"She's my student", Malakai introduced Nada to Maria. Malakai and Nada had already paired up without conferring with Ray and Maria, so Ray and Maria had no choice but to pair up. Maria looked at Nada, not knowing what to think,
"Student?" She said, trying to figure out what to make of it.
Malakai went closer to Maria, "She's my friend, but I call her my student cuz it's jokes. She's kinda not alright in the head", Malakai whispered to Maria, covering his mouth.
"I can hear you", Nada said, letting Malakai know, but Malakai purposely said it loud enough so she could hear.
"You paired up with Nada without telling us", Ray said with his hands out.
"I was standing next to her during the announcement, and you two were far away. Plus, it's better this way; one of us was going to get left out." Malakai replied, giving a fair explanation.
"Can't argue with that", Ray accepted.
"I needed to teach my student something anyway", he said, putting a hand on Nada's head. "You two would be good together; you'll make it far", Malakai said, smiling specifically at Ray, having more than one meaning to that. Ray knew what he meant.
"EVERYONE! GO STAND OVER TO THAT WALL. THE GAME WILL START NOW". A teacher shouted, ushering the students to the starting point.
"Red light, green light. What is this squid game?" Malakai said, walking to the wall.
"It's a kid's game. It's universal", Nada replied, walking next to him.
"Do you think they'll kill us if we move when they say red light?" Malakai asked, having an excited smile on his face and disregarding Nada's reply.
"Mally", Ray said in a tone that didn't entertain the conversation.
"My bad", Malakai apologised, hoping for a better response. He may have gotten a few laughs if all the boys were here, but the audience included a celebrity's daughter and a new person he met not so long ago. So, no laughs were awarded, just an awkward smile from Maria and a disturbed, weird look from Nada. He knew he had to watch his jokes from now on. Before starting, everyone was given a sticker with a number, so every pair had their own number. This stopped confusion and showed who was a pair. All the students were at the start point.
"Okay, the rules are simple. You move forward when the music plays. When the music stops, you stop moving. If we catch you moving, you AND your partner must return to the beginning. For you to go to the next round, you AND your partner have to cross the finish line on the other side. The first 20 pairs to finish will go through; the remaining pairs will be eliminated. The game will start shortly". The teacher had finished stating the rules and started walking to the side of the hall.
"We should qualify", Ray said to Maria, standing beside him.
"Yeah, I've always wanted to try something like this. I'm excited", Maria replied, clearly showing she was excited to play.
"What about you, Ma-lly?" Ray turned to look at Malakai and slowly finished his sentence after seeing what he saw.
"Huh." Maria was confused about why he prolonged to finish saying Mally, so she turned around. "What is Malakai doing?" She slowly said. She saw Malakai's face close to Nada's face.
A few moments earlier.
"So we're a pair", Malakai said with his hands in his pockets next to Nada.
"Yup", She replied.
"I think we should have a symbol", he randomly thought, looking at her.
"Like what?" Nada questioned, looking at him.
Malakai looked at her face, and his face lit up. "I've got an idea. Do you have a marker?" He excitedly asked.
"Right here", Nada whipped out a marker from inside her blazer.
"Why do you have a marker?" Malakai was shocked and weirded out.
"You asked for one, didn't you?" Nada replied, not understanding his problem.
"I did, but I didn't expect you to have one. I thought you would say no; why would I have one? Why the fuck do you have a marker?" Malakai couldn't comprehend what was going on.
"What's the problem? Did I do something wrong?" Malakai's confusion led to Nada being confused.
"Forget it. Give me the marker and come here". Malakai said, taking the marker from her. Now Malakai was drawing his scar on his nose on Nada's nose so they would have matching scars. The scar wasn't an exact copy, but the idea was clear. Malakai's left hand was used to hold Nada's chin up, while his right hand was used to draw the scar. From Ray's and Maria's perspectives, it looked like they were doing something else. After Malakai finished, he stood away, and Maria and Ray realised the situation didn't look like what it seemed.
"Is this marker permanent?" Malakai asked, looking at the marker.
"I don't know", Nada casually replied. Malakai looked at and laughed, he gave her the marker back and looked to his right and saw Dillon and another face he recognised, the guy he saw at the library. He didn't know his name, though. "He's massive", Malakai thought to himself. He also noticed another guy he saw at the library, "What was his name again?" Malakai questioned himself.
"Sensei, what's the plan?" Nada said, tugging his sleeve.
Malakai laughed a little, hearing her say that.
"Ummm. Lemme think... Put your hands in your pockets", He told her.
"Pockets?" Nada questioned.
"So they can't take you out for some bullshit like your hand were moving".
"Ooohhhh makes sense. How fast should we go?"
"Fast, but not too fast", Malakai was slightly waffling. He knew what he wanted to do, but he planned what he would do—not knowing if the plan would work for anyone else. "Just follow my lead", he calmly said to Nada.
"Should we copy you as well?" Ray asked, joining the conversation.
"If you want. You two should be fine", Malakai reassured.
Suddenly, music started playing. Malakai didn't hesitate to move forward. Only a select few moved quickly; many people froze briefly before moving as the music shocked them. Malakai carried out his plan, hands in his pockets moving swiftly. The music stopped.
