The Shrink Program

Chapter 41

"No way," I refused, yanking on Vain's white hair. "Go on Vain, sic him."

"Maddison..." He sent me the Sorry, but I don't listen to crazy people look from the corner of his eye.

"Don't worry Vain, Nerd beats Goth any day. It's the natural food chain of life." I encouraged, but Vain just grimaced.

"Liar. Even with your insane logic, that doesn't make sense."

"Sure, it does. Just think of yourself as the white lion of the savanna."

There was an awkward pause as Vain recovered from an overdose of stupid.

"...How do you even come up with this crap?" He hissed incredulously, dropping his calm demeanour for a second to feel rightfully insulted.

I stared back at him, honestly a little shocked he had cussed.

Maybe keeping Vain up past his bedtime wasn't such a good idea.

With a disapproving huff, I narrowed my eyes at him.

Two can play that game.

My lips threatened to smile.

He should have thought twice before challenging the reigning champion.

"You were right Devin," Apollo spoke up before I had a chance to ensure Vain spent the rest of his days a huddled ball of trauma. "These two seriously don't shut up."

Any thoughts of a swear off... On my part anyway... We're quickly forgotten as we both turned wounded looks on Devin.

My brother raised his hands up defensively, trying to soothe our broken hearts. "For the record, I mostly meant Maddison."

"Me?" I gasped.

"Mostly?" Vain exclaimed at the same time.

Devin just shrugged.

"Come on Vain," I said coldly, turning my back to the boys on the swings. "My brother is dead to me."

"Oh? And who's going to make breakfast in the morning if I'm dead?" Devin asked.

I spun back around. "Devin? You're alive!"

"That's what I thought."

Apollo sighed, standing up from his swing. "I know I'm the one who wanted to talk, but seriously... Can we just get this over with so I can leave?"

The nerve of this guy!

"No one's stopping you from taking your..." I began to say, even moving my hands to mime out the process when Apollo cut me off with a raised hand and a disgusted look.

"I'm here tonight to give you a chance to cooperate with us."

".... Good for you, Apollo. Didn't think you had it in ya. Keep working on it, and your jokes might actually be funny one day."

"I'm serious. "

With a huff, my hands settled on my hips. "Then how dare you interrupt me just to spout insane ramblings....! "

"I wasn't talking to you, Maddison." He said, giving a bored eye-roll over towards Vain.

That shut me up.

"Let me make myself very clear." Apollo murmured into sudden silence.

"My group and I only want to stop the King of the Hill for good. The only way to so is to play by the rules of the game."

....you're doing it WRONG.

"We don't particularly want to hurt the members of the Hill. We just need to destroy their cards to get game over, And to that end, I am willing to do anything."

He sent me a chilling look, his pale green eyes watching me seriously. "Though I do prefer the passive approach."

I'd take a punch in the face over this any day thank you very much...

Apollo returned his attention to Vain, who shifted slightly beneath me. A small sign of nerves... Or irritability.

"That is why I'm giving you a chance to work with us. Like me, you have more than enough reason to hate the Hill, and you probably couldn't care less about its members. What you do care about..." He gestured toward me.

"...is Maddison Tramph."

I flushed... Before the common sense police pulled my fluttering heart over and gave it a stern talking to for ignoring the stop sign.

I glanced up Vain, hoping to see instant rejection.

Apollo wants to use me to manipulate Vain, and that is the only thing I should be focusing on!

Vain's expression gave nothing away, his glasses glinting in the street light as he met Apollo's eyes unflinchingly.

"What exactly are you proposing?"

"Vain!" I said in outrage, panic building in my chest as he actually entertained this madness.

"I haven't agreed to anything." He reassured, not looking away from Apollo. "I simply want to know what he has to say."

I stared at him in shock, and maybe a little hurt.

Apollo was the guy who had caused all this, and he was still willing to even consider...

"I would be grateful if I were you, Maddison," Apollo commented, managing to sound both bored and sarcastic. "There aren't many friends out there that are willing to do anything to help the people they care about."

I threw him a frustrated glare.

Reminding me of Vain's lack of sanity is not reassuring in the least.

"I never said I would do anything," Vain said coldly, Apollo's words obviously hitting a nerve. "I simply want to know what it is exactly you want from us."

"A simple exchange." Apollo's expression turned sour. "I need leverage over the other members of the Hill, to put them at a disadvantage so that they are easier to take down. As you saw today, my first move was to gain myself a hostage, as well as remove a critical piece from play. But unfortunately..." He shrugged with a tired sigh. "That didn't exactly go according to plan."

He walked towards us, still talking. "The Joker has been removed temporarily, but I still need a hostage. Now, I could always try and take her by force, or..." He stopped, right in front of Vain. "You could hand her over to me."

Vain stiffened, scrutinising the shorter boy. "Why would I do that?"

Apollo smiled slightly.

"Because if I have to take her for myself, I won't have any reason not to destroy her card whenever I please."

... How about my fist in your face? That sound like a good reason?

Apollo didn't seem to notice or care about the threatening looks I was sending his way, continuing on as if he found the whole explanation tedious.

"Of course, once I do destroy her card, that will get her immediately expelled from the school. And if she is expelled..."

"She will be taken away by the Shrink Program." Vain finished, voice laced with dread.

Apollo smile widened into a grin.

The way people do when they know that they have already won the game.

"Exactly."