We all awoke that morning to Victoria yelling in her usual rage. Although, this time I hadn't known why she was so angry. All I knew was that she kept saying, "Downstairs! Those jerks! Are you kidding me?" The rest of it was just a blur because I was still in the hazy state of being half asleep. I was about to try and get some more rest when I noticed Duncan climbing down to the floor to go see what Victoria was so upset about. When I saw that he had reason to be concerned, I instantly thought I was missing something big and became concerned enough to follow him to our living space.

When we were out there, Parker and Amberline had soon followed us. "What's wrong?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. I wasn't ready to be up and around yet.

"Why don't you come see what those jerks did for yourself," she all but screamed at us. She seemed so much louder when I wasn't fully conscious. We all followed her downstairs without question, and I realized where this was heading. We had left the laundry in the drier overnight because it was getting late, and whatever Victoria was so upset about was obviously leading to the laundry.

When we approached our designated washer and drier, Victoria threw the door open and let us see inside. Our suits were for the most part stained in blue.

"Did D3 do this?" asked Parker in disbelief. I couldn believe the irony my conversation with Duncan last night now held. We, well more like I, wanted to get revenge on them. Duncan had talked me out of it, but now that D3 sabotaged us... I wasn't so sure about our decision.

When realization struck panic within me rose and I asked, "Wait, will those be clean before our competition today? We cannot go to the lobby in blue suits." It was such a close match to D3's colors, and I refused to support them like that. The cameras appeared around us and in my irate state of mind I had just wanted to yell at those nosey cameras.

"How could they do that?" asked Amberline. "It's so inconsiderate," she said, adding that last part because it sounded more like her act for the cameras. I couldn't even find myself able to be concerned about the act. We can't go to the lobby in these!

"Because the wildcards are so special they won't get in truble," said Duncan grimley. I could imagine him adding that they did this because of their contract, and that it was their job. But of course, he couldn't say that aloud with all the cameras around us.

"Let's take it upstairs and try to figure out what the stain is, maybe we can quickly get it out," I suggested. Amberline started packing our newly blue suits in a basket to take upstairs. Most of it wasn't a strong blue color, it was dirty and mixed with orange in most spots, but the blue was easy enough to see.

When we got upstairs there was a letter taped to our door that I hadn't remembered being there as we left. I would have thought I wasn't observant enough to see it in my sleepy state, but my whole team seemed surprised by it too. Duncan picked it up and handed it to me to read. I was instantly relieved to see that it wasn't from the people in charge, I had feared them telling us we couldn't arrive with blue suits. If we didn't arrive on time we'd be disqualified. That threat was made more real when F4 suddenly disappeared from the leaderboard and Duncan had to explain to us that they weren't at one of the games.

."I saw your cloths had been turned blue, so terrible. Just wash them again, it should get better." I read aloud from the letter. It sounded to fake to be true. This further proved them guilty, but was to vague to get D3 in trouble. The camera people couldn't tell on them, so the penalties of their action would have to take place after this episode aired. If Duncan's crazy conspiracy theories were correct, they couldn't get in trouble because the people who'd done it were obviously wildcards.

Amberline, again, had offered to go and rewash our suits. She went downstairs and I felt like my soul was ripped away from me when we saw the familiar envelope. It was from the people in charge and it seemed to be staring right at us. As always, we waited for Amberline to get back before reading the letter. I had made it a point for all parties to be present before reading the game letters, and just because every second not reading this letter caused a new wave of agony; I wasn't about to let that break the tradition I'd started.

As soon as Amberline was back Victoria practically mauled the envelope in getting to the letter inside. It read, "Dear gamers, for some of you this news will be enlightening. There will be no competition today." They had known about what Jasper and Erin had done! I was furious, and from the way everyone in the room got tense, they had seemed to connect those dots as well. "However, you will still have a task today. You should get comfy with D3, because you are working with them tomorrow! More information will be revealed later, as always; good luck gamers."

"They really had to choose D3 for us to work with?" Asked Amberline, taking the letter from Victoria. She reread the letter as if Victoria had read it wrong the first time.

"They had to make it at least a little challenging," said Parker, he wasn't complaining but I knew he wasn't excited. "It's all part of the game."

"Besides, we're not the only ones with grudges. I'm sure other teams are sulking too, so we should use that as an advantage," said Duncan, I could tell he was thinking of all the opportunities this game held for us. Some of the other teams were slowly catching up to us on the leaderboard, and Duncan seemed to realize that they'd all be distracted too.

