A few weeks passed, and I did nothing with Caroline and that goddamn video.

I didn't even know if Dr. Mann's wife was still sick, what she was sick with, or why the hell Dr. Mann would keep a picture of her in a hospital bed on his desk. It certainly didn't add up, but I couldn't decide if that was just because I was an asshole, or if it actually didn't make much sense.

And with Caroline and Viktor officially "talking" (Whatever the hell that meant. Relationships were not my forte, since the only reason I had a boyfriend was because Blaine couldn't keep his shit together.), both my resource and my sanity had significantly less time to talk to me about my issue.

So I just didn't tell either one of them that I had gone rogue and talked to Dr. Mann, because I was just that freaking petty.

It didn't make it any less lonely, though.

I was up at three o'clock one morning, doing a lab report that I never had time to do before, since Viktor had a game the night before, and I just never felt like doing it any other time.

I mentally thanked every god I could think of that Jackie was asleep. I didn't want her to hear my sniffles of self-hatred.

As I stared at my laptop screen, wondering what else I could possibly write about the digestive system of a pig, I jumped at a sudden loud noise.

Some fucking idiot must have pulled the fire alarm. I rolled my eyes at the screeching false alarm and kept typing away.

And if actually was a fire, I didn't care. I was willing to take the L.

Jackie sat up. "Hello?"

"Go back to sleep. Someone just pulled the fire alarm," I said, not looking up from my work.

She hesitated before speaking again. "Like, for sure, or have you just accepted death?"

"Definitely the second one, but feel free to save yourself."

She threw the covers off of herself. "Come on." She walked over to my bed and grabbed my arm. "We're in this together. I won't let you die."

"Just leave me," I said flatly. "I need to get this lab report done."

"I have some concerns about your mental health, but we'll address those later." She pushed all my blankets to the floor.

"What if I wasn't wearing pants?" I asked.

She laughed. "That's how you would have died, then. Come on."

And with that, both she and I went down to the lobby of the dorm, where it seemed most people had gathered.

"Dammit, I told you it was a false alarm," I said, then turned to go back to my room.

Just then, Krista, one of the attendants of the dorm, began to speak. "I'd like to thank you all for gathering here today."

"Oh my god," I muttered.

Krista continued. "So for anyone who was here last year, I'm sure you know what this is about, but for all the newbies, I hope we didn't scare you too badly.

"It's time for the annual Nerf battle."

Her pep made me wish there was an actual fire.

"Basically, it's an annual tradition in our dorm that we have a tournament where you just shoot each other, and whoever is the last one standing without getting shot wins."

"This seems like a terrible idea," I heard Jackie mumble.

"This seems like a great idea," I replied with a laugh.

Krista looked at me and smiled. "It's really a good way to blow off some steam. Who doesn't love shooting their neighbors with Nerf guns?"

"Who won last year?" a guy asked.

Krista smiled. "That would be me. So, starting on Friday, the game will begin. Make sure you follow these rules, or there will be consequences. Rule number one, you can only shoot people with the Nerf guns provided. Please don't actually pull a gun on one of us. That'll get you kicked out, and you don't want that.

Rule number two, the only places that are considered out of bounds are classrooms. Hallways, outside, dorm rooms, et cetera are all fair game.

Rule number three, once you get shot, as soon as you have a second of free time, find me at the front desk, and I'll officially eliminate you from contention."

"That's a pretty dishonest way of doing things, don't you think?" the same guy from before asked.

"Not with these." Krista held up one of the bullets. "They're specifically designed by our wonderful engineering students to stay stuck to dry skin, clothes, and all that stuff, until we remove it with the special remover stuff."

Very official. 10/10.

I held up my hand, then began to speak. "How does that work?"

Krista shrugged and laughed. "Do I look like an engineer to you?"

"Depends on what you think an engineer should look like."

Krista smiled, then turned back to the group. "Anyway, you won't be able to cheat like that, so find a different way. Rule number four, wear one of these yellow arm bands at all times while you're still in the game.

"Other than that, do whatever you like. Last person standing wins a prize of half-off their room and board costs."

Holy fucking shit. Game on.

I needed that, and I would destroy anyone in my way.

Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Let's work together. I won't shoot you, and you won't shoot me," Viktor said from behind me.

I looked back at him. His hair was messed up just like every single morning back in the good old days. "I wouldn't let you be the one to take me out. I need this money, and with you on my side, I think we can get pretty damn far, as long as you're not too nice."

"I'm mean. I can handle it." He laughed.

"There's not a mean bone in your body. But remember how you told me you were gonna grow a backbone? This is your time to prove it to me. How'd you do last year?"

He smiled. "I didn't shoot anyone."

I blinked a couple times. "That's a horrible stat."

He shrugged. "I don't think so. I actually was in the last ten standing, so—"

"A brilliant strategist, aren't you?" I laughed. "Not that you need the prize, though."

"I still wouldn't mind winning. I guess something's just different here. I want to prove something, I guess."

