The Game

Chapter 1

                           Karla's POV

     It was a bright and sunny day. This weather was the exact opposite of what everyone was feeling today. Today is where a couple of people's lives will change forever.

     Who am I and what am I talking about you ask? Oh, I totally forgot about that. I'm Karla Johnson and I'm 18 years old. I have a unique feature about me that people think is "abnormal" and "weird". My left eye is blue and the other eye is green. I don't think it's all that bad, but apparently, I'm a "freak" because of it.

     Enough of that nonsense. Today is the day of "The Calling". "The Calling" is drawing names of  10 through 27-year-olds to compete in a sick game, oddly enough, called "The Game". In "The Calling" nobody 10 through 27 years old is safe. Not the rich kids or the kids with disabilities. This is all because of scarce resources but the population growing at an alarming rate. It's a sick way of getting rid of people, but it's the way things are.

     How is it played you ask? Well, in "The Game" there is three stages you need to go through. The first stage is "The Maze." This stage makes you go through a maze filled with puzzles and riddles. If you can't complete "The Maze" in 1 hour and 30 minutes, you die. Stage 2 is called "Strength." This is when you go in front a panel of people that judge you on your talent or strength. Your strengths can vary from gaming, singing, dancing, swimming, etc. The weakest person will be executed. The third and final stage is called "Fear." This is the stage where most people die. You have to face your greatest fear. If you back down and succumb to fear, you will be eliminated.

Sometimes I wonder how things would be without "The Game." If everybody would be so much happier now. How much time will people survive with limited resources.

"Earth to Karla!" said Max as he waved his hand in front of my face shaking me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, sorry, just zoned out again," I said scratching my head.

"So you didn't hear a word I just said? Well, let me recap. I said that you shouldn't be worried because you escaped 8 years of being called," explained Max.

Who is Max you ask? Well, Max is my ultimate best friend. He's also my crush. Shh! Don't tell him. Anyway, his full name is Maximus Mage and he is the same age as me. He's about two inches taller than me and has beautiful hazel eyes. He was lovely dirty blonde hair that spikes up with the help of a little gel. He has a slight muscular shape because he swims a lot. I notice this because he almost always has his shirts off. Lucky for me. Unfortunately, he has a girlfriend already. Her name is Britney. I'll get to her when I see her later on.

"How do you know that, Maximus?" I ask skeptically

"I don't know. It's just a suggestion," he says. That's interesting. Now that I think of it, I have a theory that "The Calling" is a rigged. I don't know how, but I just have this feeling.

"So, Karla, are you ready to go?" Max asks. I nod my head still in thought about the theory slowly unraveling in my head.

We walk in a comfortable silence on the way to "The Calling." I look around to see everyone was going the same we were. To our impending doom.

Speaking of doom, I see Britney walking up to us. She's the same age as Max and me. She has platinum blonde hair that goes to the middle of her back. She's a little taller than me, but she's also shorter than Max. Did I mention her golden eyes that were to die for. At times I get jealous of her. The way she sings, the way she looks, and that she has Max as her boyfriend.

As I was walking I realized there weren't two people walking next to me. I look back and see what the couple was doing and soon regretted it. They were kissing.

"Hey, lovebirds!" I shouted getting their attention. "I would love to stand here and watch you two kiss, but we have to go face the wrath of pieces of paper."

They both spring apart and look down blushing. I then turn around wearing a smirk. I loved doing that to them.

The rest of the walk was filled with a bunch of PDA from Britney and Max. We also saw my brother Howard on the way there. You could tell that Howard was my brother. I had all his feature except the one blue and one green eye thing. He was about Max's height and had a severe crush on Britney.

We finally get to the area that "The Calling" was in and saw a lady, that had an excessive amount of make-up on, strut across the stage to a black microphone.

She taps the microphone causing a loud screeching noise to come through the speakers. This made everybody cover their ears so they wouldn't bleed out.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to "The Calling!" she says an overly excited English accent. "Today I will be calling 40 names from this bowl. 20 girls and 20 boys. Ladies first." As she concludes her introduction, she pulls a piece of paper out of the pink plastic bowl labeled girls.

"Precious Pine," she says. I look around to see who it was and see a pale red-headed girl walk onto the stage. This goes on for about three to four names.

"Britney Williams," well then. Good riddance.

"Karla Johnson," to me as well.

I hear a low gasp from my brother as I trudge my way to the stage my vision blurs. Is this the end? As I think about life the makeup lady concludes the girl names and starts calling the boy names.

"Howard Johnson," is this even real life anymore? This is definitely rigged. It's rare that siblings get called in the same year.

"Maximus Mage," this is definitely fantasy. They were called after each other like Britney and I. Something weird is going on here and I tend on finding out what it is.

Heyo! I'm back with another book. I've decided to delete the other book because I didn't really have any ideas on where it was going. But this book I have it all planned out in my notes. See ya next chapter!
~Tay ♥️