The Grouch Next Door

Chapter 18

"Alright, this is mission number three!" Maya exclaimed. "We're officially halfway through with the competition."

There were eight contestants left, all in pairs of two. All were currently in an indoor rock-climbing area. There were all kinds of different types of climbing walls, but one stood out the most. It was a huge wall speckled with colorful grabbing stones and was located behind Maya. Since it was only a mission, Helen and Florence weren't present.

Soon, Maya passed a bowl of folded papers around. Each person took one. "Go ahead and read it when you think it's safe. Each person that completes their mini task gets a total of three points."

Maude unfolded the piece she got. But immediately after reading it, her lips curled down in distaste. Are you serious? Why do I always get the crappiest ones?

Allen leaned over to Maude. "What does yours say?"

Feeling his breath tickle her ears, Maude brought her shoulder up. "I have to smuggle a roll of toilet paper from the bathroom." She said with an unimpressed look on her face.

Hearing her expose it so easily, Donald was shocked. Boss, you're supposed to keep it secret! What if someone tries to sabotage your mini mission? He looked around. Thankfully no one heard.

Seeing how unhappy Maude felt, he offered to trade.

"Well what does yours say?" Maude asked. She wanted to see if it was something worth trading first.

Fair point. "I have to steal three pieces of paper from any of the other contestants."

Maude declined immediately. "No thanks. Mine seems more manageable. In fact, I think I'll finish it as soon as Maya's done talking."

After all had finished reading and hiding their papers, Maya continued explaining. "The fastest ones to get to the top and then down, together, will win. The first couple gets 6 points, the second 5, and so on. The competition starts as soon as y'all are ready. Good luck!" She moved aside to talk to one of the event coordinators.

Maude turned to Allen. "I'll be right back." Let's get this over with. She made her way to her target location, the women's restroom.

Unexpectedly, Isabella followed her in. She waited until Maude had grabbed a toilet paper roll and then approached her. "Here," she reached out with a small metal item, "use this clip. I got it specially from the instructor, for you."

Maude knew that Isabella didn't have good intentions. Allen had already warned her. So she took one look at it and figured Isabella probably messed with the clip. And even if she didn't, Maude refused to accept anything from anyone besides Allen.

She sidestepped Isabella's outreached hand and headed for the exit.

Crap. She's already suspicious of me? Putting on a sweet smile, Isabella stopped Maude and stuffed the item into her hand. "Really, you should take it." At that moment, her phone made a sound. Isabella's eyes brightened up, and her smile widened. "Good luck!" She tried to get away, but ended up getting bumped into by Maude. The toilet paper rolled away a little.

Isabella's arms twitched and reached out for Maude's neck, but then lowered immediately. Gritting her teeth, she bent down to pick up the roll of paper. On the inside, she seethed. Only the thought of all her hard work kept her from screwing Maude over at that moment. She stuffed it into Maude's hands and escaped before her anger exploded.

Maude watched her disappear, before looking down at the clip in her other hand. She threw it into a nearby trash can without a second thought before going back.