Oliver heaves a long sigh. “See what I have to put up with?” he asks me, pointing at Cyrus with a piece of bacon. “I don’t know how you hooked up with him. He doesn’t even seem like he’d be open to a high five, much less a fling.”

I feel my brain malfunction for three solid seconds before I remember my little white lie from the airport. With feigned calm, I reply, “Well, his attitude was a lot better when we were making out.”

Cyrus chokes on his water.

I smile as Cyrus continues coughing violently into his elbow, his whole face flushed. “He was actually really thoughtful. Eager to please …” I’m ready to go on inventing the sort of sweet words Cyrus whispered in my ear, the way he held me close like I was the only person who mattered, when I see Daisy wandering around nearby, her wide eyes uncertain as she looks between the crowded tables like a kid on her first day of school. I stand up and wave her over. “Daisy! Come join us.”

Her face melts with relief as she hurries toward us. “Hi, hi. Oops—sorry,” she mumbles, flustered, raising her plate high to avoid bumping into anybody on her way to the seat.

“Now that we’re all here,” Oliver says, leaning forward in a conspiratorial fashion, his hand shielding his mouth as if there are professional lip-readers squatting behind the potted plants just to spy on our conversation, “I have the inside scoop on the first part of the competition today.”

“Aren’t we competing against each other?” I point out.

“It can’t hurt to form an alliance, can it?” Oliver says. “We can take down all the other groups first—”

“I don’t want to take anyone down,” Daisy says quickly.

“Are you interested in the inside scoop or not?” Oliver demands.

I nod for him to go on.

“So,” he says, “I hear it’s going to be an escape room. Haunted teahouse themed.”

“Wait. Really?” I’d been afraid that all the activities would be like the test Wang Laoshi gave us last night, but an escape room—that sounds infinitely more fun, not to mention more manageable. I feel a thrum of anticipation, my feet itching to get on the bus and begin the competition. It’s been so long since I was looking forward to something instead of dreading it that the sensation is almost foreign to me.

Daisy doesn’t appear to share my excitement. “Haunted?” she echoes, her shoulders tensing. “Why—why does it have to be haunted?”

“I mean, it’s an escape room,” Oliver tells her, popping the last of the bacon into his mouth. “If it were a room filled with flowers and puppies, you wouldn’t be very motivated to escape, would you?”