Page 58 of One Last Time

Vicious was right, I thought.

I eased off the accelerator as I took a corner. Lee hit a tire, spinning out, and I managed to grab a balloon to launch at Ashton at the same moment that Rachel hurled a slightly squashed-looking red foam box back at him. I’d have missed if not for her: he swerved to avoid the box, right into the path of my water balloon. I shot out ahead of him, starting my third and final lap. Lee was now lagging somewhere in the back. Jon wasn’t far behind me.

“No fair!” Ashton cried. “The Plungers teamed up! If we’re teaming up, I want Donkey Kong and Wario on my team.”

“No teaming up!” Jon was yelling. “Plunger Two, you got any more boxes to take out Plunger One?”

I laughed, hands clenched around the wheel. “Back off, Bowser.”

Amid the giggles and shouts on the headsets, I heard “Back off, Wario.”

“Eat my dust, Shroom.”

There was abang!a little way ahead. Levi’s and Noah’s karts crashed together again, Noah’s almost pressed into the tire wall. As they swerved across the track, Rachel yelped, jerking her kart out of the way before she crashed into them. I shot past her.

“Cool it, Toad,” Levi snapped.

“Hey, doofus, what’re you playing at?” Amanda shouted.

I could hear the smirk in Noah’s voice as he barked, “Winning!”

A water balloon flew past me. It smashed on a tire and slime spattered over Noah. He yelped and I swerved sideways before Ashton could overtake me, and—

A cheer rose through the stands as Tyrone shouted, “And we have a winner! Wario wins the match! Followed byToad…Mario…Yoshi…Bowser…PrincessPeach…Luigi…Donkey Kong!”

We all slowed our karts to a stop. Amanda had stopped where she’d run into a tire wall, her kart facing backward. Jon, Lee, and Rachel hadn’t quite made it to the finish line either. Ashton’s kart stopped just next to mine and he gave me a wide-eyed, manic grin—reminding me uncomfortably of Lee for a split second.

“That was awesome!”

But I didn’t have time to high-five Ashton right now because while Levi climbed up from his kart, draped in silly string, arms raised in victory as Tyrone came forward to present him with my old spelling-bee trophy, Noah was tearing himself out of his kart, ripping off his helmet.

He looked pissed.

And it didn’t take a genius to work out all that anger was directed at Levi.

Chapter Twenty

Trophy in hand, Levi beamed around at us, surveying his opponents. He tugged off his helmet, his hair matted and frizzing underneath. He tucked the helmet under his arm and stepped toward Noah.

Uneasiness prickled at me and I clenched my jaw.

This was a bad idea. This was averybad idea.

Noah was still scowling, hands balled into fists at his side. His hair was damp, stuck to his forehead. Slime was streaked across his cheek and shirt.

I pulled my helmet off, setting it on the seat of my kart. Ashton had done the same and stepped toward me, his eyebrows raised. “Damn, I know Lee said he had a temper, but your boyfriend’s a real sore loser, huh?”

Levi stopped just in front of Noah.

He stuck out his hand.

“Good race.”

Come on, Noah.

I didn’t know what was going on here, but I didn’t like it one bit. Apprehension continued to nag at me, and I willed Noah to just shake Levi’s goddamn hand and walk away. It wasn’t that hard.

But I guessed it was, because Noah just glared at him before storming away.