Adi picked up her empty glass and gave it a sniff. “I think she may have grabbed the wrong drink. Have you had anything to eat tonight?”
“Not really. I don’t eat much when I’m nervous . . . and I’ve been nervous, like,allday. Actually, if you must know, I pretty much exist as a big ball of tension. Better learn that now.” She laughed.
“Would alcohol really hit her that fast?” said Beck.
“If it’s strong enough,” said Sierra, “and she doesn’t have anything else in her system, and . . . I’m going to guess you haven’t built up much of a tolerance?”
Carter giggled. “I had champagne at a wedding when I was eleven. Shhhhh. Don’t tell anyone.”
“We need to get her out of here.”
“Yes, please,” said Carter, an almost-whine in her voice. “Am I drunk? Is this what drunk feels like? Oh god, Ranielle Russell willkill me.”
Adi took hold of Carter’s arm to guide her through the crowd. Sierra led, clearing a path for them.
They were intercepted halfway across the restaurant by broad shoulders, a square jaw, and a cruel smirk. Jarius.
“Whoa,” he said, eyeing Carter. “What’s happening here? Is it my imagination, or is Kick It Carter inebriated?”
Carter glared. “That’sKissIt Carter to you, buddy. As in, you can kiss my—”
“Okay!” Adi shouted, and tried to shove past Jarius. “Fun times. Keep moving, Carter.”
Jarius laughed and refused to budge. “Nice. I bet Hitflix will love to hear how one of their underage contestants got smashed at the kickoff party.”
“I am notsmashed.” Carter yanked her arm away from Adi so she could jut a finger under Jarius’s nose. “You know what? I have a finely tuned radar for bullies, and you are a bully! Which makes you . . .” She swallowed hard while she searched for the right word, finally landing on: “Not. Nice.”
“Aw,” said Jarius, “and here I thought we were getting along.”
“Okay, Carter,” said Beck, as they started to draw curious stares. He tried to coax her away. “Let’s—”
“Where’s my phone?” said Carter, fumbling to extract it from her handbag. “I need to take a video. The world needs to know he is . . . that Team Dread is . . .”
She didn’t finish. Instead, she hiccuped, then pressed a hand to her mouth. A look of panic flashed across her eyes.
“Carter?” said Adi.
“Oh god,” she moaned. Then she bent forward and spewed bright yellow pineapple juice all over Jarius.
15
Sierra
Sierra cracked a fourth egg into the pan and watched the gooturn white with a satisfying sizzle. On the other pan, strips of bacon cracked and snapped happily in oil.
“What is happening right now?” Beck said, stumbling out of his room bleary-eyed.
Sierra pointed her spatula at the popped toast. “Butter those.”
He sleepily pulled a knife from the cutlery drawer and dug butter out of the fridge as Sierra flipped the bacon.
“Why are you making breakfast?”
“Because it’s breakfast time. Sort of.” The clock showed eleven.
“There’s a dining hall full of food across the courtyard.”
“Are you complaining?” Sierra snapped.
