Chapter 6 | The Game

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I gasp. "No," I mutter. "No, we can't play that. I don't want to play Spin The Bottle."

Lee shifts his eyebrows. "Too late." His grin is jaunty. "No backing out now, Razzledazzle."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Razzledazzle?"

"Don't ask," I told her, turning back to Lee. "We can't play Spin the Bottle!"

"Too late, Razzledazzle, way too late. We're playing whether you like it or not."

"Wait—"

"WHO WANTS TO PLAY SPIN THE BOTTLE?" he screams, standing up on top of the counter. Of course, this gets everyone's attention, and slowly they all made their way into the living room.

With a skilled flick of his hand, Lee flips the Sprite bottle onto the floor and lands it. The guys cheer and the girls roll their eyes as we all reluctantly sit in a circle on the floor.

I check to see who's playing: myself, Alex, Glory, Troy, Chloe, Trinity, and a few other girls and guys I don't know, Tyler...

"Tyler," Troy calls, "why are you playing Spin The Bottle? You have a girlfriend."

"Well let's just hope it lands on her, then," says Tyler. He tossed his head flippantly and steps into the middle.

"I might as well go first," he says. Lee backs out of the middle and lets Tyler inside the circle. Carefully Tyler spins the bottle and I feel my chest tighten—my heart is in my throat—I don't know what I'll do if it lands on me—

It comes to a stop on another girl: a slender one with tan skin and short, curly dark hair. Tyler looks relieved.

"You got lucky," Lee says. "It landed on your girlfriend. I was hoping for some drama. Well then, I guess you're up, Ann."

"Hey," Ann snaps. "Lee, don't try to be a homewrecker. Tyler's mine."

Ann stands up and slowly leans into Tyler. They kiss for a few seconds, and Ann is just wrapping her arms around his neck when Lee steps up and breaks them apart.

"That's enough, you two," he announces and they both sit back down, Tyler's face red. Lee scans the entire circle before I notice he's looking at me.

Tyler is to my left.

It's my turn.

"Can I pass?" I ask quietly. I know I sound like a coward, but the last thing I want to do is kiss Lee.

"No," he answers simply, as if that's the end of it. "Get to the middle and spin."

"I don't want to."

"WELL WE ALL HAVE TO DO THINGS WE DON'T WANT TO DO!" he screeches. "If it makes you feel any better, you can just do a kiss on the cheek."

"Yeah, thanks, that makes it loads better," I reply sarcastically. But I know there's no getting out of it now.

"I've made you the best offer I can," Lee tells me as he steps back into place, in between Troy and some girl. Swallowing my fear, I step up to the middle.

The Sprite bottle nearly slips out of my clammy fingers as I pick it up. There's a few droplets of Sprite still in the bottle, glittering from the blinding neon strobe lights.

Shakily I set it on the floor, my fingers trembling as I spin it. My dark hair falls into my face as I crouch on the floor, watching it as it spins slowly across the hardwood floors.

Don't land on Lee. Don't land on Lee. Don't land on Lee. Don't land on Lee. Don't land on Lee.

And to my surprise, it doesn't.

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