Fifteen minutes later, Delilah was still saying the same things, but louder. Loud enough that people were starting to look at them. Not a lot of people—there weren’t many in the bar to begin with, just the bartender, a gray-haired couple in a booth off to the side, and the tattooed guys in the back—but all of them were watching Delilah.

“Wow.” Delilah stuck a shaky hand in front of Maria’s face. “Look at me, Maria. I’m all tingly.”

“Uh-huh.” Maria looked over her shoulder.

“Wow,” Delilah said. “Wow, Maria. Would you look at that? Just look. Look how pretty it is.”

Maria looked. Delilah was staring down at the ring of condensation her just-finished drink had left on the polished wooden bar. Maria didn’t see what was so pretty.

“We should probably get back to campus before it gets too late,” Maria said.

Maybe she shouldn’t have dumped the whole capsule into the drink. Would it show on the drug test if she’d given her too much? Would they figure out what had happened somehow?

Maria slid off her stool and reached for Delilah’s arm. “Come on, let’s go.”

Delilah didn’t move. She was leaning down, looking at the counter. Her face was sweaty.

“Okay, yes, it’s pretty,” Maria said. “Come on now. Hop on down.”

Maria tugged on her arm, but Delilah still didn’t move. Maria turned around, wondering what she was supposed to do now, and backed into something solid.

It was one of the tattooed guys. He was looking at Delilah.

“¿Qué le pasa a tu amiga?” the guy said. Spanish for “What’s the matter with your friend?”

“Nothing’s wrong with her,” Maria answered in English. She didn’t have time for this.

“What’s she on?” the guy said.

“She isn’t on anything.”

The guy shrugged. “She’s sure acting like she’s on something. You need help?”

“No.” Maria certainly didn’t need help from anyone who’d greeted her with “Hola, guapa.”

The guy shrugged again and went back to his friend.

Maria pulled harder on Delilah’s arm, but Delilah had leaned so far over the counter her nose was almost touching it.

“Hey,” Maria said, suddenly inspired. “Hey, you know what? There’s something really pretty back at the dorm. Come down and I’ll show you.”

Delilah ignored her again.

“All right, fine.” Maria was done playing nice. She hitched her hands under Delilah’s armpits and threw all her upper-body strength into hauling her off the stool.

It worked. Delilah landed shakily on her feet, still twisting her head back to look at the counter. “But—”

“I promise, there’s even prettier stuff outside. Let’s go.” Maria tossed a few twenties onto the bar without bothering to count them and put her arm around Delilah’s waist, pulling her toward the door.