I glance in the direction of the kitchen and see her beautiful face come around the corner.
She raises her hands and mouths, “What the fuck.”
I nudge my head toward the stairs to signal for her to get moving.
Luckily, Jared is oblivious while he sets up for another game with the two newcomers, one of which happens to be Steve. This couldn’t have worked out any better.
“You ready to lose?” Jared taunts our opponents.
“Shut up and throw the ball.” Steve finishes securing the last cup.
Jared tosses and sinks his first shot. “Drink up, bitch.” He nudges me. “Your turn.”
I follow suit and land mine in the one next to his.
He laughs out loud. “Atta boy! Balls back.”
Steve and his teammate bounce them across the table toward us.
Apparently, we get to go again, since we landed both shots. I’m a little rusty on my pong rules.
Jared throws but misses, cursing like a sailor, and I end up scoring another.
“Austin, you can go,” Steve tells his partner.
The nervous red-headed kid takes his time lining up the shot. It swooshes into the beer and Jared grabs it up immediately.
“Can’t have a death cup.” Jared passes it to me. “You’ll have Austin’s, I’ll take Steve’s.”
I down the contents. “What’s a death cup?”
Jared swats away the ball that Steve bounces on the table. “Automatic win if you get two balls in the same cup. Or if you get one in a limbo cup, where someone hasn’t drunk it yet, it counts, too. If you land on a bounce, two cups are removed.” He dunks the ball into the cup of water and hands it to me. “Haven’t you played before?”
I shrug. “It’s been a while.”
Jared takes out one of theirs in the back row.
If I’m going to keep this match going, I have to start missing mine. I aim it near the front, just a little off to the side, and end up hitting the exact spot I’m trying for.
“Ah, fuck man.” He grabs my shoulder. “It’s all right. Beginner’s luck.”
“Yeah, must have been.”
Austin lands another and I make quick work of downing the booze and stacking the cup with the others.
Steve sinks his and Jared groans. We send the balls back to the other team.
A skinny kid approaches the table. “Ay.” He leans in close and whispers something into Jared’s ear.
Jared’s eyes go wide. “Oh yeah?” He turns toward us. “I’m going to have to ask for a brief intermission.”
“Ah, what the fuck, Jare. That’s not allowed.” Steve throws one of the balls at Jared’s head.
“Shut up, it’s my fucking party, I’ll do what I want.” Jared grips my shoulder. “I’ll be right back, partner.”
I’m about to panic but he ends up taking off toward the kitchen instead of the stairs.
I go to reach into my pocket, but Cora grabs my arm.
“Have you seen Claire?” she asks me. “I thought she’d be with you.”
“She probably went to the bathroom; I’ll go find her.” I turn toward the last place I saw her and spot Jared jumping up the steps, taking them two at a time.
A fire explodes inside of me as I shove through the crowd, with only one thing on my mind—what if I don’t get there fast enough?