Part 11

Thanks to Animelover09 and everyone who reviewed! You guys are the best! Enjoy!

Truth or Dare

Calvawalvin

The door to Town Hall burst open revealing an out of breath Akari wearing a wide grin.

"Oh! Good morning, Akari!" Elli exclaimed, glancing up from her pile of paperwork. "You're early!"

Akari waved to her then spotted Gill trying to pretend she didn't exist. She skittered across the floor colliding into Gill's desk smashing her toe. "Yow!" She bellowed, jumping around on one foot and flailing her arms. Then she froze as she heard another voice calling out in pain. "Lukie? Is that you?" She asked hesitantly still holding her foot in the air.

She got down on all fours and crawled under Gill's legs to peek under his desk where Luke was sitting with his knees up to his chin. Next to him Chase was laying on the floor reading a book; (They were still handcuffed.) he looked up, his face turning an instant violet. "H-Hey Akari!" The tall peach haired boy exclaimed.

"Why, isn't it my favorite trio!" Akari cheered sweetly. "Did everyone get along…?" She asked with a glance at Gill who hunkered down further in his chair refusing to acknowledge her.

Luke tugged at a lock of his blue hair. "I guess you could say that…" He mumbled. "Nobody died…"

"There are still three hours left before we can be un cuffed." Gill said icily. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

Luke gulped, taking Gill's comment for the threat it was. Akari giggled and looked up at Gill again with her big brown eyes. A blush flared across his cheeks, his eyes quickly flicking away. She frowned slightly with worry then turned to Luke and said, "I have the key with me right now. I can un cuff you if you like."

"Oh please!!!!" Luke begged. "I cant stand not being able to use my hands anymore! I need go do something active and not just sit here like a Gill on a log!"

Gill's foot shot forward, slamming Luke in the shin. "You see what I have to put up with!?" Luke yelled incredulously to Akari as he winced in pain. "I'm going to have bruises all up and down my legs thanks to that sweater vest wearing freak!" Then he yelped as another kick was aimed at him.

"Stop hurting him Gilly!" Akari cried grabbing a hold of his leg and burying her face in his knees. Gill's face turned pink. Luke poked his head out from under the desk and was going to yell at the blond boy, but froze. "Why are you blushing!?" Luke bawled.

There was a girly squeal from the other side of the room that caught their attention. Elli's hands were covering her flushed face and had gotten all excited when Akari hugged Gill's legs and then Gill blushed! So cute!!!!!! She yelled inside her head.

"I'm not blushing!" Gill claimed getting to his feet only to fall back into his chair because of Akari's grip on his legs. "Just take these things off us Akari!"

She grinned up at him then leaned back and began to fish in her pockets. "Hmmm…" She mused as she pulled out wads of lint and cookie crumbs, but no key. "Now where could it have gone to…I had it a moment ago." She began to wade around looking for the little key. "Where are you Mr. Key…?" She called.

Gill was rubbing his eyes in disbelief, Chase was starring at his hands with utter hopelessness on his face, and Luke was peeking his head around the desk trying to help find the key. "There it is!" He exclaimed, then proceeded to slip his hands out of the handcuffs and walk to where the key was by the door, placed it in Akari's open palm, then went back to his spot on the floor and slid his wrists back through the cuffs.

The other four people in the room, including Elli, stared at him in awe. Gill was the one to crack first. "You could have gotten out this whole time and you didn't!?" He yelled into the face of the boy who sat directly in front of him.

"Y-Yes…" Luke mumbled leaning back. "I thought that would be breaking the rules…"

Chase slapped himself on the head causing Luke's hand to rise involuntarily. "That would have solved all our problems!"

Luke shrugged. "Well, Akari. How about you set us free!" He cried.

Gill rolled his eyes and held his head in his hands, he could feel a migraine coming on.

---

A few hours later the four of them were seated in their usual spots under the tree. Akari fell back on the grass, using her arms as a cushion, and stared up at the branches of the huge tree. "What a great day!" She sang with a contented sigh. Two of the three boys were stealing glances at her. The third was pulling bark off the tree trunk absentmindedly. "Too bad the summer is almost over." She continued with a ring of sadness in her voice.

