"They said there wasn't another competition tonight!" Amberline exclaimed. She picked up the note only to affirm it was from the people in charge before tossing it back on the countertop.

"I think they said now, not tonight," corrected Parker.

"Either way, we're screwed," said Duncan as he sat on the couch. We were all too tired to do much of anything. "How long were we in that simulation?"

"I don't know," I replied honestly. I hadn't known about them, by my sense of time was messed up.

Victoria reached for the letter more seriously this time. She had actually intended to read it whilst Amberline just looked at the sender. She opened it and started reading. "Dear gamers, we hope you all remember what you did and have been able to rest enough to complete this competition."

"I don't remember much..." I said as I gave my team a cautious look.

"Me either," said Amberline. "And all I really want to do is sleep." We all agreed before Victoria continued to read again.

"There will be two portions of the test, one for memory and one for strength. You will only be able to move on to the strength portion if you pass the other with a minimum of seventy percent accuracy or better. We wish you all good luck, gamers. Some of you may need it."

"They don't wish us luck, they sabotaged us," said Victoria after she finished reading, the envelope ended up just as it were before she started reading, not getting an ounce of love from any of us.

"Well, I'm actually feeling okay," said Dean. Parker agreed with him and we came to the conclusion that the more you did, the worse off you were. For example, I could remember some things like them sitting out and the walk there, but Victoria said she remembered nothing. Dean and Parker seemed to have a vivid memory of everything. Well, that is, compared to the rest of us.

"We should head down to the lobby now," Dean suggested. They hadn't told us the time we were to be there so we rather reluctantly got back around to leave. It hadn't taken us long to leave the flat because we hadn't the time to decompress from our night out.

As we walked I was finally able to note how empty the road felt. We used to come down here in a crowd, and now people were scarce. We got to the lobby after what seemed like forever and stood in our boxes. We stood for a good ten minutes before the steady flow of people coming in stopped and the people in charge locked the door. Two more teams were eliminated because they were late to the game. We stood some more as the guards went to their flats to find them all asleep, they must've thought the game would take place in the morning. The people in charge weren't that generous.

The ritual began as if everything were normal. There wasn't a weapon or suit option so I took that as a good sign, as I always had in these games. However, when we were sent into the simulation we were put in separate boxes and had a board and marker. In front of us was some kind of hologram that looked like the lady who spoke to us during the eliminations.

"Question one, what side of the building did Parker sit at?" on the top of the board was a map that labeled the sides of the buildings. I wrote down my answer, fairly sure he sat on the side with a gym mat. My answer appeared above me as I wrote it, though I knew that with the walls separating us that we couldn't see each other's answers.

After about a minute a check appeared in the corner of my booth, I thought it was safe to assume that I'd gotten that question right. "Question two," the lady started. I noted she sounded nothing like she did earlier today and concluded the voice probably wasn't hers. "Who did Grace spend most of her time with?" I honestly couldn't remember.

After a few seconds of trying to remember I decided to use logic. I spent most of my free time with Duncan and Parker, though I knew Parker was sitting against the wall the whole time with Dean. That only left Duncan for me to write down. I was answered with another check on the corner of my booth and the lady soon started her next question.

"Question three, what team was Dean on originally?" this question made me feel terrible for not making an effort to get to know Dean. All I knew was that his team no longer existed here, they were either eliminated or reassigned. Taking my best guess I wrote down a random team that was no longer here. I was wrong, a red ex appeared below the check marks and I started to worry. I hadn't known how many questions there were, I hoped there were many so I could afford a few being messed up.

"Question four," she started. "Where did Duncan's dog, Spot, appear in the room?" the question being spoken aloud sparked a memory. It was only slight but I saw where it was, by the snack tables. I hoped I was specific enough to get it right, then wondered what else could have happened if they'd spawned his dog here.

"Question five, where did Amberline cry?" I tried to remember, obviously, because surely that was memorable. The voice told us all to hurry though I was certain I was the only one who hadn't formulated an answer. I painfully went through all the things I could when I spotted Amberline in my memory. I tried to focus on that memory and slowly the image started to appear in my mind. The fountain. Or the DJ? No, I was fairly sure it was the fountain. Before I could make up a different scene I wrote down my final answer and was relieved to see another check added to my list.

