Leslie is a really good friend that I see only once a year or so, because my parents--who are also friends with her parents--live in Corona del Mar, and her parents live in Glendale. Driving from Leslie's house to my house takes almost an hour and a half, depending on the traffic. The problem that night wasn't the traffic, but the fact that my Mom and Dad had each had had a few glasses of wine with dinner, and had decided that it was better to accept the invitation of Leslie's parents to spend the night. My parents were going to sleep in the one guest room, and so I was to either sleep on the living room couch or in Leslie's room on her bunkbed. Leslie seemed happy about the idea of having me sleep in her room, and Leslie's parents surprisingly seemed fine with it too.
You might wonder why Leslie's parents trusted me with their daughter, but the reality was that we were both such good and nerdy "kids," even though we were both 18, that all of the parents seemed okay with it. Perhaps it crossed their minds that we might fool around a little, although probably they dismissed the very idea because so far we'd always been "just friends." And so if they even thought about us fooling around, which doubt, I imagine they thought it would be a good thing.
Leslie and I were both misfits who were not only virgins, but fresh high school grads who had never had a serious romance, or even that much dating experience. This was something our parents once-in-a-while commented on and even made fun of a little.
"Are you sure you don't want me to sleep on the couch?" I said, as I saw Leslie practically beaming at me after the sleepover had been decided on. We were now back in her bedroom behind her closed door, after the conversation with everyone down in the living room.
"Are you kidding?" Leslie said, laughing, "I've got a good looking man sleeping in my room--and my parents don't even care!"
I'm fairly good looking--almost 6 feet tall, dark hair, fine features, and some muscle tone. But I'm just really shy with most people--especially with women my age other than Leslie. Leslie isn't as shy, but to be blunt she's not super cute, at least in a typical way, although I think she's sexy in her own earthy and goofy way. Leslie is as short as I am tall, being only five feet four inches. She has a nice figure, but a little bit of acne and a somewhat plain face. Her hair is neither blond nor brown, but that in-between that's sometimes called dirty dishwater blond.
As she'd earlier told me, there was a rumor going around her high school that she was "Leslie the lesbian," and, as she added, "this was really good for getting dates with girls, but since I'm straight that didn't help with any of the guys that I was after, who completely ignored me as if I were invisible."
Suddenly Leslie said with a mischievous grin, "I'm going to take a selfie of the two of us!"
And without waiting for my answer she got right up next to me, and said "Smile!" and then took a shot of the two of us--and we actually looked quite good together.
"I'm going to send this Jenny--you remember, my really pretty friend," Leslie said, with a hint of jealousy in her voice.
I had a crush on Jenny, but I'm pretty sure almost every guy who ever met her did because she was so beautiful.
And quickly Leslie sent the pic to Jen, and then wrote something to her that I couldn't see. Soon a reply pinged back, and Leslie laughed, and then sent another text.
"What are you laughing about?" I said, laughing too a little, "What's the big deal?"
Leslie whispered conspiratorially, "Jen says that the two of us should definitely play truth or dare--and I agree."
"What?" I said, laughing but not whispering, and adding, "You're kidding, right?"
"Whisper!" Leslie said, "And no, I'm not kidding. We were just talking earlier about how we're both pathetic in that we have very little experience with the opposite sex. Well, this is our chance to fix that, at least a little."
My eyes widened, and now whispering, I said, "What? Are you and Jen crazy? Our parents are right downstairs! In fact they're opening another bottle of wine."
"That's the perfect cover," Leslie whispered back, "And it's pretty easy to hear them if they come up the stairs. I'll lock the door, and if they knock we can pretend we are asleep or something."
I wondering what she was planning, since for so long we'd been only friends, with only a few flirty sparks to hint that it could ever be different.
I whispered, "Well, should we put any limits on it? I mean, any truth and any dare?"
I was now wondering what this night had in store.
"No limits! We're 18-year old virgins who've never done more than kissed someone. Come on, Jeremy. Don't you want to play truth or dare with me, or am I not pretty enough for you? I know I'm not as pretty as Jenny, but...."
Leslie looked exasperated and a little hurt.
I laughed and whispered, "Of course you're pretty!"
When I said this, Leslie suddenly flushed, and looked simultaneously surprised, happy, and bashful.
"You really think I'm pretty?" Leslie whispered, looking me in the eyes with a shy and yet alluring look I'd never seen from her.
"Yes," I said, flushing myself, as I saw how much it meant to her that I thought she was pretty.
Then I whispered, "But, I mean, if the other person dares us to do something stupid, or something that we just can't bring ourselves to do, then we can each of us always just not do it, right?"
"Of course, but the person who backs down will have to live with the shame of failure," Leslie said in a tone that was more serious than joking.
"Okay," I said, smiling and wondering what the hell was actually going to happen.
Leslie walked to her bedroom door and closed and locked it, and then turned around and said, "I'll go first. And I'll take a dare."
She had a rather determined, but also sexy look about her.
"Okay," I whispered, adding after a brief pause, "I dare you to take off your t-shirt."
I wasn't sure if she would or wouldn't, but almost immediately she started a kind of sexy dance strip-tease, swiveling her hips and raising her Star Wars t-shirt up so that I could see her cute innie belly button, and then she winked at me.
"Well, I've got a bra on under this, but just one more dare and...."
And with that she took off her t-shirt, revealing the tops of her medium-sized breasts in a flesh colored but lacy bra.
I stared at Leslie's breasts, even seeing her nipples a tiny bit through the fabric.
Noticing where I was looking, she laughed, and then circled her index fingers around her nipples, and then gently squeezed her breasts together, which made me laugh.
"Wow," I whispered, "your breasts are bigger than I thought for some reason."
"Maybe you should have been paying more attention," she said with a smile, adding "Now it's my turn: truth or dare."
"Truth, I guess," I said.
"Okay," Leslie said, "But next time that means you have to do a dare."
"Fair enough," I said, "What's your question?"
"Do you really want to look at my breasts?"
"Yes," I said, blushing.
She looked happy, and then said, "Why don't you take a picture of me in my bra?"
"Sure!" I said, somewhat amazed.
"It could make for some good memories later, if you know what I mean," Leslie said with a kind of ironic smirk.
"Okay," I said, "Smile beautiful," I said, and as she posed and I took a few pix in of her in her bra.
I was getting worried about this, but the older generation did indeed seem to be drinking their wine and completely ignoring us.
"Dare again," Leslie said, without even waiting to be asked.
I whispered, "Wow. Are we really going to do this? Or are you joking?"