Acquired Tastes

Chapter Eight

That week, the night activity was basically just a game, which, almost unsettlingly, could have been fun if there had been no stakes. The members of each pair were handcuffed together, and they were informed that they would be spending the next few hours running all over the campus, checking in at different locations based on clues or maps that told them the correct one to go to next; each group's route was unique.

It seemed to be going alright for the first fifteen minutes or so. Roman matched Neil's pace as they ran all over campus, down the trail through the woods, and up the bit of the dirt road inside the campus fence. Roman was mostly quiet, letting Neil figure out where they were supposed to go next.

Dashing back up the hill that slowed down toward the track, Roman finally slowed down, gasping for breath, letting Neil get as far ahead of him as the handcuffs allowed. "I've gotta catch my breath," he huffed, trying to slow to a walk.

Neil continued jogging, pulling him forward. "Come on, Parker, we can't slow down."

"Just for a second," Roman almost pleaded between little coughs. "Martin, I'm serious, my legs aren't as long as yours."

Neil glanced over his shoulder at Roman and gave him a little pull, keeping Roman from slowing to a walk. "Please don't stop me from winning this one."

Roman just stared back at him for several seconds, eyebrows lowered, still breathing heavily. But he sped up. Eyes no longer meeting Neil's, Roman fell back into stride with him, saying nothing more.

Things went smoothly for several more stops. Neil took the paper with their next location from the guard on duty outside the dining hall and unfolded it, still breathing hard from their sprint over there. Roman gave it an almost uninterested glance, pushing his sweaty hair out of his face. Neil eyed the paper for several moments, working out the information in his head, following the little map to where the lines passed over Emery.

"Emery," he said, already shoving the paper into his pocket. He was ready to sprint away when Roman stopped him, reaching into Neil's pocket and pulling the paper back out.

"Wait."

"What are you doing?" Neil demanded, still pulling Roman forward. Roman let Neil pull him into a walk but didn't look up from the paper.

"It's Danforth."

"No, it's not," Neil replied, trying to pull Roman forward again. "Come on."

"Wait, no, look," Roman pressed, holding out the map. "See?"

Neil stopped and looked at it again. "No, there are red lines here there."

"Exactly, so you have to leave this-"

"Take my word for it," Neil said, pulling Roman into a jog before Roman could resist.

"Dude, stop, this is so shitty," Roman hissed, straining to pull Neil to a stop. When he couldn't manage to do so, he lowered himself to the ground. "Stop, I'm not going until you listen to me."

Neil stopped, turning toward him angrily. "Okay, what do you want?"

"Fuck sake, Neil, can you stop being shitty for one single moment? You're not listening to anything I say."

Neil let out a breath, trying to stop himself from saying anything he'd regret, and crouched on his toes beside Roman, pulling the paper out of his hands. He tried to ignore the pair of students running past them. "Look," he said, going through each step. "Do you see this?"

Roman was barely even paying attention at this point. "Fine. We'll just do whatever you want, like always."

"Don't be like that," Neil admonished, pulling Roman to his feet. "At least tell me why you think I'm wrong."