Almost instantly the next question was played. "Question six, who did Victoria kiss?"

"What? I kissed someone?" I heard Victoria exclaim in disbelief.

I hadn't known the answer so I wrote a random name. "They probably did something to the simulation to make our common sense wacked up," I said as we waited for the next question. I hoped Victoria wouldn't let the shock affect her performance.

Victoria grumbled something incomprehensible as the hologram asked the next question. I obviously got that question wrong. "Question seven, did Jasper compliment Duncan?" My first instinct was to say no. There was no chance that he would do such a thing. Then I thought that it was almost too easy to say no, so on a limb I wrote yes and wondered whether or not my common sense was still being messed with. It hadn't mattered because my answer was locked in, no changing. I was filled with both shock and triumph when I saw another check added to my score. I heard surprised gasps that signified my friends had fallen for the trap.

"Question eight," she continued, again ignoring our shock. "Which room did the celebration take place in?" Three different rooms appeared on my board. Before I could correct her on the "celebration" part I found myself too caught up in trying to find the difference. I eliminated one because the part where Parker sat wasn't there. That only left two, and I struggled to figure them out until I remembered the earlier question regarding a fountain. One of the two left hadn't had a fountain so I quickly circled the one that had and soon another check was added to my score.

"Question nine, what song played on repeat the whole time?" I felt so worthless. I even remember singing to it, the whole time it was on! I tried to replay it in my mind and slowly came to a conclusion. It was a new song, though it probably became old while we were trapped in the competition. My shoulders heaved in relief when I got it right.

"Last one, question ten," I silently did the math in my head and I had eighty percent correct. Technically, a seventy was passing. "What book was Dean and Parker reading?" I put down some random title. It hurt too much to try and remember, the pain in my head grew as each question had passed.

My booth opened and I was allowed to continue with the obstacle course. Dean and Parker were the only other two that passed, it was for the best because they weren't as physically exhausted. "Stay together, all three of you need to pass the finish line in order to win."

I paused momentarily to see that the rest of my friends were trapped in their booths. Duncan gave me an encouraging thumbs up.

Taking note of the lady's advice all three of us began to run. Some of the other teams were ahead of us but they seemed to be too tired to go fast. We passed the stragglers at a decent speed, and made our way to duck under the beams and jump over the logs. There was a portion where we had to run uphill, which seemed like nothing until you were as physically exhausted as me. I grew frustrated when both Parker and Dean passed me. They were the last two people I would have expected to pass anybody.

I pushed harder and found myself at the top of the hill but instead of going back down we had to climb a metal structure, I couldn't see the ground. "Don't fall," someone advised me. "You'll have to start over from the beginning.

We all started to climb it slowly, the metal was cold and I grew shaky in thinking of how far down I had to fall. Sure I wouldn't die, but it had to hurt. We all made it across with the displeasurable and discouraging moments seeing other people fall. The remaining teammates waited there for their teammate to catch back up. They grew more and more anxious by the second, which was understandable. Every person that passes them is one more person to beat later.

The next obstacle was a turning disk and we had to cross it to get to the other side. "What're you doing?" asked Dean as we split in different directions. I didn't reply because I hadn't known what was wrong. Until I saw that they had already passed this level and were waiting for me. I went in the opposite direction that made me have to work twice as hard to get through.

I tried to turn around but there was a force that hadn't allowed me to. I explained my predicament as I tried to speed up. I almost fell over when I reached a steady surface again. I apologized quickly and they brushed it off, urging me to continue in the game. This next part was just running on a flat surface, Parker and Dean had no issues but I found myself falling behind. 

I wanted to join clusters of people who'd stopped. I just wanted to stand next to them and bend over as I caught my breath. I couldn't though, I owed my team to keep going. Parker and Dean waited rather impatiently at the next obstacle.

I heard Jasper yelling and wondered if he was told about complimenting Duncan. Those thoughts were stopped when I heard what he was saying, "Why'd you allow yourself to pass? You're just a noob! I could be finished by now, hurry up!" It hadn't taken me long to realize he was talking to Nikki, one of the people who'd almost been eliminated. It seemed she didn't get a warm welcome into the team.

