I don’t elbow Lo again. Daisy is solely concentrated on Ryke, and I can read his expression pretty well. He wants to smooth things out with our parents, and she can’t stop him from doing it. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a Swiss army knife. Then he bends down and cuts open the box for Sam.
I near with Lo, too curious to stand back, and Ryke grabs one of the slim plastic bottles, translucent blue liquid inside. I understand the moment I read the silver label: Ziff. And below that is the flavor: Blue Squall.
It’s a sports drink, the kind that can rival PepsiCo’s Gatorade and Coca-Cola’s Powerade. It’s the one arena Fizzle has failed at multiple times, and I suppose he’s hoping they can launch a new string of sports drinks with Ryke as the face.
“Ziff?” Ryke says with furrowed brows.
“It’s Fizz backwards, with two f’s.”
“I got that,” Ryke says and then uncaps the bottle. I’m guessing it’s blueberry flavored, more of a midnight color. We all watch Ryke put the bottle to his lips and take a swig. He instantly puts his bicep to his mouth, his face contorting in disgust.
Oh no.
Lo lets out a laugh. “Swallow it,” he says in jest, reaching into the box to grab a bottle for himself. I blush at those words.
Connor even collects a bottle. “It must be bad if Ryke can’t keep it down.”
“I’ve tried it. It’s decent,” Sam says.
Ryke finally swallows the liquid and takes a breath like he was drowning. “What the fuck is this shit?” He stares at the label and starts reading the ingredients. “It tastes like deer bile and piss.”
Connor arches a brow. “He’s tasted piss before.”
“And deer bile,” Lo chimes in with a grimace.
“Fucking A, you two try it.”
I’m glad I haven’t been included in this. I’m not going near anything that tastes like pee. No thank you.
Daisy rocks on her heels. “I’ll try it.” Of course my gutsy sister would. Ryke passes her his bottle, and she sips Ziff about the same time that Lo and Connor drink theirs.
Daisy spits it out almost instantly and rubs her tongue with her fingers. “Ugh, that’s bad.”
Connor and Lo are able to keep their drinks down, but I can tell Lo needs a chaser, his forehead wrinkling in distress. I’m about to retrieve him a water, but Rose stands up and nods to me like she’ll do it. She’s already eyeing the bit of Blue Squall on the rug that Daisy spewed.
“Sorry, Rose,” Daisy calls after her. “I can clean it…”
“It’s fine,” Rose says, already disappearing in the kitchen.
“I thought you said she swallows,” Lo tells his brother. Oh my God. This time, I punch him in the chest, away from his ribs. He looks remorseful and more unsettled, probably because he realizes it was about Daisy.
Ryke runs a hand through his hair and glances hesitantly at Daisy, who has wide, large eyes. This is a clear indication that they discuss sex, and us, when we’re not with them. This means I no longer should feel guilty when me and my sisters do it too. I nod at this resolution.
Sam mumbles, “I’m going to pretend I never heard any of that.” He rises to his feet and nods to Connor. “It’s not that bad.”
“Ziff,” Connor recites, “it’s not that bad. Drink it.” I crinkle my nose. Yeah, that’s not going to sell anything.
Sam sighs in frustration and crosses his arms. “My hands are tied here. Even if it doesn’t taste that great to you, it has ranked well among our other flavors on board. Greg wants to launch with Blue Squall soon.”
We’re all quiet for a moment. And then Lo says, “You remember Mountain Berry Fizz?” He just brought up an apocalyptic moment in Fizzle’s history. I remember MBF very, very well.
“Don’t,” Sam says, raising his palm at Lo to shut it down.
“What’s Mountain Berry Fizz?” Ryke asks.
I add, “The worst Fizzle flavor to ever be created. The aftertaste was like window-cleaner.”
“Or bleach,” Lo says.
I nod quickly. “You couldn’t predict the awfulness after the sip settled in.” I realize I’m hugging onto Lo when Sam’s eyes flit all around me in a judgy or curious way, but I don’t care much. “It was pulled off the market after three months.”
Light bulb moment for Ryke. “Which is why I’ve never heard of it.” He stares at the bottle of Ziff. “How the fuck am I supposed to be the face of a product that I can’t even drink?”