The truth is trouble seems to follow me whenever I’m with Colton…


“I dare you to lick Brandon’s dog!” I challenged with a smirk.

“No, he can’t do that to my dog, it would scar his innocence!” Brandon beseeched, his eyes gigantic with alarm.

“Dude, did you see that dog humping the coffee table earlier? Little Toby lost his innocence long ago,” teased Colton, “I’m more worried about him getting the wrong idea if I lick him. What if he thinks it’s some mating ritual and tries to sneak into my sleeping bag tonight?”

“It’s too bad I’m leaving before then, or I’d record it and send it to AFV. We could get big money for something like that,” I pushed.

“No!” Brandon yelped, “Just stay away from my dog, okay? He’s done nothing to you.”

“You’re right, we should be more worried about what he will do,” Colton wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.”

“Shut up, Colton! If you don’t stop taking hits at my dog I’m going to leave!” Brandon’s face was contorted with livid aggravation. I knew it was time to change the subject, even if Colton was right.

“Okay, ummmmm, forget about that dare. Colton, you dare me to do something.” I regretted my words as soon as they spilled out of my mouth, Colton was known for his extreme dares, and I was out of “chickens”.

“Hmmmmm,” he pondered, looking me up and down, contemplating about what would be the most entertaining thing to witness me doing. His eyes brightened and a devilish grin spread across his face, “I dare you… to run down the street… in only your bra and underwear.”

I chuckled, that wasn’t so bad. Brandon and Colton were my best friends so I didn’t have to worry about them checking me out or anything while I streaked down the dark streets.

“Hey just give me a couple of minutes, I need to take a leak. Don’t go out until I’m done,” Colton called over his shoulder as he sped to the bathroom.

“Okay, just hurry,” I was impatient to get it over with.

Brandon and I played with his dog while we waited for Colton to “take a leak.” When Colton came out he had a mischievous grin on his face. Little did I know that that grin was what would be the cause of all the trouble.

At that moment I got a great idea, “Hey Colton, I’ve got a dare for you.”

“Oh yeah?” his eyes had a cocky determination; he never backed down from a dare.

“Yup, I dare you to moon a house on this street while I run.”
“Ha ha, nice one Sheridan,” Brandon urged, giving me a high five.

Colton’s eyebrows raised and he looked nervous, like he was trying to figure something out in his head as he chewed at his fingernails.

“What’s the problem Colton, too daring for you?” Brandon teased.

Colton took his fingers out of his mouth and his head snapped up, “Of course not,” he looked like he’d made up his mind about whatever he’d been thinking about, “Let’s go.”

We paraded out into the warm summer air and stood in the shadows of the trees in Brandon’s front yard. “Okay Sheridan, you have to run down to the end of the block and come back, in only your underclothes, no shoes or paper bags to cover your face.” Colton instructed.

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, yeah, I know. Ummm you have to moon that house,” I pointed to the one at the very end of the block, which had all the porch lights on, a great spotlight for Colton’s show. “You have to actually moon the house, no pants or underwear, just your butt, and you have to stay like that for five seconds.”

Brandon nodded and smiled at me, clearly pleased with the arrangement. Colton, however, looked uncertain for a moment before saying, “Alright, I got it.”

I quickly took of my shirt and pants and gave them to Brandon, who I knew wouldn’t try anything while I ran down the street. I heard Colton laughing behind me, “Is that a pig?” he questioned. I looked down at my underwear.

“Yup, they’re my lucky flying pig underwear,” I explained proudly, “you got a problem with that?”

“Nope, but you might want to know that you are really weird,” he informed me seriously.

“Yeah, well, get over it. On your mark, get set, go.” Both Colton and I took of running, Colton insisting that I had to be in the middle of the road, not in the shadows by the curb. I sprinted, hard pavement slapping my feet and making them sting. By the time I reached the end of the block, I was panting with exertion.

I was just about to turn and head back when I saw headlights making their way up the street towards me. I screamed and sprinted to where Brandon was standing, a small figure down the street, holding my precious clothes. I heard Brandon coming up behind me and out of the corner of my eye I saw he was attempting to pull up his pants while loping over the asphalt.

Then, like a wailing banshee, the car erupted in a chorus of sirens, “Crap,” I groaned and pushed myself to go faster. My breath seared through my throat as my feet scraped against the cement, Brandon was so close…yet so far. His eyes had become platter-like and my lips twitched into a hint of a smile when I saw how terrified he looked. Without loosing sight of my goal, I gasped to Colton, “Bet you…five…bucks…Brandon will…pee…his pants.”

Colton made a sound that was half between a choke and a laugh, “You’re…on.”

The police car wailed behind us, securing the distance us. My feet were numb from slapping against the dark pavement so I was surprised when I tumbled to my knees and scraped my elbows. Colton continued on his mad dash and I sprung up as I saw the bright lights of the police car steadily getting closer.

