The Game

Chapter Three

I decide to help the girl. Even though she looks less beat up, but she looks like she's getting tired. I know I'm going to regret this (especially when Avem finds out), but I leave my spot behind the building and run towards them.
Today seems like a day of reckless decisions I immediately regret.
It looks like the girl was just faking fatigue, and as soon as the boy sees me, he does a double take, and the girl takes the opportunity to land a solid kick to his gut.
Ouch.
Apparently this girl can FIGHT.
He stumbles backwards, doubled over and gasping, and she advances, looking about ready to beat him into a pulp.
Literally.
In a span of three seconds, my plan changes quite a bit. I run up behind the girl and try to hold her back, while the blue-haired girl does the same with the boy, who in the meantime has gotten up and looks ticked.
"Okay, I don't know what the heck is happening between you two," I say, kind of struggling to keep this girl from pounding the boy and into a pulp. "But I don't think this is the way to resolve it."
The girl breaks free from my grip surprisingly easily. "Fine." She turns and looks at the boy. "Don't make the mistake of thinking this is over yet." She hisses, before turning and marching off into the shadows.
"Well, good thing Moody McOverreaction is gone."
"Jackson!"
"What?"
"She can probably still hear you!"
"No she ca-" a rock flies out of the shadows and hits him right in the middle of his forehead. "Ow. I guess she can."
"Well..." I say, feeling a little awkward. "Who are you guys?"
"I'm Tessa." The girl with the blue hair says. "And this guy who just got hit in the face with a rock is Jackson."
"And the girl that threw the rock was Akiza. Don't call her Aki unless you want a broken jaw." He adds.
"I'm-" I'm about to say my name, when Tessa cuts me off. I'm not even sure she realized I was about to talk.
"Jackson. I want some answers. Now."
"Tessa, what are you talking abou-"
"I have a feeling that not everything Akiza said was a lie."
"Tessa, are you seriously going to believe her-"
"I dont want to hear your voice, unless if it's an answer. First question- are you really involved with erasing our memories, and sticking us here in this game?"
"Of course not! Tessa, I'm your game partner!"
"Game partner?" This term is new to me, and I'm once again a little confused.
"I guess we should probably explain to- uh... what's your name?" She asks.
"Grace."
"Well, as you probably already know, this is one big messed-up game. Someone-" she glances at Jackson, apparently not quite sure if she believes him or not. "Someone put us here, and erased our memories. Apparently, we're supposed to find a way out. Each of us has a game partner, who I guess we're supposed to stay with and protect, or something... I thought Jackson was mine, but I'm not quite sure anymore."
"How can you tell if someone's your game partner?" I ask.
"That's the easy part. Your timer doesn't start until they show up."
"Timer?"
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out small, black rectangular thing, sort of like a cell phone- oddly enough, I sort of remember what a cell phone is. This looks exactly like one, but pure black, and shinier.
"This thing is our timer. A weird thing about it... no matter how hard you try to lose it, it always seems to come back." She turns around and chucks it into the shadows. "Wait a few hours and we'll find it again."
"Tessa. I thought you were going to show Grace the timer, not throw it away again."
"Crap... right. Jackson? Your timer?"
He takes an identical device out of his pocket, and turns the screen towards me. I think he hits a button or something, because the screen displays a red timer, counting down. He puts it away before I see the first two digits, so I only see the ending numbers, which I almost immediately forget.
"That's our timer. You should have one too."
It's only until he says that, when I realize I feel something in my pocket. I reach in, and take out my own timer. I put it away, not wanting to see how much time I have left.
"So... yeah. That's pretty much everything we know." Tessa says.
"Honestly... I know this is gonna sound mean, but if you aren't Tessa's game partner, or mine, you should probably go." Jackson says.
"Jackson! She's still new to this game! You can't just send her away!" Tessa turns and looks at me. "You can stay here if you want. I won't force you to stay, but I'm not forcing you to leave either. It's your choice."

As if I already haven't had enough choices today... and now I get to make another one

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I gave Kora the character Tessa and I'm so, SO happy she added her!!!!!!!!!!