Six Days: Book One in the SIX Series (6 page)

           
Tears welled up in Mallory’s eyes. “You really think so?”
she asked, her voice sounding uncertain. “Like quit my real job and only bake?”

           
“Well, it’s too late now to ask that, I wrote it down on
this very official piece of paper,” I said, holding up my little folded up note
card. I placed it in the box.

           
Mallory smiled, though I could tell she still felt
uncertain about the whole thing. In all the time we spent together the last few
weeks I knew that was what she ultimately wanted to do with the shop, but for
some reason she was always second-guessing her ability to make that transition.
It seemed ridiculous to me though, given most of the work was already done. The
shop was beautiful and she clearly knew how to make amazing desserts. I had
sampled everything she produced and had no complaints. I really couldn’t think
of a single reason why she shouldn’t be open every day. I suddenly thought of
all of the fake desserts and smiled, wondering what she would do with all of
them once her bakery cases were filled with real food.

           
“Okay Mallory, you’re now a full-time baker. That’s
pretty sweet,” Steve poked her arm. “You should have known someone would push
you into that sooner or later. You’re too good not to be focusing on it
full-time. I agree with Addie, you are totally ready,” Steve finished.

           
The entire group nodded their heads.

“What
if people don’t come?” Mallory said, still sounding a little nervous. "People
don't even know I exist."

           
“You already built this beautiful amazing shop. It makes
me crazy that you’re not open to the general public every day. It really is
crazy. We have time to build up business, I promise Mal. You’re doing this and
it will be great,” I said, reassuring her. She smiled.

           
“Okay Mal, your turn,” Steve said, grabbing the box from
me and handing it to Mallory.

           
“Well,” Mallory began, holding up her note card. “I have
Johnny.”

           
“
Oooh
,” the crowd said in
unison, looking in his direction.

           
“Oh come on guys, you know I’m always up for this. What
have you got?” Johnny replied, turning towards Mallory.

           
“Johnny, don’t hate me for this one. But I think it’s
important,” Mallory spoke, her voice sounding very sincere. “I know your
parents’ divorce has been rough on you this past year,” her voice trailed off.

           
“Mallory no, come on. Not this. That should be off
limits,” Johnny pleaded, running his fingers through his light brown hair.
“There has to be some kind of rule about personal stuff.”

           
“I’m not asking you to forgive your dad. I know what he
did was wrong and I'm not excusing that. You can deal with that on your own
time whenever you’re ready. I just don’t want you to shut him out. He’s really
trying,” Mallory said softly.

           
Johnny sat with his head in his hands.

           
“My dare is that you contact him, that’s it.
Nothing more than that.
I’m not saying you have to hear him
out or anything. Just contact him and let him know you’re okay. That’s all he
wants from you right now,” Mallory said, dropping her folded card in the box.
"It's important, Johnny."

           
“Look, I get it Mal. I know you’re just looking out for
me, and I’ll get there. It just may be awhile before I do it, that’s all,”
Johnny said, reaching for the box from Mallory.

           
“You’re one of my best friends Johnny. That’s the point
of this. We’re just trying to encourage each other to do something good for
ourselves that we may not see on our own,” Mallory said shrugging. “We’ve all
known your dad for years, Johnny, he is a good dad. Clearly not an exemplary
husband, but you know you were the world to him.”

           
“I know. Thanks Mal,” Johnny said quietly, placing the
box in his lap. “Well, I am more than happy to change the subject, that’s for
sure. I have Meg, and I think she’s going to punch me for this one.” Johnny’s
tone finally perked up a bit. “Meg, I dare you not to sleep with anyone for a
consecutive three month period,” Johnny said, smirking.

           
My mouth dropped open and I was sure the circle would
become awkward. Just then, Megan stood up and punched Johnny in the arm.

           
“Hey, it’s for your own good,” Johnny taunted. “Look, we
all know you’re the wild one who likes to have fun. But then you’re always
sobbing to Mallory about your disappointment with every guy you meet. I’m not
saying you need to go out and fall in love with someone. I just think a little
time without all that drama, maybe a little self-reflection, anticipation, I
think it could be really good for you,” Johnny’s voice sounded sincere.