We all started jumping on squishy, unstable platforms. Jasper had given up on his teammate and finished the course, Nikki was dangling off the side about to fall. Dean got to her and helped her up.

"Thanks," she said quietly. Jasper was shocked but quickly regained himself and started talking about how the worst of the worst needed to stick together. I wanted to yell at him but couldn't find the energy to do it.

I finally managed to drag myself to the end and we arrived second to Jasper and Nikki. I wouldn't tell the team that we could have won if Dean hadn't helped her, and I had a feeling Parker wouldn't either. We emerged from the cubicles and were immediately interrogated by the rest of the team. We told them we were second to Jasper, leaving out Nikki, and went to check the scoreboards for our points. We were barely in second place; we had more people during the physical portion, so our score was higher. We all were relieved when our final score showed and we were still above D3.

Parker and Dean walked off and so did Victoria and Amberline. That left Duncan with the ability to tease me about how tired I was. It stopped soon enough when I tried explaining why I was tired and told him he didn't look to great himself. He mocked being offended but knew it was just a joke. Eventually, we all did meet up as a team and walked back to our flat. Not long ago I'd have expected myself to go straight to bed but that's not what I decided to do.

Duncan, Victoria, and Amberline had decided to go to their rooms. I sat on the couch with the other two and turned on the television. "Sorry about slowing us down earlier," I said after finding a good channel.

"I can't complain when I practically let them win," Dean said as he reached into the bowl of popcorn Parker prepared. I moved to the chair so they could put the bowl in the middle of the couch, though I made sure to grab a handful before going to the chair.

"They would have won anyway if Jasper weren't such a jerk," I pointed out, leaning back and wishing I could make the chair lean even farther.

"True," added Parker. "I bet he wanted to go and make a big deal of having to come back until he realized his plan was ruined and he couldn't."

"That sounds like Jasper," I agreed.

"I thought you guys were being overdramatic until I experienced facing him myself," Dean said, grabbing another handful of popcorn. I looked at the popcorn wistfully.

"Try being in my shoes, he personally targets me," Parker said and sounded as if he were tired of it already. I knew, though, that he could never get tired of it. Each new sentence Jasper utters about him makes him reconsider everything. I was glad when I saw it seemed he hadn't taken the hit of Jasper and Erin too hard today.

"Just warning you, never leave your clothes unattended in the drier," I told him in the most serious voice I could muster.

"Do I want to know?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, both Parker and I shook our heads.

"So..." I started, preparing to ask the important questions. "What's Nikki like?"

He smiled and looked down at his lap. "Uh, she's pretty stubborn. I know she wont bow down to Jasper the Almighty," was all he could bring himself to say.

"Does she have the potential to overthrow Jasper?" I asked in a joking manner, but a part of me hoped she really could.

"Most definitely," he replied. I could tell his admiration for her was deep, and I would go even as far as to say he liked Nikki. "I mean, if she put her mind to it. I'm sure her perseverance would get a hold on Jasper eventually."

"I hope so," I said and decided it was time for me to leave. I noted that Amberline was alone and made my way to her, seeing the extra bed that had appeared out of nowhere. "You awake, Amberline?" I asked quietly in case she was, in fact, asleep.

I knew she wasn't when she said, "I'm awake, what do you want?" She was tired, and I felt like I was being regarded on a low temper. I tried to beat around the bush as much as I could until I was sure she wouldn't pounce.

"Just making sure you're all right," I said slowly.

"Why would I not be okay?" she asked only lifting her pillow off of her face to talk.

I took the bait that she wasn't going to be too mad and started saying, "Your father was, um..." By this time in the conversation, I was sure she got the point.

"Rude, inconsiderate, controlling, mean?" She suggested a bunch of different available adjectives. She layed on her bed, taking the pillow away from her face as she realized this wasn't going to be a quick check in.

"Yeah, pretty much," I agreed bluntly. I sat on Parker's bed as I continued to talk. "Is he why you act so differently around the cameras?"

She sighed and took a moment before replying. I felt nosey again, but wanted to know. She shuffled on her bed to look at me. "You don't want to hear my story, okay? I'm just a rich girl with rich girl issues." How dare she doubt my listening skills?

"I really do," I encouraged her to continue. She seemed even more exasperated now than she had been before.

