Story: Gives You Wings Challenge
"Hey boys! Would you guys like some free Red Bull?" asked a gorgeous lady in a sultry voice. She was dressed in a really tight blue mini-dress, and dangled a can of the carbonated drink in front of us.
I looked to my best friend George and smiled. There was no way we would pass up free drinks... Especially on such a hot day at the beach.
"We'll take two!" replied George heartily. He had been my friend since high school and we often hang out together during our free time, talking about work, games and girls. He was practically salivating while his hands were reached out, I just wasn't sure if it was at the drink or at the girl.
"Wow. Two cuties at the beach! Do you guys come here often?" she asked as she reached into her cooler to get the drinks.
"We..."
"My pal, Damian, and I try to come here every week. We like to play sports at the beach." Damn... I got cut off by George. He's always like that with the girls, trying to schmooze them and get their attention. It's pretty sickening but I'm willing to overlook it on account of our history.
"You know... we have a special game today to promote the brand. It's like a scavenger hunt with three tasks that you have to complete. And if you guys complete it... I'll give you guys a card that lets you redeem a 6 pack of them at your grocery store. Would you guys be interested?"
We're supposed to go for surfing lessons today and we were all dressed up for it. George was wearing a pair of black boardshorts while I had on a pair of faded green shorts. The lessons start in 30 minutes and we do have some time to kill.
"Sure. We have 30 minutes to spare! Would that be enough?" I quickly answered, not giving George any chance to cut me off.
"That's great! Now there are three other Red Bull girls scattered around the beach... Find them, complete their task and bring me a coupon from them. I'll then give you your free cards. Sounds good?"
"Now... the card you mention... does it have your number on it?" George grinned cheekily. The unabashed flirtation is nauseating.
"Maybe..." smiled the girl at George's comment. But at the last second, I see her eyes gaze at me. Those beautiful blue eyes... Set against those perfect blond curls...
"Damian! Let's go! The coupons aren't going to collect themselves. The first station is over there." George smacked me on my pectoral muscles. I snapped out of my trance, and notice that the girl is sniggering at my obvious daze. George pushed me in the direction of the first station and we jogged towards it.
A brunette was manning the first station which was called 'Gives You Strength'. Several guys were doing really weird things around that station. Some were punching several punching bag set-ups, while others were doing push-ups on the floor. Eagerly, George approached the brunette and asked for our tasks. She handed him two slips of paper, of which he randomly handed me one.
Mine read, 'Red Bull makes you strong! Do 30 push-ups to complete this task.' 30 push-ups are no biggie. I drop to the push-up position and began counting off. When I was done, the brunette handed me a coupon and asked me to head to the 'Gives You Courage' station. I looked at George but he was still doing his rep.
"I got a 100! You lucky bastard." George gritted his teeth and continued his push-up. I couldn't help but chuckle at his predicament. I only wished the hot blonde girl was here to witness him struggling. After several long minutes, George was finally finished and got his coupon. He could barely jog and so we decided to slowly walk to our next station.
The 'Gives You Courage' station had the sweetest looking ginger I've ever seen. Her station set up was different with a mini bar set up and a changing room. A set of hangers outside the changing room held weird items like diving flippers, googles but also clothing such as t-shirts, singlets and shorts. I notice the curtain of the changing room pull back as a guy walked out in a pair of blue shorts. The guy handed over a bag of his belongings and the ginger passed him a coupon. Once again, George reached forth to get our tickets while I was distracted. He read the first ticket, grinned and passed it to me.
It read, "Red Bull gives you courage! Change into something we picked out to complete this task. (M16)". I wonder what that meant. I looked over at George and he was furiously drinking the shots off the mini-bar. I guess that must have been his task.
"Excuse me. What does M16 stand for?" I asked the ginger manning the station. She reacted with a brief look of shock and then smiled all-too-happily.
"It means you're about to make a lot of people happy. I'll give you the bag with something in it. Change into it and keep all your current belongings in the bag. I'll pass it to you when you complete the whole task." she motioned to the changing room, which was empty. I took the bag over from her and noted that it was suspiciously light. I wonder what it contains.
I went into the changing room, and pulled the curtains behind it. I peered into the bag and noticed a piece of checkered fabric. Please, please let it be a swimcap. But as I took it out, I realised it was a pair of tight speedos. Okay, it's no big deal. I'll just wear them under my green shorts. I pulled off my green shorts (yes, I was going commando) and slipped on the speedos. They were form-fitting and ironically felt really good for a clothing that is so widely scoffed at. I pulled my shorts back up and exited the curtains.
George had already gotten his coupon and was waiting for me. I went over to the ginger but she shook her head at me. "Sir, you have to only wear the item in the bag."
"But..."
"Did you really get a pair of speedos? Cassie was just telling me over here." Cassie? They were already on first-name basis? George and I used to mock those people in speedos at the beach. I would die if he saw me in a pair.
"Sir, you need to remove your shorts and deposit them in the bag."
Before I could negotiate, George grabbed my waistband and pulled off my green shorts. A loud ripping sound was heard and my shorts were just reduced to a scrap of fabric in his hands.
"Oops." grinned George sheepishly. I was beyond embarrassed. For one, I'm standing at a busy beach in just this pair of tight speedos and now my shorts are ruined and I have nothing to wear for my surf lesson later.
"That works too! You can keep the speedos by the way... I think you would have to." replied Cassie as she handed me a coupon.
George apologized profusely while we headed to the last station, but I was having none of that. Everyone I knew frequented this beach and they could spot me in this tiny garment at any moment in time! An apology just wasn't going to cut it. The third station was named "Gives You Endurance". As a peace offer, George offered me the first pick of the two task tickets. I still refused to talk to him but I took the tickets from the attendant.
"Red Bull gives you endurance. Endure an upper body wax to complete your task!" Sure enough, there were several waxing chair nearby with screaming men on them. The other ticket said "Red Bull gives you endurance. Hold your body in a plank position for one minute!" I chuckled. The choice was obvious to me. I passed the waxing ticket to George and went to the other side of the station for the planking task. I chortled a laughter as I heard George go 'WHAT?'.
After my easy task, I went to check on George in his waxing chair. George was a hairy guy and strips of hair littered the chair with his torso being covered (or rather uncovered) with patches of smooth hairless-ness. George's face was in agony and I couldn't help but laugh at his situation. My checkered speedos didn't look so stupid now. In fact, they were really comfortable and I had forgotten that they were there in the first place. A scream was heard and I realised that his nipples were now hair-free zones. A few minutes later, his entire torso was clean.
"Are we even now?" George ventured. Indeed, his task was much more horrible than the task he subjected me to. But just as he was about to leave the chair, I thought of something evil.
"Don't forget the armpits. They're on the upper body too."
George groaned audibly, in contrast to my wide smile. Wax strips were applied to his armpits and the hair there was quickly disposed off. "Now we're even." I smiled.
Looking at the time, we only had five minutes till the start of our surf class. We got our tickets and dashed back to the blonde Red Bull girl. The speedos made the run really aerodynamic. She smiled when she saw us and handed out our cards.
"I see a lot has changed in the last thirty minutes..." she smirked.
"Yes, I've been groomed and my friend is now not wearing pants!" quipped George. The speedos were way more comfortable than pants. If I could have my way, I would probably wear them all the time now.
When we were heading for our lesson, George flipped over his card and groaned. There was no number on there. "Guess she didn't like me afterall," pined George.
I looked down at my card, and three words read back at me... "Love the speedo. Jessica XXXXXX-XXXXX". I smiled and vowed to never wear shorts again.