cruel summer | ray hall [panic]

chapter 4

chapter 4 - PANIC

Grace and Natalie arrived on the small beach of the swimming hole. There were already many people there, with beers and blankets, excited to either watch the challenge or anxious to compete.

The two girls walked up to the table where Summer was calling "Phones!" They approached and greeted Summer as she taped over the cameras on both of their phones to ensure the secrecy of this year's games.

The girls wandered the beach in search of Bishop before the challenge began. Grace noticed Dodge who was standing by himself in the middle of the beach, talking to no one, and with a very serious expression on his face.

She also noticed Ray Hall, sitting with his friends towards the side of the beach, fooling around and laughing. Grace knew there was no way that Ray wouldn't compete. Ray's family was not the richest in Carp and had it pretty rough, but also, Ray's brother had won Panic a few years prior which gave Ray a leg up.

Grace suddenly became aware of the fact that she had been staring at the group of friends, specifically Ray, when suddenly he looked up and made eye contact with her. Grace was slightly frozen, and couldn't break their eye contact as Ray was now intensely staring back at her. Ray smirked at the girl and at the fact that he had caught her staring, and he ran his tongue over his teeth. Grace quickly looked down at her feet and she was glad that it was getting dark so no one could see the red color that her cheeks were turning.

She realized that Natalie had kept walking and had found Bishop, so Grace quickly walked towards the two. However, no conversation could be started as Diggins, the emcee for Panic this year, began the opening ceremonies.

"May I have your attention, please?" he yelled into a bullhorn while standing on the dock. "Welcome to Panic!" he greeted and he was met with loud cheers from everyone.

"My name is Diggins," he started, "and this summer I will be your host with the most. This year the winner of Panic is gonna take home the grand prize of $50,000." There were loud cheers and murmurs throughout the audience at this statement.

"Holy shit. Holy shit," Nat exclaimed, "that's the biggest pot ever. Last year was only 30." Grace was also now more excited than ever for Panic, as the prize was more than she could have imagined. Ray must have really bugged a lot of people for a lot of money this year, she thought.

"You all know the rules," Diggins continued after the cheers had died down. "What happens at a challenge, stays at a challenge, so I don't wanna see any posting, tweeting, or gramming about it, no exceptions. Anyone found in violation risks losing game privileges.

"The first challenge is the Jump!" Diggins gestured behind him to the large cliffs that surrounded the water and he was met with a few cheers. "Remember kids, you wanna go out and down into the swimming hole. You miss it, and it's gonna be the rocks that break your fall. Take a leap from the Lookout and grab yourself 100 points, courtesy of this year's friendly judges, whoever they may be.