Gill dug his nails into the earth. For some reason the thought of summer ending seemed like whatever time he had with Akari was ending too. He felt as though she was going to be leaving, like he would never see her again, and that thought made his stomach hurt. He glanced over at Chase who had sneaked next to Akari and was pointing out a cloud that looked like an apple. Chase honestly cared for her. And that made his stomach hurt even worse when he saw how she seemed to reciprocate his feelings.

As more than a friend… Gill thought remembering Luke's question from the previous night. That means he loves her,…but……….so do I.

"Hello there!" Came a booming voice from at the bottom of the hill. Gill was forced away from his realizations as the sturdy form of Calvin the Archeologist strode up the hill with Pat running up behind him. "I'm sorry!" The green haired girl exclaimed. "When I tried to explain to him where I was going he insisted on coming along."

"No problem!" Akari said cheerfully, rocking into a sitting position. "Calvawalvin is welcome anytime!"

"Calvawalvin…?" Gill muttered to himself.

"That's really nice of you, Akari." Calvin said as he sat down comfortably on a root. "I haven't played Truth or Dare since I was a kid! Never imagined you all were playing it everyday! What a great way to get to know your friends better!"

"And to get good blackmail for your enemies." Came the soft sweet voice of Luna as she made her way up the hill with her sister and Juli on her tail. She put her hands on her hips when she saw Luke without his blond counterpart. "Where is Bo!?"

Luke shrugged. "How should I know. I'm not his keeper."

"You should know because I cut my hair for him and his stupid dare!" She fell onto the grass in a huff. "Don't tell me I cut my hair for nothing!"

"Cut your hair?" Luke asked with a tip of his head. "I can't even tell."

Luna whipped something out of her frilly pocket and shoved it under Luke's nose. It was a lock of her hair tied with a dainty ribbon. "See!" She exclaimed. "Proof!"

"Oh, you better not let Mayor Hamilton see that….He just might--" Akari started but was instantly cut off as Gill flung himself at her covering her mouth with his hand. (Refer to Chapter 1)

Juli raised an eyebrow at the scene of Gill sprawled over Akari. "Is there something going on between you two……"

Chase stiffened noticeably, Luke choked on his saliva, Candace's face flushed prettily, Luna made gagging noises, Pat stifled a gasp, Calvin just grinned clulessly, Gill scrambled back to his spot near Luke and tried to hide his florescent face, and Akari looked at Juli with a knowing smile and said, "Yes!"

Everyone gasped including Gill, whose face became even redder.

"Gill is my friend." Akari said. And then everyone realized she was completely clueless to what Juli actually meant. After that there was an awkward silence that was broken as a blond head appeared on the hillside.

"Thank heavens, its Bo." Luna said, running to the younger boy to show him the proof of her cutting her hair. Then shortly after Toby wandered by with his fishing pole still in his hand.

Finally they were all settled. Let the games begin!

"Whose turn is it!?" Luke bawled.

"Me! Me! Oh! Pick me!" Bo sang at his shoulder.

"Okay, Bo, you can go first." Akari said.

"Woo!" He punched the air with his fist. Juli sighed. "You really are like a mini Luke…"

Bo ignored him. "Okay, Juli. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Why do you dress like that?"

Juli's lips twitched into a frown. "Because I feel like it!!!"

Bo nearly fell over in shock at Juli's sudden and uncharacteristic rant. He nodded his little blond head as big crocodile tears welled into his eyes. Akari patted his leg reassuringly.

Juli and turned to Calvin with an almost creepy regain of composure. "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Because it is your first truth, I am required by truth or dare law to ask you if you fancy anyone."

"Uh….what?"

Juli sighed. "Do you like somebody?"

"Oh! Yes, yes of course!" He nudged Pat playfully. "I forgot how this whole game worked out." He admitted to her. "Then its my turn now right?"

"Yes! Pick anyone!" Akari cheered.

"Hmm…." Calvin rubbed his chin in thought. "Luke, why not you! Truth or dare!? Which is it!?"

"Dare!" Luke exclaimed excitedly.

