Chapter 2 #2
I wondered what would happen to the people who weren’t here by the time the numbers hit zero.
Thanks to the police tape, the entire plaza was clear, except for eight people, who I recognized as the other contestants. I immediately noticed Sadie in the mix, and I felt a strange mixture of relief and nerves.
I was glad she was alright and that she showed up so she wouldn’t face the aliens’ penalty, but at the same time… she was here, which probably didn’t mean anything good.
I tried to duck under the tape to join the group, but a heavy hand suddenly clutched my shoulder, and I turned around to see a cop wearing a stern expression on his face.
“Are you going somewhere, son?” He spoke with a thick Southern accent that seemed very out of place in this city, and he had a deep gravelly voice.
“I’m one of the contestants.” The words felt foreign to me, and my voice sounded detached, as if someone else had spoken.
Understanding, or perhaps even recognition, lit up the police officer’s face, and his grip on my shoulder slowly loosened as he nodded solemnly at me.
“I wish you luck, boy,” he said as his hand dropped to his side, and he moved to lift the police tape so I could duck underneath. “Brave of you to show up like this.”
His words and tone made me feel even more like I was marching to my own funeral, but I thanked the man and slipped into the spacious plaza.
Once I was on the other side of the divider, I hurried over to the group, specifically Sadie.
I tried to keep my eyes averted from the crowd where news reporters stood, and people everywhere were filming or taking pictures like we were some sort of celebrities… or animals in a zoo.
I counted no less than four different local news vans parked nearby, though how they’d made it through the crowd was beyond me. Unless they’d gotten here insanely early, or even just drove here last night.
As I scanned the crowd, I noticed some people had even made banners showing their support, while other people yelled slurs and swear words at us.
I’d like to see those pussies act as brave with the roles reversed.
I hated when the attention was on me, so I was quite out of my comfort zone with all this. I kept my gaze focused on Sadie instead.
“You made it,” Sadie said with a look of relief when she saw me. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d show up. I have to admit, despite the circumstances, it’s really nice to see a familiar face.”
She flushed slightly when she mentioned the last part, and I wondered if she was just as uncomfortable with the crowd’s attention as I was.
Sadie had chosen to implement the same ‘layers’ tactic that I had. She wore a plain, navy-blue t-shirt, a black, zippered hoodie, black leggings, a short, pleated, navy skirt, and black tennis shoes.
Her dark hair was piled into a bun on top of her head, and she seemed fully prepared to take on any challenge. But her dark eyes looked wide and nervous.
“I did,” I replied with a grin. “What time did you get here?”
“About an hour ago,” she sighed. “I was nervous and didn’t want to wait around in my apartment any longer.”
I could understand that.
“How long has…” I waved a hand and gestured toward the surrounding crowd, and Sadie immediately understood my question.
“They were here when I showed up,” she said. “I actually needed a policeman to escort me in here simply because I couldn’t fight my way through all the bodies.”
Sadie was quite short, and despite her curves, she had a very thin frame, so I could see how getting through a crowd this dense would be a near-impossible challenge for her.
“And more people keep showing up by the minute,” she went on.
“When did the other contestants arrive?” I asked.
I glanced at the other people in the plaza, and a few of them were in conversation with each other, but most of them were fiddling on their phones and avoiding eye contact.
Only one person from the group seemed genuinely pleased to be there, and he was currently posing for the crowd.
Kyle.
He still looked exactly the same after all these years, with his cropped blond hair, blue eyes that always had a smug expression in them, and his stupid little mustache.
He’d skipped practicality altogether when it came to his choice of clothes because he wore a heavy, three-piece suit, shoes that looked like they cost more than they’re actually worth, and a very gold-looking watch.
He looked like he’d been called to play on the game show The Price Is Right, rather than something secretive the aliens cooked up.
Moron.
The last thing I’d heard about him was that he’d been hired on as some high-level employee at his father’s firm, despite his lack of qualifications.
I tried not to roll my eyes, but it certainly looked like the douchebag hadn’t changed much since high school. But then again, I wasn’t all that surprised. He’d been an attention hog then, too.
I tore my eyes away from my high school nemesis to study the other competitors.
All of the men were of similar stature to me, with only one of them being a bit more on the lean side.
As for the women, all of them were quite pretty, though, besides Sadie, only one other woman stood out to me as remarkably attractive. She had short, auburn hair, sea-green eyes, and lightly tanned skin.