"That's kinda far", Malakai thought, looking ahead, not realising how far the finish line was. He saw around six people in front of him as they sprinted to get to the position they were in. Malakai had no idea where his friends were; he never looked back. Nada wasn't far behind Malakai, but it would've been better if she was closer. Ray and Maria were close to each other; they moved at the same time and the same pace. Ray could've gone ahead but stayed beside Maria to give her confidence and not leave her behind. Dillon and Jason were two of the six ahead of Malakai; both of them ran as soon as the music played. Adam was on the same line as Malakai, if not a bit ahead of him. The teachers and third-years were walking around to see if anyone was moving. It didn't look like anyone was moving, so after inspection, they all made their way back to the side. All the students noticed; they knew the music was coming. They were getting ready. The music played and stopped. The music played for two seconds. Some people tripped, some slipped, and others were in a difficult position. After the bad start, the majority of the students wanted to redeem themselves. They saw others in front of them, it pressured them, and the teacher capitalised on that. Knowing everyone would start running, the teacher basically pressed play and, a second later, paused it again. The best part was it worked. The guy in the first place who took off as soon as the music played couldn't stop his momentum when the music stopped, and he fell over. He and his partner had to return to the start. People ahead of Nada were also on the floor and in awkward positions. Nada trusted Malakai and executed his plan, and it paid off. Ray and Maria also copied Malakai, and they were still in. Dillon and Jason were now the two leading at the front, while Adam was still on the same line as Malakai. The start line had a small population now due to the people who had to start over. 17 pairs were being eliminated; about nine had to start over. Dillon and Jason looked safe if they didn't mess up, as did Malakai and Nada. However, Maria and Ray looked a bit shaky as they were with the pack. It looked messy where they were from a bird's eye view.
The music played again. For the people ahead of the pack, it was simple. They continued with no struggle, but it was a different story for the people behind them. Pushing, shoving, pulling, tripping, hands were moving all over the place. People were intentionally stopping people from moving. The music stopped. More and more people got sent back; Ray and Maria looked good where they were. Even though they were close to the commotion, they weren't involved. All they had to do was add more speed to their step, and they moved on to the next round. The music started playing again. Dillon, Jason, Malakai and Adam reached the finish line with ease, along with a few others. For them, it was smooth sailing; they stayed at the same pace the whole time and kept their composure; the headstart they got really helped. Malakai turned around to see where everyone else was. The music stopped. Nada was close; she would make it when the music played again. Ray and Maria looked ahead of a few people, but that wasn't good enough. They had to run at full speed, as it looked like other people would jet when the music played. Malakai looked at Ray, who was looking at him, and mouthed,
"Grab her hand and run", he hoped Ray could read his lips. He even pointed at his hand and then Maria to indicate what to do. Was this the right play? Ray thought to himself. He wanted to turn his head to assess the situation, but he couldn't. He had to trust Malakai. The music played. Ray quickly grabbed Maria's hand and ran.
Meanwhile, Nada made it over the finish line. She high-fived Malakai, and now the two of them were together at the finish line as a pair. They had to move to one side to show that they qualified. Maria and Ray ran, closing in on the finish line. It looked like a race. Everyone was running. It would've been the perfect time to pause the music, but it didn't happen. Ray and Maria are a few feet away from the finish line now. Pairs were qualifying; there were three spots left. They ran as fast as they could, with Maria doing her best to keep up and not fall. Everything was happening so fast. Ray's feet crossed the finish line. The music stopped. The two were over the line, but when the music stopped, were they over the line?
"Did we make it?" Ray asked, panting and looking around
A teacher walked over to them, unsure if they did make it. She swayed to disagreeing. As she was about to give them the heartbreak.
"They made it", a third-year boy intervened to stop them from being eliminated.
The teacher looked at the boy, who had a confident look on his face, "Okay, you're the 19th pair to qualify. Can you please stand over there?" the teacher said, pointing to where Malakai and Nada were.
The music played one last time to allow one more pair to qualify, and the first round finished.
"Tch, all his friends made it", Dillon bitterly said, watching them. Hoping they didn't make it. He completed the first round with ease with Jason; they didn't have a plan. They just did what they did, and it worked. Jason didn't say anything and observed the group.
"You barely made it", Malakai said to Ray, putting a hand on his back, who was breathing heavily. Ray was full of adrenaline; he was nearly eliminated.
"Congratulations", Nada said, hugging a tired Maria.
"Thank you", she replied, exhausted. She tiredly reciprocated the hug.
"If this was the first challenge, what's the next gonna be?" Ray said, catching his breath and standing up straight.
Malakai looked at him and smiled, "That was easy".
In the other building.
Benjamin and Lucas were lying on the floor, out of breath.
"Is everyone here an athlete? Everyone's so fast", Lucas panted.
"If every round is going to be like this, I don't wanna play", Benjamin replied, staring at the ceiling.
"Fuck, David and Will still need to qualify", Lucas said, slowly getting on his feet.
Benjamin slowly joined him and looked ahead, "They can make it. Right?"