When everybody arrived, we all headed into the box. There were around thirty people, and that made the space inside the small room very cramped, which didn't exactly help with the fact that everyone was about to reveal their lists.
After a long silence and people shuffling around to get a comfy spot, I ended up being stuffed next to Zoe and Mike. Nobody said anything for a few seconds until somebody from my Physical training class piped up.
"So... who wants to go first?" she said. "I'm definitely not doing it."
Some nervous laughter.
It wasn't until thirty seconds later of an awkward silence that Jawa stood up and unfolded his list. Slapping it onto the tiny desk next to the bed, he opened up the roll of paper for everybody to see.
It wasn't that surprising. Some random kids that I didn't know, and nobody that was my friend was on the list.
This pattern went on for a while, and eventually somebody would get a name of a person who was in the room on their list. That was usually followed by some intense blushing and the clearing of throats.
After what I thought was an eternity of embarrassment, Zoe volunteered to go next. She unfolded her list, and read it out loud for everyone to hear.
The first few were random kids, as usual, but when she got higher in the list, it wasn't long before she said my name.
"Number two, Benjamin Ripley," she said.
We both blushed and she quickly read the last name, and sat down. Mike grinned at this and shoved me closer to Zoe.
Some people left, but most of them stayed. There were some whispers when a fourth year got Erica on his list as his fifth person, but other than that, Ice Queen didn't know up on anything other than mine.
Finally, after twenty-five people, I decided to get my moment of embarrassment over with and stood up. Everybody quickly calmed down and held their breaths as I laid my sheet down on the desk.
Immediatly, the room went up in chatter. It was very obvious that Erica was the first person on my list, and everybody was having emotions going from surprise to doubt.
"Ben!" Mike said, grin going from ear to ear. "You're so lucky!"
Quickly, before anything else could happen, I ran out of the room and grabbed my list on the way. Zoe followed, rolling her eyes.
"So what Ice Queen's number one on your list!?" she said, annoyed. "I was on it too! Why didn't they focus on me? Why didn't you focus on me?"
We both blushed at this, and I quickly said "I did," and headed back to my dorm before anything else could happen. The day was already humiliating enough.
Slamming the door to my room, I took my list and threw it out the window, making sure that it got stuck in a tree before heading back to my bed. I collapsed onto it, fingering with the tip of my blanket.
"You don't have to pretend that you don't know I'm here," a voice came from the ceiling.
I instinctively jumped up, grabbing a hidden gun from under my bed. Even though I was a disaster when it came to weapons, I had to have at least something to keep me protected.
A figure swung down from the ceiling and knocked the gun out of my trembling hands before I could react. I sighed in relief when my nose caught a whiff of the familiar scent of lilacs and gunpowder.
"Erica!" I said when she took off her mask, revealing her face. "For the last time, why do you keep sneaking up on people!"
"I enjoy it," she said quickly, smirking as she watched me clench my fists.
"Whatever," I said. "What did you come here for?"
"Reasons. I may have found what the CIA is planning."
"And what is that?"
"They want to bomb the MI6 headquarters."