The Flynn Effect

12 | halloween

Jo

I BLINK ONCE. Then twice. "Good for him, I guess."

Then I turn to Amanda with a strained smile. "I'm sure you know this is a simple coincidence. Hey, I saw Adam? Pretty sure there's an Eve somewhere too. Anyone thirsty? I am. Let's go."

"Enjoy the party!" Cass yells behind us as we walk away.

Amanda smirks at me and waves everyone else goodbye before taking the lead. "You seem a little flustered."

I tug at the neckline of my dress. "I'm not."

"Might be the fever, you know," she gives me an evil grin and I narrow my eyes at her.

"What the hell are you on to?"

She sighs. "Here we are," she says completely ignoring my question. She waves her hand around the kitchen and takes me by the wrist. "You can have anything you like."

Her phone buzzes and she takes it out of her pocket, scrolls and groans. "I'm sorry but I need to drive a friend home. Call Cass if you need anything."

I wave at her and she pivots on her heels and finds her way out of the throng of people ahead. I turn back to the kitchen counter and I mumble a 'wow' to myself once I see the variety of Halloween-themed snacks on several dishes. Spider-cookies, a really bloody looking velvet cake, doughnuts that have their holes filled up with creepy looking eyeballs and a lot more. I take out my phone and take a picture, just to show mum once I get home. She'd be excited to see stuff like this.

I pour myself some juice from the fridge into the cup and my face scrunches up a little when I realize it contains alcohol. Some fruit punch it is.

I don't see Flynn anywhere but I remind myself that I came here for me so I inch towards a game of beer pong and ask for a shot at it. The girl who comes up is unfamiliar. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark clothes with the only contrast to the plainness being her skin.

A couple of people are gathered around us and I try not to look round once the game begins. She tosses the ball first and she misses. She suddenly glares at me like I'm the cause of her loss.

I clear my throat and toss the ball ahead. It lingers around the rim of one of the cups and then it plops right into the liquid. I'm taken off guard when the people around me cheer and a little smile sneaks its way into my face and I start to feel good about myself. Khalid appears next to me after a couple of rounds with the girl and wraps a hand around my shoulder while the girl tosses the ball again.

He's not wearing his ridiculous costume anymore. Instead, he's wearing a floral shirt and a pair of Hawaiian shorts. He boasts to everyone that I'll take them down and my face flushes a bit when he brings his mouth to my ear, just as I'm about to play.

He whispers fiercely. "You know how to play right?"

I roll my eyes but I don't say anything in response. Instead, I show him as I toss the ball and it lands into another cup. I win.

Khalid and the rest of everyone around me cheer and I laugh and open my mouth willingly when he pours what he calls 'a celebratory shot' into it and then takes one himself.

I'm up against a guy who's wearing a Scream costume and I don't feel intimidated at all. Instead, I win and I take another shot. And again. And again. And again. Until the only thing I can focus on are the cheers and laughter around me.