The beginning to dares and craziness
Hi, my name is Eliana, and I’m 18. I have a pretty great friend group, so my social life isn’t a complete disaster. Well… except for Ryan.
Ryan is a year older than me, the school’s heartthrob, and my personal headache.
I can’t exactly call us enemies. We don’t plot each other’s downfall or anything dramatic like that. We just have an ongoing, completely unnecessary prank war that neither of us is willing to lose.
The worst part? I can’t even avoid him. He’s the son of my mom’s best friend, which means he somehow shows up everywhere. Family barbecues? Ryan. Birthday parties? Ryan. Random trips to the grocery store? Somehow… Ryan.
At this point, I’m starting to think he lives in my walls.
The problem with Ryan wasn’t that he was annoying.
Okay, that was a lie. Ryan was extremely annoying.
The problem was that he was annoyingly good at everything.
He was the school’s heartthrob, the guy teachers loved, the guy everyone somehow thought was funny, and worst of all… the guy who had turned our little prank war into a full-on competition.
It started when I replaced his expensive-looking shampoo with a bottle of glitter-filled shampoo. I thought it was a masterpiece. A work of art. A moment of pure comedy.
Ryan did not agree.
The next morning, I opened my locker and found a note taped inside.
“Congratulations, Eliana. You have officially started a war you cannot win. —Ryan”
I rolled my eyes.
“Please,” I muttered. “Ryan couldn’t win a staring contest against a goldfish.”
Then I noticed my favorite pen was missing.
Not just any pen. My lucky pen. The one I used for every test.
I turned around and saw Ryan leaning against the locker next to mine, spinning it between his fingers.
“Looking for something?” he asked with the most annoying smile on his face.
I narrowed my eyes. “Give me my pen.”
“Your pen?” he said, pretending to be confused. “Wow. Accusing people without evidence? That’s a serious crime, Eliana.”
“You are literally holding it.”
He looked down at the pen like he had just discovered it.
“Oh, this? I thought it was mine.”
“Your name is not written on it.”
“Exactly. That’s why I was confused.”
I reached for it, but he moved it away.
“Ryan.”
“Eliana.”
“Give it.”
“Say please.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then I guess the pen belongs to me now.”
I crossed my arms. “You know what? Fine. Let’s make this interesting.”
Ryan raised an eyebrow. “A dare?”
“A dare.”
A crowd of our friends immediately gathered because apparently watching us argue was their favorite form of entertainment.
Ryan smiled. “Winner gets to make the loser do any harmless dare they want.”
“Deal,” I said.
The first dare was simple.
Ryan dared me to walk into the cafeteria and ask the lunch lady if she sold “invisible sandwiches.”
I did it.
The lunch lady stared at me for five seconds before saying, “I think you need more sleep.”
Everyone laughed.
Ryan laughed the hardest.
“You’re welcome,” I told him. “I just made everyone’s day better.”
“Or you just made everyone question your intelligence.”
“Same thing.”
Then it was my turn.
I dared Ryan to wear a ridiculous hat for the entire day.
He walked into class wearing it proudly.
I stared at him.
“Wait… you’re actually wearing it?”
He shrugged. “Unlike you, I can pull off anything.”
“Ryan, you look like a confused cartoon character.”
“And yet everyone is looking at me.”
“Because they’re wondering if you lost a bet.”
He smiled. “They’re still looking.”
I hated that he had a point.
The dares continued for days. The competition got bigger, the pranks got more ridiculous, and somehow Ryan always managed to find a way to annoy me.
One day, I walked into class and found my desk covered in sticky notes.
Every single one said the same thing:
“Eliana is secretly impressed by Ryan.”
My jaw dropped.
“RYAN!”
He looked up from his book innocently. “Yes?”
“What is this?”
“Oh, I thought the classroom needed some positivity.”
“Positivity? You wrote lies all over my desk!”
“Technically, I wrote a possibility.”
I grabbed a sticky note and held it up. “You think I’m impressed by you?”
Ryan smiled. “A little bit.”
“In your dreams.”
“Actually, I have pretty great dreams.”
I stared at him.
“Did you just compliment yourself?”
“Yes.”
“That’s the most Ryan thing you’ve ever done.”
He laughed.
Later that afternoon, after everyone left, I stayed behind to finish some work.
Unfortunately, Ryan stayed too.
Because apparently the universe hated me.
I looked up and saw him sitting at my desk.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Ryan.”
“Eliana.”
“You are sitting in my seat.”
“And?”
“And I need it.”
He smirked. “Ask nicely.”
“You really enjoy annoying me, don’t you?”
“More than anything.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag.
That’s when I noticed something.
There was a small piece of glitter still stuck in his hair from the shampoo prank.
I pointed at it.
“You still have glitter in your hair.”
Ryan immediately touched his head. “I do?”
“Yes.”
“Get it out.”
I froze.
“Excuse me?”
“You put it there. Fix it.”
“Why would I help my enemy?”
“Because you’re the only person who caused this problem.”
I walked closer and quickly brushed the glitter away.
For some reason, the room suddenly felt quieter.
Too quiet.
I stepped back.
“There. You’re welcome.”
Ryan looked at me with a small smile.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No, what?”
He shrugged. “I just didn’t think you were capable of doing something nice.”
I crossed my arms. “Don’t get used to it.”
“Trust me, I won’t.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
For a second, neither of us said anything.
Then Ryan smiled.
“You know, you’re not as bad as I thought.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Was that another compliment?”
“Don’t make it weird.”
“You started it.”
He laughed.
And annoyingly…
I laughed too.
Ryan looked surprised.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just forgot you knew how to laugh without insulting me.”
“Shut up.”
“There she is.”
I grabbed my bag and walked toward the door.
“Just so we’re clear, we’re still enemies.”
Ryan nodded. “Obviously.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
I paused.
“Also, don’t steal my pen again.”
He smiled. “No promises.”
I rolled my eyes.
He was still my nemeses
And stlill arrogant
And I got my next dare ready
