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“So, you guys are going to puke over who gets to take me?” I ask. “Charming.”
“It’s just for fun,” Jaron says. “Plus, I’m pretty sure I can wipe the floor with those two.”
I exchange a look with Stephanie. “Cocky boys,” I whisper.
Stephanie has an evil glint in her eye. “This is going to be fun to watch,” she says, rubbing her hands together. “We’ll see how cocky they are when they’re throwing up all over the place.”
As the game goes on, Jaron gets more frustrated with our team’s performance. He still manages to cheer on his teammates though. Toward the end of the ninth inning, it’s pretty clear we’ve lost the game. Dad’s mouth is pressed in a thin line, his arms folded tightly against his broad chest.
“And that’s the game,” Jaron says. He drops his head between his open knees and rubs the back of his hair. “They practically handed the game to the bulldogs,” he moans.
“Look at the bright side, now you get to go drink warm milk in front of two hundred people.”
Jaron cracks a smile. “Doin’ this for you, babe.” He gets to his feet and walks down the bleachers to the field. A few people are leaving the stands, mostly parents and families of the players. But every student I can see are glued to their seats.
“Has that milk been sitting out this whole time?” Stephanie asks.
“I sure hope not. But I wouldn’t expect anything less from teenage boys. They probably didn’t even think about it,” I say.
Outside of the stadium, it’s almost black now. I wonder how long this display of macho stupidity is going to last. Ethan is back at the microphone, getting the crowd pumped as Jaron and Austin make their way down to the field. When they’re both by his side, Ethan hands them each a gallon of milk.
“Alright, you guys ready?”
Austin and Jaron both nod. Jaron is grinning. Austin looks more serious.
“Hey, Emma,” Ethan calls up into the stands. “Do you have your phone?”
The queasy feeling has returned to my stomach. I hold up my phone.
“Set your timer for one hour,” he says. “The challenge is to drink your entire gallon in the one-hour time frame. The last one to puke, gets to take Emma to prom. Are we all in agreement?”
“Yeah,” Austin nods.
“Let’s do this,” Jaron says.
Jaron shakes his hands and bounces on his toes. Ethan walks back and forth, holding up his gallon of milk and commanding the wave. Austin stares at his gallon of milk with a focus and determination, similar to when I was trying out for the Academic Decathlon team.
Stephanie cups her hands together and holds them up to her mouth. “You never asked Emma if she agrees,” she shouts.
Ethan doesn’t hear her, but enough people around us do, and they begin telling the people below them and the people below them until there’s enough people relaying it that Ethan gets her message.
“You’re right,” he says. Then he holds the mic to his mouth again. “Hey Emma, do you agree to our challenge?”
“Thanks a lot,” I mumble to Stephanie. Everyone in the crowd turns and looks my direction. Stephanie nudges me with her elbow.
Ethan begins chanting “say yes” into the microphone until everyone in the stands join in. The crowd is all looking at me chanting, “Say yes! Say yes!”
I can’t believe these people are all still here. They must be hard up for entertainment. I can’t think of a good reason to say no. I certainly don’t want to have to choose between them. I cup my hands around my mouth. “Yes!” I shout. The crowd goes wild.
“Alright then, Emma, give us a countdown.”
I don’t have to; the crowd echoes a countdown for me. “5…4…3…2…1…Go!”
I start the timer on my phone. I really don’t want to watch this. I feel like my entire body is covered in cold sweat and I shiver.
“Emma!”
I look up and see Mom waving as she makes her way past people to where I’m sitting.
