Sheila GONE

Risky Chances

"Baily Green,"

"Here,"

"Dave Spout,"

"Here,"

"Margo West,"

"Here,"

"Tyler Emmy,"

"Here," I said.

"Darry Sawleed,"

No answer.

"Ron Robinson,"

No answer.

Man, Darry and Ron had been gone for a whole week now. What had happened? I mean, they said that they were going on a hike and then, they never came back. I didn't know, no one knew what was happening to them. And all of the teachers are also very angered that Ron and Darry had been missing a bunch of school days. I mean, no one knew what happened to them.

Just like everyone else, I also devised a little theory of what happened to them. Most kids said that their hike ended their lives like a horror story, they got lost and they couldn't find food and then they died. But I think that they're out there somewhere. I still think that they're alive. They're probably lost and trying to find their way back.

I knew Darry and Ron. I was their neighbor in the dorms. They shared a room and I, well I was in a room next to them. I barely talked to them and they rarely also said a word to me. It's just that, I don't know why they weren't there.

Ron and Darry were annoying neighbors and that's why I didn't start a conversation to get to know them. They were loud, very loud, especially after curfew. I'm usually the guy who makes friends and I'm usually successful. No wonder why I have a bunch of friends. But they, I lose a lot of sleep because of them so no, I don't care about them. Well, back then I didn't care. Now I kind of am.

Three weeks had passed since Ron and Darry disappeared and still, no one knows where they are. A girl named Jenny said that we should search for them and some caring students went searching for them on weekends when we were off. I actually went on one of the searches and we didn't even find a trace of them.

But then a few days later, I heard a conversation after math class with two students, talking about a game called "Risky Chances" . I wondered what it was and soon forgot about it a few hours later. But, as the days went on, more students started to talk about it.

I then couldn't forget about it as I asked my friend Alan about it. And then he started to tell me what "Risky Chances" is.

"It's coming back. It's a game where people enter and then get lost somewhere and then the people try to find you. The more time it takes for you to hide, the more money you win." I was surprised that people actually wanted to get themselves lost, so I chuckled. "That's stupid," I said to Alan.

"I'm not done yet." He then told me. He then continued. "And then bad stuff starts to happen. It's a 50/50 chance that they would look for you. And some people get themselves so lost that THEY can't even find themselves back home, after rejecting to be found."

I then stood there after Alan told me all that. Wow, people want to take a risk like that. Huh?

That night, after everyone was asleep, I couldn't fall asleep. I kept thinking about the game Risky Chances and of how people just get lost for money. I mean, they could die like that. The woods are the best place to get lost in the neighborhood. Then I jumped up.

I then constructed a theory, something that could be true. No, what if it is? What if, what if Ron and Darry were playing "Risky Chances" and got themselves lost? They really could have. Really, that could've happened. If they did, then I would be mad. We spent all of that time, or some students did and they all found out that they were both playing Risky Chances", then we'd all scream at them when they're found. They caused us a lot of trouble and all they were doing was playing a stupid game.