I gasp. "No," I mutter. "No, we can't play that. I don't want to play Spin The Bottle."

Lee shifts his eyebrows. "Too late." His grin is jaunty. "No backing out now, Razzledazzle."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Razzledazzle?"

"Don't ask," I told her, turning back to Lee. "We can't play Spin the Bottle!"

"Too late, Razzledazzle, way too late. We're playing whether you like it or not."

"Wait—"

"WHO WANTS TO PLAY SPIN THE BOTTLE?" he screams, standing up on top of the counter. Of course, this gets everyone's attention, and slowly they all made their way into the living room.

With a skilled flick of his hand, Lee flips the Sprite bottle onto the floor and lands it. The guys cheer and the girls roll their eyes as we all reluctantly sit in a circle on the floor.

I check to see who's playing: myself, Alex, Glory, Troy, Chloe, Trinity, and a few other girls and guys I don't know, Tyler...

"Tyler," Troy calls, "why are you playing Spin The Bottle? You have a girlfriend."

"Well let's just hope it lands on her, then," says Tyler. He tossed his head flippantly and steps into the middle.

"I might as well go first," he says. Lee backs out of the middle and lets Tyler inside the circle. Carefully Tyler spins the bottle and I feel my chest tighten—my heart is in my throat—I don't know what I'll do if it lands on me—

It comes to a stop on another girl: a slender one with tan skin and short, curly dark hair. Tyler looks relieved.

"You got lucky," Lee says. "It landed on your girlfriend. I was hoping for some drama. Well then, I guess you're up, Ann."

"Hey," Ann snaps. "Lee, don't try to be a homewrecker. Tyler's mine."

Ann stands up and slowly leans into Tyler. They kiss for a few seconds, and Ann is just wrapping her arms around his neck when Lee steps up and breaks them apart.

"That's enough, you two," he announces and they both sit back down, Tyler's face red. Lee scans the entire circle before I notice he's looking at me.

Tyler is to my left.

It's my turn.

"Can I pass?" I ask quietly. I know I sound like a coward, but the last thing I want to do is kiss Lee.

"No," he answers simply, as if that's the end of it. "Get to the middle and spin."

"I don't want to."

"WELL WE ALL HAVE TO DO THINGS WE DON'T WANT TO DO!" he screeches. "If it makes you feel any better, you can just do a kiss on the cheek."

"Yeah, thanks, that makes it loads better," I reply sarcastically. But I know there's no getting out of it now.

"I've made you the best offer I can," Lee tells me as he steps back into place, in between Troy and some girl. Swallowing my fear, I step up to the middle.

The Sprite bottle nearly slips out of my clammy fingers as I pick it up. There's a few droplets of Sprite still in the bottle, glittering from the blinding neon strobe lights.

Shakily I set it on the floor, my fingers trembling as I spin it. My dark hair falls into my face as I crouch on the floor, watching it as it spins slowly across the hardwood floors.

Don't land on Lee. Don't land on Lee. Don't land on Lee. Don't land on Lee. Don't land on Lee.

And to my surprise, it doesn't.

It lands on Troy.

Troy gasps as the bottle comes to a stop on him. I can't tell what emotion is going through his eyes, but I don't think it's a good one.

The look on Tyler's face, however, is priceless.

"Troooy," he whispers. "You've gone and done it now. You've actually gone and done it. This is baaaad. This is betraaaayal—"

"Shut up," Troy hisses. "It is not betrayal. I am single and I do not like anyone in this room."

"Uh-huh," Tyler retorts. "Not even people who like to confide in you when their parents are getting a divorce?"

Now I can see Troy's face getting red. "Shut up, shut up!"

Divorce, I wonder. Who in here has parents that are getting divorced?

I don't have time, though, to wonder about this, because it's time to kiss Troy, apparently. Slowly Troy stands up, but I can tell that he isn't having any of this. Not at all.

"Just on the cheek, Troy. You can handle that, right?" Lee asks.

Troy swallows. "You know I don't want to do this," he replies evenly. "Please, Lee, don't make me do this."

"I have an idea," Tyler pipes up.

"That's dangerous," mutters Alex.

"What's your idea?" ask Troy and Lee at the same time, both as nervous and excited as each other.

"Lee, I think you should go, and spin, right now, and see who it lands on, and if Troy would rather kiss that person then he can kiss that person and Rose can kiss you."

"What?" I cry. "I don't want to kiss Lee, either."

"Fine," Troy spits. "Lee, spin."

Lee stands up as well and takes the Sprite bottle from me, his expression frosty. Carelessly he spins it on the floor.

I blink, and when I open my eyes again, the bottle is pointing directly at Alex. But I can see Lee's leg moving, and there's a slight dent in the bottle, like he shifted it from where it originally landed, which would have been on Glory, who was sitting on Alex's left.

Is Lee tampering with the game?

Troy's face freezes up. "N-no—I don't want to kiss Alex, either."

Lee sighs. "Make up your mind. We don't have all day, I'm afraid."

Troy swallows. "But I don't want to kiss either of them! Can I just—chicken out?"

"Rose or Alex," Lee says firmly. "That's the final offer."

I'm taken aback by his next sudden movement. Troy violently storms across the circle and over to Alex, who's stood up by now. He grabs her angrily by the collar and pulls her towards him, pecking her on the lips and pushing her away again.

"There," he snarls. "Are you happy now?" With those words, he storms out of the circle and into the kitchen.

"Well," Lee mutters. "That happened."

I'm still appalled at his behavior. "Lee!" I cry. "Don't think I didn't see you kick the bottle after it landed on Glory! You're tampering with this game to add drama!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Razzledazzle," he tells me infuriatingly. "I would never make Troy do anything he didn't want to do."

"You saw him!" I shout. "You know he didn't want to do that! He didn't want to kiss Alex!"

"You're sticking up for him? Are you sure you don't like him?" asks Lee.

"Hey, bickering lovebirds," Tyler calls. "You still have to kiss, remember?"

I glare at Tyler. "Fine." And in a spur of angry energy, I yank on Lee's collar and pull him towards me. My mouth barely brushes his cheek before I awkwardly pull away.

"Can this be over with now?" I yell. Sometimes Lee just makes me so mad.

"Fine, jeez," Lee mutters. "I was just trying to make it fun."

With that, the crowd slowly breaks up. People start to wander back into the kitchen, or over to the couches to watch whatever TV was on. The circle dissipates until only Glory and I are left.

Glory is quiet. She's sitting just like she was. She hasn't said a word since Troy kissed Alex.

"Glory? Glory, the game's over."

If she hears me, she doesn't show it.

•••
[have a bonus chapter everyone, because I'm really enjoying writing this book]

[also, what do you think about Troy?]