Let The Games Begin // Billie Eilish

Chapter 19

I woke up the next morning with a pep in my step. I waltzed into the bathroom with a genuine smile, earning strange glances from all the girls around me.

"Good morning!" I say to Myra in a voice much more chirpy than my usual tone.

"Um, morning?" She responds, clearly confused by my sudden act of confidence.

I stroll into a shower and hum to myself as I gracefully wash my body and hair. As I finish, I wrap myself in a towel and head back towards the main room before getting changed into my uniform and tying the purple ribbon around my wrist.

"Hey". I practically jump in my skin as I turn to see Billie standing beside my bed.

"O-oh. H-hey Billie. What's up?" I say awkwardly as I nervously scratch the back of my head, unable to wipe the stupid smile off my face.

"I, uh, I just wanted to say sorry about last night. I kind of trauma dumped on you and I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or anything." She says apologetically. "I feel kinda embarrassed that I even - oh." She cuts herself off as she looks down to my hand and points to the ribbon on my wrist. "You're wearing it."

Shit.

"Oh, y-yeah. I guess I thought that it would kind of be, I don't know, like maybe a-"

"Me too." She says as she pulls back the sleeve of her hoodie, revealing the yellow ribbon she had grabbed yesterday wrapped around her wrist.

I smile shyly at the sight ahead of me.

"I guess this can be our thing, huh?" She smirks as she holds up her wrist. I bump my bracelet against hers, causing her to let out a little chuckle.

"Oh, and don't apologise to me for last night. I, uh, I'm actually really glad you opened up to me. I feel like I know you a lot better now." I say gently.

"Yeah?" She smiles, a surprised expression taking over her perfectly structured features.

"Yeah." I nod. "For sure."

~

All of us players were abruptly gathered into the auditorium during breakfast this morning.

As of now we are sat in rows, similarly to how we were on our first day here while listening to Soren Wenniston as he stands on the stage before us.

"In just 1 week, you will be entering The Ring and demonstrating your newly acquired skills to the public in a test on human ability."

'Test on human ability'. Huh. That's one way to put it lightly.

"Before this, you will undergo one more emotional intelligence test. This will be the exact same as the one you took when you first arrived here. And hopefully, for those of you who failed on your first test, your training with Sage will have improved your skills in this area and your results will have improved."

Everyone sits in silence as he continues to speak.

"This test will commence in 20 minutes. You will be escorted there promptly after this meeting. I would like to sincerely wish you all the best of luck." Soren winks before jogging off the stage. As everyone starts to leave the auditorium one by one, I wait back for Billie so I can give her some reassurance. I know she must be feeling a little on edge.

She is situated towards the back of the group, an anxious expression resting on her face.

"Hey, you've got this, ok? Remember what I told you about breathing in? You'll want to take a deep breath out but you can't. You just have to keep going for as long as you can, no matter how hard it is."