I watched Colton dash past Brandon, heading for the forest that created a dead end on Brandon’s street. I rushed to Brandon’s side and he passed my clothes to me like a baton in a race. He then fallowed me as I scurried into the forest.

The darkness was immediate. Although the street lights lit up a few feet within the trees and I could see street lights on the other side of the forest, it was very dark within. I continued jogging deeper into the forest with Brandon at my heels. We could still hear the whine of the police car and I wanted to be as deep into the forest as I could before stopping for a breath.

Twigs stabbed my already sore feet, but the moss and dirt were much softer than the pavement that had been tearing at my feet before. I slowed my pace as we neared a large rock to hide behind. My eyes were adjusting to the shadowy foliage around me as I collapsed at the base of the rock. The adrenaline was still apparent as I looked at my trembling hands. My eyes flickered shut and I rested my head against the rigged side of the rock. I was exhausted.

“That was seriously bad luck,” Brandon murmured beside me. I could feel his arm trembling against mine.

“Yeah, that sucked. Are you okay?” I questioned, my voice trembling. Brandon was terrified of getting into trouble and I was afraid he might have a heart attack from the exhilaration.

“Yeah, fine,” but the quiver in his voice betrayed the fear that shook him.

I squinted at the clothes in my lap, trying to figure out what everything was. I finally found the waist of my jeans and jerked them on, my legs still wobbly from running so far and fast. I stretched my hands around, feeling for my shirt but I couldn’t find it. I finally gave up long enough to realize someone was missing. “Where’s Colton?” I sighed.

“I dunno, he just kind of just disappeared,” Brandon explained.

Then I heard male voices and twigs snapping in the distance. I froze. The police had come after us. I stole a quick look behind the large rock and saw two people with flashlights trampling through the undergrowth. I slipped back behind the rock. “It’s the police,” I told the shadowy figure of Brandon, “We have to get out to the other side of the forest and get in a store or something.”

“Right. Do you think they’ll call my parents?” he questioned.

I giggled, “Not if they don’t catch us.”

I got up and started jogging towards a large tree infront of us. I bent my knees and bent over so hopefully the cops wouldn’t see me. I heard Brandon whimper behind me. We skirted behind the tree and yelped when I discovered someone was already there. He placed his hand over my mouth and whispered, “Shhhh! It’s just me.” Colton let his hand fall, pointing to a tree around ten yards away, “Go!” Colton whispered to me and Brandon. We sprinted to the tree and looked back to see the police going a different way.

I breathed, we were almost to the parking lot of the Dollar Store outside of the forest. I poked Brandon and Colton, “Dollar Store…now,” I ordered quietly. We sped out of the cover the trees gave, into the bare parking lot. We were so close, but then I stumbled and flew to the ground. Luckily, Colton caught my hand and helped me up, dragging me behind him. With our goal in sight, the three of us raced to the door and piled into the bright store. It took just a moment to let my eyes adjust, and in that time every pair of eyes were on me, Colton, and Brandon.

“Sheridan!” I heard an angry voice from the handful of people staring at us in shock. My dad approached looking ready to kill. Then I realized I’d forgotten my shirt at the rock and I was still holding Colton’s hand. To add to the mess, Colton hadn’t gotten a chance to button up his pants. I loosened my fingers from his and let it drop to my side.

“Ummm Dad…” I was speechless. I could either tell him the truth, that I’d run down the street in my underclothes while Colton had mooned a house, then ran from the police…or I could just let him guess. I figured the latter would be worse so on the car ride back to my house I told him what really happened. I don’t think he believed me.

Two Weeks Later


“Still grounded?” Colton questioned after school while we waited for our buses.

“Yup,” I replied for the millionth time.

Brandon sighed, “That sucks, I’m sorry.”

I shook my head, “No it’s alright, it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

Colton cleared his throat, “Ummm well, uh, actually there may have been a…erm…person to blame for the uh police involvement,” I raised my eyebrow in question, “I really shouldn’t have but I um thought it would be, uh,…funny if the police showed up when you were um, running down the street. Though I didn’t count on mooning a house while you were doing that…” he spared a glance up at my shocked face.

“You mean you deliberately called the police so that I would be caught in my bra and panties running down the street?” my voice was steady and my face blank.

“Ummm yeah…when I said I was going to the bathroom,” he looked up and cringed, ready for me to explode. I did. Laughter caught in my throat and bubbled out into the air. I laughed long and hard because it was so funny.

“You know, the funniest part of all this is that I’m not surprised that you could be such an idiot,” I started giggling again. Colton was so stupid.

“Oh, I just remembered,” Colton brightened, “Sheridan, you owe me five bucks.”

“What? How come?” I didn’t remember owing him anything.

“Brandon didn’t pee his pants.”

“Of course I didn’t! Why would I pee my pants?” Brandon chimed.

“Oh, you should have seen your face,” I handed the money to Colton but he grabbed my hand and zapped it with his hand zapper thing. That boy was crazy; and no matter how hard I tried to avoid it, I’d probably never escape the trouble he brought with that cocky grin he carried everywhere.