I raise a hand up to my mouth to try to cover the sound that’s escaped from me. Somehow I haven’t considered this possibility. Somehow it’s the worst one. I know it shouldn’t matter. This is a game, so it doesn’t count. My breath is coming out in short spurts, and I want to tell them I don’t feel well, tell them to stop, tell them they’re making me dizzy. But what right do I have? We all knew the rules of the game when we sat down to play. I’ll just embarrass myself if I say anything, only make Danielle think I have feelings I don’t have.

I stare down at the floor, trying not to watch, fixing my gaze on an imperfection in the wood, a long scuff mark where someone must have dragged a chair or a table. Everyone is clapping and cheering, but I can barely hear them. I glance up, because I can’t resist, because we’re always drawn to the things we’re most repulsed by.

Andrew and Hannah aren’t kissing. They’re both looking at me.

“What are you waiting for?” Danielle asks. “Kissy kissy.”

“I can’t,” Hannah says. I feel relief flood into me, relief that has no right to be there.

“We can’t,” Andrew repeats.

“Don’t be stupid,” Danielle says. “Everyone else has kissed. You could’ve already been done by now.”

He glances quickly back and forth from me to Hannah to Danielle, and back to me.

“Just do it!” Simon shouts.

“I don’t want to, okay?” Hannah says, her voice getting sharper. “Can’t we just mutually decide to bow out of this round? He’s your prom date anyway. It’s too weird.”

Danielle turns to Andrew. “As your prom date, I give you permission.”

“It’s not going to happen,” he says.

I know they’re acting this way for my sake and I’m grateful to them, but it also makes me nervous. Did they see the panic I was trying so hard to hide?

“Fine.” Danielle folds her arms and sits back with a pout. “Fine. New rules. Whatever. Hannah, just give your kiss to someone else.”

“Hey,” Ava says, “that’s not fair. I wouldn’t have kissed Ryder if I didn’t have to.”

“Stop pretending you don’t like him,” Danielle snaps, and Ava looks away. “All right, Hannah. Who do you want to make Andrew kiss?”

“Pick Chase!” Cecilia says. “Pick Edwin!” Pick me, I know she’s thinking.

But of course Hannah will pick Danielle. She knows Andrew is in love with her—the secret I wasn’t supposed to tell. That’s why Danielle is changing the rules in the first place. Because she knows Hannah will pick her too.

Hannah picks up the bottle, holding it tentatively between her hands. Then she turns it around so it points at me.

“Keely.”

TWENTY-SEVEN