Page 21 of Never Thought I'd End Up Here
I feel my brain malfunction for three solid seconds before I remember my little white lie from the airport. With feigned calm, I reply, “Well, his attitude was a lot better when we were making out.”
Cyrus chokes on his water.
I smile as Cyrus continues coughing violently into his elbow, his whole face flushed. “He was actually really thoughtful. Eager to please …” I’m ready to go on inventing the sort of sweet words Cyrus whispered in my ear, the way he held me close like I was the only person who mattered, when I see Daisy wandering around nearby, her wide eyes uncertain as she looks between the crowded tables like a kid on her first day of school. I stand up and wave her over. “Daisy! Come join us.”
Her face melts with relief as she hurries toward us. “Hi, hi. Oops—sorry,” she mumbles, flustered, raising her plate high to avoid bumping into anybody on her way to the seat.
“Now that we’re all here,” Oliver says, leaning forward in a conspiratorial fashion, his hand shielding his mouth as if there are professional lip-readers squatting behind the potted plants just to spy on our conversation, “I have the inside scoop on the first part of the competition today.”
“Aren’t we competing against each other?” I point out.
“It can’t hurt to form an alliance, can it?” Oliver says. “We can take down all the other groups first—”
“I don’t want to take anyone down,” Daisy says quickly.
“Are you interested in the inside scoop or not?” Oliver demands.
I nod for him to go on.
“So,” he says, “I hear it’s going to be an escape room. Haunted teahouse themed.”
“Wait. Really?” I’d been afraid that all the activities would be like the test Wang Laoshi gave us last night, but an escape room—that sounds infinitely more fun, not to mention more manageable. I feel a thrum of anticipation, my feet itching to get on the bus and begin the competition. It’s been so long since I was looking forward to something instead of dreading it that the sensation is almost foreign to me.
Daisy doesn’t appear to share my excitement. “Haunted?” she echoes, her shoulders tensing. “Why—why does it have to be haunted?”
“I mean, it’s anescaperoom,” Oliver tells her, popping the last of the bacon into his mouth. “If it were a room filled with flowers and puppies, you wouldn’t be very motivated to escape, would you?”
“Don’t worry, it can’t be that scary,” I reassure her. “The ghosts from the escape rooms I’ve been in before were pretty polite. And they’re legally not allowed to hurt you.”
“And if theydo,” Oliver adds, “I’ll fend them off for you. My dad made me take a bunch of self-defense classes when I was a kid—I’m honestly kind of upset that nobody has ever tried to start a fight with me before. I feel like my martial arts skills are going to waste, so if I get to punch a ghost—”
“Which isn’t going to happen,” I emphasize. “Nobody’s punching anyone.”
“Right,” Oliver says, holding out his hands in a placating gesture. “It’ll be very peaceful. Nothing to be nervous about. I bet the ghosts will even be all talkative and friendly.”
“Um, I don’t want to make small talk with them either,” Daisy says, looking faintly alarmed. “I’m awful at small talk.”
“The ghosts will bemildlyfriendly,” I settle on. “And Oliver will look out for you.”
Daisy swallows but sinks back in her seat.
“Just how accurate is this information?” Cyrus asks.
Oliver winks at him. “You’ll see, won’t you?”
***
Shockingly, Oliver proves to be pretty reliable.
Two stone lions snarl at us from the gates as we follow Wang Laoshi in, weaving our way around the red-painted, zigzagging bridge, over the ponds swimming with koi fish and lotus flowers. The teahouse stands just ahead of us on slender stilts, creating the illusion that the grand, multitiered building is floating above the water.
“… used to function as an actual teahouse,” Wang Laoshi is explaining over his shoulder, waving to the glossy pillars and gleaming tiles like he built the place with his own hands. “It was only recently that they decided to renovate it and repurpose it as an escape room, but they’ve preserved much of the original architecture, and inside, you can find a wealth of information on the importance of teahouses—and tea itself—in Chinese culture. We’ve booked multiple rooms, so more than one group will be able to go in at once. At the end of it, you’ll be ranked according to how long it takes you to escape, and the winners will receive two stunning tea gift sets of their choosing …”
“Are you ready?” Cyrus asks me as the rest of the group scatters into private conversations and preparations, the buzz of competition building in the air.
“Obviously,” I say, smoothing out my bangs. “Not sure if I’m more ready than Lydia though.”
We both glance at the girl, who’s quite literally bouncing on the balls of her feet, as if she’s planning on sprinting inside the second they open the doors.
