Read Online Dare to Love (Young Adult Romance) by Rosemarie Naramore - Free Book Online Page B

lieutenant spoke, I noticed
that he seemed to be speaking to me.  Constantly, his eyes sought mine.  And
then it hit me.  He was talking to me!  Someone must have told him I’d
gone to the river alone.  And that someone must have been Dare.
    I felt humiliated as the lieutenant
continued speaking and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.  The more he spoke,
the more I was sure Dare had told him about the incident at the river.  I felt
hurt and betrayed.
    “Dare, why don’t you come on up here
and help me?” the lieutenant said.
    The sound of Dare’s name jolted me
from my thoughts and my eyes shot upward.  I watched as he went to the front of
the room.  The lieutenant stepped away from him briefly and picked up something
from the floor.  He returned and unrolled a padded mat.  He laid it on the
floor, then turned to Dare again.  He nodded toward the mat and Dare moved to
stand on it. 
    “Okay, Dare,” the lieutenant said,
“I’m going to grab you from behind, and I want you to try to get away from me.”
    The lieutenant moved to the mat and
wrapped his arms around Dare’s chest.  He held him firm.  Dare was a few inches
taller than the lieutenant and powerfully built, and as he struggled, he threw
him off balance.  They both fell to the floor, and the lieutenant shouted,
“Stop!”
    Dare froze.
    “Okay, good,” the lieutenant said,
“now, group, what should Dare do next?”
    “Well, he could stay on the ground
for one thing,” Keith answered.  “He’s dead weight there.”
    “Right,” said the lieutenant.  “What
else?”
    “He should thrash around so his
attacker can’t get a hold of him.  The attacker might get frustrated and give
up,” said another explorer.  “Then if he could manage to stand, the best thing
is to run away.”
    Nodding, the lieutenant said, “Yes. 
Any other ideas?”
    “Well,” another explorer responded,
“if he has keys or something in his hand, he could use them as a weapon.”
    “Good, good,” the lieutenant said,
“but what if he doesn’t have anything to use as a weapon?”
    “I could use my hand as a weapon,”
Dare said.
    “An example?” the lieutenant quizzed.
    A hand shot up. 
    “Yes?”
    “I saw on TV that you can easily
break someone’s nose if you bring your palm underneath and upward against the
nose,” a girl responded.
    “Ugh,” the group groaned in unison.
    “She’s right,” the lieutenant said.  “Better
that you hurt them than they hurt you.  Okay, gang, can anyone think of
anything else?”
    The lieutenant scanned the room.  His
eyes found me.  “Any ideas, Laura?”
    I shook my head.  “No,” I said
flatly.
    He watched me briefly, then asked,
“Anyone else?”
    Jennifer surprised me by answering
his question.  “Well, screaming bloody murder is always an attention-getter.”
    “Exactly!” the lieutenant agreed,
smiling.  “Scream to high heaven.  Okay, group,” he continued, “we’ve given you
a few good ideas.  Now, we’ll pair off and I’ll demonstrate some effective
self-defense techniques.  Okay, everybody, pair off with somebody of the
opposite sex.  Why don’t you join us, Jennifer?” 
    Jennifer stood up but I remained
seated.  My earlier enthusiasm for the club waned.  I wasn’t the least bit
interested in learning self-defense.  Dare had already shown me there wasn’t
much I could do if someone attacked me.  Besides, I felt really awkward among the
other explorers.  They knew about my arrest, after all.
    From my seat, I watched as the explorers
paired off.  I noted that Jennifer and Keith were partners.  Then I saw Dare
striding toward...me...or … Courtney?  We were both in his direct line of vision. 
Courtney suddenly stepped in front of him.  I saw him smile at her, but then he
looked past her—at me.  She abruptly took a hold of his arm then and it was
clear the two had paired off.
    I was probably just imagining that he
had been looking at me.  He had probably been