I rose from my swivel chair. “Really?” I went to dig through one of the plastic storage bins in my closet. “Because I was getting more of a zebra vibe.”
“Hysterical as always, Charlie,” she said drily. “So funny.”
I laughed and found what I was looking for. “Here you go,” I said to Luke, and tossed him his headgear for the dance: an officialSurvivorBuff bandanna that Mom and Dad put in my stocking a few Christmases ago. A jungle always backed up to whatever beach the castaways made camp on. I watched as he tugged it on over his bedhead.
“How do I look?” he asked after.
“Legit,” I said, a lesser-known synonym forsuper cute.
“Awesome,” he said, and then gave me a nod when he and Sage split. I face-planted on the still-warm couch and just lay there until it was time to go downstairs.
People broke off into certain clusters right away, some to play Xbox, some to check out the board games, and others disappearing into the hall to face off in cornhole. I challenged Val to Twister about fifteen minutes after everyone showed up, and was now looking down at her. She was on all fours, as if about to do a crab walk. I was above her, my feet planted so that the sides of my calves were pressed up against her thighs, and bent over so I could touch a hand downto the green dot over her shoulder. “Cinnamon Orbit?” she guessed after I let out a deep breath.
“Altoids.” I winked.
“Okay,” Dhiraj said. “Right hand yellow.”
The eight or so people around us laughed as we shifted, because in three-two-one, we got even closer. My hand was now under Val’s back.You really can’t script this stuff, I thought.
Dhiraj spun the spinner again. “Yellow again. Left hand.”
Val sighed. Both my hands were now underneath her back, arms pretty much wrapped around her. “Fancy meeting you here,” I said.
She rolled her eyes, but there was that secret smile again. “How are you so good at this?”
“Raw talent.”
She shook her head. “No way.”
I laughed. “Lots of practice.”
“Really?”
I nodded and told her to search “Ultimate Twister Fails” on YouTube. Nick had pulled one over on me and Sage, offering to be our cameraman for critique purposes. Half a million views and counting.
Val smirked as we moved again. “Oh, I absolutely will. Right when I get home.”
I whistled. “Have you gotten sick of the walk yet?” Sage had her bike, but if you lived in Simmons House, you got your steps in during the day.
Val made a valiant attempt to shrug. “I like to walk.”
“Must get lonely, though.”
“That’s why I wear headphones.”
I nodded. “Smart.”
Then there was a beat of silence except for our breathing and Dhiraj’s latest call: “Right leg green!” but I knew I had her when she bit her lip and whispered, “Although I actually forgot them tonight…”
CHAPTER 9
SAGE
“Well, yeah, the campus was nice,” Reese saidafter a spoonful of ice cream, “but I don’t think I’ll apply…I mean, I just didn’t get thatvibe,you know? The feeling of being at home?”
Everyone at our table nodded. “Plus,” Nina said, “there’s the wholeno guysthing.”
“Oh my god, Nina.” Jennie laughed. “You are…”
