The bet

Rose knocked three times on the front door. A light-skinned girl with long hair stepped out. She was wearing beige shorts, and a yellow shirt. “Hey, what’s up?” She asked Rose cheerily. Rose waved a little back. “Nothing much. Thanks for inviting me over Jess. It’s been a little stressful at the house” Rose thanked her best friend.

“Not a problem. Come in!” Jess said, motioning inside.

Rose stepped inside, glad to be inside the cool air of the house.

“There’s some food in the fridge if you want it.” Jess spoke from behind her.

Rose thought for a moment. “I’m good. Thanks for the offer though.”

Jess shrugged her shoulders in indifference. She grabbed the TV remote. “You want to watch something?” She asked, taking a seat on the couch.

Rose pondered for a moment, then took a seat next to Jess. “Sure. Why not. What are we gonna watch?”

Jess flipped through the channels for a minute, then excitedly clapped her hands. “Hey! Family Feud! I haven’t seen this in a long time. Let’s watch it!” She said excitedly.

Seeing her friends mind was beyond made up, Rose shrugged and laughed. “Sure. It can’t hurt anyone right?”

After an hour of watching family feud, Rose began to get bored. By the time it had been two hours, she began to consider leaving and walking home.

“Hey, can we change the channel? I’m getting tired of family feud.” Rose asked Jess politely. Jess turned towards Rose, a shocked look on her face. “What? Family Feud is such a classic show!”

Rose looked away, at the floor. “I get how it can be entertaining, but I don’t see the appeal personally. Even if I guessed a right answer, it’s not like I’m actually playing...” Rose explained shamefully.

Jess thought for a moment, before a lightbulb flashed inside her head. “What if we made it more interesting...” she asked Rose with a sly grin.

Rose looked suspiciously towards Jess. “How so?”

“We each guess a word every round. Whoever’s word is higher on the board, dares the other person at next commercial break.” Jess explained. Rose looked on blankly for a moment, before rubbing the back of her head. Rose sighed, and responded “I don’t know... maybe if we set some rules on the dares I’ll do it...”

Jess moved in her seat, now interested. “Ok. That’s fair. Like what?”

Rose pondered for a few seconds. “Well... nothing that can get you in trouble, and no dares that you wouldn’t personally do. Oh, and no cameras.”

Jess stared blankly for a moment. “Ok... my only rule is that you can decline a dare, but at the cost of two new ones.”

Rose thought about the rules for a moment, trying to think wether she was missing something.

“Those rules sound good?” Jess asked, getting Rose out of her daze.

She snapped to attention, and quickly responded “...Yeah. Fine by me.”

Jess excitedly shifted in her seat. “Oh! It’s back on!”