Chapter 43

6:15PM

"Nat. Check if it's really dead." Cool kid whispered. She looked at him in disgust.

"No way. I'm not touching it. You do it."

"Go on. I'll give a tenner."

"You haven't got a tenner."

"I have. I promise. I've got loads of money at home. I'll give you a tenner if you touch it. Don't be a wuss."

Her heart was pounding. Being dared to do something was hard to turn down if you wanted to save face. The ridicule of being a 'wuss' was pretty bad. She tried to turn it around.

"You do it then unless you're a wuss."

"You're a wuss," came cool kid's ever-so-clever response.

Natalie felt trapped. She really did not want to touch it. She would take any other dare but there were none to take. The alternative, playground mockery, was not a choice worth taking either. Sighing, she stepped forward and touched a shoe.

A voice from the back of the group, a spot of relative safety, chimed in.

"That's not touching the body. You've got to touch the body. Touch his face or something."