Bedroom Games by Jill Myles

surprised.
“Thanks, Sunnie. You’re the best.”
    “You owe me,” she whispered.
    “I do,” I agreed.
    It seemed more like I owed Brodie,
though.
    We didn’t have a chance to talk more because
everyone was too busy changing clothes and braiding their hair up.
I barely managed to finish changing and make it out on the
challenge course in time, and I groaned when I saw what lay before
us.
    Six dining tables—since Sunnie and Casper
wouldn’t be able to participate—complete with checkered picnic
cloths. A wicker basket was set up on each table.
    “Contestants, pick a table,” Sunnie called
out, waving a hand at the line of tables like she was Vanna
White.
    I picked my table and sat down and noticed
immediately that there was a bucket under my chair. Uh oh. This was
a gross food challenge. I swallowed hard and looked at Jendan, who
sat next to me. He looked a bit green in the face.
    “This season,” Casper read, “has had a horror
movie theme to it. And tonight’s dinner will be no different.
You’ve all seen the movie where the hero has to eat a giant roach
or a dish of monkey brains. Now, you get to experience those things
for yourself.”
    A chorus of groans came from the six
tables.
    “Oh god,” Jendan muttered next to me. “I’m
going to be sick just thinking about it.”
    I couldn’t help but giggle, just a little. Of
everyone in the house, Jendan was the pickiest eater. He liked
disgustingly healthy foods and ate a plain chicken breast and
broccoli when the rest of us snacked on hot dogs and potato chips.
“You have a barf bucket,” I pointed out helpfully.
    “I’m going to need it,” he called back.
    I grinned and then sobered, leaning over.
“Did you save us?” I whispered. I had to know.
    “Talk later,” he said quickly as a cameraman
swung past.
    That wasn’t a ‘no.’ I nodded as Casper pulled
out another card and continued reading. “There are five courses in
all,” Casper read. “Each round, the person that finishes their dish
the slowest will be eliminated until there are only two contestants
remaining. Those two will go head to head for the Power Play. Are
you ready?”
    “Ready,” we said.
    “All right,” Casper read. “Contestants, open
your picnic baskets. The first item for dinner is…monkey
brains.”
    Next to me, Jendan made a gagging noise.
     
    ~~ * ~~
     
    Hours later, I was pretty sure that despite
half a bottle of mouthwash and four rounds of marathon
tooth-brushing, I still had the taste of fish eyes in my mouth. I’d
only made it to round two before losing the challenge. Poor Brodie
had made it all the way to the final round and had to suffer
through every course before losing to Jayme as she swallowed
mealworms like a champ.
    Jendan had barfed after every round, starting
with the first round, after taking a bite of his food, and then
continuing with sympathy barfs when he saw what the others had to
eat. Poor guy had a weak stomach. I couldn’t laugh because I’d
barely managed to eat my monkey brains. I’d tossed my own cookies
on the fish eyes.
    Now, with the excitement of the evening dying
down, we were all settling into our new rooms. Jayme and Fido had
the Power room for the week, and since Brodie had done so well,
we’d gotten to stay in the Queen room, which was the least creepy
of the rooms. It was full of antique furniture and weird portraits
of historical people and two-way mirrors, but at least it wasn’t an
attic full of hanging nooses. I considered that a win.
    I lay on the bed, chewing mint gum
frantically as Brodie changed for bed. He’d stripped off his
challenge clothing and tossed it into the hamper, then, clad in
nothing but a pair of boxers, scratched his belly and headed for
bed.
    “So,” I asked. “Were you trying to win that
competition tonight?”
    “Yes and no,” he said, climbing in to bed
next to me. “Yes, because I figured if I had to eat all that shit,
I might as well get something out of it. No, because I figured