Jack James and the Tribe of the Teddy Bear Read Online Free Page A

disappeared. She blinked twice and sighed. “Oh, all right. Fine. Dare.”
    “She changes her mind!” Dillon flung his hands. “Dare, huh? Let’s see here.”
    “I know,” Wendy whispered into his ear.
    His eyes darted and his mouth dropped. “YES! Okay, New Girl. Here’s your dare. I dare you…”
    “WE dare,” Wendy added.
    “Okay, okay. We dare you to kiss Jack!”
    The kids let out a united, “Whooo!”
    Jack’s stomach came alive. The butterflies were fighting to get out all at once. He tried not to look at Amelia, but his actions were involuntary. He feared she would be shocked, or worse, disgusted. Instead, what he saw both surprised and pleased him. She wasn’t sickened by the prospect. Quite the opposite. She seemed more than willing to accept.
    “Okay,” she smiled. The butterflies went crazy.
    “Whooo!” again went the chorus.
    “We’re not talking about some little peck on the cheek, either. We mean a real kiss.”
    Amelia was unfazed. “Okay.”
    “On the lips.”
    Everyone went silent.
    “Okay.”
    “Whooo!”
    Jack thought he’d pass out. When he’d gotten up that morning, he figured the most interesting thing that would happen to him all day was maybe he’d get a few questions about omnidimensional power, not a kiss from the prettiest girl in school.
    Amelia took him by the elbows. Staring, she leaned in.
    “Wait!” Dillon stopped her. “Jack. You need to be blindfolded.”
    “What! Why!” Amelia protested. “Jack, what do you think?”
    “He doesn’t mind,” Dillon put his hands over Jack’s eyes. “No peeking, now. Okay, New Girl. Go for it.”
    Jack waited, trying not to exhale. He wasn’t sure if he had bad breath or not. The burger he ate for lunch had onions.
    “Okay, Jack! Here she comes,” Dillon announced.
    “Pucker up, Jack,” Mike advised him. “Get ready for your kiss!”
    His first kiss. It was happening.
    “And…NOW!”
    He felt moisture on his lips. Without waiting, he pressed against Amelia. Gently, yet firm, matching her boldness. He wanted the moment to last forever, wanted to savor her delicate, milky skin against his.
    Something seemed wrong. He couldn’t see, though he still had his sense of smell, and he knew for a fact Amelia didn’t reek of mud and grass. He pulled away and ran his tongue across his front teeth, crunching on grit. Then Dillon yanked his hands from Jack’s face and everyone exploded in hysterics.
    “Ta-Daaa!” Mike snickered, holding one of his retro Jordans, the sole extra muddy from an afternoon of stomping in the baseball field. “Congratulations. You just kissed my shoe! Ha, ha!”
    The boys lost control, shoving each other, gushing with hilarity. Wendy held up her cellphone, recording the mortifying event to post on her blog, probably. In a similar state of glee, her loyal followers pointed and giggled and held each other from falling.
    Jack spat up again and again, wiping on his polo shirt collar, trying to get the mossy, mucky taste out of his mouth. He gave Amelia a perplexed frown. She saw him and shrugged.
    A startling car horn made him forget his revulsion temporarily.
    “Come on, Mike, let’s go!”
    It was Wade, Mike’s older brother, in his so-called classic Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
    “That’s my ride,” Mike had to yell over the roar of his brother’s engine. He raised his fist to Dillon. “Later, man.”
    The boys bumped knuckles, then Mike got into the car.
    “Jack, you stay weird,” he winked. His brother revved his motor once more and peeled off.
    “Oh, Amel-i-a,” Wendy sang. “Come o-on.”
    Amelia shuffled to the snickering girls as they hurried to board their bus.
    “C’mon, Jack,” Dillon slapped him on the back. “I’ll walk ya’ to the store.”
    His stomach revolted again.
    “Dillon, just because our moms work at the same place doesn’t mean we have to walk there together every day.”
    “Geez, grumpy!” he smiled. “I just wanted to give you a little advice, that’s