FEAR. It struck me in the heart, slinking throughout my tiny veins like motor oil, blackening my mind and body. Every time Rucker dry heaved and Khan trembled, clutching his tummy, that fear intensified by a thousand.

I couldn't lose them.

Duke whimpered, nudging each boy with his hand nose, trying to help them, but it didn't work. I rushed over to Khan because he was closer to me, and Yaz went for Rucker.

My fingertips grazed Khan's cheek, feeling his sweat, but no major heat. No fever. "You okay?"

Khan let out several breaths and collapsed onto the floor pillow, taking me with him. "I'm o-okay," he said after a few moments, eyes swirling. "Just need to sit for a minute."

I touched his arm. "Do you know what might've been in it?"

Khan shivered. "I definitely tasted alcohol, and a sweet bitterness. I'm thinking ecstasy?"

"Shit," I said, gripping his hand.

"Do you guys want any water?" Sebastian asked, coming over. "Or anything else?"

"No, I'm good," Khan said, closing his eyes.

"I'm fine." Rucker swatted Yaz away while sitting up. "I'm alright."

"You're not," Yaz snapped, checking his face. "Accept my help and shut up."

Rucker growled at her but said nothing.

Seeing that Rucker was doing better, I turned back to Khan who still had his eyes closed, soft droplets slipping down his forehead.

"Sebastian, can you get me a wet cloth?" I asked him.

Sebastian bobbed his head and booked it to the bar. It took only a few minutes for him to come back with two damp cloths.

"I don't need to be babied, Yaz," Rucker said when she tried to put it on him.

"I see why you're fucking single now," Yaz said, slapping him in the face with the wet rag. It hit him across the face, causing him to jerk back.

"And I can see why you'll never be a nurse," Rucker said, eyes squinting. "You'd abuse your patients."

Yaz smacked him across the face with the rag again. And again. "How's that abuse feel, huh?"

I bit my lip, trying to hold back a laugh as Rucker snatched the rag out of her and flung it into the pool.

Squeezing the rag in my hand, I wiped it across Khan's face. Once I cleaned up the sweat, I folded the rag and placed it on his forehead.

After about twenty minutes, he opened his eyes again. Those normal light browns churned to a spicy nutmeg, mesmerizing me for a moment.

"You with me?" I asked, holding his hand.

Blinking several times, a crooked grin folded across his lips. "Yeah," he said, touching my face with his soft fingers, coming closer to me. "You're so beautiful."

My cheeks flamed for a moment, taken back. "Uh thank you."

Rucker smirked. "He got some happy juice," he said before bursting into giggles.

A look of horror went across Sebastian's face as he stared at the giggling Rucker. "Is he...giggling?"

"So what? Let him be." Khan snacked a hand around my waist, bringing me closer to him, our body heats humming to a similar tune. "Want to sit in my lap? I got a present for you."

A squeaky noise bolted from my throat. "Huh?"

Silky soft lips pillowed my ear, causing a field of goosebumps to pebble across my skin. He then nibbled the shell of my ear as his fingers tickled down my arm. "You feel so good—"

Sebastian tugged me out of Khan's tight grip. "Don't paw on her," he said, glaring down Khan as he placed me on the floor pillow on the other side of him.

Khan shrugged with a grin on his lips. "She didn't object, did she?" He looked at me. "Did I make you feel uncomfortable, Betinia?"

The way he said my name made my core quiver. It was like he dripped my name in chocolate and licked every single letter clean before dotting the one "I" with a kiss and the other with a bite.

"Umm no, I'm okay." I closed my eyes. "It must be the ecstasy making you act weird."

Khan picked up the bottle before taking another swig. "Nah, I'm good. It's kind of—"

Yaz snatched the bottle out of his hand and dunked it into the nearest potted plant. "Stop drinking it. We don't know what the fuck is in it."

"Why you gotta be such a downer, Yaz," Khan said, picking up one of the cocaine cakes. She smacked it out of his hand and dumped them all in the hot tub.

Rucker burst into giggles again and crawled into the fetal position, rocking. "She's so mad — shhhhhh don't make her mad. She'll get us," he loud-whispered. "Everyone hide."

