Midnight Marshmallows and Kisses

Now I'm never one to back down from an adventure, so when presented with the option to go to sleep at a decent hour or to sneak out the window for any reason whatsoever, my choice was undeniably clear. Though looking back on it, maybe if I would've opted for a few more hours of sleep I wouldn't be tangled in such a mess.

Anyway, I guess I should've figured a clang against my window at twelve am was a recipe for disaster from the start.

"Romeo, oh Romeo, keep throwing rocks and you'll break the window," I yelled out, careful to wake the neighbors.

"Funny. I always thought of myself as more of a Noah Calhoun type... but that's not the point. Can you come outside? Please, Del?" Will asked.

I put on a sweatshirt, changed into leggings, and was outside from my second floor bedroom in under ten seconds flat.

"So there's this huge camp out in the woods tonight. I was wondering if maybe you'd want to go with me?"

"In... the woods? That sounds really stupid."

"Come on it'll be fun."

"Fine, fine. But only because I have nothing better to do," I joked.

The walk towards the woods was freezing, so as we approached the party, I was happy to see many of them were sitting around a campfire.

"Want a marshmallow?" Someone asked as I drew closer to the fire, taking in the warmth. When I unwillingly turned from my heat source to reply of course (because who wouldn't want marshmallows at midnight?) I heard a distinct "oops" and looked into the wide eyes of a girl I had never seen before. "Sorry," she squeaked, dashing out of sight, leaving both the marshmallow and stick behind... in my hair. Great.

"Will, we're leaving."

"Come on, you're not going to let one little marshmallow ruin the whole night are you?" My immediate thought was I will let a marshmallow ruin my night if I damn well please, but I felt like I wouldn't be able to actually say that without laughing. So, the campfire group managed to convince me to stay for a round or two of truth or dare. Rules with this crowd are slightly different. If you refuse a truth or dare, you're out of the game - and the party. And I'm never one to back down.

"Delilah, truth or dare?" Heather, the girl who always stirs up trouble, asked me first.

"Would I be me if I said anything but dare?" I responded confidently, matching her cunning glare.

"Dare you to kiss Derek." She gestured across the circle towards him, acting like I could possibly not know who he is. But everyone who was anyone knew Derek Kleinsen.

I didn't know exactly what Heather was plotting because it didn't seem like her usual ruin-the-night dare so I marched over toward him, bit my lip, and kissed him hard on the mouth. I felt his hand run through my hair just as I was tackled from the side. "What the-"

The thing is though, Derek's hand was stuck in my hair, and apparently it was his girlfriend (or ex-girlfriend? Oopsie.) who side-tackled me. At least that's what I assumed from her "How could you do this to me?"

But back to the whole hair situation. Now Derek's... whatever she is, she didn't know about the marshmallow dilemma. So she's trying to figure out why he is still holding my head while he's apologizing profusely.

Meanwhile Will left the circle, and everyone else is laughing hysterically, so I'm left with an angry girl yelling at Derek and me, a hand stuck in my marshmallow-filled hair, and the possibility of spending the next few months with little to zero strands of hair left in my head. And an even more likely possibility that I'd die right there on the spot from severe humiliation.

All because I had to sneak out my window in the middle of the night in search of adventure.