My eyes follow Blake as he gets to his feet. He blows out the rest of the smoke in his mouth, moving to the opposite end of the table. After picking up the ball, his gaze flits over. "Ready, Matthews?"
I hesitate. Blake's advantage is that even if he downs more beer than me, his threshold is significantly higher. All it would take to knock me off my game is another cup or two. Still, if there is one thing I'm not, it's a quitter.
"I'm ready," I say, my voice even. "Hey–" my eyes take on this daring look, "–I'll even let you go first."
His lips curl. He brings back his lean, tattooed arm and pauses. With a twist of his wrist, the ball bounces off the side of my cup before dropping straight in. Kieran slaps Blake's back excitedly. I try not to wince as I down the cup of beer.
The bitter taste burns on its way down. I ignore the slight rush to my head and hone in on the cup near Blake's forearm. Steadying my hand, I take a second or two to breathe before aiming. The room cheers again.
At this point, it seems everyone is invested in this game, and people either crowd the table or watch from the sofa. I take a breath, watching how Blake suppresses a smile as he downs the contents of his cup. We go on like this for a few more minutes, neither of us able to get the upper hand. The more I drink, the harder the room spins out of focus.
It gets to the last two cups. Blake misses his next shot, which puts me in the running. Suppressing my nausea, I focus on the last red cup, but it's like I'm seeing double. Blake stares back from across the table, and I don't know if it's the beer's effect or if I'm insane, but he's never looked so good.
"Come on, Rose!" someone shouts behind him. "Take him out!"
"Hey," Blake says, turning around, "whose side are you on?"
I take my shot while he's distracted and land it. He turns back around as the ball reemerges through the beer's foam and pauses.
Liv screams like I've just won the Olympics and not a game of beer pong. Someone behind me lifts me up, holding me in the air, and the slurred, drunk chants of Rose Matthews begins as I'm carried around the room.
"All hail the queen of beer pong!" Freddie shouts, and I'm laughing. I'm laughing so hard that my belly hurts, and I'm afraid the beer I've downed will reappear. When I'm finally put down, Blake walks around the table and holds out his hand for me to shake. I take it, surprised by how warm and solid it feels. So surprised, I don't let go.
"Come on," Liv says, and she grabs my hand before leading me over to the sofa. Somehow, I end up squashed between her and Blake. Our arms press together as he leans forward, the air thick and heavy with weed. My heart races as someone lights the end of a joint and passes it around. Any second now, it's going to land on me.
"Who knew Rose Matthews was the beer pong connoisseur?" Kenny says, and everybody laughs. I laugh, too, for once feeling like I'm part of a group instead of standing on the sidelines.
"Any other hidden talents, Rose?" Freddie asks.
I give him a devilish look. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
He laughs and takes a hit of the joint before passing it over. I reach out and take it, not because I have any intention of smoking, but because I barely have time to think. I stare at the thing, holding it like I'm holding a bomb about to go off. With the others distracted, I lean into Blake and drop my voice.
"Blake, I don't–" I swallow the words, suddenly feeling as boring as Chase said I was, but even if Blake makes fun of me for this, it's a line I won't cross, "–I don't want to."
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Checkmate
Teen Fiction[FREE STORY w/ bonus paid chapters] When a scandal hits perfect seventeen-year-old Rose in the run-up to an election, she starts to believe that her dreams of becoming Class President are over. But in the shreds of her reputation is where she meets...
