The Last Surprise

I remember my freshman year of college quite clearly. I was an early graduate, so I went to college as a seventeen year-old girl. I headed to the University of Iowa, and moved into the freshman co-ed dorm. One of the best friends I made was a guy named JR. We quickly bonded and were given the nickname J and Kay.

The other members of our usual gang were a girl named Shay, and a guy named Matty. About halfway through freshman year, there was a massive blizzard across the entire eastern half of Iowa. Our classes were cancelled, and we found ourselves sitting around in the commons. JR got the bright idea that we should play a game of Truth or Dare.

After coercing us into his game, we started off slow. Shay and Matty asked for Truth on their turns and answered some boring questions. I took the first dare. JR jokingly dared me to kiss him, but changed his mind. He stood up abruptly. "I dare you to run outside and down the street," he said.

I laughed in his face. He grinned and told me he wasn't finished, there was more to the dare. "Just in your shoes, and I guess you can wear your underwear." Now, I grew up with three older brothers, and I cannot back down from a dare. I smiled at him as I stripped down and laced my boots up tight. "Here goes!" I whooped and ran out the door.

The whole gang was standing on the front steps, laughing and cheering. I ran all the way down the block, turned at the intersection and came sprinting back. The icy wind whipped at me and I decided to take a leap across the ditch as an act of defiance. As I came towards the building, I slipped on a patch of ice in the road and flipped head over feet into the snowdrift in said ditch.

I let out a girly shriek and quickly collected myself. I immediately raced for the open door, shoving my friends aside to get my sweatshirt as quickly as possible. I made my friends swear to never speak of my lap down the street, and we moved on with our game. Matty took the next dare from Shay, and it was a doozy. She dared him to kiss JR, on the lips for a minimum of ten seconds.

He accepted, and we waited and held our breath. They closed the gap between them, and JR had a huge, goofy smile across his face. Within moments of their lips touching and Shay and I giggling, we could easily see JR's tongue come out of his mouth and into Matty's. Matty's eyes flew open wide and he started to push away and clamber up the couch.

JR held on just long enough that Matty flipped over the back of the couch, landing upside down and sputtering. We were all busting a gut as he collected himself and came back to the group. We decided nothing could top that, so ordered a pizza and watched movies for the rest of the day.