MOST OF THE summer passed before the word “Dare” was uttered again in our house. We settled into a good routine. Of course, our neighborhood had nothing geared for kids. So, our best chances of entertainment required us to venture beyond. I convinced mom to let us roam further, which helped. We gravitated to my old elementary school. During the school year, I had often ridden my bike to school when the weather was good and could get there in about 10 minutes. But with Lucy in tow, it always took longer.

In addition to costing no money, the school was kind of a de facto meeting place for kids of surrounding neighborhoods to come and play ball or just to play on the swings. It didn’t hurt that Lucy and I were both kind of treated like celebrities there. I was seen a mature graduate about to venture forth into Junior High School. And Lucy proved very popular, too. She would be a sixth grader there in the fall. They generally ruled elementary school as the big fish.

As one of the older, and taller, kids I spent much of my time on the basketball court. But she preferred to hold court on the jungle gym. Occasionally I would spot her setting out to make a circuit of the grounds, as if a queen surveying her domain. Wherever she went the crowds parted for her. Boys paused their play to watch, and a gaggle of girls trailed behind her like guppies in her wake.

I had to admit my sister was becoming a head-turner. Every time I caught a boy staring too long, I had to smile. I knew exactly what he was thinking; undressing her with his eyes and trying to imagine what she looked like under those clothes. But I was the only one who really knew. Well, me and Mr. Beski. My favorite move was to wait until she was passing by the court. Then I knew I could always get around my defender because he would be distracted by my sister’s striking beauty.

Mom took a second job, so we didn’t see much of her that summer. She usually came home and collapsed into bed. Sometimes I could hear her complaining to her sister over the phone about her scumbag boss. I guess she had gotten passed over for a promotion she was hoping for and that’s why she had to get another job.

Lucy continued to develop over the summer. And I had a front row seat. The sunshine bleached even lighter streaks into her blonde hair and her skin developed a healthy glow. She was always putting on lip gloss with her friends which only accentuated how plump they had grown. Her lips weren’t the only thing growing plumper. The two cones on her chest continued to swell and grow. They pulled her t-shirts away from her body, and when she ran it was impossible not to stare at all the jiggling.

She learned when she batted her long eyelashes at a boy, he would get lost in her piercing blue eyes and gladly give up the swing for her. And whenever she did cartwheels in the field with her friends, nearby boys held their breath watching her shirt rise perilously close to showing more than just her stomach and rib cage. If mom weren’t so tired all the time and were paying closer attention, she probably would have gotten Lucy some training bras by now.

That’s pretty much how our summer went. My friends would go off to camp or some far-flung family vacation destination. But we couldn’t afford anything like that. We spent our days roaming closer to home. Rainy days were the worst since it drove the other kids indoors to play with their toys and video games. Can you tell I’m a little bitter about that last part?

When the skies cleared, they would venture back out chattering about their latest Zelda adventures. That’s how, one day, Billy Benson became the luckiest kid around. I was beginning to think maybe Lucy had outgrown her penchant for daring escapades. Except for going out of her way to avoid Mr. Beski’s house, everything looked back to normal. But alas, her subconscious itch did return.

Billy and I weren’t really that close of friends. But we were in the same grade, and I had known him in school. We sort of got closer that summer on the basketball court and that’s how I convinced him to let me play his Super Nintendo. Don’t laugh. For a 90’s kid, that was the ultimate in home video game entertainment. But he said if we played at his house, his mom would make us take turns with his little brothers. So, he offered to bring it over to my house for the afternoon!

I was ecstatic. I rushed home to straighten up the living room and make sure everything was perfect. I gathered what meager snacks I could find and even made a pitcher of powdered lemonade, anything to keep Billy around as long as possible.

Lucy was not allowed to go out without me and, faced with the prospect of being stuck at home with nothing to do, she grew antsy watching me get ready. Technically, we weren’t allowed to have anyone over to the house with mom gone, but I knew I could change the rules with mom when she got home.

“Mikey, I’m bored” she began. Something twitched beneath the surface of my brain, but it was not formed enough to break through. I had climbed behind our TV and was checking wires to make sure it was ready to connect Billy’s Super Nintendo; not that I knew what I was even looking at. I was just letting out nervous energy.

“Mikeeey!” she continued, “It’s not fair. How come you get to have a friend over and I don’t? What am I supposed to do for 2 hours? Come on, Mikeeeeeey…”

Then, just as her tantrum was winding down, she uttered those two magic words; so softly I think even she was surprised they came out of her mouth.

“Dare me.”

