After a stressful week of college, Hope, Cate, Harper and Sam were hanging out, eating fruit candies and listening to Taylor Swift.
“Let's play Truth or Dare!” Hope decided.
Sam and Harper exchanged looks. “I don't know...” said Sam. “That always ends badly.“
“Oh, whatever. We're older now! We're not going to do anything stupid! Come on, I'll go first!”
“OK... Truth or Dare?” Harper asked.
“Dare!” Hope exclaimed. “Fine,” said Harper. “Go get Miss B.'s credit card. There's free shipping.”
Hope reappeared a minute later. “I could only find her checkbook... does that count?” “Um, I guess,” said Harper. “You're not REALLY going to place an order, are you?” Sam asked. “Well, I'm a pretty decent forger...” Hope insisted. “But we need to check the sales first! Anyway, my turn!”
After a few rounds, it was Sam's turn to ask a question. “Cate, Truth or Dare?” “Um, truth,” Cate decided. “I don't want to get in trouble for spending Miss B.'s money!” “OK,” said Sam. “Why did you get dizzy when Sierra handed you your costumes? Were they really that heavy?”
Cate looked away from Sam. “That was two questions. And I just blank out sometimes... it's no big deal.”
Hope was up after another few questions. “Cate, Truth or Dare?” “Truth,” Cate decided again. “Have you ever been to the emergency room?” Hope asked.
Cate looked surprised, but she recovered quickly. “Yes, I have.”
Hope started to ask “for what?” but Cate reminded her that wasn't part of the Truth question. “It's private... I don't want to talk about it.” Hope laughed. “What? Harper never stops bragging about her ER trips, like this summer when she had that infected spider bite...”
“An infected spider bite?” Cate scoffed. “That's nothing.” “Well, yeah,” said Harper, “but it was fun, because I went at midnight and...” “It's nothing,” Cate said. “I've been for more serious stuff!” Harper protested.
“Look, Hope, I don't think this is going that well,” Cate insisted, “and I just remembered we got some stuff in the mail the other day, so I'm going to go get that.” Harper was pushed back by Cate's sudden movement and Hope didn't know how to respond. Sam shot her a look, because she “knew” Truth or Dare never ends well.
Soon, the girls were back with some new Valentine's Day t-shirts. Hope's says “Puppy Love”; Cate's, “Sweetheart”; Harper's, “Love Bugs”; and Sam's, “Little Angel” (this is actually Kat's but shh... she won't get it until I get home). “I have stuff for you all too!” Hope said excitedly. “I totally forgot, but I got a ton of these Relay for Life pins at the conference and since you're all joining my team, you should have them!”
“I never said I'd join your Relay for Life team, Hope,” said Cate. “Well, no, but everyone else is so I just assumed you'd want to...”
“It's really fun! You stay up all night and play games and stuff like that, all while you're raising money for a great cause! Do you know anyone who's been treated for breast cancer, or taken Gleevec for chronic myeloid leukemia?” Cate stared at Hope. “Because if you do, you've been benefited by the American Cancer Society!” Hope explained.
“I've never done it before,” said Sam, “but it sounds like fun.” “Yeah, I thought I'd try it once,” said Harper. “I mean, it's just with a bunch of friends so it's not a huge deal...”
But Cate looked like she was going to get sick. “Here, you can keep this... I really don't think I want to do it.”
“Just keep it,” said Hope. “I have like thirty of them.” Cate laid against the pillow in defeat, scared. “It's not a big deal if you know someone who has cancer or something. It's really a celebration of them. My mom had breast cancer when I was ten, and we've been doing charity runs and Relay ever since then as a family. This is my first year doing a team by myself, though, and I just thought you'd want to... I mean, you should sign up to support my mom!”
“Oh, is she doing okay?” asked Harper. “Didn't she have some test last year that you were freaking out about?” “Oh, yeah,” said Hope. “It was her seventh year remission free, and it was around Christmas and I just flipped. But she's still cancer-free!”
All of a sudden, Cupid Elmo arrived with a present that said “From a Secret ADMIRER!”
“Chocolate!” said Sam. “I wonder who it's from?” Harper asked. Cate was refusing to talk to anyone.
“This is just for me, right?” Hope asked. “No, it's for all of you!” said Cupid Elmo.
“HOPE!” yelled Sam. “What? I'm splitting it! Geez!”
Just then, a red bull walked by. “Do you know who the secret admirer is?” Hope asked.
“Oh, yes. Hello. My name is El Toro. El Toro of LOOOOOOOOOOVE...”
“And my love for you burns like the heat of a thousand jalepenos. No, wait! What does El Toro say?”
“A million! Yes, one million hot jalepenos! Spicy!” The girls weren't quite sure what to say...