"Aren't you always talking about how the wildcards are supposed to cause drama?" Asked Amberline.

"Yeah. I agree with you, Duncan, that other teams would be distracted. But shouldn't Jasper and Erin make it really hard for us to win?" I added. He shook his head and looked at both of us.

"I think that's unlikely. They are supposed to be starting drama, but they're also competitors in the game. They'll want to win too. By dragging us down, they'll go down with us," he explained.

"Should we go talk to them then?" Asked Victoria reluctantly. She looked around to the rest of us, we all knew the answer but hadn't wanted to be the one to admit it. We discussed it for a few minutes before deciding it was for the best.

We all finished getting around, then started to head up the stairs to get to D3. I knocked on the door, half expecting no answer. Correction, half of me hoped that they wouldn't answer. But they had, much to everyone's disappointment. When I say everyone, I meant my team and Jasper as he realized who he was letting in.

"You got the letter too?" Asked Jasper, looking us over with disappointment. He let us in and told us to make ourselves at home, though his voice was full of sarcasm when he'd said it. His flat had a lot more personality than ours, mostly due to the drawings scattered across it. I had to admit, even though I hated D3, whomever had drawn the pictures was good at their craft. It made me wonder why they were in such a huge gaming competition, when their passion had seemed like it was drawing. "Like what you see?" Asked Jasper. I noticed he was the only on home.

"The drawings?" Asked Duncan. He just got an eyeroll from Jasper as a reply. "Yeah, the drawings are pretty good," he continued, seeming to ignore Jaspers attitude. We all found spots in their living area to sit. We weren't too uncomfortable because they had all the same colors and furniture as we did. They just decorated their living space.

"It's a good waste of time. My parents forced drawing on me when they realized I wasn't passionate about school, like they'd hoped," Jasper said as he plopped himself onto the chair. He turned on the tv and started flipping through the chanels. We weren't allowed to watch the competition yet, as if it would harm the gameplay. Anything that even mentioned the competition was blocked from us. Still, we were glad to have entertainment.

"The school system isn't perfect," admitted Parker. It earned a surprised glance from Jasper but he'd soon brushed it off.

"I'm going to ignore that you of all people would admit that." Said Jasper when he'd recovered. "My school's trying to cut all the art and music programs. They think it's a waste of time, that the time and money spent on those classes could be used for the ever important common core."

"Seriously?" Asked Victoria. "Those are the only fun classes."

Jasper had seemed to pick a show and sat back saying, "Yep, glad I've almost served my four years. They'll have no choice but to release me. Anyway, the rest of my team will be here soon. They haven't read the letter yet, so don't expect to be welcomed with open arms right away. Or ever, for that matter."

"If we'd met outside of the game, would we dislike each other this much?" Amberline surprised me by asking.

He shrugged, "There's no telling, that's not what happened. How about you Grace, what do you think? It's weird that you're not talking. From what I've seen, you'd never miss a chance to speak your mind." He put the spotlight off of him and onto me.

"It only seems that way because you don't know how to leave my team alone," I replied sharply. Before he could say anything in return I added, " and to answer the question, it would completely depend on how you act outside of the competition. If you're really like you are here then no, I wouldn't like you outside the game."

He put his hands in the air as he smiled cruelly. "There's the Grace I've come to know." Not much time had passed when his teammates had arrived. He was right when he'd said we weren't welcome. Most of his team just stared, but Erin made a point of asking why we were here. To that, Jasper said to read the letter. They had the same reaction as we did, we let them speak their minds as we sat there uncomfortably. Soon enough they came to terms with our position and we all crowded into the living space. My team offered to sit on the floor because it was their flat.

After a few minutes of silence, I couldn't take it. I've almost never had silent moments like this since I'd arrived, and even then the people in the room hadn't made a point of hating me. "How about we play a game?" I suggested.

"Not enough controllers for us all," stated Erin. As I thought about it, I realized that there was ten of us.

"Some of us could go downstairs and play in our flat," said Duncan. He still looked around, admiring the pictures scattered around us. I had long passed the initial admiration but he seemed to have a different respect for the arts.

"Which of us leave?" Asked someone from Jaspers team. I didn't know her name, but until I knew it I'd refer to her as red. Her hair was a shade of reddish orange and she seemed like a genuinely quiet person. She also seemed like someone I could imagine getting along with if it weren't for the competition.

"A few people from either team," said Amberline. "The point of coming here was to try getting along with you guys." She had a point, though I hated to admit I would have to work with D3.