My hands froze and for a moment I forgot what I was doing. I initially thought I was imagining things. But then, she repeated it, this time with more force.

“Dare me, Mikey.”

At that, my heart started pounding. It had been 3 months since her last dare, and I hadn’t seriously considered the prospect of another one. I met her pleading gaze and could practically see the need in her eyes. The remembered how much determination she had put into the previous tasks. Once she accepted, she would not stop until the urge was satisfied. The possibilities were limitless.

My penis grew uncomfortably large in my pants as my second head kicked into overdrive filling my first one with ideas. I realized I had been hoping for this chance to occur again. And now, here it was. But she had chosen the worst possible moment. Billy was likely already on his way over with his Super Nintendo in tow. I was finally getting my chance to play video games and somehow my bratty little sister had figured out a way to derail the whole thing. Still, her pleading eyes convinced me that I had to help her.

I adjusted the raging boner in my shorts and climbed out from behind the TV; my mind swirling with possibilities. Once Lucy sensed I was pondering her request, her face lit up in a bright, relieved smile. Then her whole body tensed in excited anticipation. A plan started to coalesce, and soon I had worked out a perfect solution. A way to dare Lucy while still getting to play. And I was going to make Billy Benson the luckiest kid around by giving him a front row seat to my sister’s next revealing dare.

She hung on my every word as I finished working out the particulars in my mind and began to reveal her dare. “Lucy, I dare you, while Billy is here, to pretend that you suffer from sleepwalking.”

That part wasn’t particularly embarrassing. Plenty of kids went through phases of sleepwalking. Just like wetting the bed or night terrors, it usually passed as they grew older. So, I wasn’t surprised when she looked at me confused.

I continued, “I’ll explain it to Billy when he gets here. So, you’ll be upstairs like you’re taking a nap. Then, whenever you’re ready, you’re going to sleepwalk down to the living room and sit with us. Do you think you can do that?”

She nodded slowly but was still understandably confused at why that was supposed to be a big deal. That’s when I revealed my nefarious twist.

“You know those footie pajamas Aunt Julie got you? The bunny rabbit?” I asked, and she nodded again.

“That’s what I want you to be wearing when you come down. Nothing else. And only the hood. Let the rest of the costume trail behind you like a cape. Got it?”

There it was! There was her blush. It finally arrived when she realized how much of her cute little growing body Billy would get to see. Just then the door rang, and I grinned at the perfect timing.

“Remember, you have to act like you’re asleep the whole time, or he will be able to tell you’re faking. When I say the magic words ‘bunny rabbit’, you’re allowed to wake up and run out of the room.”

I could tell she was still processing my dare as I pushed her to the stairs. She didn’t have a problem going up. I knew it would be much harder coming down. If she chickened out, at least Billy and I would get to play in peace. I adjusted my boner one last time to prevent any awkwardness then welcomed Billy in. We went into the living room, and he hooked up his Super Nintendo while I laid out the snacks.

“We have to be quiet, ” I told him regretfully, ” my sister is upstairs taking a nap.”

“Lucy?” he asked, I should have guessed he knew her name. Every boy who spent any time on the playground knew about Lucy. “Isn’t she a little old for naps?”

“Yeah,” I explained, “but she hasn’t been sleeping well lately; ever since she started sleepwalking. It’s kinda weird, but the doctor said she’ll grow out of it.”

Now that I had set the stage, it was up to Lucy. I pictured her wrestling herself up there; trying to gather enough nerve to come down here. Not having a deadline probably made it even worse. I had just left it as ‘whenever you’re ready’. How could a naked girl ever be ready to show her growing body off to an older neighborhood boy?

At least while I waited, I got to pass the time with Super Mario. We sat on the floor right in front of the TV – controller cords weren’t very long back then. I hate to admit it, but I sucked. I simply didn’t have as much practice as Billy. We alternated lives and his turns ended up being much longer than mine. But I was still having a blast. While he played, I kept the doorway to the living room in my periphery, eagerly awaiting my sister’s debut. Then, finally, it happened.

“Holy Shit!” I heard Billy exclaim.

I had been in the middle of one of my turns, when Billy had noticed motion at the doorway. It was Lucy, dressed just as I had dared her. The bunny outfit had slits in the hood so you could stick your hair through. Lucy had donned the hood and made her hair up into pigtails; sticking them through to look like ears. The rest of the tan, footy outfit hung uselessly behind her. She was wearing nothing else.

However, apparently, she had decided coming in empty handed would just be too difficult. So, to comfort herself, she carried her teddy bear wrapped in her right arm and snuggled to her breast. She didn’t stop at the doorway but proceeded into the room to lay down on her stomach and elbows right between us as if simply coming in to watch Saturday morning cartoons.

