Page 45 of Perfect on Paper

“Puking, sweating, all the fun stuff.”

“I’m not nauseous,” Finn said. “It’s just that… existence itself is… existence is a vacuum of bleak despair.” He touched his chin with hesitant fingers, like he half-expected it to have vanished.

Brooke climbed onto the sofa, trying and failing to contain a giggle. “Oh, my poor bunny,” she cooed as she wrapped her arms around Finn.

How were we supposed to keep an eye on him until he sobered up? What if he ran away or something and danced through the freeway traffic or tightrope-walked along a canal? All at once I was horrifyingly aware we were responsible for a human with the memory span of a blowfly, the critical thinking levels of a distracted three-year-old, and the speed and strength of a seventeen-year-old boy.

Well, okay, who could we trust to keep him safe until he sobered up? Hunter and Luke were downstairs, sure, but they’d definitely been drinking, and, now that I thought about it, had probably eaten gummies right along with Finn, given they all came together. Group effort where the Q&Q Club shared joint responsibility for him? Nope, even worse, then everyone would assume someone else knew where he was if he disappeared.

Could we just… barricade him in here with some food and water and hope for the best?

Then, with a relieved rush, I realized the best option here was obvious.

“Hey, Finn, I’m gonna call Brougham to come and get you, all right?” I said.

“Oh,Brougham,” Finn breathed, cupping Brooke’s cheek as he spoke. “IloveBrougham.”

“Why do you have Brougham’s number?” Brooke asked while Finn caressed her face. The phone was ringing already, though, so I held up an apologetic finger as an excuse to dodge the question.

When Brougham answered with a surprised, “Hey, Phillips?” my first thought was it was odd to hear his voice again after acting like we didn’t know each other.

“Hey, um, so don’t freak out but something’s happened with Finn.”

Brougham’s response was sharp and sudden. “Is he okay?”

“I don’t know. Apparently, someone gave him some edibles, and they got the dosage wrong or something… he’s really out of it. I’ve been drinking so I can’t take him home, and—”

“Yep, yeah, I’m coming. You guys still at Alexei’s?”

“Yeah. Do you know where they live?”

“I’m the one who dropped the guys off. I’ll be ten minutes, max. Can you keep him safe in the meantime?”

I glanced up at Finn, who had stopped stroking Brooke, wandered across the room toward me, and started the process of climbing up one of the bookshelves like it was a ladder. I grabbed his arm and held him steady, and he looked at my hand in confusion, like it was attached to nothing and shouldn’t have been there. “No guarantees, but I’ll do my best.”

“Wait, I didn’t make myself clear enough. Keep him safe,totallyguaranteed, no buts.”

“Better get here fast then,” I said. Brougham started replying but I hung up on him and shoved my phone in my pocket so I could use both my hands to guide Finn back down.

Ten minutes.

We just had to keep him safe for ten minutes.

With a sigh, Finn walked with great purpose toward the center of the room, stopped in the middle of the shag rug, then lay facedown with his arms straight by his side. Brooke and I looked at each other.

“Do you think his friends are this bad?” I asked.

“They were fine when I was downstairs. I’ll text Ray and check. Also, um, why do you have Brougham’s number?”

Damn, so I hadn’t dodged the question after all. I decidedto tell half the truth. “He uses the pool after school to train, and we’ve chatted a few times while I waited for Mom to finish up.”

“Oh, random,” Brooke said, but she didn’t look particularly perturbed. “You’ve never mentioned that.”

“Never came up.”

“Brougham is the best friend,” Finn piped up from his spot on the floor. The words were muffled by shag rug, but still comprehensible. “You guys don’t even… know. You don’t evenknowhim.”

“Darcy knows him, apparently.”

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