Part 1 - It's all fun and games.
About a decade ago, my friend Austin and I graduated high school and it was the start of the summer.
It was the first Friday since school had ended and Austin sent me a text, inviting me over for the weekend to celebrate graduating high school.
Him and I met in elementary school and became close throughout middle and high school. We both spent the night over each other's house very often as we grew up and we had grown very comfortable around one another. We were practically inseparable all throughout high-school like two peas in a pod.
My parents and his were very familiar with each other and their home was like my home away from home. I always preferred to go to his house because he had a pool in the backyard and always had the newest video game consoles. Both of our dads were in the military, but I think his dad was a few pay grades above my dad.
I eagerly packed my bags, the night I received his text, making sure to include more than a handful of outfits. From a pair of gym shorts to a pair of slacks and everything in between, I made sure I was ready for any occasion.
The weekend came and I was there at Austin's house. We were in his room playing video games and his dad knocked on the door.
"Come in." Austin said, raising his voice over the sound effects of the game.
"The food will be here in 10 minutes. We also have a few board games and a game my buddy recommended we play." Austin's dad, Bryan said.
"Ok dad, sounds good." Austin quickly said as I was starting to gain the lead on him. His dad must have distracted him in the little time they were talking.
Before we knew it, the doorbell rang and we were on our feet. We paused the game and made our way downstairs and to the table.
"You're lucky we have to eat or I would have beaten you." I said to Austin jokingly.
"Yeah only because my dad was distracting me." Austin replied.
We had always been competitive when it came to gaming and we didn't hesitate to talk trash to one another, but it was all fun and games.
Bryan placed a few boxes of pizzas on the table along with a tall 2-liter coke and a few board games. Dallas, Austin's mother, sat at the dinner table and looked through the games.
"Looks like we have Yahtzee, Scrabble, and Would You Rather (Dirty Edition)?" Dallas announced, seeming to question the last game.
Dallas continued to question her husband Bryan saying, "Bryan are you sure this is appropriate for us to play with the boys?".
"Honey, Austin turned 18 in January and Jeffery turned 18 last weekend. It's time we started treating them like the men they are." Bryan said as he cracked open a beer for himself and sat down.
"Well you may as well get me a beer too, honey. Lord knows I'll need it." Dallas said helping herself to a couple slices of pizza.
I always seen Dallas and Bryan as a second set of parents of my own. So I was just as taken back as Dallas was about playing the game. We all helped ourselves to pizza and we were eventually on our way to playing the dirty game.
Bryan read the important part of the instructions out loud stating, "Each player will draw one card and it will be up to the player if they would like to answer the question or not. If they choose not to answer the question, they will have to do a dare the players decide on."
Bryan continued, "The dare for Dallas and I will be to take a shot and you guys will do 20 pushups since the both of you are underage."
Dallas eased out her seat saying "I'll grab the tequila."
A little disappointed, I chimed in, "That's it, 20 pushups?"
I had always been on the athletic end of the spectrum. I played sports all throughout high school and I did pushups every night before going to bed. I wasn't the most muscular, but I was well put together for my age.
A smirk overcame Bryan as he said, "We can make it 50 pushups, if you'd like Jeff."
"50 push ups? 20 is enough." Austin said interrupting. Austin was more of the smart and artsy one out of the two of us. He didn't play sports throughout high school but he also wasn't a push over. He just didn't care much for sports.
"Ok. I guess we will stick to 20 pushups." I said sounding a little bummed.
"Or maybe you can do 50 pushups and Austin can do 25, if you guys choose not to answer the question." Dallas cheerfully suggested.
I felt I might have bit off more than I can chew. Some I only did 100 pushups a day, I figured I might want to answer as many questions as possible. It would be in my best interest to space my sets of 50 push ups out as well as I can or I may not make it very far.
I accepted her challenge saying, "Sounds like a plan." I felt eager to show them all I can do 50 pushups and I couldn't back down from the challenge.
Austin drew the first card while biting off the crust of his pizza, "Would you rather go to the grocery store in your underwear or go to the beach nude?" He read aloud.
If you were a fly on the wall you would see everyone chewing their food, thinking what they would do themselves.
"Ah, thats easy. I would go to the beach nude. I would be able to swim the whole day and no one would ever know I was naked." Austin said with a smart tone.