"Great! I know just the thing!" Calvin said slapping his knee. "I dare you to…eat dirt!" And with that Calvin was beside himself with laughter while the rest of them where quite confused as to what was so funny.

But Luke just shrugged and brought a handful of dirt to his mouth and swallowed. No big deal. He had done it all the time when he was little anyway. "Sick." Luna spat.

"Okay!" Luke said, once Calvin had calmed down. "Toby, truth or dare."

Toby lifted his head slightly from where he was sprawled on the ground between Candace and Calvin. "Truth." He said sleepily.

Luke leaned over to Bo and cupped his hands over his ears, much to the younger boy's displeasure, before he said, "Are you homosexual?"

The air became impossibly thick in a matter of seconds. Nobody knew where to look. Should they look at Luke? Or Toby? No! So everyone just got a good look at their feet. Everyone, that it besides Akari, who just sat there with a confused expression on her face.

"What do you mean?" She asked inquisitively.

Gill slapped himself in the head. Stupid Luke should have protected Akari by covering her ears, not Bo!

Luke could sense he was in a tough spot. "Well what I mean is… if Toby is attracted to…you know…"

"No…." She shook her head. "I don't understand."

"You know…" Luke said still scrambling to protect Bo's innocence as he was destroying Akari's. "I want to know if he is…gay…"

Realization dawned on Akari's face. "Oh….gay…."

Luke nodded slowly.

"Well of course he's gay!" She declared. "He's happy!"

Everyone nearly fell over.

"I never see Toby sad! I bet he is the gayest person I have ever seen in my entire life!" She continued on in her 'defense' of the white haired boy who was sitting up now with a droopy smile. "But then again…" She tipped her head to the side. "You are gay too, Luke!"

Juli burst out laughing at that one while everyone else tried to hide their smiles.

"You are gay all day, every day! Maybe you are even more gay than Toby!" She smiled at Luke sweetly while his face went a violet color.

"No I don't mean happy!" He exclaimed. "I mean, is Toby attracted to guys!"

Akari's smile dropped from her face, and then fell further as her jaw went slack. Gill slapped Luke in the back of the head then quickly came to Akari's, and Toby's, rescue. "Hey, look at the time! How about we finish this up later!"

"What are you talking about Gill!" Luke rubbed the back of his head tenderly, finally releasing Bo's ears. "We just started!"

"Well, I think we have had enough for the day." Gill said getting up and offering his hand to Akari. She stared up at him for a moment before taking his hand then winding her arm through his.

"Yeah." Chase said, taking the hint. "I'm pretty tired. We will meet back here tomorrow same time?" He looked at Akari for reassurance. She nodded quietly.

"Well, that was fun…" Calvin muttered, not convincing anyone. Then he leaned into Pat and whispered. "Does weird stuff like this happen often?"

"Oh yes!" She whispered back. "You should have been here the other day…" She proceeded to tell him stories of their truth or dare games as they walked side by side down the hill.

Luna was running down the hill now with Candace and Juli lagging behind her. "If you guys don't walk any faster I am going to die of old age!" She called over her shoulder.

"If only…" Juli said just loud enough for her to hear. Candace looked up at him in shock while Luna started yelling death threats.

There was just the six of them left under the tree; Akari, Gill, Chase, Luke, Bo, and Toby.

Bo was tugging at Luke's shirt. "Come on! Let's go! Let's go!" He begged.

"Just hold on a second!" Luke yelled, pushing the shorter boy away and standing before Toby. "I want my question answered!"

Toby just smiled, laid back down on the grass and shut his eyes. "The game is over…I guess you will just never know…" He said dreamily.

Luke cursed under his breath feeling ripped off, but didn't push it since Bo was present. "Fine! Fine!" He exclaimed giving into his little friend's desperate tugs. "Let's go!"

And then there was three. Akari was still in shock, (Yes she is that naive) with both Chase and Gill vying for her attention.

"I can walk her home, Gill." Chase said, pulling her away from him by the waist.

"No, it's okay." Gill rebuffed. "I'll walk her home. I do it all the time." He said it simply but Chase apparently caught the venom in it by the way he narrowed his eyes. Don't think you can take her away from me so easily…is what he meant. Yeah…it was a pretty possessive attitude…but if it kept Chase away who cares.