           
“I’ll think about it,” Megan said with a smirk.

           
“Too late.
It’s in the box,”
Johnny replied. He theatrically dropped the card he wrote Megan’s dare on into
the wooden box and Mallory giggled.

           
“Damn, give me the box,” Megan said, reaching out her
arm. “You realize I’m going to get you back for that one the next time I pull
your name, right?” Megan teased.

           
I looked over at Griffin, a little surprised to see him
looking at me through the firelight. I smiled, and he smiled back.

           
“Moving on,” Megan stated, pretending to be annoyed with
Johnny, “I have Steve.” The group turned their attention towards Steve, who was
in the process of guzzling down the last of his beer.

           
“I am daring you to run a half marathon with me,” Megan
said, looking at Steve with a serious expression.

           
“Are you kidding me? Run? Where did that come from?”
Steve asked, sounding exasperated.

           
“Well, you’re always sitting around drinking beer and
complaining you’re wasting your own time. So, it’ll be good to give you
something to do,
and
it’ll be good for you,” Megan said raising an eyebrow.
“You’re not getting any younger you know. I think you’ll be happier to get this
dare now rather than in ten years, right?” Megan eyed Steve curiously, waiting
for his response.

           
“Damn, fair enough. I can do it. Give me the box. But
let’s make a side deal, if I beat your time, you owe me a hundred bucks,” Steve
said, shaking his head.

           
“We’ll see about that,” Megan replied. She stood up and
handed Steve the box after kissing her note card and dropping it in.

           
“Griffin,” Steve turned his head to the right towards
Griffin’s chair. Instantly Griffin’s eyes lit up and they both smirked.

           
“Oh this should be good. Two years ago when you pulled my
name you had me build a deck for your grandma,” Griffin said, leaning back in
his chair. He stretched his arms out over his head.

           
“Hey, Grandma Jan is a very sweet woman, and you know she
loves that deck. Getting your hands dirty was the best summer you ever had,”
Steve said while raising his arms.

           
“She made me take my shirt off while I worked. It was
weird!” Griffin touted back. Everyone snickered.

           
“Hey, she is a lively elderly widow. You got to give a
little, man,” Steve rebuffed back.

           
“So who am I taking my shirt off for this time?
Maybe an aunt?”
Griffin asked, smiling.

           
“No
Griff
, you can just sit
back and collect your trust fund without any physical outdoor labor on this
one. You see that guitar?” Steve pointed. “I dare you to play it in public. A
show we can all go see. I don’t care where it is, maybe an open mic night or
whatever. But my friends here, we’re going to watch you play on a stage, even
if its four feet wide in a dive bar. It has to be your own music, too.”

           
Griffin shook his head. “Come on man, you know I just
play for fun. I can’t do that in a room full of people. Not anymore.”

           
“Then you’d better pick a small locale so you just see us
in the front row then, I don’t care. That’s your dare. You are playing that
thing in public,” Steve stated, flicking his card into the box.

           
Megan and Mallory cheered excitedly, letting Griffin know
how much they looked forward to watching him play his own music. They explained
to me it was something he really used to love, but they hadn’t seen much of it
lately. When they were younger, Griffin used to play all the time in front of
them, but lately he barely brought his guitar out anymore when they were all
together.

           
Oh no.
It dawned on me in that exact moment that I
was the only one left. Steve passed the box over to Griffin.

           
“So, I get the new girl,” Griffin mused.

           
Dear God, no, this is weird!
Too
weird.
I barely know him and I get flustered around him. Please let me
off easy.

           
“So, I know we’re all still getting to know you,
especially since you spend so much time mostly with Mallory,” Griffin began.

           
I nodded my head.

           
“My dare to you is that you say yes to me for one week,”
Griffin stated, staring right at me.

           
“What does that even mean?” Mallory chimed in. I think
she could tell by the expression on my face that I was puzzled.

           
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Griffin said, holding up a
hand and shaking his head side to side. “I’m not talking about anything weird
or kinky.”

           
“Thank heavens, I was wondering where you were going with
that,” Megan interjected, sounding relieved.

