Chapter 10 Beck #2
“To be fair, that’s yet to be established.”
Carter gave him a look of despair as she picked up the tote bag on her chosen bed. But her misery transformed as she peeked inside.
“Oooh!” She withdrew a mug branded with the Escape Game logo.
Beck joined her, digging out a magnifying glass. He held it to his eye. “It is the little gray cells on which one must rely.”
“Check it out!” squealed Carter.
She was holding a glossy magazine with a man on the cover.
Beck didn’t have to read the headline to recognize Victor Cunningham, founder and owner of Victory Escapades, Inc.tm Beloved by escape room fanatics everywhere, he was considered the master of mazes.
The prince of puzzles. The king of codes.
Not only had he built a worldwide franchise of escape rooms, but his brand carried everything from at-home puzzle boxes to murder mystery party kits.
He was the genius behind Sweetbrier Resort, and the reason Beck was going to do whatever it took—including put up with an alleged killer as a teammate—to win an invitation to that Clue Master mecca.
Apparently not able to maintain attention on a single piece of swag, Carter tossed the magazine aside, whooping as she withdrew a small book of sudoku puzzles. “Sweet! I don’t have this one.”
They continued inspecting the gifts. A fancy gold Cryptex lock, a branded USB drive, a small box of hand-carved wooden brain teasers courtesy of Victory Escapades, Inc.tm Carter gave Beck the Rubik’s Cube, claiming she already owned several, and then fan-girled as she held up a T-shirt signed by Fitzy and Louis.
Beck pulled out the final item—a tiny flashlight with various settings. “Cool. You never know when you’re going to need a black light.”
“To . . . search for blood spatter?”
“I was thinking more, like, an impromptu rave.”
Carter laughed. “Right. Sorry. This whole thing with Sierra has me on edge.”
And Beck hadn’t even told her about the beef heart and creepy note. Her anxious expression confirmed that it had been a good decision.
“I think she’s got us all on edge.”
“I don’t know. Adi doesn’t seem too put off by her.”
“He might be one of those people that doesn’t emote a whole lot. I have no idea what that would be like. I’m, like, the ultimate emoter.”
“You should coin that word.”
“I think I just did.” He picked up the Rubik’s Cube and tossed it from hand to hand. “You’re not quite what I expected.”
She flinched. “I know.”
“You know?”
“That I’m nowhere near as cool as Kick It Carter? I’m very aware.”
“But you are Kick It Carter.”
“No, I’m not.” Carter sounded exasperated. “Not the Kick It Carter that everyone expects, anyway. The filter I use is this cute, fashionable cartoon. And I’m . . .” She gestured helplessly at her Mathletes shirt.
Beck tossed the Rubik’s Cube higher, working it into a nice spin in the air. “In our circles, math makes you cool.”
“Not the point. But it’s probably easy for you.
” Carter dropped onto the mattress. “You seem like you have no problem talking to people. I wish I could walk into a room and know what to say to strangers. But without a preplanned script and a video editing feature, I turn into this awkward, bumbling mess.” She watched the Rubik’s Cube rocket up and down.
“I thought it would be different inside the room. Like I’d hear Fitzy’s voice telling me to escape, and boom!
I’d become a whole new person who’s confident and smart and all the things I pretend to be online. But I was useless in the snag round.”
“You weren’t useless.” Beck stopped tossing the Rubik’s Cube.
It was like breaking a spell. Carter wrapped her arms around her chest and curled into herself. “When people see the real me, they’re going to be so disappointed. I shouldn’t have come here.”
Beck tried to empathize, but he’d never wanted to hide who he was.
He refused to wear dresses after age three, started going by Beck at age five, and no one in his family had been surprised when he’d officially declared that he was a boy.
A couple of aunts and uncles admitted that they didn’t quite “get it,” but they were still supportive in their own way.
And sure, some people thought his personality was a bit much, but boo to the haters.
He was a born optimist, and if the pessimists wanted to criticize that, let them.
Given half a chance—and an endless supply of cat videos and Skittles—he was pretty sure he could win them over to his side in the long run.
It baffled him how so many people could walk around pretending to be anyone other than their awesome selves. And this was Carter Kelly he was talking to. One of the coolest people—well, avatars—he followed online.
“My cousin has a Domain channel, too. KaPowPow?”
“Oh, I’ve seen her stuff. She’s the one that talks about all the tech in the show, right? She’s really good.”
“Yeah, she is. But she’s told me that her influencer persona sometimes feels like wearing a costume. It gives her confidence, but it’s not really her. Sort of like you and your avatar. Have you tried pretending that you’re behind a filter when the cameras are on?”
“It’s not that easy. Today it was like I had these two voices screaming inside my head.
One was telling me to focus on the puzzles and not worry about anything else.
The other was criticizing everything I did.
Reminding me that I was on camera. The Clue Masters are going to see this.
They’ll be watching—judging. And now I’m worried that everyone will expect me to step up as leader, but I can’t compete with Sierra! ”
Beck began twisting the colored blocks. “Do you even want to compete with Sierra?”
“And have her treat me the same way she treated Elijah? No thank you.”
“Okay. But if it wasn’t for Sierra, would you want to be leader?”
“Everyone expects—”
“Forget what everyone expects. What do you want?”
Carter let out a dramatic sigh. “To have never auditioned for this show in the first place.”
Beck managed to turn a whole side of the Rubik’s Cube red, but there was no way to complete the other sides without ruining his progress. “How about we start with something we can actually achieve, then work our way up to time travel?”
“Great idea. I vote we start with me not getting murdered in my sleep.” Carter sat up. Her perfect curls had started to frizz. “Also, not getting yelled at by executive producers.”
“Those should be easy enough to avoid.”
Carter smiled wryly. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? Here.” She plucked the Rubik’s Cube from his hand. “There are tricks to this.” A few twists of the wrist later, and the cube was solved.
“Whaaaat!” Beck took the cube back from her, inspecting all six sides. “That was incredible. And you think you’re not cool?”
Carter smiled slightly. That was encouraging. Beck was nervous enough about having Sierra on his team. He couldn’t have Carter falling apart on him, too.
“Any other mad skills I should know about?” he asked.
Carter considered the question more seriously than Beck had expected. “I know pi up to a hundred places?”
“Again. Cool. See, Carter? You have to stay. You’re the best chance we have of winning this thing. Forget about Sierra. You’re here because you’re ridiculously smart.”
“I guess so . . .”
“That’s the spirit,” Beck said. “Now you just need to show the fans what you’re really capable of.”