Glitches (Book 1)

Chapter 33: Justin/Amanda

Today was the day of the first Glitchketball game of the season, Team Codie vs. Team Cookie. According to Eva, every division would have to play each of the other divisions, and at the end, everyone's wins and losses were calculated to determine which two teams would play in the finals. The other two teams would have a consolation match shortly afterward.

"Okay, Team," said our coach, a reg named Chris, when we gathered in the locker room ten minutes before the game. "Since Vince is...er...away, Lauren here will be filling in for the position of second Glitch. I don't even have to say good luck because this is Team Codie, and we always win!"

A wave of nausea hit me when he said "away." He didn't know half of it. Vince was away alright, and he wasn't coming back. Ever. I saw Amanda stab him in the stomach. She murdered my friend! Knowing she was a killer was very different from actually having seen her kill someone. Now, just thinking about her made me feel sick.

Lauren, another member of the Codie core team, waved excitedly, sporting her own bright blue jersey. How did they have time to make that? Well, this was Miss Efficiency's division after all.

The locker room door opened and our toasty little space was filled with a burst of frigid air from outside. It was already getting cold, and Claire and I had arrived here at the peak of summer! We had been at WGO longer than I'd realized.

"Guys! Three minutes until game time, go ahead and get on the field!" Lucy yelled from the doorway.

"Got it!" Chris replied. "Come on guys, we have a legacy of greatness to carry and a winning streak to continue!" We cheered and ran out of the locker room enthusiastically, our bright green uniforms clearly visible against the concrete of the court.

As we took our places, regs on the court and Eva and Lauren in the Glitching box, I watched Team Cookie do the same on the opposite side. They wore neon yellow and expressions of defeat. They already knew we were gonna win.

I looked up to see my sister and her Sloppie friend, Kelly, sitting in the bleachers. They waved when they saw me looking and I smiled. The hard work of being a Sloppie and the meager meals had taken their toll on Claire's body. She was still annoyingly beautiful, but her clothes hung off of her awkwardly.

After a couple of minutes, a new looking, colorful basketball with the words "Official Glitchketball of WGO" rolled onto the court, controlled by one of the many Glitches in the stands. I felt the familiar lurch and weightless feeling as Eva took control of my limbs. The fun was about to begin.

Amanda's POV

"I need a better outlook on the LDCF!" I yelled over the noise of the Long Distance Coding Facilitator revving up.

"On it!" Jade replied, adjusting some of the Code controls on the large machine set up in the Government box.

I closed one eye and peered through the eyepiece. Sure enough, my view of the Glitchketball court was much wider and clearer.

"Wow, I must say this thing makes rigging the games a million times easier," I smiled at Megan, who stood reservedly in the corner of the box. "Thanks for the idea and the blueprints."

"I'm glad to be of service, President," she spat.

"Well, someone decided to be a good little girl today," I laughed, choosing to ignore her sarcasm. "I guess that means no near-death experiences for the time being," I fake-pouted. "Though I do enjoy putting you through them so much."

"You know, there's a word for people whose favorite hobby is using their weird powers to mentally torture their assistants, Amanda," Megan spat. "Sadistic freak."

"Don't make me take that back," I warned. Megan could get sassy when she was mad at me, and I was in no mood for that.

When the LDCF was ready, I looked through it onto the court once again. Pulling the strap around the back of my head and fastening the eyepiece to my face, I slid my hands into the glove-like pieces of Coded machinery.

I grinned with delight, a foreign, limitless feeling surging through my body. This device was the perfect bridge between my Lessaenite Aural powers and Level 5 Glitching abilities. If I was powerful before, now, I was invincible.

With a simple twist of my hand, I made a Cookie reg drop the ball seconds before he would score. Glancing at the scoreboard, I saw the Codies were winning 9-1. They were actually pretty awesome Glitchketballers themselves, they wouldn't need my help for a while.

I couldn't help but mentally snicker at the way Eva occasionally looked up the box and shot me a knowing glance. She thought she was special just because I told her I was making sure her division always won the Glitchketball tournament and briefed her on Mission B before everyone else.

She thought she was part of my "team," my trusty sidekick. What she didn't know was that in my game, there are no sidekicks or friends. Just tools to be used when needed and then disposed of.

But you're a tool too, Amanda, my mind taunted. You know it, but there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

I shut my mind out, trying to think otherwise, but I knew it was true. I too was merely a tool, and not just any tool, but an agent of the most powerful, greedy tyrant to ever sit on the throne of Lessaenes. Just a minion, her favorite little brainless henchman.

My ego pushed these thoughts down, inflating itself by convincing me I was the mastermind, and though she seemed to have all the power, I was.

For now, I would continue to be her darling prodigy, serving her without question, but it would all be an act. Just until I found that one. Because, though many called me insane or a traitor for thinking it, that one was alive. I would find her, and together we would return to Lessaenes and the White Hot Flame. We would become the heroes that dethroned her.

My cheeks flushed with anger when I thought of her flawless face framed perfectly by her waves of glossy black hair and crystal crown. I smiled, thinking of how much more beautiful it would be with my knife embedded in it.

For those of you who haven't read Before the Glitches, there is a backstory about how Amanda is taken by her to be trained as an agent of the crown in exchange for her mother's life. When her mother is afraid she will be brainwashed and become truly loyal to the evil ruler, Amanda allays her fears by telling her that she will "never forget the White Hot Flame." What exactly is this White Hot Flame? That is yet to be discovered :)