Pulling the flashlight out of my pocket, I readied, aimed, and fired the red beam at the feet in front of me.
My wristband started to vibrate, and I immediately clamped a hand over it to stifle the noise.
"A player has been eliminated."
The eliminated player sighed, and I realized it was Jenny. "Every time we play this, I get tagged. Who tagged me? Where are you?"
Consciously keeping my breathing quiet, I waited. It was only a matter of moments before Malik bounded over.
"Jen? What happened, babe?" I aimed my flashlight.
Vibration. "A player has been eliminated."
"Aw, come on!" Malik's voice rang out clearly. From my hiding spot, I could see his wristband light up in red.
"Sorry, baby," said Jenny, taking his hand and winking. "Come on, let's go hide out somewhere."
Malik looked ecstatic. They raced off together, leaving me alone once more.
Now that half of the players were eliminated, I decided that going on the hunt was a more effective strategy than staying still. After all, with only three of us left, it could have been hours before someone else walked into my ambush. So, checking that the coast was clear, I rolled out of my hiding spot.
Suki was still active somewhere in the room, I noted, as was Zhang. I figured Suki would be easier to find, though. Zhang definitely struck me as a hiding kind of guy.
The best way to search the room for them, I thought, would be to start in the middle. So, I cautiously began making my way toward the center of the room.
On the way, I marveled at the accuracy of the forest setting. The leaves rustling in the breeze, the chill in the air, and the silhouettes of trees against the moon took me back to the only real vacations me and Amber ever had. I could never forget the feel of the forest at night while Steve sang to us around the fire, a towel wrapped around Amber’s tiny shoulders.
My memories were interrupted when I saw a straight white beam flash near the entrance of the room. It wasn't aimed at me, fortunately, but it just as easily could have been. I stayed close to the nearest tree, in the shadows. I needed to be more careful.
Suki was pretty small, so I figured she wouldn't make much noise. To catch her, I'd have to rely on my eyes. I scanned the forest, taking special care to study the area near the entrance, where I had seen the flashlight beam.
Zigzagging through the landscape, rock to rock, bush to bush, tree to tree, I saw her. She was, as expected, soundless, and coming straight for me. I knew she hadn't seen me yet, though: otherwise, she would have already eliminated me.
I smiled. The advantage, then, was mine.
Aiming my flashlight and following her path with it carefully, I fired the beam.
The beam lit up the rock just beside her. I heard Suki inhale sharply as she ducked and rolled behind the boulder, using it as a shield. In response, I quickly ran to the other side of the tree, preparing for a firefight.
Suki's straight, jet-black bangs shone in the moonlight, making it easy to see her when she popped her head out from behind the shelter. I hoped my red hair wasn't as visible.
Each time Suki peeped over the rock, she turned on her light, trying to catch me. My back pressed against the tree between us, and I could see the greenery in front of me light up whenever she took aim. The tree made a perfect shield.
I laughed to myself. This was one of the few times that being so tall and skinny was a good thing.
"Zhang, is that you?"
Clearing my throat quietly to try and replicate that deep, smooth tone of Zhang's, I responded to Suki.
"Yes, it is I, Zhang."
Suki laughed. "Hey, Rowan."
"Hi!" I reverted to my normal voice, my imitation having failed miserably.
After Suki tried to catch me in her beam a few more times, I noticed a pattern. Her attempts were roughly eight seconds apart: I could count the intervals in my head.
So, taking a deep breath, I decided to take a risk. As soon as her beam shone through the woods, I began counting.
One. I readied my flashlight.
Two, three, four. Breathe.
Five, six, seven. I tensed, ready to move.
Seven and a half.
Springing out from behind the tree, I aimed at Suki's rock and turned on my flashlight. I smiled triumphantly when I saw her startled expression staring back at me, fully lit. My wristband vibrated, and hers turned red.
I pumped my first in the air. But before the electronic voice could even announce that a player had been eliminated, my wristband turned red too.
"Congratulations. We have a victor," said the voice.
Wheeling around, I saw Zhang practically gliding down the very tree I had used as shelter. He had been right on top of me the entire time.
I grinned at him and at Suki, who looked as surprised as I felt.
"Good game."
Chapter 6
As I left the library and returned to my dormitory, I mulled over how polite Rowan seemed to be, especially since past transfer students hadn't exactly been humble. I added manners to the mental list of things I found impressive about him. Not only was he handsome; he was calm, intelligent, and optimistic. It had been a long time since I'd met anyone with such a genuine smile.
The more I contemplated him, though, the more I felt an insistent anxiety pulsing through me, making my heart pound and my stomach tighten. I was immediately attracted to Rowan, and, after Max, I dreaded going down that road again. In a place like Alpha, I knew, those kinds of experiences could only end painfully. Every rational part of my brain screamed warnings.
The irrational part of my brain was very much looking forward to spending the school year with him.
Though I had planned on returning to my dormitory after meeting Rowan, my feet obviously had other plans. I found myself standing in front of Max's old dorm, staring at the door I had stridden through so many times.
Checking to make sure the hallway was empty, I swiped my access card across the panel and quickly slipped inside. As the door lightly hissed shut, I surveyed the all-too-familiar room for the thousandth time.
It looked exactly the same as it did on the day he died.
I paced the hallways, my steps quick and heavy, unafraid of meeting any newscasters. The tenth-grade accommodations wing was closed that night out of respect for Max, so I didn't even try to contain the hot tears of grief that burned their way past my eyes.
As my tears gave way to full-fledged sobbing, I ran into Max's dormitory, now known as the dormitory that had formerly been his. Desperately hoping that somehow there had been a mistake, I half-expected to see him standing by the window, turning around with open arms to comfort me like he always did when I had a bad day.
But the room was empty, hauntingly quiet, and pitch-black, filled only with ghosts of memories that I had to face alone.
My sobs turned to screams as, for the first time in my life, I completely broke down. I sat, hunched over on his floor, screaming into one of his pillows, finally and truly accepting that he was never coming back.
After a long time, I ran out of tears, breathing heavily and shaking as the last wisps of energy drained out of me. I was in emotional shock, completely numb and exhausted, like my emotions had simply decided to turn themselves off for a while so I could sleep.
I opened his closet door, which was within reach of my arm, and pulled out one of his old hoodies. Holding it up to my face, I breathed in deeply, trying to calm myself.