The Manipulation Game

Game On

"Andie!" a girl's high voice shouted, followed by a quick rap on the door. "Let me in!"

Andie Renner closed her psychology book as she let her chair fall on all four legs, and got up, heading towards the door. Another knock followed. "I'm coming!" Andie responded. She opened up her dorm door and plastered on a false smile.

Celia Moore stood waiting, wearing a strapless green dress, complimenting the girl's strawberry blonde hair and dark eyes. "Honestly," Celia said, walking in uninvited, surveying Andie and the room as judgemental as she always was. "You're wearing that to the party?"

Andie shook her head, remembering she was wearing pyjamas. "Wait for me to get dressed." She said, walking to the bathroom.

Without invitation, Celia strutted over to Andie's closet and rifled through it, muttering no to herself. A gasp of delight escaped her. "Ooh! This'll make your eyes seem extra blue, and your hair darker." She said, throwing a knee-length gray dress at her. Andie caught it from behind as she walked into the bathroom, dropping the false smile the moment she was out of view. She despised Celia, a judgemental narcissist who considered her a 'friend'. She scoffed a little, disguising it with a cough.

"You okay Andie?" Celia asked from in the main dorm, shuffling through Andie's clothes, most likely looking for something to use in the Game.

"Just a cough!" Andie shouted, losing herself in thought as she stripped out of her pyjamas.

Friends. What was the point of them? Andie preferred useful people. Celia was useful, simply because her mouth would run until she let something slip, usually something she really shouldn't say. Andie slipped the gray dress on, turning around in the mirror. Celia also had a sense of style, she had to admit, as the gray dress made her look pretty, which would be useful tonight. Useful people do useful things. Friends are meaningless.

"Thanks Cel!" she called, dripping her voice in false excitement. "The dress is gorgeous." she said, leaving the bathroom.

Celia clapped her hands and hopped as the door opened, shuffling the skirt stolen from Andie's closet to her elbow. "Looks great," she said excitedly, "And could I borrow this?" she asked, suddenly serious, holding up the black leather skirt. Celia's emotions, Andie had come to learn, are constantly shifting. Momentarily weighing the pros and cons of the skirt, Andie nodded. Celia's subconscious would later remind her that she got the skirt from her, and she'd tell her whatever she learned in the skirt. Either that, or she'd let it slip accidentally, which was even better, as it required no payment.

"Sure." she smiled, picking up her pale gold phone as Celia shrieked in delight. Seventeen new messages flashed up from the screen at her. She scrolled through it thoughtlessly. Four asking why she wasn't at the party yet, two from Celia saying she was coming over, six people asking for revenge, and five threatening blackmail. Andie rolled her eyes at the last five, as if they had a chance. She had more dirt on anyone of them then the five of them combined had on her. That had to wait until after the party.

"By the way," Celia said, bringing Andie's attention up from her phone, 'how'd you get this amazing room?"

Andie laughed, legitimately, for the first time in forever. "The Game, obviously." She said, smiling slyly, "How else do I get things?"

Andie's room was one of the largest at Ridgeview, with a perfectly organized walk-in closet and an paccommodating bathroom, with huge bay windows overlooking the dense forests around the secluded Academy. She had the nicest, and most expensive furniture, along with the best selection of fashionable clothes. She had everything thanks to the Game.

Celia nodded thoughtfully. "Whose was it before you took it?" saying this as ordinarily as you'd ask the day of the week.

"Grace Blackburn." Andie responded, opening the door to go. "She decided that she couldn't keep up housekeeping in such a large room." she said sarcastically.