Alice held her breath until her face went blue. She was an expert swimmer and had boasted she could hold her breath longer than anyone.

She stared into the twerp's eyes. He was making fun of her, blowing out his cheeks like a fish. She bit her lip and stared at his nose.

This had turned into a double dare. He'd already won at guessing each other's birthdays in the fewest possible tries. To make things worse, there was the fly. She watched as it landed on Harry's nose. His eyes went crossed and his tongue darted out like a frog.

She couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. A groan went up from her friends. She'd lost it. Totally lost it. She had him beat!

"You think you can win every time, don't you!" She was mad. He'd beaten her again and worse, had made a fool of her in front of her friends. Her face was a bright burning red and her hands were clenched into fists as she faced him.

"It's just a game." He smiled that smile. The one he always got when he won. She couldn't bear to stay here another minute. Arguing with him was just putting salt on the wound.

"I'll be waiting." He taunted. She knew they'd made a bet. He never played 'Harry's game' without winning something. She just wished, and not for the first time, that she'd never gotten into this with him.

Being new at the school, she'd wanted to impress her friends. She'd impressed them all right, with just how big a fool a girl could be.

She brushed passed Martha Sehmore without even looking at her best friend and didn't wait when Martha called to her. She was still too mad at Harry and his game.

The cool breeze flirted with her hair as she settled far from anyone she could see, onto the park bench. She was still steaming inside, but at least she didn't have to hide the tears any longer.

"What a fool, I am." She muttered. She never broke promises. How was she going to get out of this one and keep her self respect in tact? Everyone in the school would be talking about it, How 'Harry's Game' had sucked another dummy into making a spectacle of herself.

She pouted silently. Why did she always fall into whatever hole the next jerk put in front of her. She still had about an hour before she had to be home to baby sit her younger brother.Restlessly she got up and followed one of the park paths while she thought about it. Harry's game had struck another victim, but this time, the victim planned on striking back.

She knew she was good for the twenty five bucks Harry had won. Her mom paid her for baby sitting her brother, the brat!

What was eating at her insides was the fact that she had to spend it on Harry during a date with him. Alone! With Harry! On top of that she had to kiss him goodnight on the steps at school while her picture was taken! At fifteen, she wasn't allowed out on dates for another year.

She could just see her parents holding a picture of her kissing someone like Harry. If they didn't die of shock, they'd ground her for life.

Harry was a crossbreed between a geek and a dirtbag. She hated his greasy dark hair, braces and glasses that endlessly rode up and down his long nose. She would just have to make this date thing to work for her.