Page 40 of Distortion
Another shot glass is placed next to the first.
‘But why?—’
‘Question!’
A third glass is placed next to the other two.
‘It’s okay,’ Marcus slurs.
He’s too close. I put some distance between us, but he just leans closer, his eyes flicking downward and then past me to the other junior that’s next to me at the table. I think it’s the one called Pete.
‘It’s just fruit juice.’
Oh.
I take the first glass and hold it under my nose. It smells fruity. I take a sip and the table erupts.
‘Take a sip, do a shot!’ the table chants.
A fourth glass appears in the line.
I shrug and tip the first glass back. It is fruity, I realize.
I put it back on the table hard, facedown like I’ve seen on TV, and pick up the next. I tip it back and swallow it in one.
I grab the next one, conscious of all the eyes on me. It goes down as smoothly as the others, and as I pick up the fourth and down that one, too, the table cheers!
‘Frat Girl! Frat Girl!’
I can’t help the grin that takes over my face, but I don’t say anything else because every time I talk, they give me another shot. I watch the game and see that there are dicethat everyone else is throwing. Only one or two have to drink. I frown. Why didn’t I get to throw the dice? Maybe I had to play catch-up.
A few minutes later, I roll and am given another shot. I’m feeling pleasantly tingly and shrug as I toss it back.
A few minutes after that, I’m teetering on my heels. I lose my balance and grab hold of Marcus’ arm before I can fall to the side.
‘You okay, Frat Girl?’
I nod. ‘Just gonna grab some water.’
My voice sounds weird to my ears, and I have to concentrate very hard to put one foot in front of the other. The heels aren’t helping, so I kick them off and go the rest of the way to the kitchen barefoot. The floor is sticky and slippery in places and I regret the impulsive move immediately. But it’s too late. I slip behind the counter and ignore everyone and everything as I grab a glass.
‘Marguerite?’
I glance over the breakfast bar and see Jack ... no Shade ... standing with a girl. The girl from Grinder last week. The leader of the clones. Shade has his hand around her shoulders, and she’s pressed against him. I vaguely remember Lu telling me those girls hang around with the KIPs.
‘Jack?’ I say playfully in the same tone.
No, it’sShade.
I giggle the way I wanted to when I first heard it.
I look at the girl. ‘That’s hisrealname,’ I say to her.
‘Why isshehere?’ the girl asks. Her eyes are on me, and she looks ... not happy.
‘Leave it alone,’ he mutters. ‘I told you she’s no one.’
I make a ‘psh’ noise to cover the hurt I feel and don’t understand ... that I’m ‘no one’ to him and turn quickly, but I forget about the glass in my hand, and it slips from myfingers. It crashes to the floor, and everyone close enough to hear it lets out a loud ‘OHHHHH!’.
