"Wait, isn't that Ben's team?" Malakai asked, pointing at the TV showing a car drive away. "Didn't Ryan's team reach there first?".
"Yeah, it is. Ben's team number is 1", David replied, yawning.
"How did his team get ahead of Ryan's?" Lucas rhetorically asked. Malakai, David, and Lucas were in Malakai's dorm to watch the livestream. It seemed like Malakai's dorm was the spot now to watch stuff. Malakai didn't mind, though. He was happy people were coming over—more people to play the PlayStation with. Playing by himself most of the time was starting to get a bit boring for him.
"So stupid", Malakai said, shaking his head. "Why are they only recording the driving? The week is basically done. Everyone knows the challenges", he ranted.
"It's most likely easier for them. Having too many cameras would be more work. Switching between different angles and trying to find which place is more interesting," David answered.
"Yeah, I don't think they have the production for that. This is an academy, not a reality TV show", Lucas added.
"It's still stupid, though", Malakai replied, resting his head on the sofa. Lucas and David smiled at Malakai's reaction.
"Which day do you think was the best day?" Lucas asked, bored of watching the livestream.
"Today, deffo," Malakai replied. "It looked the most competitive. All the teams were close," he said, reaching for the drink he had left on the floor.
"True", Lucas agreed. "Would you say our day was better than yours?" he asked Malakai. After a good night's sleep, Lucas didn't feel that guilty anymore. He still felt bad, but it didn't weigh on him as much.
"Hehehe. Yeah, David nearly died", Malakai giggled.
"Aye," David said, putting Malakai in a light headlock. David smirked; he knew it was a joke. He tried not to bring it up for Lucas's sake.
"They should make this a TV show with challenges like this", Malakai said, escaping the headlock. Hearing Lucas say this isn't a reality TV show sparked the idea in his head.
"I doubt it, it'll be too much of a hassle", David replied. "This place is supposed to be a school. I don't think they'll want to make us TV stars".
"It'll be kinda sick though", Malakai said, taking a sip of his drink.
Lucas leant back, "I liked this challenge. If all the challenges are like this, I'll love it here. There's something different every day", he said.
"You don't care about winning the whole thing?" Malakai asked as he didn't mention aiming for the top spot.
"Eeehhh. Kinda, not really. I'm aiming for the top ten because the top ten still get a reward. It might not be as big as number one, but it's something," Lucas replied. "My mindset is like yours, Mally", he said, looking towards Malakai.
"You don't think you can get number one?" Malakai continued to ask to keep the conversation going.
"Not right now. If I get close, then I'll start believing", Lucas said, as if it were unrealistic. "What about you? You've been first ever since day one".
Malakai scoffed. "I don't know," he shrugged. "All of this doesn't feel real to me; I can't lie. I don't even know how I'm here. I'm surprised I'm still first".
"You should do your best to keep first", David told him. It sounded like Malakai needed motivation to keep trying.
"For three years? No chance", Malakai laughed. "I'm just here to have fun. If I win, I win. If I don't, it is what it is."
"So when you lose first place, you won't be bothered?" Lucas asked, as it sounded like he didn't care.
"Naa. I'm expecting it, to be honest. I think the next challenge someone will kick me out of first", Malakai answered.
"Don't you think you're being too pessimistic?" Lucas replied.
"Pfft. Three years. C'mon, no one's going to keep number one for three years straight", Malakai said, pulling out his phone.
"Three years is a long time, but it'll go by in a flash.", David replied. "A lot will happen; you never know. All of us might be in class 3-A competing against each other", David said, looking at the screen and thinking about it. It was a wholesome thought to think about. You and all of your best friends working your way up to the highest class and then competing against each other for top spot. That was the dream.
"3-A? William's too dumb for that", Lucas joked. The three laughed at the joke. Wherever William was, he couldn't escape the jokes.
Malakai closed his eyes and thought about it,
"Three years. It's gonna be a fun three years".
The challenge finished. Nothing exciting happened at the end. No fighting. No drama. No one could be bothered to start anything. There was no point either. All the students were tired. All they could do was exchange looks. It had been a long day.
Everyone was on the bus on their way back.
"Wait, what happened to your team?" Benjamin asked.
"Leroy stole our key", Ray replied. "He came into my house and stole the key", he said, looking down at his feet.
"How did he steal it? Did he snatch it from you?" Benjamin asked after seeing Ray's troubled reaction.
"No, no", Ray said, shaking his head. "He found the key upstairs, and when I was about to go check upstairs, I saw him running down the stairs with a key in his hand", Ray lied. He didn't want to tell the truth. If he did, he knew his friends would help him. Even though knowing that was nice, he didn't want to see it come to fruition. He would feel bad if Leroy got beat up for playing the game. Ray's back was still in a lot of pain, but he was fighting it. Every movement hurt him. Maybe if Leroy meant to hurt him, he would've told the truth, but he knew it was an accident. If anything, Leroy got lucky it was Ray because if it were any of the other five, they wouldn't have been so forgiving.
"At least your team got third", William said. "Bro, Leroy came into our tent and said the wrong answer. It took us so long to find the key; we had to search six houses, and there were only four of us", William vented. Despite Leroy stealing Ray's key, his team still got third. Luckily, the houses Leroy's team left across the street were already searched; Ray's team only had to search a bit more to find the key. However William's team weren't so lucky. That wrong answer at location A affected them heavily. Searching six houses was a challenging task. Somehow, his team still got fourth.
