Page 43 of Just the Tipsy
“Still — way overselling it,” I say.
“We’ll survive.Ifwe lose,” Jada says. “Which we won’t, because we’re champions at heart.”
“BFN Squad, what’s up?” A woman in a plaid shirt tied up at the waist and tiny shorts says. “Got a new member of the team?”
“Yep. My girlfriend, Bianca,” Waylon says, putting his hand on my knee. It’s a little rough and very warm on my bare skin.
“Welcome.” The woman hands us a few slips of paper and a pen. “And good luck. These three are really good.”
The woman moves on to the next table. Jada slides the slips of paper over to herself and clicks the pen a few times before writing BFN Squad at the top of each slip.
“What does BFN stand for?” I ask.
“Big Fuckin’ Nerds.” Jeremiah laughs.
“Alright, alright, alright,” the woman who gave us the paper slips says into a mic. “If you’re here for trivia, get ready. Tonight’s a fun one. My name’s Greta — holler if you need me, and no, I’m not giving you any answers. For you newbies, here’s how it works. We have four rounds, each with a different theme. I’ll collect each slip after each round and announce the scores. The first round tonight isanimals and warfare.”
“What?” I look at the three of them. “What does that mean?”
“The categories are kind of broad. You’ll see,” Jada says, doodling a star on one slip.
“Question one,” Greta says. “What animals have been known to wage war? There are a few answers I’ll accept for this one.”
“Chimps,” Waylon says.
“Dolphins, too,” Jeremiah adds.
“I’m going with chimps because of that show I saw about the woman with that weird relationship with her chimp,” Jada says. “And dolphins are cute, so I refuse to believe they wage war.”
“Dolphins are assholes,” Jeremiah says.
“Whatever, I reject that reality.” She sniffs and writeschimpswith flair.
Greta repeats the question a few times before moving onto the next ones — they’re all questions I don’t have a single answer for. They all know exactly what’s going on, and if they don’t know for sure, they have a ton of possible answers. I’m only able to help on one or two questions because of some random TikToks that ended up on my FYP.
“We’re going to take a little break for y’all to get refills or food or whatever. Be back in a bit!” Greta said.
“I’m going to run to the bathroom,” Waylon says. “Be right back.”
I hold back the urge to cling to him so I don’t have to be awkwardly alone. But he slips away, leaving me with his two best friends.
I swallow, swirling ice around in my drink. I can feel their gazes on me.
“So…” Jada leans forward, a little smile on her face. “Now that we have you alone…”
“Pump the brakes, Jay.” Jeremiah raises an eyebrow. “We don’t need to grill her.”
“Nah but we’re nosy as hell. Or at least I am.” She rests her elbows on the table, then folds her hands so her chin can rest on them. “Can you blame me though? A girl who seems pretty cool actually getting through to Waylon? It’s a miracle.”
“I’m not cool,” I say with a nervous laugh. I’m usually pegged as ‘slightly standoffish’ or ‘cold’.
“Mm, you are. To me, at least. Your whole vibe.” Jada waves her hand around. Ironically, I think her whole vibe is cool too — loud and fun in ways I’d never be bold enough to be. Kaitlyn is similar, always going with the attention-grabbing outfits that I love but never choose.
“You’re definitely cooler than his ex.” Jeremiah’s deep brown eyes harden.
“The girl with the brown hair and an attitude?” I ask. Seems like a low bar to be cooler than someone like her, but I don’t want to call him out on that.
“Yeah, her. She doesn’t even get a name around here anymore.” Jada finishes the rest of her drink and tops it off. “Honestly, they shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence.”
