Valarie

“What do I have to do to make you play this?” Aria starts pestering me again. I don't know where she finds there games, and the creepy thing is, there is always a new one almost every week. She says she tries out only new ones to support the upcoming game creators, but I know all she's doing is trying to impress Javier.

They have some sort of unsaid contest about who can find and complete most games and geek about it to each other at the end of every week. The whole school ships them together. But what else can a bunch of seventeen year olds do in their free time anyway? Both of them know they like each other too, but they won't admit it just yet, I am pretty sure they actually enjoy being teased about it. No one misses the secret glances they throw at each other, it’s pretty cute.

“Unless you have waffles, don't bother trying.” I reply. I know it's pointless to say no to that wraith who might as well kidnap my dog to blackmail me into playing.
She grins at that, already pulling out a small cardboard box from my desk.

My room might as well belong to her at this point, even my mother asked her to stay over more often than not. There are already two beds and separate closets in this room. All she needs to do is move out of her house. I wish she would, I don't know why she puts up with her irritating elder brother. I think he is abusive too, but all Aria says is that he is still dealing with their parent's deaths and all the sudden responsibilities on him.

“You are getting predictable, Val.” She winks as she hands the box to me.

“Ah, my one true love.”

“I thought I was your one true love!”

“You are a close second.” I smile. “So, which new monstrosity did you find now?”

She flashes me her signature grin as she replies, “72 Hours.”

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I take a deep breath in as I slip into my old black dress, it still doesn't fit quite right. Another notification pops up, apologizing for what happened, I ignore it too. They can't pretend to know what I’m going through, everything just feels wrong.

I should have been ignoring Aria while she bugs me to study for the examinations coming soon. I should have been pestering her about Javier again. I should have been scrolling through memes that I would later send to her right now. I should have been doing all that, not dressing up to go to her funeral.

I check the time before texting Javier to pick me up. Neither of us should be alone right now, at least that's what our parents said. They are afraid we might to something reckless or stupid, which we might just do if we actually figured out how to feel.

I choke down a sob looking at the neatly packed boxes on the other side of the room. I guess I finally found her favorite sweatshirt under the bed, just where I said it would be. It doesn't feel like her anymore, it’s cold. A lifeless object connected to a million painful memories.

“Valarie? Javier is here.” My mother calls from downstairs, her voice strained by pretending to be normal. I pull myself together again before walking down the stairs. Whispering a quick goodbye, I duck into Javier's car to find a tear stained face, disheveled raven hair and a trembling body.

“Javi,” I pause, “I’ll drive.” Could you say anything more stupid? She meant a lot to him, maybe even more than she did to me.

He gives the slightest of a nod before scurrying to the passenger seat. Six days ago, we were in the same car screaming at Aria for turning the up music to a hundred whole she was giggling at our reactions.

Five days ago she was bribing me with waffles to play a game. Four days ago was the first time I noticed something wrong but said nothing about it. Three days ago we were planning on diffrent ways to commit arson so that we wouldn't have to go to school. Two days ago we were arguing over ice cream flavor. And yesterday was the day filled with nothing but regrets.

I take the wheel and turn on the music, unable to handle the awkward silence. Javi suddenly goes limp, his eyes distant and only his deep breaths assuring me he’s alive.

I take my eyes off the road and turn down the music for a moment to see him mumbling under his breath. His eyes search the air as if he's looking for memories hidden somewhere between the wind. For a moment he stops, before everything in his eyes turns into fear.

“Javi.” I whisper again, “Are you alright?” I may not have seen much death in my life, but it feels like he fears something else. And by the looks of it, something worse.
I stop the car and turn on the indicators before I get us both killed.

“Kylo.” He whispers, so softly I almost don't hear him. “The game.” What game? Has he truly lost his mind?

“What do you mean?” I reply just as quietly, trying not to spook him out of his trance. He stares at me for a while, everything around us eerily calm it is at the verge of being unnerving. For a moment I don't hear anything, just a slow rhythm of breaths telling me to calm down. But his next few words destroy the rhythm as well as any logic I might have saved. Tripping over reality, my mind replays his words again.

“She died exactly on the seventy-second hour of playing the game.”

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