My body spun as I shook my head, my green hair waving around my face. “Not yet!” I tried to sound normal and focus. I had no clue where Ryder and Token were, but I was thankful this was a basement big enough for all five of us to get lost in. I just needed a second to myself to catch my breath and control my feelings.
Focus, Crissa!
As my mind struggled to control itself, I found myself back in the closet that Montey and I had occupied earlier, looking for anything that I could easily carry back to the group, when my eyes landed on a dilapidated ship in a bottle. “That might work.” I snatched it from the shelf and casually walked out of the closet only to run smack into Ryder. “Ow!” It felt like I ran into a wall, not a person.
Ryder gripped my arms, preventing me from falling over. “Careful.” He noticed the bottle in my hand as he let go of me. “What the fuck is that?” His gaze drifted to the dusty, shipwreck in my grip.
“I have no idea,” I said truthfully. My eyes raised to meet his, realizing how tall he really was. “Find anything yet?” I asked. He shook his black and white split dyed hair before walking back over to the couch. I held the bottle close and followed.
Montey had finally returned with the pizzas and everyone quickly made their way back. We all dug in, thoroughly enjoying each cheesy bite. There was complete silence as we ate and I wondered if we actually would go through with Token’s stupid scavenger hunt. At this point, I just wanted to eat and wait for the other three to go home.
“Oh, what the fuck?” Token mumbled as he ate a slice of the supreme pizza. He opened his mouth wide and spit the bite out he had just taken out, being over dramatic as usual.
“Token, come on,” Ryder groaned. “That’s fucking disgusting, bro!” He watched his brother with a disgusted look.
His twin grimaced. “Me?! There’s a fucking hair in my pizza!” He pulled a small, dark curly hair from his mouth and held it in the air. “Oh fuck! Is that what I think it is?”
Ryder squinted and examined the mystery hair. “It kinda looks like it brother,” he said matter-of-factly with a small smile.
Token’s face was drained of color. “I think I’m going to be fucking sick.”
After seeing the hair and watching Token regurgitate his food, I slid the slice of pizza I was about to eat back into the box and wretched. “Okay, well I’m done eating.” I tried not to gag.
Before I knew it, the pizza boxes were all piled in a corner for the trash and we were back to lounging in our usual spots. A light tune came from the TV where the cartoon still played. Lavender broke the awkward silence among the group, her voice catching my attention. “Okay, what did everyone find?”
Ryder groaned. “Oh, we’re still doing that?” he asked, not lifting his head from where he was leaning back on the couch.
Lavender sighed. “Yes, we’re still doing that. And now, you get to go first, Ryder.” She tilted her head as he groaned at her.
“Fine,” he drawled. Ryder reached behind the couch and pulled a red and white box. “I found this.” He shook it around. “We could?—”
Lavender and I both recognized the box immediately and shouted, cutting him off. “No!” We shouted in unison. Ryder flashed us a concerned look.
“Ryder.” I stood from the couch. “You need to put that back wherever you found it.” I walked over to the side of the couch where he was sitting.
He leaned back and away from me, clutching the box close. “Crissa, wait.” I reached for it and missed. “Wait! Just hear me out?—”
“Absolutely not.” Lavender rushed over and snatched the Risk boardgame box out of his hand. “Everytime we play this, the three of you—” she pointed to the guys, “end up getting way too serious and going at each other’s throats for no good reason. Crissa and I always have to play referee and it’s not fun for us.” Ryder rolled his eyes and groaned at her words.
“It’s true!” I shouted. “Last time we played, Token almost punched me in the face!” I pointed to the other twin who was now tormenting Montey with a creepy clown doll. My saying his name got his attention as he froze and looked at me.
“Wha—That was an accident!” He shouted. “Youknowthat. I didn’t mean too—ahhh. Just drop it already, damn.” Token huffed and hugged the clown like a child.
What the hell is with the clown, and where did that thing even come from?
His twin brother sighed. “Fine, okay? No Risk.” He groaned and mumbled a few things under his breath before speaking again. “Well, what didyoufind then Lavender?” he asked with a snarky tone.
Lavender returned to her chair and raised a book. Token immediately snatched it from her grasp and studied the cover before holding the book out for the rest of us to see. It was a harlequin romance novel, with a muscular man on the cover, wind blowing in his hair with a shirt unbuttoned while he cradled a woman by the waist tightly against him. “A harrowing tale of steamy romance and exciting adventures.What the fuck were you expecting us to do withthis?” he asked, waving the book around.
She stomped her foot. “Give it back!” Token held it just out of her reach. “Ugh. Wow, it’s a miracle! He can read!” she snapped. Lavender plopped back down into her chair, sullen and annoyed. “I don’t know, I thought we could read to each other or something. Just forget it.” She obviously had norealintention of doing anything with the book.
I shook my head and patted her on the back. “Oh, don’t worry. No one will force Token to push himself like that. That’s torture for all of us.” Token sneered at me as the rest of us all burst into laughter. “Alright.” I looked to Montey. “What about you? What did you find?” I asked with the faintest hint of flirtiness in my voice. I knew there was no way Montey could’ve scavenged something up and looked forward to teasing him for it.
Let’s see what you come up with.
He grinned and pointed to the pile of pizza boxes. “I brought the pizza. And seeing what I’m up against, I’d say I won this thing…whateverthisis.” He motioned around at all of us. “But what aboutyou, Crissa?” He shoved my shoulder a bit. “I’m dying to see what you found.”
I tried to not smile, pressing my lips together. “As a matter of fact, I found this.” I whipped out the ship in a bottle and waved it around as tiny fragmented pieces shook within the glass. “It’s broken but, yeah I found it.”
