of course, the Lindsay-Kelly-Macy-Sam group was a no brainer, and the girls quickly arranged their seating so they could be together.

  The first project for the class was to make a stuffed pillow—but not just any stuffed pillow. This one had to be special, unique, and creative. They were allowed to use felt, stuffing, and any other craft m
aterials they wanted. Things like pipe cleaners, movable eyes, glitter, rhinestones, fabric markers, and stencils were all available to the class. Or they could bring things from home to contribute to their project. They had ten minutes to put their heads together to decide what to make.

  “What about a teddy bear pillow?” Lindsay suggested.

  “No, someone makes that every year,” Kelly said, shaking her head. “We want to do something really interesting.”

  “Hmm. How about a rainbow pillow?” Lindsay tried again.

  “Nah, too boring,” Sam replied.

  “Oh! We could make a bicycle pillow with real wheels that spin.” Macy suggested.

  The girls laughed. “Who would want to lay on that?”

  “We could do a big heart that says ‘Macy loves Tyler’ and put an arrow through it,” Kelly teased.

  “Yeah, right.” Macy laughed.

  “I know!” Sam said, getting excited. “Why don’t we do a Mrs. Portney pillow?”

  The other girls just looked at her for a minute, not quite sure if she was serious or if she had lost her mind—or both.

  “Well, we could make it really fluffy, just like Mrs. Portney. We’ll put an apron on the pillow, just like the one Mrs. Portney wears. We’ll give the pillow a cute pair of round glasses made out of felt and use a shiny fabric as the glass part.”

  “Yeah,” Kelly jumped in, liking the idea and adding some suggestions. “We can put scissors, pencils, and a tape measure hanging out of her apron pocket.”

  “We’ll put her in a navy blue dress just like the one that Mrs. Portney wears all the time,” Macy added.

  “And then,” Lindsay jumped on board, “we’ll make it a gift to Mrs. Portney when we’re done.”

  All four girls agreed that it was a winning idea, and they just couldn’t wait to get started. They looked around the room and saw that the other groups were struggling over ideas and having a difficult time getting started.