"Rucker," Yaz said, tone angry.

Rucker screamed. Like full-on horror movie girl scream, piercing and high. "Ohmygod, she found me!" He dived under an empty floor pillow, burying himself deep as his ass stuck out. "Don't let her hurt me."

Yaz grunted and pulled the pillow off him.

Rucker screamed again, forming his body into a ball. "Don't steal my snacks. Please don't steal my snacks. I have to feed them to my pigeon Lucky charm. He'll die if I don't feed him. I'm his only source of income. The president will kill him. I'll die on the streets."

"What?" Yaz shook her head. "This is why I never did coke."

Rucker giggled again.

He was definitely high on cocaine. Really high.

"I think both these idiots are going to be fine," Yaz said, sitting down on her pillow as Rucker began rolling back and forth like a wet dog, snickering. Duke followed suite like it was a game, and now we had both of them rolling in unison.

"It just needs to leave their system," I said, watching the rolling duo.

Khan moved around Sebastian and played with one of my curls. "Your hair is so soft. I wonder if your lips feel like that."

Sebastian pushed Khan away. "Get away from her."

"Oh my god, let's dance!" Rucker screeched, sitting up.

"You should probably relax," Yaz said.

Rucker pouted. "You're no fun. Yazzy, I want to play. Pleeeeeaaaase? Pretty pleeeeaaase? Please. Please. Yazzy I want to dance. Pleeeeeaaasse? Pretty pleeeaaase. Please please please. Please. Please. Please. Pleeeease. Please. Please. Please. Please. Pleeeeeaaasse? Pretty pleeeaaase. Please please please. Please. Please. Please. Pleeeease. Please. Please. Please. Please. Pleeeeeaaasse? Pretty Pleeeeeaaasse? Pretty pleeeaaase. Please please please. Please. Please. Please. Pleeeease. Please. Please. Please. Please. pleeeaaase. Please please please. Please. Please. Please. Pleeeease. Please. Please. Please. Please. Pleeeeeaaasse? Pretty pleeeaaase. Please please please. Please. Please. Please. Pleeeease. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please—"

"Just shut up!" Yaz clenched her head and downed three shots from the tray. "I need to drink if I'm gonna get through this night." She handed me one. "You too."

"We should stay alert in case they need us," I said.

Yaz stuffed one down my throat and then followed up with another. "Two won't hurt you."

The strong fruity liquor splashed down my esophagus, burning all the way down. In an instant, a scarlet haze whizzed across my vision, a prickling fuzziness swarming in my head like a cluster of cicadas on a summer day.

Oh crap. I'm not fully in control anymore. The world began to spin a bit, twirling in a sea of colors. "So pretty," I said, touching the air like it was polka dots.

"I want one." Rucker tried to take a shot off the tray, but Yaz smacked his hand. "Yazzzy." He sniffled. "You hurt me. I can't believe you would really hurt me like that. I thought we were teammates. Friends. How could you do so such a horrible thing?"

"Says the guy who murdered people for a living," Yaz muttered and downed another shot.

I continued touching the dots of the world with a huge smile on my face. Everything felt like an out-of-body experience, light and airy like the world had no gravity. I could fly. I burped and laughed, head feeling like it was filled with a thousand clouds.

Khan leaned across Sebastian and gripped my chin in his hand, gazing into my eyes. "You okay?"

Those deliciously caramel eyes of his looked good enough to eat. "You're eyeballs look like candy. Can I eat them?"

Khan grinned. "I got—"

Sebastian elbowed him away. "Ten feet."

"Oh god, she's gone too?" Yaz asked Sebastian.

"Those last shots you gave her did her in," Sebastian said, watching me play tic-tac-toe with the molecules in the air.

"Wee. I won." I threw my arms in the air with a victorious smile on my face. "I just beat the universe. That makes me queen. I'm queen."

"God help me," Yaz said, shaking her head.

Rucker giggled and popped off the ground, making his way over to the computer that was blasting music. He began dancing with an imaginary partner. "Come on, girl, let me dip you."

"Who's he talking too?" Sebastian asked.

