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“No.”
“Come on, Jack-”
“ No. ”
“But it would be-”
“Nope. No way. N to the O. Do you want me to say it in Spanish? No.”
This conversation was going nowhere. Just Jackson and Ken going back and forth on going through with this stupid dare.
“You have tooooo. The whole point of truth or dare is to do what you have to.” Ken had a good point, But Jackson wasn’t going to admit that, “No take backs.”
When Jackson invited the detention gang over, this was the last thing he thought he would be doing. Playing an intense game of truth or dare, let alone being dared by a certain ventriloquist (aka Ken) to swap clothes with each other for a day. And not only did they have to swap clothes for a day.
They had to swap clothes on a school day . Because apparently, any other day would’ve been “too easy” according to Ken.
Meaning that for an entire school day, Jackson would be walking around school, full of teenagers radiating hormones and bad decisions, dressed in something that he would probably get many judgmental looks for.
Jolie thought about it, “I don’t know, guys. It does seem kind of embarrassing.”
“It’s for the experience!” Ken justified.
“I mean, it wouldn’t be so bad if you think of it,” Timothy chimed in, “But who would be switching with who?”
Jackson shot him a glare. The utter betrayal.
He was gonna need every good, every deity, and every divine intervention if he was gonna survive this.
X
Jackson regretted saying yes to the dare when he woke up the next morning.
Because the person he would be switching with was there as soon as he opened his eyes.
“Get up, white boy. We’ve got work to do.”
He got Jolie. Jolie .
Which, if he were being completely honest, wouldn’t be so bad. Nothing he couldn’t handle. But he would be going to school in whatever outfit she made up.
But gossip spread like wildfire within those brick walls. It was the reason why so much drama happened in so little time. It was the reason for most of Jackson’s problems ever since he moved into town.
He was not looking forward to walking into school that day.
All of this because of a stupid dare.
Probably the reason why it took Jolie a good 15 minutes to pry Jackson from his bed. But, by some miracle, she managed to get him to work with her.
“Do we really have to do this?” Jackson asked, sitting on the floor and watching Jolie as she grabbed a bag he hadn’t noticed before.
“Oh, Imma makeover the crap out of you, Jack.”
Jackson telepathically sent one last fuck you to Ken for this.
X
The outfit could’ve been worse. A loose forest green spaghetti-strap top with fuchsia florals, stonewash denim short-shorts with a thin belt that had gold accents, and an amber cardigan to tie it all off. Jolie chose a pair of mocha leather boots from Jackson’s closet for him to wear.
For Jolie, Jackson went simple. A pair of army green baggy pants and a large black sweatshirt on top of a white turtleneck long-sleeve, and made her wear a pair of low top black and white converse that were several sizes too big for her.
It was fun trying to explain the pendejadas they were up to when they came down into the kitchen. Jolie was the one who had to do all the talking since Jackson was trying his hardest to not make eye contact and pretend none of this was happening. She even mentioned how Ken and Timothy were going to be switching too, but they were dead to Jackson, now. If was this embarrassed in front of people he was comfortable with, Jackson knew it would be hell once he steps into school premises.
“You chamacos are crazy,” was what his Tia had to say to them and their shenanigans.
X
Like Jackson predicted, he was getting stares. So many stares.
He tried to keep his head down and ignore them, but the eyes on him felt like daggers, chipping away at his pride and dignity.
How did I let them talk me into this?
Ken spotted them first. Or somewhat did, at least.
“Is that Jackson?” Ken squinted at them, Timothy’s glasses making his eyes look huge, “I see some blurry spiked on top of that head, but I can’t really tell.”
“Like I’d know, I'm being deprived of my vision,” Timothy complained, sans glasses, looking like he regretted saying this was a good idea.
Ken was in bright, sunflower yellow overalls that stopped mid-thigh and the straps extended as far as they could to fit. The white sweater underneath looked tight to the point of discomfort. It was more like a crop top on Ken, the cuffs of the sleeves stopping about halfway on his forearm. Not to mention that he was wearing Timothy’s glasses.
Timothy was drowning in Ken’s clothes. Gray pants that were cuffed so much to prevent them from dragging on the ground, a belt cinching his waist to keep the pants from slipping down his waist, a shirt that was most likely supposed to be cropped, and a jacket that looked like it was the size of a trench coat on Tim’s short body.
Although, the one thing that made Jackson feel better was that people were staring at them, too. Not that it was a good thing that they were being judged, but it gave him a sense of comfort to know that he wasn’t the only one being weird.
“You two look ridiculous,” Jolie pointed out.
Ken shifted the glasses to rest on his head, “You two aren’t any better. You’re the one who looks the most normal, Jo.”
“That’s because I look good in everything.”
“I wish I could see,” Timothy seethed through gritted teeth, “but someone said that’s against the rules.”
Ken’s answer was immediate, “It is.”
They bickered and complemented each other on how good they looked and how everyone did. Ken even did a few poses to show off, making a ruckus and getting even more attention from the peers around them.
Jackson thought he was gonna be even more embarrassed, but it was then when he realized he didn’t care. Because they were all being themselves. Their weird, obnoxious selves. He forgot about the stares. About the attention. About the judgment. The whispers becoming nothing to Jackson’s ears.
If people didn’t like how they were, he didn’t care. He was proud to call them his friends, and Ken was right. This was probably the only time in their lives when everything would be like this. It was their last year of high school, and Jackson wasn’t sure what would happen to them after they graduated.
But no matter what, he was stuck with them for the rest of senior year. And he planned on enjoying every last second of it.