Her sweatshirt was oversized, and her jeans were baggy, which told me she’d gone for comfort over style. I admired that. She clearly had her priorities in order.
She glanced over at me a couple of times, but she made no move to approach, or even speak to any of the men, and instead she remained close to three of the other female contestants.
“Most of them were here before I arrived,” Sadie answered my question, but I’d been so deep in my own thoughts, I’d almost forgotten what I asked her.
“And there’s twelve of us in total, right?” I confirmed.
Sadie nodded.
We were still missing three other people.
I glanced up at the timer, and it said we only had about sixteen minutes left. I wondered if we all had to show up to avoid the ‘penalty’ the aliens mentioned. I certainly hoped not, because I’d hate to be punished for someone else’s choices.
Just then, another woman came rushing toward the plaza with two policemen at either side. They held the police tape up, and the woman quickly ducked underneath and crossed the plaza toward the main group.
A few moments later, another guy showed up as well.
We were down to only one last contestant.
I glanced at the timer.
Fifteen minutes left…
“What do you think the ‘game’ is?” Sadie asked me, and I turned my attention back to her. Her eyebrows were drawn together, and her lips were turned down into a worried frown.
“I’m not sure,” I admitted.
“Do you think it’s dangerous?” she asked.
I wanted to reassure her and tell her no, absolutely not, but I couldn’t lie.
“I hope not,” I finally sighed.
I glanced over at the rest of the contestants just in time to see Kyle strutting toward me with a cocky grin on his stupid face.
“Well, well, well,” he chuckled as soon as he got closer. “Long time no see, Davis.”
“Hello, Kyle,” I grumbled.
It was my best effort at being polite.
“Who’s this?” Kyle’s eyes had drifted to Sadie, and he was looking her up and down, and it didn’t escape my notice that his eyes seemed to linger on her chest.
Sadie took a small step back, away from the perv, and I could see she was uncomfortable.
I cleared my throat loudly to bring his attention back to me.
“This is Sadie,” I said in a rather clipped tone. “She’s my neighbor.”
“I see,” Kyle mused.
I’d hoped that would be the end of our conversation, but Kyle lingered, and his eyes drifted back to me again.
At least he was no longer ogling Sadie like some degenerate.
Small miracles.
“The last thing I heard about you…” Kyle went on, and the smug grin still hadn’t moved from his face. “Was you and that other loser you hung out with started working in some mechanics garage. Is that true?”
“Jesse,” I reminded him. “And yeah, he actually owns the place, and it does really well. We get a lot of business.”
“I guess that’s the best you could do without money,” Kyle snorted.
“Not really,” I said with some bite in my voice. “That’s the best I could do without a daddy who hands everything to me on a silver platter.”
Kyle had always tried to get under my skin when it came to our differences in upbringing. And nothing was sacred to him. He mocked me about status, money, and even the fact that my parents were dead.
I had to admit, that last one was really hard to overlook, but at the end of the day, I knew it was a petty attempt to make himself feel better about his own shitty life. Sure, Kyle had money, status, and two living parents.
But I had a best friend, skills I could actually implement in the real world and make a living off of, and adoptive parents who loved and cared about me.
Fuck Kyle. He wished he was me.
“So, what do you think these games are going to be about?” Kyle ignored my own jab in favor of continuing to hear himself talk.
“No idea,” I said.
“It doesn’t really matter either way,” he said with a shrug. “I’m sure I’ll beat you no matter what the game is.”
“I highly doubt the aliens will accept your money as a bribe,” I scoffed. “You’ll have to win on your own merit, and you can’t buy your way to the top.”
Kyle chuckled and gave me a condescending pat on the shoulder before he walked away.
It took everything in me not to smack that hand away, or smack the smile off his face.
Yep. He definitely hadn’t changed at all.
Sadie approached me again once Kyle was gone.
“I don’t mean to pry into your personal business,” she said. “But who exactly was that guy?”
“Somebody I went to high school with,” I replied.
“Well, I don’t want to be rude or anything,” she added. “But he seems like a total jerk.”
“You’d be right about that.” I glanced at her from the side and shot her a quick grin, which she promptly returned.
I looked up at the ship again, and in the time I’d been distracted talking, the timer had dropped substantially.
It now read that we only had three minutes and forty-seven seconds left.