Yaz just slammed back another shot. "Himself. He's literally dipping himself."

"That looks like so much fun." I jumped out of Sebastian's arms and ran over to Rucker, feeling so light and free. Life was amazing. "Queen Betinia demands you dance with her."

Rucker stopped dancing and bowed. "My queen. I shall follow all your orders as your humble servant." He gripped my hands. "Let's senorita," he said as the song started.

Rucker twirled me around in circles. The twirling made everything sparkle like rainbow diamonds in a pit of cement. Who knew being queen could be so beautiful and fun?

"I want to senorita," Khan said, getting up next.

"Queen Betinia always needs a new subject." I gripped Khan's hand, and Rucker twirled us both. All three of us whirled and twirled while shimming across the tiled floor like we didn't have a care in the world.

Wasn't my queendom so amazing? So colorful and bright and fun.

"Yaz come, join us!" I shouted. "I need another queen."

Khan clutched me to his side. "Remember she said her max was two partners."

"Oh yeah." Rucker left and snatched her off the floor mid-sip and twirled her. "You're my new queen. Spank me and sashay away with me."

"That sounds fun," Khan whispered.

Sebastian pulled me away, making the world jumble around me. "Fifty feet."

A loud laugh left my lips as my head swam like it was underwater with colorful fishes swimming by. "Come on, Bastian. Dance."

"We should play some of those games," Rucker shouted, dropping Yaz mid-twirl.

"Yes!" I agreed.

Rucker raced over to the bar, grabbing the black box that the creators gave us as I raced to a floor pillow.

Rucker stopped and looked at Yaz. "Why you on the floor?"

"You dropped me here," she screeched.

"Oh. I don't remember," Rucker said, turning away.

Yaz got up and plopped onto a floor pillow and took another shot. "God, please stop me from choking this motherfucker. Please."

"You shouldn't say things like that to god. She's busy, you know," Rucker said, sitting down with the box.

Yaz sighed and closed her eyes.

"Cheer up, Yazzy," Rucker said, pinching one of her cheeks.

"I can't wait to show you this footage tomorrow," Yaz said, laughing and shaking her head. "I'm going to hold it over your head forever." She looked at Khan and me. "You two too."

"What? I'm normal," Khan said.

I smiled. "Me too. The queen is always great."

"Let's play a game!" Rucker whined, jumping to his feet and running around. "Something fun!" He started running around the pool, tongue out.

"The games are over here," Yaz said, running after him. "Get over here, you're gonna fall in the pool."

"Weeeeee," Rucker said, sliding across the tiled floor, reminding me of the little piggy from the Geico commercial.

"You're fucking up my buzz," Yaz growled, trying to catch him.

"Really?" Rucker stopped, causing Yaz to crash into him and fall onto her ass.

"You're gonna pay for that." Yaz hopped up and jumped on his back.

"Weee piggyback!" Rucker said, twirling around.

"Stop it," Yaz said, regretting her decision. Duke chased and barked with them. "Sebastian help me."

Sebastian gripped the box of games. "We're getting ready to start the games, Rucker."

"Games!" Rucker dropped Yaz again and booked it to the pillows. Duke jumped in his lap and Rucker kissed him. "You're such a cool doggy."

Duke barked and wiggled his butt in the air.

Yaz got to her feet and walked over to us. "I'm going to cut off his balls."

We all settled in on the floor pillows and Sebastian rummaged through the open box. It contained different mini-games. He took out a bunch of truth or dares cards and some game called "Storytime."

"What do you guys want to play?" Sebastian asked.

"Storytime! Let's play storytime!" Rucker pounded on the floor.

Yaz massaged her temples. "Let him play storytime before I punch him in the kidney."

Sebastian took out a pamphlet and a bunch of cards. "Each card has a word on it, and everyone picks one. Whatever word you get, you have to tell a story with it, and we have to guess whether the story is real or fake."

"Well that's boring," Yaz said.

"I wanna go first!" Rucker grabbed a card. "Avocado."

"Do you even know how to spell avocado?" Yaz asked.

