Stacey grimaced at the bottle. It wasn't that she was afraid of sour things. It was just that from Zanity's eager expression, this drink might be extremely sour. The more eager Zanity was to see her drink the new flavour, the more nervous it made her.
"Come on. Don't be a chicken. Drink it," Zanity urged.
Stacey took a small sip.
It tasted citrusy and sweet. No where near sour. How was this meant to be sour?
Stacey took another mouthful and then another, drinking it in bigger gulps.
"Are you sure this is sour?" she asked Zanity in puzzlement.
Zanity watched in confusion.
"It's not sour?" Zanity asked, snatching the bottle to take a small swig. "Eurgh!" Zanity stuffed the bottle back into Stacey's hand, scrunching up her face and jumping all over the place. "Sour! Super sour! How is that not sour?" she demanded.
The other girls all had a taste and showed the same reaction as Zanity. They forced Elsa and Anna to try it as well. Elsa had no reaction. Anna immediately opened a random other yoghurt fruit drink on the table only to discover it was the spicy ruby mix. She went from having a puckered up expression to jumping around at the spiciness.
"Ah! Hot! Hot! Why's this so spicy?"
It made everyone laugh. Even Elsa's stoic face had slightly upturned lips, although so one would have noticed if they didn't look carefully.
Stacey turned to the nearest camera and raised the near empty bottle, finishing the drink and then holding it out.
"Sour 'splosion, the flavour only special people can savour," she announced.
Her roommates wrestled her to the ground in playful annoyance, so that she disappeared from the camera's view.
"Try it on your friends today!" Stacey managed to stick a hand up within view of the camera and wave, despite being attacked by the tickles of the other girls.
Moments later, all four girls lay panting on the floor. Meanwhile Elsa and Anna had retreated to unpack their things and claim the remaining beds.
"Stacey," said Vera after she had caught her breath, "I'm glad you're back. Things aren't half as fun without you around."
"Are you saying we're boring?" Chastity huffed, while Zanity poked at Vera, making her wriggle.
"No," Vera immediately replied. "Not at all."
"I get what you mean," Zanity sighed, still poking Vera to make her squirm, "but it doesn't mean that I forgive you for implying that I'm boring."
"I don't get what you mean," Stacey scratched her head, sitting up and not realising what a mess her hair had become. "I thought you would all have much more fun without me. By the way," Stacey frowned, "aren't you all supposed to have been reshuffled into new rooms after the ranking and elimination challenges?"
"Well, yes, but we shuffled ourselves back into the same room. We won a special immunity card after the challenges were done," Vera explained.
"I see," Stacey nodded. "Thank you for having me back."
"Kelly almost came to blows with us over you," Chastity said, flicking some of the hairs standing up on Stacey's head, while Zanity found a comb to put Stacey's hair back in order, so that the shaved part of her head was no longer visible. "She wanted you in her room."
"Huh."
Stacey didn't get why they would fight over having her in their room unless having her around helped them gain more screen time.
There was a knock on the door and two cameramen entered the room, gesturing for the girls to remain on the floor as they were. Elsa and Anna slipped away out of view, so that they wouldn't accidentally be caught on camera.
Mindy entered behind the cameramen and knocked on the closed door when everything was in place. A few seconds later, Beryl's voice could be heard talking to the camera outside the door.
"I heard that Stacey was back from the hospital, so I thought I'd stop by to visit and see how she is. I also need to give her an update on her timetable, because she still has to catch up on all the classes she missed. Honestly, I don't know how the poor girl is going to fit so many lessons in, but she can at least watch the master classes we recorded to start with."
Stacey covered her face at the thought of more study. Was it ever going to end? She poked Vera's shoulder.
The door opened and Beryl poked her head in, just as Stacey said, "Vera, quick pass me another Miluoluo fruity yogurt sour 'splosion. I need to fortify myself for my upcoming studython. I need to see you all suffer in order to boost my internal energy. Quick!"
Vera froze halfway when getting up off the floor, when she heard the end of Stacey's speech.
"No way!" Vera lay back down. "Not gonna do it. Even for you."
"Let me get you another of the newest flavours," Zanity immediately got up and picked up a black coloured bottle. She tore a piece of paper to sticky tape over the flavour name. "This flavour is meant to have great health benefits and is perfect to help strengthen your health in preparation for being buried under a mountain of books."
Stacey sat up and turned the bottle around to find the name of the flavour that hadn't been covered up on the back of the label.
"Elegant bitter black," she read slowly in Tadpole. "The perfect health and immune system booster all in one delightfully bitter bang."
"Argh! You weren't meant to read it," Zanity covered the words with her hand.
"The drink only high class people can handle," Stace read andy raised an eyebrow and opened the bottle. "So if I can handle this, I'm high class?" She took a swig and made a strange face, glancing at Zanity. "It's sweet. Not bitter at all."
"No."
"No way."
"Not again."
All of Stacey's roommates snatched the bottle off her to pass it amongst themselves, only to screw up their faces again.
"It seems that this is another flavour that only special people can savour," Stacey raised the bottle in a salute to the cameras. "Cheers."
"Beryl, you have to try these flavours," Vera sat up and pointed at Stacey. "We have reason to believe that Stacey is cheating. Either she's a far better actor than we've given credit for or she's an alien from outer space. She can't taste the new Miluoluo sour or bitter flavours."
Stacey winked at the cameras and surreptitiously stuck her tongue out to show the sweet she'd been hiding.
Beryl noticed and chuckled.
"Sure," Beryl said. "Why not?"
Stacey slipped her a sweet. It was from a candy company that sponsored the show and was said to be low calorie while tasting just as sweet as the average lolly.
Beryl slipped the sweet into her mouth at the same time as she brought the cup to her mouth. She raised her eyebrows.
"What flavour is this? It's very sweet," Beryl smiled. "It's quite nice."
That's the elegant bitter black," said Vera in a bitter tone, passing her another cup. "Try the sour 'splosion."
Beryl took a few sips and then shrugged.
"Sweet," she announced.
"What?" the girls yelled in disbelief.
Meanwhile Stacey had edged closer to one camera to hold up the lolly. In a whispered aside, she said, "Wiringa Sweets. The candy that can make even sour or bitter medicine taste sweet. Don't tell them I cheated."
Stacey winked and then picked up her bottle of elegant bitter black to take another sip from.
Beryl and Stacey exchanged nods.
"Wait. What are you holding in your hand, Stacey," Chastity pointed. "What did you just say and show the camera?"
Stacey was once more wrestled to the ground.
"Try it on your friends today!" Stacey raised an arm to wave and shout at a camera in between breaths from the second tickle attack of the day.