I nodded. "Absolutely. There's nothing like destroying everyone you hate, everyone you like, everyone who doesn't know you so their only impression of you is, 'Damn, how are they better than me?'. God, I just love winning."

"You scare me sometimes. This is reminding me of game nights at your house. You and Matt never took it easy on the triplets."

I laughed. "Then how would they learn to get better? Competition is a good thing."

Viktor shook his head. "American culture is so funny. You guys have violent games like this to pay for things that shouldn't cost so much money."

"You're telling me. But anyway, Friday's in six days, so we need to begin our preparation tomorrow. Meet me at my dorm after your classes, okay?"

"Prepare? Why?"

"Because one of us is going to win, and I don't care what I have to do to make it happen. We're playing dirty."

Viktor smiled and shook his head. "Of course we are."

***

I laid out several materials of clothing in front of us, and I held out the bullet to Viktor. "Let's see what this sticks to." I looked at him for a moment, as he stared at the bullet, one eyebrow raised, so I added, "Don't lick it."

"Why would I do that?" he asked.

"Oh, shit. I forgot who I was talking to for a second. Sorry."

That was something I'd have to tell Blaine. Whoops.

But that made me think for a moment. While everyone else was half-asleep during our fire alarm meeting, I had most of my cognitive abilities functioning moderately well. Krista said that it stuck to dry skin.

"Actually, lick this." I held it up to his mouth.

"That's disgusting. I don't know where that's been."

"You don't know where Caroline's been, but you don't seem to have a problem with that."

His rose his eyebrows. "I never—"

"I don't want to hear about it. Just lick this. I want to see if it sticks to your tongue."

"You lick it." He pushed it away from his face and closer to mine. "I don't want to be involved with your cheating scandal if it means that I have to lick things."

I laughed. "Please?"

"No. I don't even know how you got your hands on that thing."

"That doesn't matter. If you're going to be on my team, you have to follow my rules."

"I was the one that suggested we should work together. It's my team."

I looked at him for a moment. "Fuck, you got me there."

He smiled. "Rule number one, you have to listen to me."

"I don't listen to anyone but my damn self, Vik. You should know that. I'm an independent bitch."

"Rule number two, stop calling yourself that. It's not nice, and you're definitely not a bitch."

I rolled my eyes. "It's just a word. It doesn't mean much."

"I just don't want you to start villainizing yourself. You're better than that."

"Villainizing. Good word."

He smiled. "Thank you, but it's just a word."

"My point exactly."

He thought for a moment, then spoke. "I don't think there's such thing as 'just a word.'"

"Words only have as much power as you give them, though. If I don't let them mean anything, then they just don't mean anything to me."

"That's taking away a lot of emotion, don't you think?"

"Not if you find meaning in the other things in life, like actions or something." I laughed. "Why does this always happen to us? We're supposed to be focusing on winning."

"I like listening to you talk. You just think so differently than me."

"We're violently different. We have completely different lives, but I don't think either one of us could possibly feel complete without the other in that life."

He smiled. "Probably not."

"But getting back to what we're supposed to be doing—"

Viktor interrupted me. "Let's do something fun. You and me. I feel like I don't see you enough."

"This is fun, trying to organize a plan to destroy our opponents."

"Amanda, not everything is about winning. Sometimes you need to just slow down and enjoy life for a minute."

I looked at him and shook my head. "That's what you don't understand. It's not about winning a stupid game, which would be nice, but it's about winning that money. It's a three thousand dollar 'game', if you can even call it that."

He paused, taking in everything I just said. He let out a sigh, maybe irritated with me, then held out his hand. "Give me the bullet."

I rose an eyebrow, then placed it in his hand. "If my thinking isn't completely wrong, it shouldn't stick to moist surfaces."

"Do you even know what it's made of?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't think they'd pick something toxic."

"Unless they did, and you're secretly planning to kill me."

"I wouldn't count that one out either, if I were you." I smiled. "No, but seriously, you probably won't die."

"What if I get superpowers?"

I laughed. "Now you're just reaching."

He shut his eyes and let out a breath. "There's no way I'd do this for anyone else."

I smiled as he pressed the tip to his tongue, then pulled it away.

"It didn't stick," he said.

How observant of him.

"Oh my god, I can't believe you actually did that. We could have just pressed it to some wet skin or something." I laughed.

His eyes widened. "Why didn't you say that before?"

"I didn't think you'd actually do it."

He glared down at me, and I took a wild guess that he wasn't too happy with me.

"Hopefully you don't die," I said, trying to smile my way out of the situation.

I had put myself in harm's way for Viktor on several occasions, but this was the first time he had ever done so for me.

Of course, it was stupid of him, but that lack of thinking was part of his charm.

"Yeah. Hopefully," he muttered, and if I wasn't convinced that I had gone a little crazy, I would have sworn that I saw him crack a smile.

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Hey everyone! Thank you for reading! You're pretty much the best thing to ever happen to me (except for pizza), and I just want you to know that I appreciate you.

I'd like to get a general idea of the public's opinion. Any thoughts on this story so far? What do you like? What do you not care for? What do you want more of?