Published || The Secret of Larimore High School

◽️ 15 ◽️

My throat felt raspy and painful, like wires scratched the sides of it to the point of being raw. My body didn't want to move when I became aware of the world around me, and so it took me a few minutes to actually rouse myself to movement. Blinking through the haze, I realized art supplies surrounded me. Canvases, desks, and other paint supplies crowded up against the walls. We started on the basement floor, just like the rankings promised, even thought I last remembered being in the lobby. Taylor's hand painted banners showing the emblem of the Copper Pheonix coated the walls, and I couldn't figure out what happened. The television screen we watched for announcements stayed blanked, and someone left a laptop open on the teacher's desk facing us. Someone pushed several boxes emblazoned with our emblem, trying to convey their importance.

My team lay scattered around the room, asleep on the ground. Nashita lay curled around a box in a position that looked really uncomfortable. Honestly, it looked like somebody just threw her on the box without caring if she would be alright or not. I stumbled over and adjusted her skirt so that it covered her legs back up, something I knew she would appreciate when she woke up.

"Nashita," I whispered quietly. "Nashita, wake up, please." I shook her shoulder. I felt terrified as soon as the reality of the situation set in. Taylor put us to sleep and threw us into the music room.

"Leave me alone, Rudy. I'm sleeping." The woman murmured and weakly waved a hand at me as if to dismiss all of my words. She fluttered her eyes in her sleep. She looked completely out of it and didn't realize who spoke to her.

"Nashita, it's me, Fey. I'm not Rowdy. Wake up." I talked a bit louder and used more force to shake her awake. She grumbled, finally opening her eyes and sitting up. Her face flushed, and she adjusted her clothing before looking around the room. Then, her expression changed. The embarrassment melted off of her face and anger solidified in its place.

"I can't believe this." She griped, pulling herself off the floor and stalking over to the door. She went to open it, and surprisingly, it swung open into the hallway. A dim lighting covered the hall. I noticed that this wasn't coming from an overhead light that kept on during school, but instead, small LED lights that lined the walls emitted it. They shone an orange color, the color of the Copper Pheonix team. Did that mean the event was still happening? Was it really necessary to knock us out for some stupid game? "Taylor pulled some shady shit just now, and I'm about to give them what for." She snarled, turning around to face me again. Some of the anger on her face faded. I guess she expected the door to be locked, too.

"Rowdy!" She yelled across the room at the pile of tattoos slumped in the corner near the desk. He didn't stir in the least. He looked dead, and the only thing to signify that he wasn't happened to be the shallow rise and fall of his shoulders as he slept. All of us staggered about in a slump of grogginess. As I continued to look around the room, I found Melissa and Leighton sprawled out somewhere else, also completely asleep. Someone placed our entire team here at the starting point. For some reason, Taylor felt the need to put us to sleep in order to start the event. The image of them sobbing, apologizing, and then opening that container swam back into my head. Maybe someone made them do it.

"Get up, dork! I need your help!" The girl yelled, strutting over to the sleeping beast that intimidated me still to this day, even though he acted like a kind, funny guy. She shook his tattooed shoulder with a dark hand, trying to keep her cool even though she felt absolutely petrified. "Please!"

Finally, the boy grumbled, rolling over and blinking up at the ceiling. He looked like he might be sick, to be honest. Eventually, though, he managed to sit up and grumble a few more times. He rubbed his eyes, yawned, and stretched like a bear that had just been woken up from hibernation. "What the hell is going on?" His voice mumbled as he staggered to his feet and gazed around the room; then it clicked, and everything came back to him. Embarrassment leaked onto his face, probably at the fact that someone drug him all the way back here.