Bedroom Games
Page 28

Five long, tense minutes later, the votes were in and Casper was marched out of the house. He didn’t hug anyone or offer encouraging words to the rest of us. In true sore loser fashion, he simply grabbed his bag and headed out the door.
As soon as he was out, the intercom clicked on. “Contestants, you have ten minutes to get ready for the next Power Play.”
We surged into action, changing clothes and pulling up hair. As I headed into the bathroom, Marla gave me a grin and put up her hand.
I high-fived her.
 
 
~~ * ~~
 
 
“Tonight’s Power Play is the Wheel of Misfortunes,” Jayme called out, reading from one of the cue-cards left for us. “Since Fido and I had Power this week, we will not be competing. That means that there will be five of you competing, and as of right now…” she paused dramatically and then glanced up at all of us. “You are now officially playing as singles.”
We cheered, excited. I cheered maybe a little less enthusiastically than the others. Why did I have a weird feeling about this? Why did I twinge with unhappiness at the thought of Brodie no longer being my partner? Brodie was untrustworthy. He was a player and a liar.
So why did I feel like I was going to miss him? Weird.
Jayme gestured at the large game wheel in the center of the challenge area and continued to read. “On my word, Fido will spin the wheel.”
I eyed the wheel itself. It was an enormous wooden circle, painted like something out of Wheel of Fortune, with ‘pie’ pieces of varying colors. Each colored slice of the board had a question-mark on it, no doubt a card covering what laid underneath. On the far end of the challenge area, neat colored boxes were lined up on tables. Across from the wheel was a scoreboard with our names on it, and we stood lined up in the middle. Next to me, Sunnie kept wiping her red-rimmed eyes and sniffing loudly, still upset about the vote.
I gave her an encouraging pat on the arm, feeling bad for her. I’d talk with her later, let her know she was never the target. Maybe that would help her hurt feelings.
“Fido will spin the wheel,” Jayme said, still reading, “and a dare will be revealed. You will each have five minutes to perform your dare. Fail to perform the dare and you are out of the challenge. Complete the dare, and you receive a point. The first person to three points wins the Power for the week. If we have a tie, we’ll have a faceoff between those contestants. Is everyone ready?”
“Ready!” we chorused.
“Then spin the wheel of misfortunes, Fido,” Jayme called triumphantly, waving her card with a flourish. She moved to the scoreboard, ready to mark points.
Fido grinned and gave the wheel a jerk, sending it flying around. We watched in anticipation as the wheel clattered around and eventually came to a stop on a slice of yellow. Fido reached up and removed the question mark card, revealing the words underneath. “Milkshake of Madness,” he read aloud.
Jayme reached for her card and then pointed at a yellow box nearby. “The milkshake of madness is a yummy and delicious treat that contains twenty unique ingredients.” She sauntered over to the yellow table and revealed five tall soda glasses, all frosted from the ingredients within. She picked up the card on the table and began to read. “Every ten seconds, I will name off another unique ingredient and finding out what’s in the milkshake just might turn your stomach. Your entire glass must be chugged within the five minute allotment. Fail to do so and you will be removed from the challenge.”
I cast a worried look at Brodie, who stood on my opposite side. “If there are bugs, I’m going to be really sick.”
“Just don’t think about it,” he told me. He did a little jog in place and leaned his head from side to side, as if readying for a round in the boxing ring instead of simply drinking something. “You can do this, Kandis.”
At the far end of the line, Jendan took his glass from Jayme and immediately put a hand up, flinching. “Oh my god. It smells like beef jerky.” He shook his head. “I’m out.”
“Oh, you and your sensitive stomach,” Marla protested…until she was handed her glass. Then she looked a little ill herself. “That smells really bad.” She held the shake at arm’s length.
Sunnie took hers without a word of protest.
I took mine, examining it. There was a thick, pinkish-yellow sludge inside the glass. An oily residue gleamed on top. I sniffed it and sure enough, it did smell like beef jerky. Oh, I did not want that to go in my mouth. I swallowed hard and watched as Brodie took his glass, sniffed it, and made a face. “This shit’s nasty.”
“Feel free to drop out,” Marla called.
“I’ll start you out with the first ingredient: milk. Countdown starts in three…two…one,” Jayme called, and she clicked a stop-watch around her neck. “Go!”
We lifted our glasses. Well, all of us except Jendan. True to his word, he put his full glass down. “I’m not drinking that. I won’t be able to keep it down.” He moved to the side and sat out as I took my first tentative sip of the drink.
It was awful. Rancid, meaty flavors mixed with god knew what else swirled through my mouth and left an oily taste behind. There were chunks, too, and I immediately pressed fingertips to my mouth to keep from vomiting. Just downing the first mouthful was difficult.
“Second ingredient,” Jayme called. “Ice to blend your milkshake.”
I finally swallowed, grimacing, and eyed my glass. It had barely gone down. Ugh.
“Third ingredient—chicken skin.”
Marla made a gagging noise down the line. I eyed my drink warily, then took another small sip. If anything, it tasted worse.
“Next ingredient,” Jayme called. “Pork rinds.”
My gorge rose. I struggled for a moment and nearly lost it when I took another whiff of the drink. God, the smell (and finding out what was in it) was truly the worst. I took another small sip.
“Next ingredient is lard.”
Marla moaned, clearly ill. I looked over at Sunnie, but she had her nose pinched and her eyes closed, and she was slowly downing the horrid cocktail. That wasn’t a bad idea. I pinched my own nose to block the smell and took another tentative sip. It was still awful, but not as stomach-curdling as before. Holding my nose tightly closed, I took a big mouthful and chugged, then shuddered as it went down. I could do this.
As I slowly drank the shake, Jayme continued to call out ingredients, delighted at our reactions. The list was horrific: cottage cheese, butter, cat food, horseradish, raw egg, beer, sardines, pickles, caramel, duck liver pate, and caviar.
When they mentioned caviar, Marla made a choked noise of distress and put down her shake then ran off the stage. She was out.
“Next ingredient, jalapenos,” Jayme called after her. Fido laughed.
At my side, Brodie burped. I looked over just in time to see him wipe his mouth and set his now-empty glass down. He was done.
“Good job,” Jayme called, and she and Fido clapped. “Brodie’s the first one finished. Anyone else?”
“Still drinking,” Sunnie said breathlessly.
I nodded, grimacing around my latest swallow.
“You guys have two minutes left,” Jayme said. “Which brings me to the next ingredient…escargot.”