Her face was completely blank as she stared at the TV with heavy-lidded eyes. It was a performance for the ages. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought she really was sleepwalking. Only the blush on her face, the one thing she couldn’t control, betrayed her act. But the redness on her cheeks could have been explained away as mere heat from her pillow.

I forgot I had been playing, and Mario quickly died. I looked over at Billy. He had a hungry look in his eyes; like he was going to devour her. I was ready with my spiel.

“It’s ok, Billy,” I quickly gave the excuse I had prepared for why my sister was sitting between us with barely a scrap of clothing on. Fortunately for her, the way the outfit had fallen mostly covered up her bottom.

I continued “The doctor explained this, too. When she sleepwalks, her body automatically goes through the motions of things, like brushing her teeth, or getting dressed. But it doesn’t always work out the right way. She probably thinks she’s fully dressed right now.”

I hoped it was convincing enough, but from the look on Billy’s face, it didn’t matter. I could have told him she was an alien robot, and he wouldn’t care. As long as he got to look at her naked body.

“Holy Shit, dude! Your sister is smoking hot!” He exclaimed. It was a little awkward to be discussing this topic with my classmate. Especially since Lucy was sitting right there listening to everything we said.

“Whatever, man. Come on, it’s your turn.” I tried to steer him back to the game, but he was having none of it.

He said, “You can take my turn.” and went right back to studying Lucy.

Billy stared at my nearly naked sister while I played his turn. I was still a noobie and had to concentrate to get through the level. When I looked over, I saw Billy had decided to move the outfit to get a better view. It now draped off to the side of her body leaving her naked bottom completely exposed.

“Dude,” he mused, ” did you know that last year my baseball team voted that your sister had the best ass in the whole school? Even better than all the sixth graders! I wish I had a camera. The guys will never believe this!” Then he added “Do you have a camera?”

I noticed Lucy’s eyes bulge slightly as I shook my head. But fortunately, Billy was too distracted by her ass to notice. Then his eyes made their way up her body where her newly forming breasts were hanging down enticingly.

“Hey, look. She even has tits!”

He started to reach out and cop a feel. That’s when I knew I had to pump the brakes a bit before things got out of hand.

“Woah!” I warned, “don’t touch her or you might wake her up. The doctor said that could be dangerous.” I didn’t explain how that could be dangerous, but he seemed to accept it. “She has to wake up naturally, on her own, or she could end up in a coma.”

Disappointed, Billy reluctantly stayed his hand. But he did rearrange his position, laying in such a way to get a much closer look at her little hanging treasures.

We resumed our game. On my turns, Billy made continuous comments about Lucy’s various exposed body parts and how hot she was. On his turns, she would use the distraction and dart her eyes over at me, begging me for help. It was hilarious watching her emotionally squirm while at the same time practically unable to move a muscle. At one point, his mouth was so close to her that he could have stuck out his tongue and licked her. He puckered like he was going to kiss the side of her breast. But instead of kissing, he just blew.

“Hey, look” he delighted, “her nipples got stiff!”

I bent over to look. He was right. It had been a few months since I last saw her nipples. They were still that bubblegum pink shade but had grown bigger and were quite stiff; especially now that Billy had blown on them. Eventually, he got up to go to the bathroom. As soon as he was out of sight, Lucy hissed at me. “Mikey! Hurry up and say the magic words! He almost touched my boobies!”

I had gotten so caught up, I completely forgot Lucy couldn’t wake up until I said, “bunny rabbit”. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I hissed right back at her, “What’s with the teddy bear? I thought I said, ‘nothing else’.”

“I’m sorry,” she pleaded, “My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I just couldn’t do it without something to hold on to.”

“Well, that’s going to cost you.” I admonished. “Because of the bear, I’m adding to your dare. In a few minutes, I’ll go to the kitchen. When I do, you’re going to get up and walk out the front door. Keep going as if you’re sleepwalking to school. I’ll decide when you’ve walked far enough. When I say the magic words, you can wake up and fix your outfit.”

“But, Mikey, you can’t leave me alone…” She started, but I cut her off. “No buts. If I let you get away with it this time, you’ll never learn to follow instructions. Oh, and leave the bear this time.”

Just then, I heard the toilet flush and Lucy snapped back into place. She gave me one last silent pleading look before letting her eyes glaze back over. We played a couple more lives, then I decided it was time for Lucy’s final act.