Chase looked at Gill with new eyes. No longer was he looking at the mayor's son and Akari's friend, he was looking at an enemy. "Alright…" Chase said, removing his hand from around Akari's waist. "You can walk her home, but I need to say goodnight."

Gill shrugged and said, "Okay, make it quick."

Chase stood before Akari and placed his hands on her shoulders looking down at her confused little heart shaped face. Summoning all his courage he dipped his head down and pecked her quickly on the lips before his face flamed up and me muttered a 'Goodnight!' as he turned and ran down the hill.

Gill just stared at his retreating form in disbelief. I cant believe I didn't see that one coming! He yelled at himself in his head. What if Akari's all googly eyed for him now! If she wasn't already, that is… He was immune to the fact that the now utterly confused Akari was tottering down the hill all by herself until he heard her gasp as she tripped over a rock and fell headfirst down the hill.

He ran after her and caught her around the middle, trying desperately to stop their fall. The momentum was too much so he just held her close, cradling her head to his chest, using his body to protect her. They landed in a heap at the bottom.

He winced at a sharp pain in his back and then winced again as Akari was scrambling on top of him. "Oh my gosh, Gill! What just happened!? I can't believe I spaced out like that!!" He opened his eyes slowly to find her face was shockingly close to his. Her big chocolate eyes gazing affectionately into his. "Are you okay…?" She asked softly.

"Yeah…" Gill murmured unable to break contact with those eyes. "I think I will be okay…"

Her eyebrows perked up. "You sure? You're face is all red."

He quickly sat up nearly butting heads with her as he frantically tried to cover his face. His heart had been racing, it was an exciting feeling and as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye his heart skipped. She smiled into his eyes and got to her feet, pulling him along with her. "You gunna walk me home?" She asked, stringing her arm again though his.

"Yes, of course. Always." He said smiling back at her, trying to let her know that he will always be there for her. "Great!" She exclaimed as she started them off down the road to her house.

Then she suddenly stopped and looked up at him as if she remembered something. "Hey Gill…"She mumbled, suddenly nervous as she looked down at her boots.

"Yes?"

"You aren't…you know,…what Luke said…are you "

He cocked his head in confusion. "Huh?"

"What I mean is…" She shuffled her boots in the dirt self-consciously. "You don't…I mean…you aren't attracted to…other guys are you…?"

His eyebrows shot up.

"I mean, it would be okay if you were!" She quickly added, looking up into his eyes with an emotion he had never seen exposed in her before. "I mean, you would still be my best friend! It doesn't matter what you are, it matters who you are! And its who you are that I love!"

His head was in a fog as he stared down at those large doe eyes. She was gripping his arm so tightly that all that registered of what she had just said was that she thought he was gay. He wondered if this is what made her mute a while back. "No, no, no!" He exclaimed shaking his head. "I'm heterosexual!"

Her eyes widened. "Huh?"

"I-I like girls!"

"Oh!" She then sighed and smiled once again into his eyes. "You're blushing!"

He turned away from her quickly.

"So there is a girl in particular, huh?" She teased.

He caught her eye again. Yeah, its you. He wanted to say it. He wanted to say it so badly but he couldn't. So he settled with, "Yeah…I do."

That strange look in her eye returned briefly then vanished. She started walking again, pulling him along at her side. She was talking his ear off about the latest episode of 'I couldn't help but Love you' as the sun began to set behind them.

This…this feels right…He thought squeezing her arm closer. I can't lose her.

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The whole reference to chapter 1 thing was when Akari found out that Hamilton made dolls of the people in Waffle Town and used the person's actual hair on the doll. Gill practically attacked her in order to keep that a secret. Just so you know.

Please let me know what you think of this chapter!

The idea of Luke asking Toby if he was gay came from the wonderful Animelover09! I hope you like the way I fitted it in! It ended up being the major question!

And to anyone else out there who has a wonderful truth or dare please share! I will for sure try to fit them in! (Please help me, I'm practically out of ideas!)

Thanks again!