'Oh, yeah. What a mystery,' Sam replied. 'Must be your bubbly personality.'
'Must be. Right, that's enough stalling. Dare time!'
Sam felt a knot in her stomach -- a rush of adrenaline passing through. By now, the conflicting feelings of nervousness and excitement were even more familiar than Lucy herself. She had known them longer, after all.
'Come on, then. Let's hear it.'
'There's two parts to this one. First, simply order us a noodle box each. I'm not a fussy eater so I'll let you pick.'
'Uh-huh. Why do I get the impression that I should keep away from the spicier choices?'
'Ooh, You're smarter than you look. Not that it's hard.'
'Ha. Funny. You're not really in a position to talk about appearances right now,' Sam replied, chuckling as she looked Lucy up and down. Lucy's dress had only barely covered her underwear when they'd set out, but with the added weight of milkshake, the sagging gusset hung just below the hem of her dress. Better yet, depending on your perspective, it was still dribbling its contents down the inside of Lucy's right leg.
'Okay, okay. Fair point, but are you going to keep laughing at me or are you going to get on with your dare?'
'Oh, I can do both. Be right back.'
Sameena had a decent idea of what Lucy was going to make her do, so she tried to keep it in mind while ordering. If she was going to end up with noodles in her knickers, the last thing she wanted was for them to be spicy, so the picante box was right out. No seafood either. She almost shuddered at the thought. They were guaranteed to be slippery with grease, but prawns down there? No thanks.
'Can I have two vegi boxes, please' she asked the girl on the till, barely even noticing her as she turned to have another glance at her friend. Lucy gave her a playful wave, her other hand furtively readjusting her milkshake-soaked knickers.
'It'll just be a couple of minutes,' the woman replied.
'Oh, no rush,' Sam said with a knowing grin. She caught Lucy's eye and tapped her wrist where a watch would have been, mouthing a deeply sarcastic sorry.
Even from a distance, Sam could see a familiar expression on Lucy's face -- giddiness mixed with trepidation. She was feeling much the same way, waiting for her own fate to be delivered up in an oily cardboard box.
'There you go,' the server said a moment later. 'Eight pounds, please.'
Sam paid, all the while thinking about what she was really paying for. She didn't expect to be eating many, if any, noodles. Looking at them, she figured her stomach might thank her for that.
'Here you go,' she said, sliding a box of noodles across the nearest table to Lucy, who was still standing up, despite every seat in the place, bar one, being free. 'We not stopping?'
'Oh, we're stopping for a moment. I just didn't feel like sitting down,' Lucy replied.
'No? I can't imagine why.'
'You're about to find out for yourself, in a way.'
'Come on, then,' Sam said resignedly. 'Where are they going?'
'Keen?'
'Keen to get it over with.'