           
“From what I
have
learned about you, Addie, it
seems you’ve been lacking some adventure in your life. You’ve never been
camping, never been to a concert, you’ve probably never even been arrested…”
Griffin continued.

           
“Arrested? What is this?” I said, trying to hide the
shock and confusion in my voice.

           
“Oh, I don’t mean we’re going to do anything to get you
in trouble. I’m just suggesting you need a little adventure in your life,
that’s all. So for one week I dare you to say yes to me.
Whatever
I ask of you.
Just seven days,” Griffin said, not taking his eyes off me
as he spoke. “Seven days.”

           
“So what, you’re going to make me bungee jump or
something? NO bungee jumping, I won’t do it,” I said, vehemently shaking my
head.

           
“Deal.
No bungee jumping, I
promise. But you have to trust me. Just say yes, and I promise you a good time.
You’ll get to live a little,” Griffin paused and everyone fell silent. “It’s in
the box,” Griffin added, twirling the note card around in his hand and dropping
it into the wooden box, closing the lid. “Seven days,” he mused.

           
“Seven days,” I repeated, suddenly feeling queasy. He did
promise no bungee jumping which was a relief. Surely there weren’t things worse
than bungee jumping? I barely knew this guy, what would he want to do for a
week? Besides, I have had a little adventure in my life. Maybe not the good
kind, but that still counted, right?

           
“So, another year of dares,” Mallory said, raising her
plastic cup of wine. Everyone lifted their drinks. In silence, they all sipped
on what they had in their hands. I stared at the campfire, thinking I might
throw up.

           
I woke up in a haze, feeling chilly but yet somehow
sweating from the early sun beaming into the tent.
What time was it?
I
looked over at Mallory, snoring away, all wrapped up tight in her sleeping bag.
How much did I drink last night?
My head ached, and although I debated
laying back down, I thought the best thing for me would be some fresh air.
 

           
I unzipped the tent and peered out into the morning,
taking in the beautiful view of the lake. I never considered myself much of a
nature person, but I could get used to this. The sun was coming up over the
mountain and the air was still and crisp. As I prepared to climb out of the
tent, I noticed a bunch of sticks laid out on the ground. They were laid out
like arrows.
What?
The first thought through my head was gratitude that
it had been quite some time since I saw
Blair Witch Project.

           
I threw on some shoes and a turquoise hoodie and made my
way outside the tent. I followed the stick arrows, nine sets of them to be
exact, to a large tree with a note taped to it.

           
Day 1: Hunt and gather for a fine dining experience.

           
What?
Who is this for? I thought back to last
night, to Griffin’s dare, realizing this must be for me. Okay, hunting is
not
my kind of adventure. I’m not against eating animals obviously, but I do
draw the line at killing them myself. I’m just not that person. I have seven
days of these adventures? I suddenly thought back to the conversation Steve was
having in the car earlier on the way up to the campsite, something about
hunting and eating what he caught. That hadn’t happened though, not yet anyway,
which I was relieved about. Did this have anything to do with that
conversation? Why were men so barbaric? Annoyed, I turned to head back to the
campsite.

           
“You’re up early,” Griffin’s smooth voice said, startling
me. “I see you found my note.” He sipped from the coffee mug he held in his
right hand. I hated how good he looked this early in the morning. It didn’t
seem right. His thick dark hair somehow looked even better slept on than it did
after he purposely did anything with it. How was that even possible?

           
“Yeah, I did. That was a clever little trail, other than
the first twenty seconds where I thought I was going to die at the hands of
some backwoods serial killer. So thanks for that.”

Griffin
stared at me with an expressive smirk, clearly amused at where my mind went
with that.

“Look,
I’m not sure what you have planned, but if you think I’m killing something
today, I’m not sure this is going to work out,” I huffed, failing to sound more
pleasant about the situation. He peered at me with his soft eyes, and although
I was still vehemently against the idea of hunting, I had a strange feeling
this man could talk me into a lot worse.
 

