Rogue (Rogue #1)

16

The second night of the SCOPE Championships was warm and breezy, ruffling the palm trees overhead. The city was lit up by a myriad of neon colours as autocars whirred by, and Eniola heard the pulsing of music from districts they passed through. The holographic boards and life-sized advertisements were even brighter now that they had all the contrast towards the starry sky. Eniola, Lucia, and Jay all walked downtown in identical black clothes, passing a beautiful holo-model in purple hair floating atop a building demonstrating what a new model of hoverboards could do.

"We're here," Lucia motioned as they reached the alleyway. It wasn't hard to miss. There was an enormous red neon sign over the entrance. Eniola chewed on the bottom of her lips grounded her teeth in anxious worry as the entrance loomed closer and closer and the walls of the alleyway surrounded her.

"We can see you," Theo's voice rings in her head, and Eniola almost jumps. It was still weird hearing him talk to her over the earpiece outside of SCOPE games. He and Iris are back at the dorm watching them, while Eniola, Jay, and Lucia stayed to take on the danger. Eniola didn't know what was going through her head when she decided she would go. "But make sure no one sees you."

"The cloaking I found should protect you," Iris said. "Just don't call attention to yourself, okay?"

"We won't," Lucia replied. Then Eniola looked through her lenses at the virtual overlay. She looked for the external view menu before choosing the encrypted file Iris found holding into her inventory. A blue ring of light shone over her body in the virtual view, and when she looked down at two unfamiliar white hands, she smiled in satisfaction. She looked over at Lucia and Jay, who had all done the same thing, choosing the same general avatar so that they wouldn't be suspicious, but to Eniola they were Lucia and Jay. Eniola knew the avatar was in all black clothing, and only its steel-gray eyes were visible. The last thing they needed was to be seen here uncloaked in an unfamiliar shady place.

"I feel nervous," Lucia suddenly said after walking through the streets silently.

"Me too," Eniola responded, shaking. "Like really, what if it's dangerous?"

"Just look at me," Jay reassured.

I already have been, she thought.

Or so she thought.

"I knew it," Jay responded, and Eniola gasped while Lucia snickered. Eniola realized that she had been thinking out loud. Maybe the soft mutter wasn't so hard. She had just admitted to staring at Jay. She hung her head and bit at her lip.

"It's fine," Jay said. "I mean, who could resist me." Heat surged through her cheeks.

"I'm sure there are girls immune to the charms of Jay Yoon," Lucia said. "Me and the rest of the female population, for example."

"Good one!" Eniola sent her a high five.

"But the question is, are you one of them?" he asked, looking over to Eniola.

Her eyes went wide. "That's not what I'm saying."

"Eniola?" Jay said seriously.

"Yeah," she replied, avoiding his gaze.

"Why don't your parents know you play SCOPE?"

"Why should I tell you?" Eniola asked.

"I'm curious," he admitted. "You guys are my teammates and we haven't exactly gotten to know each other. Doesn't having chemistry with the team make it better or something?"

"They think SCOPE is a criminal street game," Eniola said, instantly. "And they're not too keen on me gaming regularly either. There you know."

"So you sneak around?" he asked, eyes trained on her. "That must be tiring."