I lock eyes with her as Darren reviews the rules.Basically, there aren’t any.Anything goes.First to tip the other out of the thigh-high, inflatable kiddie pool, filled with who knows how many hundreds of Jell-O cups, wins.
I breathe in and out of my nose, working myself up, and size up Livvy.
She gives me a smirk like she’s already counting the cash.
“What will I win?”I ask Collin.Figure I should probably getsomethingout of this.
“Bragging rights?”Collin answers, uncertain.
I notice someone taking cash for bets while another writes down names.
“You’d better have bet on me.”
“Of course I did.”
But then he disappears because he didn’t.
“Ladies, enter the pool.”
I step in.The pile of gelatin is cold against my skin and feels disgusting, squished between my toes.
“What are they doing?”I hear from somewhere in the distance.I almost look, always drawn to him.
But before I can seek out Jonathan, Darren yells, “Go!”
And Livvy charges for me.
Shit!
I duck and lift her legs out from under her.I lose my balance, and we both land hard, the Jell-O doing nothing to soften my landing.The scents of cherry, raspberry and lime invade my nose as I get a face full of Jell-O.It’s deeper than I originally thought.I scramble to stand, sliding on my hands and knees on the plastic liner in this gelatinous fruit bowl.
There’s a collective groan, along with spikes of laughter.
“No filming!”someone yells.“Give me that, asshat.”
Livvy grabs hold of my braid and tilts my head back, yanking hard.She’s not gentle.
“You would be a hair puller,” I grunt out before punching her in the gut.
“Holy shit!”several exclaim.
I can’t believe I just did that.But it worked; she let go.“Sorry!”I yell.
She glares at me, clutching her stomach.“You’re so pathetic.”
“Feeling’s mutual.”
She wraps her arms around my knees just as I’m beginning to stand and yanks me back down.I topple onto my butt with a hard thud.
Before she can come at me again, I press my feet against her huge boobs and send her sliding to the opposite side.
“They’re ruthless!”
Livvy stands on her knees and lunges across the pool.I roll out of the way.But she’s quick and pounces onto my back like a fricken cat.She’s not trying to push me out of the pool—she’s trying to shove my face in the Jell-O, like the bullies in movies who torture kids over a toilet.
Two can play at that.I grab a fistful and press it into her face over my shoulder.There really isn’t much in my hand.Jell-O is impossible to pick up.So I’m basically squashing her nose.She automatically pulls her head back and sneezes, all over my palm.Disgusting.
She releases her hold of me enough so that I’m able to buck her off, tipping her backward over the edge of the pool.
