Finding You

chapter 17

"I'm not drinking that," Zay states.

"Yes you are. We both are."

We got through two watermelon with mustard on it, ten cupcakes made with sour candy, a pound worth of candy, spaghetti salad with mayonnaise, and five cokes.

Now, the last test. I always win this part. In front of us is a deluxe creation. A cup of hot sauce with all the hot peppers we could find. Mixed with cayenne pepper powder and onions. We blended it in a blender and now we have the Spice Cup smoothie.

I have the strongest stomach for spice, but me and Sav haven't ever gone to this extreme.

"I'm not human, my stomach is probably beat you. But you're real confident you're gonna win. " Zay says.

"Exactly, cause I will. And when I do, I can say I beat a wolf in an eating contest," I tease to him.

"I think you meant to say torture contest."

I grab one cup. "Dropping out?"

"Are you sure we won't die?"

"Nope. But if we do, we die together."

Zay grimaces with a grin but picks up the cup. He swirls the insides of it around and looks back up at me. "Ready when you are."

I lift the cup to my lips and take a gulp. The spice stings my tongue, but for the most part it's bearable. My ears are hot when I finish the last sip.

I pour myself another glass and set it down. "Your turn," I say to him.

He stares at me with his mouth open. "You, are crazy. That was in thirty seconds."

"Then it's a good thing we aren't going for speed. Now go," I encourage him.

He hesitantly picks up his glass and takes a sip. And another, and another. His eyes widen and he takes a break.

"Agh! Fuck that's hot." Zay pants and continues drinking. Surprisingly he finishes the cup without another break.

He's pacing around the room holding his tongue while I'm pouring him another cup.

"My tongue! Ehe," he chokes on his words. "It burns!"

I laugh at him. "Next round."

He walks back to the counter and picks up his glass. "Same time right?" he breathes out.

"Yeah, whoever stops first loses. Ready, set, go."

We both start to drink and I watch him curiously. He seems to be holding up, but I'm doing better. I swallow the spicy chunks of pepper and hot sauce and I finally feel the pain.

The searing pain crawls down my throat and I glance up at Zay. His hand is clamped up against his mouth in pain. He already stopped drinking. But his glass is half full.

I gulp down the rest, and now my ears are throbbing. "I win!" I say in victory.

Zay doesn't say anything, but he looks like his face is contorted. He runs out of the kitchen and I hear him go in the bathroom. A second later the toilet seat goes up and I hear the sound of his puke hitting the water.

I run to him. He's kneeling in front of the toilet with his head down. "Uh, too much?" I ask.

He looks up at me. "Yeah," he groans. "But I'm fine now."

The stench of his throw up hits me and I feel my stomach turn too. I push him out of the way and empty out all of the food we ingested today.

After I finish, I look sheepishly up at him. "I can still say I beat a wolf."