Page 48 of Forever is the Sweetest Con
“Garrett.”
I let out a long exhale.
“No,” says Garrett, shaking his head. “No, this is bullshit.”
“I’m sorry, Garrett,” Natasha says sadly. “You have thirty minutes to—”
“No, don’t believe them!” he yells. Natasha’s mouth drops open. She looks at Tyler, who has been watching from the sidelines. He strides toward Garrett and takes him by the arm.
“Don’t fucking touch me, you liar!” Garrett wrestles his arm away from Tyler, then he turns to us. “Don’t believe a word they say, they’re lying to you!”
Tyler nods at Teddy, who quickly lays his camera down to assist him. They lead Garrett away. In the distance, we can still hear him yelling.
My brain feels fuzzy, like it can’t quite compute what just happened. Someone sniffles—it’s Trina, whose eyes are brimming with tears. Kei’s jaw is hanging slightly open, and Valeria’s hand is clapped over her mouth.
Gabby rushes over. “Campers, I’m so sorry you had to see that.”
Tyler has returned. He’s shaking his head. “Sorry, guys. Gabby and I take full responsibility for this. Can we have a moment, please?” he says to Teddy and the other camera guys. They retreat. Tyler waves us in closer.
“Look, I know that must have been rough for you guys, and I’m so sorry. We thought something like this might happen, but we hoped he’d take the news better. I guess we made an error in judgement.” I glance at Gabby, who looks as confused as the rest of us. “I’m going to be honest with you guys,” Tyler continues. “It was a handy coincidence for us that Garrett got voted off, because we were going to ask him to leave today, regardless.”
A surprised murmur echoes through the group. “What the hell?” says Damian.
Tyler nods, sighing heavily. “This is difficult for me to say, and it’s probably going to be upsetting for you to hear.” He takes a deep breath. “Yesterday we learned that, at the party the other night, Garrett spiked the punch with MDMA.”
Someone gasps. Harmony looks at me, her brow knitted together. I think of the tiny baggie that Kei shoved into his pocket in the storeroom. I look at Kei, opening my mouth to speak, but something about his expression stops me. He looks scared. Oh god, what if the drugs really were his?
Tyler sighs again. “When we approached him about it, he got reallyaggressive. He threatened us, said that if we kicked him off, he’d go to the press and tell everyone it was us that had done it. But by this time, we already had the results of the vote, so we decided to frame his leaving this way, to help him save face and maybe avoid a scene like we just had. But obviously, we misjudged the situation.”
I look at Kei. His expression is unreadable. Do I say something? I remember the hurt in his eyes when I asked him if the drugs were his. But maybe he was acting, like we both have been this whole time. But he wouldn’t drug other people…would he?
“I knew there was something off about that guy,” Sue-Ellen says, looking in the direction of where Garrett was dragged away.
“Hey, show some compassion,” Kei replies. His concern seems genuine.
“Compassion? The dudedruggedus.”
“He’s obviously been going through something,” says Damian. “Maybe leaving is the best thing for him.” No one makes eye contact as we digest this thought.
“What’s going to happen to him?” Valeria asks.
“We unfortunately have to alert the authorities,” Tyler says, his face set in a grim line. “But we’ll make sure he gets the help he needs. Right, Gab?”
Gabby has gone pale. She nods, swallowing.
“Look, guys, we know this is a lot to take in, but we’re on a tight schedule, so we’ve got to get on with the Couple-Up Ceremony.”
The Couple-Up Ceremony. I’ve totally forgotten about the reason we’re all here in front of the flagpole to begin with. We stumble like sleepwalkers back to our places in the line. I glance at Kei. His gaze is downcast, and he’s biting his lip. Is he just upset? Or feeling guilty?
“Can’t we just take an hour to, like, process this, Ty?” Natasha says in a low voice.
“Not if you want to be paid for that hour, Tash,” Tyler says, quietly. I catch Natasha’s eye, and look away, quickly.
Someone rushes over and brushes Natasha’s nose and brow withpowder. Tyler mumbles into his headset, and all of the camera guys take their places.
Natasha plasters a smile onto her face. She’s got her work cut out for her, as we’re all standing there, in shock, like we’re just waking up from a bad dream. But somehow, she works her TV magic, and within minutes, we’re all clapping and cheering like nothing has happened.
Harmony gets to choose her bunkmate first, and to no one’s surprise, she chooses Damian. Valeria chooses Giovanni, and his cheeks turn red in a rare moment of bashfulness. Sue-Ellen is next, and she gloats about choosing Isa, but I’m unbothered. She can have him.
