Nightlife ✓

23 | deal

"FOR A GIRL WHO PUKED her guts out last night, you're not looking too shabby," was the first thing Sophie said to Riley when she slipped into the backseat on Saturday evening.

Viv and I stifled a snicker. Sophie's flat was a five-minute drive from campus, and Callum's was another five minutes from here. She had been waiting by the side of the road when I turned the corner on to her street, her periwinkle blue sneakers illuminated by my headlights.

Sophie was dressed as the Bride from Kill Bill, and the rest of us the Powerpuff Girls. Riley was Bubbles in a sky blue shift and a cyan headband. Viv was Buttercup in a cropped green two piece with killer eyeliner. I was Blossom in a red mini-dress with a pink cardigan. My hair was pulled into a high ponytail.

As Sophie buckled her seatbelt, Riley asked accusingly, "How did you know I puked?"

"My cousins put it all over their social media," she said simply. "Close Friends, of course."

Viv, next to me in the passenger seat, slid her eyes over to mine. It looked like she was barely refraining from laughing aloud. I felt somewhat the same—I knew Riley and a bottle of soju would never turn out well—but the poor girl was still so mortified from the events of last night that we both kept quiet.

"Ugh, great. That's just great," Riley fretted. I saw in my rearview mirror that she'd buried a hand in her thick, dark curls. "My floormates will never let me live it down."

"Considering it was in Jamie's car I'm surprised you got off that lightly, to be honest," Viv attempted to make her feel better. "I thought he'd at least ask you to shout him drinks one night."

But that seemed to have the opposite effect. If anything, reminding Riley of how courteously Jamie had taken it, and how generously Jake had volunteered to help his brother clean his car, just sent her deeper into her guilt. She cried, "You're right. I feel so bad."

Sophie interjected smoothly to direct me to Callum's house, "Keep going straight at this junction."

"I saw the twins cleaning out the SUV on the side of the road when I went down to get my UberEats this morning, but they wouldn't even let me help!" she recalled with anguish. "They insisted I rest up before I made myself vomit again, as if I were still drunk or something."

"Take a left here."

"Every time I opened my mouth to say something, they would flinch dramatically, block their nose and shield their faces."

Viv and I exchanged another mirthful glance. I didn't trust myself to speak without laughing at Riley's embarrassment, so Viv admitted bluntly, "To be fair, it was pretty out of the blue."

I agreed with that. SciBall had turned out to be well worth my ticket, in the end. I had positive exchanges with my fans, slow-danced with Quen and caught up with some of my other college friends. Between all these events, I would dance or rest with my floormates.

Riley had seemed fine. Not only fine—better and better each time I returned to her, Viv and the Jays. She had sobered up dramatically from the girl who needed Jake to help her walk in heels. She had been speaking clearly, moving with coordination and aware of her surroundings.

So it was all the more shocking when, three minutes from the dorm, she had doubled over in the backseat of Jamie's SUV and thrown up her dinner. All without a word, a retch or a sound. Then Riley had leaned back in her seat, wiped her mouth and passed out.

And then chaos erupted—but thankfully not for Jake and me, who occupied the front seats.

"You know what, it's a new day. Let's put this to the side and mention none of it to Zoe, who sort of looks up to me," Riley decided shakily.