           
“Sorry, it’s not exactly what I meant to say. I mean it
kind of is, indirectly. Look, I probably should have written out the first card
before coming up here. Maybe it would have sounded more eloquent or something.
I was kind of in a haze last night, and that’s just what came out,” Griffin
said, staring at me as he spoke. “I’m sorry. Just trust me, will you?” His eyes
pleaded with me.

           
“Do I have to kill something today? Can you tell me we’re
just fishing or something? I could work with that. It doesn’t actually seem
like killing one of God’s creatures, in a weird way,” I replied, hoping for a
good answer.

           
“Look, it’s not as harsh as it
sounds,
maybe I used the wrong wording. Just don’t give it much thought. We’ll be
making breakfast, going for a hike, and cleaning up camp. It’s for later
anyway, so I don’t want you to be thinking something gruesome all day. It’s not
like that. I promise this week will be fun, Addie. I just thought maybe I could
get you to do some new things, just ‘live’ a little more. You’ll see. It will
all be explained later, I promise. Just relax,” Griffin said, putting his arm
around my shoulders.

           
I felt a shiver run through my torso.
 
Oh
my gosh
, I
haven’t even seen a mirror this morning. What is happening?

We
made our way back to camp and everyone slowly stirred and got up as Griffin
started on breakfast.

           
The morning flew by and Megan and Steve went down the
trail for a light morning jog. Steve pretty much complained of his endurance
inadequacies the rest of the morning. He genuinely seemed interested in the
challenge of running a half marathon with Megan though, which amused the group.
He was adamant, however, that he wouldn’t give up his beer intake just because
of training, which seemed fitting for him. Mallory was too ill from the night
before to do much. She just sat in a chair by the campfire cursing the
deliciousness of red wine. Even when we set out for a small hike up one of the
hills she opted to stay behind, which was unlike her.

           
There seemed to be
an unusual
electricity between Griffin and me. Conversation seemed awkward at best with
other people chiming into our conversations. No one else saw the note on the
tree so it wasn’t brought up throughout the day, which I was thankful for.

           
By the time lunch rolled around Mallory was finally able
to stomach the sight of food. She vowed to never again drink so much wine in
one night. The others razzed her for being so sluggish and out of sorts. We sat
around eating, laughing, and discussing our upcoming plans for the rest of the
summer, of which I had none. It was moments like these where I realized just
how uninteresting of a person I was. I barely put much thought into my day to
day, let alone any plans for the future. It seemed more like my life was just
one day rolling into the next. I couldn’t even think of any plans I had next
week, let alone months from now. These people probably thought I was shy for
not interjecting more into these conversations, but the truth was, I just
didn’t have much to say.

           
Finally it came time to clean up camp, and as the cars
were being loaded up, Griffin grabbed my bag and headed towards his car.

           
“Oh Griffin, that’s mine. It should go in Mallory’s car.
She drove me,” I stammered, making my way towards him to grab the bag.

           
“Sorry, I should have mentioned it, but I’ll take you
back. We have an adventure planned today, remember?” Griffin flashed a boyish,
mischievous smile.

           
“Right,” I mused back, half excited and half freaked out.
I had to admit, with all the eating, hiking, and cleaning up camp, I really did
forget about the hunting thing for
awhile
. Of course
now that I was about to be left alone with him, that was all I could think
about.

           
Everyone said their good-byes and Mallory pulled me aside
as the others began getting in her car.

           
“So, what does Griffin have up his sleeve for you today?”
Mallory whispered. “He’s very out of character. He seems happier than he’s been
as of late, but he hasn’t really told us about any of this. What are you guys
doing?”

           
“I have no idea. I mean this guy is stable at least,
right? I mean, you’re not leaving me in the woods with a crazy man, are you?
It’s always the handsome ones you know,” I remarked quietly.

           
“He’s one of the best people I know, Addie,” Mallory said
confidently. “He’s really spontaneous and fun. You’ll have a good time, I’m
sure. It’s just unlike him to be so secretive. He hasn’t said a word about this
to anyone. I tried pressing Steve for some information last night, although he
really didn’t seem to know anything either and Griffin is his best friend. I
mean, I know Griffin has been pretty busy lately with some family stuff, but
all of a sudden this weekend he seems totally carefree. It’s like he has all
the time in the world for us. I don’t know, he definitely seems different, but
in a good way. But I promise, Addie, you’re in good hands.” Mallory leaned in
and gave me a quick hug. “Will you call me when you get back, just so I know
you’re home? I can’t wait to hear about it, whatever is going on.”