“I’m gonna go look for some more snacks.” I announced, knowing full well I had already ransacked our thin kitchen supplies. But that was Lucy’s cue. I stood in the kitchen rattling drawers keeping a keen ear open. It didn’t take long. I guess Lucy didn’t want to be alone with Billy for long.

Billy called out, “Uh, Mike?”

“Yeah?” I replied and ambled slowly back as if I had not a care in the world. Then I casually noticed Lucy wasn’t there (and, like an obedient girl, she had left her teddy bear behind this time).

“Your sister just got up and left” he said, then quickly added “I swear I didn’t touch her!”

“Well, why didn’t you follow her?” I accused, as if everyone would know exactly what to do in that situation. “Did she go back upstairs? Was she still sleepwalking?”

“I don’t know, dude. She just left.”

He dropped the controller and we both headed up the stairs. Feigning a mild panic, I made an effort to look around even though I knew she wasn’t up there. Then I pretended to have an epiphany and ran downstairs to check the front door. But I wasn’t expecting what I found. There, firmly tangled around the front doorknob, was her pajamas! It must have gotten snagged when she left, and she couldn’t risk breaking character to untangle it! That meant Lucy was currently ‘sleepwalking’ toward her school wearing absolutely nothing. Way better than I could have hoped.

Billy started to helpfully untangle it, but I was already through the door. “Leave it!” I called as if no second could be wasted on such a trivial thing as my sister’s clothes. “We have to find her. You go that…wait! I think I know where she’s headed. Come on.” Then I started running toward the school.

Sure enough, we caught up to her at the edge of our neighborhood. She had just crossed a larger road and entered a walking trail. It had little footbridge which led over a small tree-lined creek then opened up onto a long, wide greenway between two other subdivisions. There, a grassy hill marked the end of the greenway. And on the opposite side of that hill sat Lucy’s school.

She had adopted a sort of a zombie walk, but with her hands closed in tight fists at her side, probably to keep them from shaking. Her eyes were also nearly closed, and she still had that blank look on her face. Other than that, she simply looked like a cute, naked tween girl out for a stroll on a nice summer day.

She had maintained a brisk pace, perhaps driven by an innate urge to put distance between herself and Billy. But now that we were escorting her, I noticed her slowing a bit. I couldn’t blame her. Every step brought her one pace closer to her doom. It was a beautiful day. How many of her classmates were congregating right now at the playground completely unaware there was a naked girl marching their way?

Leave it up to Billy to state the obvious. “You’re not going to let her go to school like this, are you? Half her class will see her naked! Look how hot your sister is, dude. I can see her pussy now. Does she have any hair yet? I can’t tell.”

Lucy must have been thinking about school too, because while Billy was distracted studying her naked pussy looking for any signs of hair, she dared to break character just long enough to look over at me and desperately mouth the words “Help…me!” I could end her nightmare with two simple words. But I wanted to push her a bit further, just to see how far she was willing to go.

We were now through the trees and in the open. The hill, the last landmark before her school, loomed ahead. And each step she took down the greenway must have taken a heroic effort. I briefly considered making her crest the hill and go through with it, but I didn’t want to sabotage her upcoming sixth grade year. She would spend the whole year known as the naked sleepwalker. It was bad enough what Billy had already seen, and he sure seemed like a blabbermouth.

Yet, to her credit, she never broke stride. Finally, mercifully, I decided she had paid for her transgression with the teddy bear.

Pointing to a clump of grass, I said, “Hey, is that a bunny ra-” I didn’t even get the full words out of my mouth before Lucy came to a sudden stop and snapped out of her trance.

“Mikey? Where am I?” She asked in confusion. Then she pretended to notice Billy and that she was naked. She screamed and dove behind me for cover, desperately trying (and failing) to cover every part of her with her hands.

“Mikeee! Help! Give me your shirt.” She begged to Billy’s endless merriment.

“Relax, Lucy. You were sleepwalking again.” I calmed her. Then I nobly took off my shirt and handed it to her. She gratefully accepted and donned it, finally ending her long ordeal. It was plenty long enough to cover everything important, but she kept tugging it lower, as if trying to make for the lost time her skin has spent bare. She looked over at the hill, mentally measuring just how close she had come to ultimate humiliation, and immediately started walking in the opposite direction back toward home.

When we got home, I made Lucy apologize to Billy for ruining our afternoon. She did so reluctantly, but Billy said it was the best time he had had in a long time, maybe ever. And he even offered to bring his Super Nintendo back over to play anytime I wanted! Unfortunately, after he left, Lucy swore she would never be in the same room as him if she had anything to say about it. We’ll see about that.