"Fine, but you can't tell me it's pathetic and stupid, Okay?" She said, taking the final step in committing herself in the telling of her story by sitting up.

"No problem," I assured her, I rested my head on my hands in trying to show her I really was listening.

"Yeah, I admit I act differently for the cameras than I do with you guys, Okay? And I do it on purpose," she started. I nodded to let her know I was still listening. She rolled her eyes but I knew she was more into the idea of spilling her issues than she had been when I came in. "It's just when I was little, like in elementary school, I'd make friends. More than a few of them. I'd bring them over to my house and he'd scare them all away. He said stuff like how much money he has, how he could ruin their lives, etcetera. Things that petrified little kids but were too vague to get him in trouble. At first I thought I just chose the wrong people to be friends with because they didn't like my dad." She further explained.

"What kind of person scares little kids like that?" I asked her when she seemed to expect a reply.

"I know right? My dad does, apparently. I tried a few more times and he did the same thing. I started to realize he did it on purpose and kept my friendships a secret. Someday I would slip up and mention them and he'd be so determined to keep me friendless he went to extreme levels. That's literally all my friends told me before outing me. I went to tell him I didn't like whatever he'd done and he told me to suck it up and that they weren't real friends anyway. I believed him when he told me they only wanted to be friends with me for my money, that I needed to find more elite people to hang out with so I wouldn't be taken advantage of," she seemed deep into the story by now.

"Why'd you believe him?" I asked curiously. She looked back at me and made me feel bad for interrupting her.

"Because I am rich and I was wounded by the instant loss of friends," she said dramatically. "Anyway, he set me up with a group of 'appropriate friends,'" she made air quotes when she'd said it. "I hated them but he assured me that they weren't using me for money. It wasn't until recently when I realized the fault in his words. It's the real reason I applied for this game. I wanted time away from him to make real friends where he couldn't scare you off. And if that failed at least I'd have had fun."

"I'm sorry I don't hang out with you much," I said when I noted that she joined to make friends. I kind of avoided her at the beginning, even if I wasn't afraid of judging her attitude changes.

"It's alright, I have Victoria. You know, she's a pretty great friend when you're on her good side," she said as she layed back down. Her story was finished and I could get ready to go to bed myself.

"I don't doubt it," I said standing up. "But I'm more than happy with Duncan and Parker." She chuckled as I left the room. She knew as well as everyone else Victoria could be pretty intimidating. They both were, actually, in their own ways. I was thinking of how terrible her father was and I found myself comparing him with The Monsters. The Monsters were worse, but I could see where Amberline's struggle came from. At least through all of my life I've had a friend.

I walked to the room and Duncan was clearly awake sitting on my bed. "Trying to get a moment to escape to your mystery place?" I asked curiously, sitting next to him. Victoria shifted so she could listen, she was awake too. I expected everyone to be asleep, but no one was.

"Yeah," he said slowly. "I can move if you want to sleep," he offered. He started standing up to sit on his bunk when I stopped him. He sat back down to listen to what I had to say.

"I'll try to help you to escape, okay? I'll go distract them," I said.

"It's not like they shouldn't know, I just don't want to-" I cut him off. I didn't need to hear his explanation. He decided to finish his thoughts anyway, "you all will judge me if you know."

"Who says we aren't already judging you?" I asked as I stood to go distract the other two. He didn't argue and I went to the bathroom, knowing it was well away from the living area. "Parker, Dean, come here now please!" I tried to sound distressed but I also tried not overdo it.

They both rushed to the bathroom, as I'd expected, asking what was wrong. I tried to come up with the most reasonable thing possible and said, "A spider, it's over there somewhere," at first they gave me looks of surprise. I wasn't scared of spiders but I doubted they knew that. I just figured they thought I was tougher than that. The manly pride overran their thoughts and they began to search. I heard the door open and shut, hoping the other two were too preoccupied to notice. I grabbed a tissue and pretended to grab the imaginary spider and flushed it down the toilet. "It's gone... sorry to waste your time." I wasn't that sorry.

They said it was okay and resumed their earlier activities. I hoped Duncan could make it back in without being noticed and that the other two wouldn't question me. I went to the room and turned off the light, as I started pulling the covers over me I heard Victoria say, "Nice one," I thanked her and went to bed after a long day.