My Partner In Crime

Chapter 13

"And now you've met Luke Hall." I said once Dodge and I were away from the crowd. We were now walking through the parking lot. 

"He's pleasant." Dodge rolled his eyes. We ended up right next to Ray's car. I watched as Dodge pulled out a sharp object and looked at the shiny paint. 

"Don't you dare." I said with wide eyes.

"You know he could afford to be knocked down a few hundred pegs." Dodge said before etching a long scratch into the side of the car. We then quickly ran away in an effort to not get caught red handed.

Laughing, we got back into the car. By this time, it was the golden hour of the sunset, so my brown eyes were more of a honey color in the sunset. His looked like if you were to shine a flashlight into a pot of blue fog, aside from that brown chunk.

"Dodge." I said, glancing at him. He turned to face me.Without another word or thought, I grabbed the collar of his t-shirt, pulled him over (not obnoxiously so) and pressed my lips to his. He slowly placed his keys into the cupholder of his car, not breaking the short embrace. In fact, I was the one to pull away.

"You're an idiot." He said with a wonky smile.

"No, I know." I grinned, watching the cars pass by as he started driving. "But I figured you could use a pick-me-up after that tournament."

"I don't think they're calling off the game." Dodge said, a smile still on his face.

"I hope not." I said.

And later that night, we found ourselves in a dark parking lot. Dodge turned to me with three coins in his hand. "I have a bad feeling about this one. Put these in your pocket ."

I did, and we waited for like five minutes until everybody else showed up. Diggins showed us a short rack of folded bandanas.

"Put those on." Diggins  told us all. I took a bandana designed to look like the American flag.

"Well, if I go out, I'm going out patriotic." I shrugged, tying it around my head like everyone else was doing. Diggins then led us all into what seemed to be the back of a van. What if they drive us into a river or something?

The entirety of the car drive was in silence. They stopped the car after a short while and helped us out. They had us all stand in a line. I made sure that I was by Dodge's side the entire time.

"If you want help, all you have to do is answer a few questions." Diggings
finished. Essentially, they're going to lead each of us somewhere and we have to find our way back.

Dodge nudged the back of my hand, an unspoken agreement not to answer any questions.

"Clem, move over here." I heard Diggins say. He saw our little exchange. He took my arm and led me to what seemed like the other side of the line. I listened carefully as they slowly picked out players one by one to complete the challenge. I could hear water rushing, but it was very likely that they recorded it and this was all a trick.

"Clem." Diggins said, leading me away from the line. I could feel planks of wood underneath my feet, like I was walking across a railroad track. It's fake, I reminded myself. "Okay, Clem, find your way back over to us. Remember, you can get help if we ask a question."

I nodded and trusted a direction. Below me, I could hear what sounded like a river.

"Do you want some help?" I heard Diggins ask.

"If I get help, I've already lost." I said, my voice cutting through the air. Then I remembered the coins in my pocket. I pulled the three out and jingled them in my hand. "Because, what if this is all fake? Then I've thrown my win away for no reason. This could be a..." I stopped, dropping a coin. Cold dread spread through me when I heard it splash into the river beneath me. It's real. "A trick."

I took my newfound knowledge to my advantage and went the opposite way, going against the grain of the wooden planks to ensure my safety. I walked until I felt the dirt under my feet again.

"You didn't tell them anything, right?" Dodge asked once we were finally in his car, blindfold free.

"I did not." I said with a shake of my head. "Did you?"

"No. I think everyone else got help." Dodge said as he started to drive. By now, it was about 1:00 AM. My dad has to go on a business trip early tomorrow morning, so he went to bed shortly after I left for the derby, which is how I knew I wouldn't be getting in trouble and having my whereabouts questioned. 

"What do you think they're going to use the information they got for?" I asked him. 

"Are there personal challenges or something so that they can knock players out faster?" Dodge asked, turning his windshield wipers on when it suddenly started raining. 

"The personal challenges!" I remembered. "I bet that's what they're going to use it for."

"What about for us?" Dodge asked. "What are they going to do for us if we didn't give them anything to work with?"

"I don't know. I've never really spoken to any of the other players, and you obviously haven't." I said.

"Didn't you go to school with them?" 

"I don't have any friends, remember?" I grinned. "I was friends with Drew in like seventh grade, but there's no way he remembers anything I've told him."

"Let's hope not." Dodge said in a quiet voice.