Chapter 10 Avery
Avery
Immediately, I know that I’ve chosen correctly.
And by correctly, I mean I’ve chosen the answer that Emerson didn’t anticipate.
That he didn’t want. It’s a risk, offering up truth to Emerson Butler, but it’s better than giving him power over my actions.
Of course, I could refuse whatever dare he tries to bestow upon me—but they already think of me as someone who believes she’s above it all, someone who refuses to dive into the deep end.
Turning down a dare would be playing into Emerson’s and the rest of the team’s hands.
And I’m right, judging by how Emerson’s face changes at my choice.
His nose crinkles, and he shifts on his feet.
He sets down his glass and approaches me like someone contemplating buying something at a garage sale, unsure of the value of the purchase.
Though, now that I think about it, I doubt Emerson’s ever set foot in a garage sale.
No, I guess for him, it’s like spotting a rare gold watch and wondering just how much money he can swindle the salesperson out of despite being more than able to afford the full price.
“Truth, hm?” Emerson asks, massaging his chin with his fingertips. “You sure? I dunno if you’re up for the question I had in mind.”
Bait, obviously. Emerson’s never been subtle. Not in his classwork. Not in competitions. And not here in the warm light of this room.
“I don’t make a habit of saying things I don’t mean,” I say, sitting up straighter. “Get it over with.”
He laughs, a sound both squeaky and cold, like air slipping out of a tire.
“All right, then,” he says. “I’ll get to it. Tell me, Winslow. Is it true you tried to hook up with Jay after the competition and he turned you down?”
The air is sucked out of my lungs, and the room goes deadly quiet. My entire body’s gone rigid, and needles of anxiety ripple across my skin.
It’s like my entire head’s been dunked under ice water.
I’m dragged back to the freezing-cold Hilton hallway.
Mr. Jay is standing there, the rage he usually keeps buried crackling on the surface.
His finger’s in my face as he tells me to get out of here, to get back to my room, to never speak to him again.
“You won’t win this, Avery,” he’s telling me. “I promise you that.”
My eyes dart to the stairs. He’s up there somewhere, isn’t he? He’s not facing down all of these eyes. He’s made me look like a fool, and I’ll never forgive him for it.
I let my gaze shift back to the group. Of everyone, it’s Marlene who looks the most terrified, her eyes wide and pinned on me.
“Come on,” Emerson says. “I heard you yelling at him. Don’t waste your time lying.”
I could strangle him. Emerson, yes, but more than that, Jay. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to do anything more. I need to say something, but the anxiety and the fury are eating away at my vocal cords, choking all the air from my lungs.
“No,” I force out, voice sounding like a guilty rasp. “I never did that.”
“Bullshit,” Emerson says. “Don’t you know there are consequences for lying in truth or dare?”
I should just tell them what really happened. It’s going to come out anyway, isn’t it? But I can’t. Not now. Not with certain people in the room.
“She is telling the truth.” Caulder cuts through my thoughts, drawing my attention to him. “I was there. They—we—were just talking about the competition with him, and it got a little heated. That’s all. Jesus, man. Why would you even ask that?”
It’s like everyone exhales at once, myself included. Emerson’s the only one who looks annoyed.
“Fine,” Emerson says, pouting and rolling his eyes. “I guess I should’ve known that goody-goody Avery wouldn’t do something that interesting.”
The words should be a relief, but Emerson delivers them in a way that’s insulting.
“Go ahead, Avery,” Marlene says, offering me a kind smile.
I force myself to breathe, trying not to watch as Emerson crosses the room, back to the kitchen and his bottle of whiskey, and refills his glass. The amber liquid sparks in the light, and he swirls it around again, ice cubes clinking against the edge of the glass as I focus on the Jenga tower.
There aren’t a lot of safe pieces to choose from, but I zero in on one near the bottom. If I hit it just right, from the side, it should come free, and this hell will be over.
I push it with my pinky finger, trying to avoid touching the edges of the other pieces. I hold my breath as the tower starts to wobble. I push harder, trying to slide it out, when—
Crash!
The tower collapses, sending Jenga pieces flying. Kaitlyn shrieks, and Marlene dives to avoid getting hit. Javi, Caulder, and Lucas all get up to grab the fallen blocks, and my heart sinks as I realize what this means.
Emerson gets to ask me another question.
“Well, well,” he says, sipping his drink. “Look who gets another chance—”
“Dare,” I say, not making the same mistake again. “Just give me a dare, Emerson, so we can move on.”
He chuckles.
“Oh, I can give you a dare,” Emerson says, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “but it needs to be a good one.”
He casts his eyes around the room as Javi retakes his seat next to Kaitlyn and Lucas settles where Caulder had been sitting next to Marlene.
Caulder sits on the other side, shoulders still tense.
Emerson looks past them, considering the rest of the room.
His gaze roves over every inch of the space, and I do my best not to follow it.
The last thing I want is for Emerson to know he’s getting under my skin.
I fold my arms over my chest, even though Mom’s told me not to.
Apparently, it doesn’t improve my resting bitch face.
Right now, though, I don’t care. In fact, let Emerson get the full effect. Maybe it’ll scare him off from giving me a terribly embarrassing dare.
But his eyes don’t stay on me. They pop between me and Caulder, and I see the exact moment that an idea takes root there. One I’m certain I’m not going to like.
“I dare you to make out with Caulder,” he says.
I don’t even have time to compute the words before Caulder says, “No.”
Emerson stares at him as if he doesn’t understand. “Excuse me?”
“No,” Caulder says. “We’re not making her do something she doesn’t want to do.”
“So you’re turning down a dare?” Emerson says, looking from me to Caulder.
“It’s not his dare,” Javi points out.
“But it involves him,” Marlene reasons. “That’s not fair, is it?”
“Maybe we should let Avery talk,” Kaitlyn says, raising an eyebrow as she looks over at me. “She’s being unusually quiet.”
And I am being unusually quiet, but that’s because words have completely left my body. I have no idea what to say. Because of course I don’t want to make out with Caulder in front of everyone. But also…He clearly doesn’t want to do that with me.
“What if it wasn’t public?” Emerson says. “What if you just had to go into that room over there and make out?”
He points down the edge of the hall to a room with two open doors. It’s too dark and too far away to see much of what’s inside from where we are, but I think I spot a few bookshelves inside.
“But we wouldn’t even get to see it!” Lucas says.
“Are you talking about, like, a seven-minutes-in-heaven thing?” Kaitlyn clarifies. “I thought that only happened in old movies.”
My cheeks flare with heat, and I start to stumble words out before Emerson interjects.
“You know what, yes, I do mean a seven-minutes-in-heaven thing.” Emerson smirks. “They have to go in that room and make out. Or not. But they have to stay in there for seven minutes. That’s how it works, right?”
“Fine,” I say, just wanting to get it over with. “We’ll go in there for seven minutes. And that’ll be my dare.”
I meet Caulder’s eyes, seeing if he’ll agree to this.
“It’s just seven minutes,” he says. “What could possibly go wrong?”