"Yes, I do." Rucker pouted. "Why you gotta be so mean to me, Yazzy? Why you gotta play me like that?"

"Can I kill him?" Yaz asked us.

"Wait, I gotta tell my story first," he said and cleared his throat. "At a party, I once ate this blue brownie and got fucked up. Didn't remember a thing. But I woke up the next morning naked in a nursing home bed, clutching a dead rooster while an avocado was shoved in my mouth as some old lady with a mustache spooned me. When I turned over, she whispered, "Thanks for cleaning my pipes. They've gotten a bit clogged and dusty since my husband died."

Everyone burst out laughing, except Sebastian who looked disgusted.

Yaz snorted. "That did not really happen."

"Well it did, Yaz," he said, looking into her face while clutching his face. "Would this beautifully sculpted face from the gods and devils themselves lie to you? Huh?"

"Yes," she said. "It would."

"So cold," Rucker said, shivering. "I bet you call up starving kids and brag about eating, don't you? Or make fun of disabled people."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yaz looked like she was about to cold clock him in the jaw.

"I'll go next," Sebastian said, taking a card, trying to diffuse the situation. "Church." He paused for a second. "When I was six, my family went to church. My mom was really strict about it so we could never be late. One day, I really had to pee, but my mom wouldn't let me go. So when she turned away, I peed in the holy water fountain. And when the sermon finally started, the pastor washed his face and hands in that same fountain before starting."

"Eww, you nasty," Rucker said. "You going to hell."

Sebastian shrugged. "I'm an atheist anyway. Don't matter to me none."

"So, it's a true story?" Khan said, eyeing him.

"Yeah," Sebastian said.

"Okay, so this game's boring," Yaz said, grabbing the cards and throwing them back in the box.

"Let's play truth or dare then." Rucker hopped up and down. He grabbed the truth or dare deck, pulling out a card. "A truth card — what's your favorite song to have sex too? Yaz?"

"Thank u, next so that you know to get the fuck outta my house when it's over," Yaz said.

"Damn, your heart must be like an icicle," Rucker said, shivering.

Yaz looked at Khan. "How long does a cocaine high last?"

Khan leaned forward. "Couple hours."

"Fuck," Yaz said, placing her face in her palm.

"Next card," Rucker said, pulling out another card. "Dare." He looked at me and read the card. "Blindfolded, you must kiss one of us in a lineup."

"Queen Betinia does not want to do such a thing," I said.

"Yes, but the queen must follow the rules, or her queendom will have anarchy," Rucker said, standing. "Come on, blood assassins."

"We are not the blood assassins," Yaz snapped.

Rucker turned and squinted at her. "Will you let me have something, Yaz? Something?"

"Shut up!" Yaz said, glaring at him.

"Umm," I said, looking up at everyone standing. "I don't have blindfold."

"Yo, Yaz give her your top!"

"I will not!"

"Come on." Rucker nudged her, and she looked like she wanted to smack him. He made kissy noises. "You can't be mad at me. I'm cute now, see?" He did a little rainbow arc with his hand.

"I really hate you," Yaz said.

"Wait, it came with a blindfold in the box," Khan bent down and tossed it to me.

The fuzziness and colors started to fade a bit. "Uh I really don't think that's a good idea," I said, catching the blindfold.

"Why? It's all fun," Rucker said, pulling me to my feet. "We'll mix ourselves up and just pick one."

The intense nervousness fought the vibrant colors, making everything a bit clearer. No, I was queen. I could not let my subjects down.

I marched over to the lineup and put the blindfold on. Then they started to mix themselves up.

"You stepped on my toe, Rucker," Yaz yelled.

"Move your big ass tire toes then," Rucker said.

"What the fuck's tire toes?" Yaz yelled. "I don't have no tire toes."

"But you got deer ankles," Rucker said.

"Fuck--" Yaz started to yell.

"Can you guys shut up so we can get on with this?" Sebastian asked.

I stumbled forward and paused. Various body heats vibrated in front of me. My feet began pacing, experiencing different auras. A few bodies radiated with intense emotions, meaning it had to be either Yaz or Rucker. The other two were calm.

Who should the queen go for?

♟♙♟