"Still," said Erin. "Who's leaving."

"I'll go upstairs with Jasper, Erin, Victoria, and one other person," I said standing up. I figured it was best for now to take the worst of them with me. I wanted to keep them away from Parker, and I wanted someone I knew Parker was comfortable with near to him. In doing this, I would be putting myself in a position that I didn't entirely like. Then I thought that maybe Parker needed to work with Jasper and Erin, but I was afraid they would step out of line and hurt him.

"Alright. Olive, you're coming with us. You're the only other person here I can tolerate," Jasper decided, he stood up as well. That somehow triggered the rest of the people leaving to stand. It surprised me how he could treat his team that way. He was the wildcard in the group, you'd think the rest of his team would push him around.

It turned out Red's name was Olive. We walked to my flat and decided to take turns because the game we chose to play was only a four player game. Of course, I was the one who had volunteered to switch with Olive. If I'd had my way, we would all be taking turns. Not just a select few.

Nonetheless, we'd managed to get along nicely. I'd hoped the rest of Jaspers team wouldn't be giving Parker a hard time. As much as he tried to tell me he could take it, I knew it got to him. I could see it in his face, and although sometimes he's happy, here's always a trace of worry and embarrassment that stays behind.

When we finished a few rounds, we all decided to go downstairs to the community eating area to finish our day. We tried to intermingle, but it just didn't happen that easily. I broke the silence by asking, "so, why'd you all apply for the competition?"

"The money," replied Erin immediately. It was almost too quickly, but she continued eating as if the question hadn't affected her.

Some other members answered with generic answers like "because I wanted to," or even, "I thought it was fun." Parker went as far as to say, "because I didn't think I'd make it." Before I could frown at his comment Jasper joined the conversation by saying, "If I win, maybe my parents would take me seriously. How about you? Grace, we're all opening up here. Tell me, why did you apply?"

"Geez, calm down. You don't have to target her like that. She was getting there," said Duncan, defending me. He was one of the few left that hadn't shared why he'd applied either.

Jasper ignored him, still staring at me. Part of me wondered if he'd held a grudge against me from that first game we'd played. When he and one other person were the only two people who'd died. "I applied because I want to be known," I said.

"Known, how? It's not like you're going to be an instant celebrity just for being on one show," he said. His voice was meant to pierce my confidence, he wanted to make me feel stupid. He wanted my confidence drained.

"I actually have a few profiles. I hoped I would gain some fans by competing here," I further explained as if it'd suddenly make him more accepting. I knew it wouldn't, but I saw no reason not to try.

"Aww, some poor unknown gamer seeking fame. Look, you're not the only one hoping to gain recognition. If you were good you wouldn't have to lean on the competition to earn fame," mocked Erin. She had me fusing but I refused to give into her taunting.

I didn't have to give in because Duncan had already done it for me. He said, "at least she, and the rest of us, got in on equal terms. We weren't someones last choice, like you wildcards."

Jasper shot him a poisonous glare. "Do not look down on me because I'm a wildcard," he'd said. He looked as if he were about to jump. A ticking time bomb, unable to predict when it would explode. This intimidation was probably how he'd gotten his team to obey him without question.

Erin, on the other hand, was a completely different story. She seemed offended by being considered a last choice, but not about being called a wildcard. "We still earned our way into the competition and have every right to play as you do," she sneered. Their teammates had pretended nothing was going on. I felt terrible that they had to deal with these two regularly.

"Okay, guys, calm down. Let's think of being a wildcard as a fact, not a status," suggested Parker. He was trying to keep peace but nobody involved in the argument was willing to listen to his advice. I would've agreed but I was too caught up in my own emotions to really say anything. Unlike Jasper's team, Victoria and Amberline just didn't want to get involved.

Ignoring the cameras, I finally said, "I think we've had enough bonding time for one day. Thanks for tolerating us, but I'd rather leave now." I picked up my things and threw them away. As I walked I silently counted how many times I had said that already. I found myself again followed by my team until we were safely in our own flat. Although it wasn't as nicely decorated as D3, it was still like a second home to me and I was glad to be back. This time without the earlier tension filling the atmosphere.

We talked for a little while before we all settled down. Mostly, we talked about our experience playing with the other team. We had all agreed that everyone on D3 -except Jasper and Erin- were generally enjoyable people. That information alone allowed me to ease up about the game that would take place the next morning.

Sorry for the long chapter, I know some people prefer shorter ones, but this is the way I decided to split these chapters up. Leave feedback, it helps me out when I try to make it better!