Page 50 of Betting on the Brainiac

Madison crosses her arms in front of her in a big X. “Code violation, but don’t worry, I’ll hook you up.”

I spin, twirl the tie, and lower my eyes like I’m starring in my sister’s high school production ofChicagoand hit a cellblock pose.“Sash? Scarlet sash?”

Ruby hoots, and I’m happy I made her laugh. Madison grins too, but she’s shaking her head. “Better, but unless you plan on doing a sassy jazz dance the entire time you’re here, my ruling stands. I’m going to have to accessorize you.”

“In case you’re wondering how committed they are to this theme they barely picked, I hope you like sangria,” says an elderly woman with a parrot on her shoulder. This must be Mrs. Lipsky. “That’s all the booze they’re serving. Just accept the accessories.”

“S is for sangria,” Sami says. At least, I assume it’s Sami based on her being the only roommate-aged woman here I don’t know. “But also Sprite and Snapple. They’re in the ice bucket.”

I wonder if they hit the sangria before they picked their outfits. It would explain a few things, like Ava’s necklace made of Snickers and her construction paper shark fin. Or maybe that’s a hat she’s wearing? No, it’s a fin.

“S is for sorry,” I say. “I’m sorry I failed in my party clothes.”

“S is not for forgiven, but we forgive you anyway. Or we will once Madi gets you up to standard, which starts with S. I’m Sami, by the way,” she adds. “And that’s my boyfriend, Josh.”

The sunglasses guy raises a Snapple in my direction.

“Oh, sorry,” Charlie says. “I forget everyone doesn’t know Oliver. He’s my neighbor across the hall.”

“And my cat daddy,” Madison says, which sounds suggestive. Or maybe that’s just me? Everything this woman says or does comes off as sexy to me. Even the spatula in her hair makes me think of pulling it out and watching her blonde curls fall around her shoulders.

“How are the kittens doing?” Mrs. Lipsky asks.

I want to hug her for redirecting my thoughts. “Fine. Some of their umbilical cords have fallen off. They look fat and sleepy.”

“Eyes open yet?”

“Not yet.”

She nods, satisfied. “Sounds like they’re doing good. Eyes should open any day now.”

“Cool,” Madison says. “And I’m excited about that. But cats start with C. So back to S, everything you eat tonight must be dipped in salsa.”

Mentioning salsa is possibly the least helpful thing to mellow my reaction to Madison. I dart a glance at her, but her expression hasn’t changed. Why would it? She doesn’t know she danced that salsa with me.

“Or you can eat any snack because all snacks start with S,” Ruby says. “We had to come up with some loopholes and send Joey to the store for additional supplies because Madison was being a tyrant about the S foods. We didn’t feel like salsa and sweet potato chips were the only things we should serve.”

“A tyrant?” Madison scoffs. “No, I wasn’t. It doesn’t start with S.”

She and Sami toast with Sprite cans.

“There’s all kinds of stuff in the kitchen,” Ava says. “Because stuff also starts with S. You’re welcome.”

“Hey, Ava,” I say. It’s strange to think that we went on a couple of dates this summer. She was cool to hang out with, but even though we’d shared a good kiss on our final date, I hadn’t thought about her much since we’d decided we had friend energy. Ruby had mentioned that her plan to get Ava together with her brother had worked, and I’d been happy for Ava. Not sure Ruby’s brother is happy—he’s watching me with the scowl I recognize from when he’d crashed our first date.

“Good to see you again, Oliver,” Ava says. “You remember my boyfriend, Joey?”

The parrot squawks and says, “Joey sucks.”

As soon as Ava says the word “boyfriend,” Joey’s shoulders relax. He offers me a lazy smile and ignores the parrot. “Good to see you, man.”

Weirdly, I think he means it. We’ve completed an unspoken caveman ritual of setting the limits around Ava. She looks like she knows this too, and her expression wavers between amusement and irritation. I’m just glad I won’t be getting side-eye from him all night, and I nod. “You too, man.”

“Let’s take this party inside,” Sami says. “Too hot out here.”

There’s immediate agreement, except from Mrs. Lipsky. She gets to her feet but heads toward the gate in the low fence that Charlie and I came in through.

“Ahab and I need to feed Migos. You kids have fun.”

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