           
“Yeah, of course I’ll call you. I guess we can talk about
it more at the bakery tomorrow morning. Still on for seven?” I asked as Mallory
made her way over to her car, nodding. I turned towards Griffin as their car
backed out of the campsite.

           
“So, I’m all yours. Give me some adventure.” I shrugged,
looking at him, wondering what I was in for.

           
“Great, grab that bucket,” he replied, pointing to a
silver pail sitting next to the campsite’s picnic table. “Let’s go,” he said,
smiling devilishly.

           
I followed him down a dirt path, walking quite a distance
to the edge of the lake. The water was perfectly calm and the world around us
seemed so surreal. I studied Griffin in his loose cargo shorts and fitted white
t-shirt. It was such a simple combination, but there was something so sexy
about it too. I silently reprimanded myself for the thought. This would be a
long seven days with thoughts like that in my head. He’d given me no indication
that this was anything more than a friendship, just like his relationship with
Mallory and Megan. Actually, this was even tamer than that. I was just a random
name he drew out of a box, this whole experience being the result of that.

           
“Are you coming?” Griffin’s soft voice asked breaking up
my thoughts.

           
“Sure,” I replied, following his lead by kicking off my
shoes on the shore. I rolled up the bottom of my yoga pants and we made our way
into the water. We were by a rocky part of the shoreline with big boulders
jutting out of the water. They were huge.

           
“This is one of the best spots,” Griffin stated
matter-of-factly, as if I understood what he meant. “When I was little my grandfather
took me out here every summer and we would spend hours on end catching
crawdads. It used to be my favorite thing to do as a kid,” Griffin explained.
His face lit up as he spoke. “Have you ever done it before?”
           
“What? No, I’ve never even
been fishing before. How on earth do you catch a crawdad?” I responded, feeling
giddy just thinking about how amusing this all was.

           
“With this,” Griffin answered, holding up a bag of lunch
meat.

           
“Crawdads eat turkey sandwiches? How would anybody know
that?” I laughed.

           
“Watch,” Griffin said, taking a small piece of meat out
of the bag. He held the meat between his fingers, plunging his hand underneath
the water next to the edge of one of the large rocks. Within about twenty
seconds a crawdad the size of my palm crawled out, going for the meat. Griffin
plunged his hand in, and in one swift motion he lifted up the crawdad and
tossed it into his water-filled bucket.

           
“Just like that?
That’s it?” I
exclaimed. Something about his movements enticed me, maybe from the anxiety and
anticipation of waiting for the crawdad to come out, or maybe from the success
of the whole thing working.

           
“Try it,” he said, holding out a piece of lunch meat.

           
I looked in his bucket. “Holy Moses, look at those claws!
What if it pinches me when I try to grab it?” I asked, a little apprehensive.

           
“Then he injects his poisonous venom into you and you
die,” he said with a straight face. I’m pretty sure a look of horror crossed my
face at that moment, and Griffin began laughing. “I’m just kidding. They’re so
little, Addie. You’ll be fine.” He still held out the piece of meat, urging me
to take it.

           
Following his example, I moved a little ways down from
his spot and held the turkey under the water just a few inches out from the
base of the rock. In equal amount of time, two crawdads from different
directions crawled towards the meat in my hand.

           
First I screamed, and then dropped the bucket. Trying to
quickly regain my composure, I plunged my arm back in the water and grabbed a
crawdad before it could hide back under the rock.
 
I threw it in the bucket so fast I thought I
may have knocked the thing unconscious. Griffin doubled over with laughter,
trying to catch his breath.

           
“Your first try,” he said, still laughing. “You were a
little startled, but you did it!”

           
I had to admit his laughter was contagious, and I laughed
too. I couldn’t believe I managed to still grab one after freaking out first.
Griffin was right, it was… fun. I imagined Griffin as a boy, sharing this
experience with his grandfather.