"Considering that happened, you did well to get fourth", Frank said, trying to lift William's mood. Benjamin and Frank sat beside each other while Ray and William sat behind them. Frank also warmed up to Ray and William.
"It's bullshit. He cheated!" William said, still in a sour mood. "Where is he?" He asked, turning his head around to look for Leroy.
"He's sitting with Ryan at the back somewhere", Benjamin replied. "None of us are friends with him, so we can't really be mad at him".
"But we're in the same class. That's got to mean something", William said, not letting it go.
"Let's forget about that. How does it feel to get first place?" Ray asked Benjamin. Ray didn't want to think about it anymore. The more they stayed on the topic, the more a part of him wanted to tell them what really happened.
"Great, especially how we did it", Benjamin replied with a gleaming smile. "You should've seen Frank. He was holding back Leroy and Ryan at the same time. They couldn't get past him", Benjamin said, patting Frank's shoulder.
"They weren't as strong as I thought they would be", Frank added, unaware of his own strength.
"Or maybe you're just too strong", Benjamin, William and Ray thought.
"Is that why they look so pissed at you at the last location?" William asked. "They looked like they wanted to kill you".
"That was one of the reasons. We weren't supposed to get first. We were both at the top of the platform, and we played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would go into the room first, and they won," Frank explained.
"You didn't listen to them and went in the room anyways and fought them off?" Ray said, trying to finish the story.
"I wouldn't say we fought them off. We snuck up behind them and took the key," Frank corrected him. "It was entertaining, to be fair. Benjamin barged Ryan just before he opened the box. The timing was perfect".
Ray and William looked at Benjamin. "Did your team agree to do that?" Ray asked.
Frank looked at Benjamin, "Benjamin walked in, and I followed him. I didn't think he would do that. I thought he was going to watch them", Frank replied. "When he barged Ryan, I understood what he wanted to do".
"That's a little scummy, Ben", Ray told him.
"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do", Benjamin smirked, not feeling remorseful as it was Ryan.
"I'm not mad; his team did mess up our team", Ray replied, not meaning his previous comment to offend him.
"Yeah, I'm happy you barged him", William added. "So is that all that happened? You got the key and left?"
"I got the key, and then", Benjamin's eyes diverted to Adam, who was sitting a few rows behind Ray and William. "That guy was standing in front of me. That guy Malakai versed in the minigames", Benjamin replied.
"Did he go for you?" Ray asked.
"Naa. He just stared at me", Benjamin replied. "But I could tell, he could've fought me if he wanted to", Benjamin said, slyly looking at Adam. Adam was looking out of the window, so he didn't notice Benjamin.
"Why didn't he fight you?" William questioned, not getting a clear picture of the situation in his head.
"Wasn't worth it", Benjamin said. "I mean, he wouldn't walk over me. Come on now", He said, looking at his friends flexing his arms.
"Ha. You had a little staring contest and walked off", William said.
"Pretty much, but from looking at him and standing in front of him. I can tell he's going to be a problem. I have no idea how he's in 1-E".
At the back of the bus, Ryan was sitting next to Leroy. Pissed.
"Second ain't so bad, dude", Leroy said, trying to cheer him up. Ryan didn't respond. He hadn't said a word since being barged by Benjamin. "I didn't think Benjamin was that type of guy, but I guess I was wrong", he continued. Leroy glanced over at Ryan; he could feel his anger through his vibe. "Look, I know losing first place like that is annoying, but look on the bright side. We got 800 points", Leroy kept talking.
"shut up".
"Huh".
"I'm not in the mood", Ryan said.
"Yeah… We'll get 'em next time… I guess", Leroy didn't know how to reply. His attempt to cheer him up failed. Was he being too positive? He sabotaged two teams, and for what? Second place? For the work he put in, they deserved first place. Thinking this, Leroy sat back and reflected. Maybe Ryan was right to be this angry. Why am I not angry? The silence made Leroy think and go into a rabbit hole. He ruined Ray and William's chances of winning. Those two are best friends with influential people in their circle. He purposely made enemies of people in his class; he even hurt one of them. All of that for second place. It wasn't even worth it. That's when the thought came. Was he going to be ostracised from the class?
October 27th. Friday.
Nothing notable happened. The last six teams completed the challenge, and with that, the school week had ended, and the second challenge was complete.
6:00 PM
LEADERBOARD
1) MALAKAI JUNIOR (1-C) - 1683 POINTS
2) ALEXANDER BURRELL (1-A) - 1644 POINTS
3) FRANK CARTER (1-A) - 1631 POINTS
4) LORENZO DEMARCO (1-B) - 1600 POINTS
5) MARIA RODRIGUEZ (1-C) - 1590 POINTS
6) DESTINY SIERRA (1-A) - 1571 POINTS
7) LUNA WOLFE (1-A) - 1568 POINTS
8) ALEJANDRO PEREZ (1-A) - 1565 POINTS
9) BENJAMIN SCOTT (1-C) - 1559 POINTS
10) JASON ROWELL (1-D) - 1552 POINTS
10th, "About time I made it into the top ten".
9th, "Barging Ryan was worth it".
8th, I knew I would make it".
7th, "Back in the top ten".
6th, "Finally, people can see my name".
5th, "I can't believe I'm fifth".
4th, "Maybe this is a sign to try more".
3rd, "I guess I'm keeping 3rd place again.
2nd, "...".
1st, "Rah (British slang for woah). There's some new faces here".