Page 55 of The Vacation Mix-Up
Never dance.
“Question two: According to Greek Mythology, who was the first woman on earth?”
“Pandora!” I call out.
He points at me. “Very good!”
Riley slow-claps.
“I told you I was one-hundred percent sure,” I say, smiling sweetly at him.
“Question three: The chemical symbol for iron is…?”
Someone shouts, “R-N!” and Carlos shakes his head.
“No. Sorry. Incorrect. The answer is F-E.”
I pull a “not bad” face, and Riley simply shrugs.
“Question four: The bones babies are born without are—” Carlos points to his legs. “—kneecaps. Apparently, they start off as cartilage and ossify to bone when they’re toddlers.”
This time, I slow-cap Riley.
“I told you I was one-hundred percent sure,” he mimics my response.
Playfully narrowing my eyes at him, I divert my attention back to Carlos when he asks, “What M&M color is the rarest? Why, it is brown, of course.”
I groan. “Told you.”
Riley raises his hands, palms facing me. “Easy mistake.”
“No, it wasn’t. Red was a stupid answer. The obvious answer. The wrong answer.”
The speakers crackle, and “Invisible Touch” once again blasts through them, Carlos murdering the lyrics. “What is the name of this song?”
A few of us shout, “‘Invisible Touch’!”
“And who sang it?” he asks, eagerly.
I jump in first. “Phil Collins!”
“Wrong!” He points the microphone at me, and it may as well be a “loser” spotlight.
What?
My stomach plummets, heat crashing into me like a tidal wave. “But that is Phil.”
Riley slowly shakes his head. “Genesis.”
Peanut butter! Of course.
My eyelids fall until they’re pressed shut, my face scrunching with humiliation.
“You were saying?” he prompts, his voice infuriatingly arrogant.
Snapping them open again, I divert my gaze from him and cross my arms over my chest. “That was a trick question. Phil Collins is the lead singer.”
He chuckles, and it annoys me even more. We should’ve gotten that question correct, and it’s mostly my fault we didn’t.
