and we can share,’ Gem said, leaping off her chair.
‘Wait,’ Ciara grabbed her arm. ‘Have you two lost it completely?’
‘Dear Ciara,’ Elle said on a sigh. ‘Gucci is calling. And anyway, we’re newly ex students and we have an Irish girl on our side. This will be a walk in the park!’
‘Or a trip to the emergency room to have our stomachs pumped,’ she argued.
Gem shook free. ‘Don’t be silly. Plus the rest of the group gets a $1,000 gift card to spend in the Aventura Mall. Even you can’t say no to that! If we win, you get to keep the voucher and Elle and I can share the bag. Deal?’
Ciara bit her lip. Bloomingdales was in that mall. The most expensive thing she’d owned had come from a high street store back home. And her friends were right, she could hold her booze. But they’d been on the cocktails for a while now and a glance around at all the new people walking in, looking fresh and ready to go, didn’t help convince her this was a good idea.
‘You’re not allowed to think about this,’ Elle said. ‘Gem, go enter us before Ciara comes up with an excuse to get out of it.’
Her friend’s azure eyes were steely now, and Ciara knew there was no point in arguing. Elle pulled out her phone, tapped the screen a few times and then handed it to her. It was a list of all the lovely, lovely shops in the mall, with the lovely, lovely clothes just waiting for her to pick them.
It wasn’t like she’d be able to afford something that wasn’t on sale without the voucher. If they won this competition, she could spend and spend and spend without the guilt. Which is exactly what Elle had been thinking, handing her the worst kind of temptation.
‘Fine, I’m in. But if I end up with liver failure I’m holding you responsible,’ she said.
‘Right guys, you know the rules. Drink up as fast as you can and the first group back to the bar with their empty pitchers wins,’ the bartender said.
The crowed rumbled their excitement, while Ciara stood over the tallest, fattest jug she’d ever seen. The colours were pretty, and she hoped the limes diluted some of the rum, but the sheer size of the thing scared her.
Almost everyone had to stand up to get to the straws.
The queue for the bathroom was going to be tremendous after this. If she even made it that far. Which was very unlikely.
Gem and Elle didn’t look as put off as she was. Elle’s refusal to quit had got her far in uni, but this was something else entirely. Gem no doubt had her eyes on the prize, and she did love winning.
Maybe that would work. Keeping focused on the prize.
‘Quick, before we start we need something to remember this by!’ Elle pulled out her phone again and set it up for a picture. ‘Stand behind the glasses and strike a pose. Come on, Ciara. Smile.’
The phone flashed, making her eyes go all spotty for a second.
‘Get me, Gem!’ she handed over the phone and Gem snapped another.
‘I’m Instagraming these. Go Team Elle!’
Ciara rolled her eyes while Gem’s narrowed. Trust Elle to take over.
‘Ready, set, go!’ the bartender boomed.
Ciara did, putting the straw to her mouth and trying a steady suction while breathing through her nose. She doubted anyone could keep guzzling the freezing drinks all the way to the bottom and reckoned her strategy had a 6:2 chance of winning – considering she could handle however many units of alcohol it was packed with.
Gem had taken the guzzle approach, stopping to gasp occasionally and then get stuck back in.
Elle was keeping it steady too, but at a faster pace than Ciara. In fact, she was way behind when she glanced around the room.
She sucked up mouthful upon mouthful, trying to catch up then a searing pain stabbed behind her right eye. ‘Ow, brain freeze.’
‘I’ll knock your brain into next week if you don’t hurry up. Drink through it!’ Elle commanded.
Ciara forced herself to keep going, but the stabbing in her temple didn’t ease up. Someone retched and she looked over to see a ripped guy with bleach blond hair sucking in lung fulls of air, no doubt to stop from being sick. He didn’t succeed and she shut her eyes so his gut load of cocktail making a reappearance didn’t encourage hers to.
‘Done,’ Gem slurred, then giggled. ‘Oh dear, I’m drunk.’
Ciara felt like the floor was swaying beneath her feet and she opened her eyes before the dizzy, sick feeling kicked in. She was neck and neck with Elle and they didn’t have much to go.
‘Quick, just pick it up. It’s not heavy now,’ Gem said.
Elle did, but Ciara’s jug didn’t seem to shift much off the table.
‘Come on, Ciara. Think of those vouchers.’ Gem grabbed the bottom, then helped her tip it up.
After a deep breath, she chugged the remainder of the glass as fast as she could, not caring about the unladylike affects that would no doubt follow. Not caring about much at all anymore as a warm, giddy feeling soared through her.
She finished up within seconds of Elle and they shared a grin.
‘That shit’s finished too,’ Elle said, pointing to another table.
He was, and the women he was with were finishing up as they watched. ‘Don’t we have to get these jugs to the bar?’
The other group noticed they weren’t alone in their victory and picked up the jugs.
‘Run!’ Elle said.
They did, kind of. Staggered would be a more apt description. But the other group didn’t seem unsteady on their feet at all as they rounded tables.
Ciara bumped into a girl who hadn’t finished yet and managed a convoluted apology while she got back her balance.
‘Move it!’ Elle screamed.
Ciara scampered to catch up. They reached out with the jugs, ready to throw them on the bar. The bartender’s eyes were wide and he shuffled back to the wall of spirits as they approached.
Team Persistent were neck and neck with them now, and since the girls were fast Ciara knew they were going to lose.
‘That bag’s mine lady. Back off,’ Elle said to the other group.
‘In your dreams,’ she replied.
Ciara slammed her jug down on the bar, and a loud smash splintered her ears. She blinked at her glass – still fully intact. Both Gem and Elle were beside her, with their jugs on the bar too, without so
