From the roof of Bowdle O’Bannon, Jared can see -- a bunch of trees. Why’d they have to build this dorm so far away from the rest of the campus? He balances the bobble-head on top of his head. “See anything, Mr. President?” he asks. President Melton does not answer. “Yeah, me neither.” He sets the bobble-head down on the tiles and takes a few steps back. He is about to settle down for the night and go to sleep when he catches something in the corner of his eye. A tall, skinny figure is running his direction on Parker Street.
“Haha!” he laughs. “She looks like an ant.” In response to Jared’s prodding, Melton nods his approval. As the ant draws closer, her long hair comes into view and Jared recognizes her. “Oh, it’s Nicole.” Rather than ducking down to hide, he crawls over to the front edge of the roof and watches her. She tries to open the front doors, but they’re locked. After prying at a few windows, she gives up and begins to pace, tossing her volleyball from hand to hand.
Jared gets down on his stomach and calls out, “Nicole!”
Nicole stops pacing and looks up. “Jared? How did you get up there?” she asks.
“I climbed,” he answers. “It’s not that hard. Just move from window to window and try to get a firm grip on the bricks.”
“How? There’s nothing for me to grab onto!”
Jared giggles. “That’s what she said…”
Nicole rolls her eyes and bounces her volleyball off the wall. “Have you even tried to get inside the building?”
“No. Why would I do that?”
“Um… it’s raining.”
Jared shrugs. “Nah, it’s just spitting.”
“Well, I’m not climbing up there. Good luck, Jared.”
“Wait! Nicole! Watch out!”
Nicole turns around and comes face to face with…
Paige!
Paige is standing with her hands on her hips, giving Nicole an awful glare.
“Look out! You do not want to get on Paige’s bad side,” Jared yells.
Paige looks up and squeals, “Jared! What the heck? You and I are supposed to be friends!”
“Yeah, well, why can’t we all just be friends then? Don’t kill Nicole.”
“I wasn’t going to kill Nicole. I came over here to see if anyone was in BOB, but by the looks of it, no one can get in, so I’ll just be leaving now.” She turns away to walk back to Nora.
“Bye Paige!” Jared yells. She passes the bleachers by the baseball field. “Wait! Paige! Why don’t you just stay here, and we can all try to find a way into the building? I think there might be some sort of attic I can climb into. Hang on.” He turns around and begins searching the roof for a door. “Guys, I can’t find anything. Where do you think it would be? Should I just start breaking shingles off until I find something hollow?”
Paige rolls her eyes and tugs at her braid. Nicole, on the other hand, has no patience for this. “Oh, come on, Jared! That’s it. I’m coming up there.” She heads for the wall and begins to climb, slowly and carefully, by digging her toes into the ridges. All is going well until she reaches the third floor. Suddenly, a torrential downpour hits, just like it normally does at this hour every Monday when I straighten my hair. Nicole clings desperately to the wall, but her hands are slipping. “Jared! Jared, help me!”
Jared quickly searches his mind for a solution, but is unsuccessful. She is too far away to reach, and he has nothing to help her up with… Except…
“Nicole!” he yells. “I’m going to throw you the bobblehead!”
“What?!” Nicole and Paige scream in unison.
“The President Melton bobblehead! There’s this button that you can push behind his neck. If you say the right words and push the button, he’ll --” Nicole’s hand slips from the brick. As her body swings to the right, she loses her grip with her right hand as well. Before she can steady herself, she is tumbling down the wall. Paige and Jared watch in horror as she crumples on the ground before them. Jared is still leaning over the edge of the roof, loosely grasping the bobblehead.
After a few minutes of silence, Jared mumbles, just loud enough for Paige to hear, “Well, he would have saved you… But I guess it was too late. Here, Paige. Maybe you’ll have better luck than me.” Jared tosses the figurine at an angle, and Paige clumsily catches it with both hands.
“Jared… You should come down.”
“I can’t, Paige. It’s raining. You saw how easy it is to climb this wall in the rain.”
Paige sighs. “Well… as soon as it’s safe, you should come down. I don’t think you’re doing yourself any favors by staying up there.”
“I know.”
Silence.
Paige wanders over to the front door of the building and sinks to the ground. She holds a hand over her head and whispers to herself, “I’m just ready for this to be over…” She sets the bobblehead next to her feet. He nods eight times.
The cannon finally booms.
YOU ARE READING
The Kairos Games
FanfictionIn this thrilling spin-off of the Hunger Games, twenty-six lonely college freshmen face up against their worst nightmare: death, at the hands of each other and cafeteria food. Who will win the dreaded Kairos Games? Will it be Becca, with her yellow...
